68f/20C, breezy, partly cloudy, humid and HOT. Currently 84f/29C. Whew.
You can believe we were up and out early this morning to get our outside work done!
I got a bit of a start on it yesterday evening, spraying roses and grapes for fungus and black rot, and then I finished planting my herb garden and put in the lima bean seeds and butternut squash seeds in my veggie garden. I was completely drenched with sweat by the time I was done, but this morning I was glad I had got that much done. I mulched most of the herb garden this morning, planted a few planters, and pulled bushels of that horrid ground ivy out of my flowerbeds while Larry moved rabbits into new cages and got his garden ready to plant more tomatoes.
As usual, I have bought too many tomato plants, because we like so many different kinds. There's 4 kinds of cherry tomatoes, for example. Four! And of course, you have to get four or six, they don't sell just two. Then there are the Amish Paste tomatoes I am trying again--they didn't do well last time, but everyone swears by them, so we'll see. I like Brandywines and Better Boys, and of course the Black Prim. Larry likes yellow and pink tomatoes and the striped ones, which I am not sure I bought this time. Anyway, you can see how it is. The crazy part is that we usually get all we want to can for free from a friend, but that's a one-shot deal--go in and pick them all on one day. So we still need tomatoes for eating the rest of the time, and we ear a lot of them.
I think I have too many peppers too. There were 12 sweet banana plants, plus 4 chili peppers, and I think a dozen bell peppers. I'm not a fan of hot peppers at all, but I grow the chilis to dry and to make my own hot sauce.
My garden is completely full now. Larry will have space for some bush pumpkins and another row of corn, and then his is done too. Of course, we will pull things like peas and onions when they're done, and probably replant with late corn or something. Anyway, all that's really left to do now is finish mulching, keep things weeded and tied up (tomatoes), and watch for bugs and such. I will try to remember to take some photos this evening, although a lot of plants are still pretty small and not much to look at.
The lawn furniture needs to be painted badly, and the patio pressure-washed. Maybe next week? I mixed the paint, using leftovers of various cans, and it came out pretty close to the same green that is on some of the chairs now.
We did have a fire in the firepit last night, but watched it from the cool of the porch, under the ceiling fan! We may just do the same tonight. Having the fire makes us stop work and relax together, same as the fireplace does in winter. Otherwise we'd probably keep pushing until after dark. As it was, I still had to pack ebay before going to bed.
In the middle of the day, I worked on pricing things for the booths, and Larry worked on cleaning up 4 chair frames that are part of another midcentury dinette set. This set has an aqua and green floral pattern, and I don't know if it will be as popular as the solid red and the aqua sets we've sold recently. I guess we'll find out.
I finished a few of the books in my stack. The Country of the Pointed Firs was an interesting read, particularly because I was reading through Culpepper's Complete Herbal at the same time. In The country of the Pointed Firs, the protagonist stays with a ladybwho was the local herb doctor who was always collecting herbs from her garden or the countryside. (Apparently people had a lot of trouble with their bowels and headaches back in the 1800's, because so many of the remedies in Culpepper's Herbal addressed those, as well as coughs and "female complaints".)
I also finished South-Facing Slope. I can't say it recommend it but perhaps other find the essays by a Southern belle who marries an English country gentleman farmer interesting. I had a hard time with her sending her son off to boarding school when he was nine, although I suppose that's common practice among English well-to-do families. That, and many of her opinions and comments, I could not relate to.
But Traveling Light, by Lynn Branard, was an absolute joy to read. Light, funny, touching, quirky, it was the kind of story that made you think, well, I guess I could see that happening, and then reading on to see what happens next. I will look for others by this author.
Now in the reading stack: continuing with The Assassin's Cloak and The Book of Days, added Women in the Kitchen by Anne Willan, The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O'Beal and The Country Diary Herbal by Sarah Hollis.
Not much else going on around here. Just trying to stay cool and hydrated!
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