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Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Before the Rain

58°f/14.4°C this morning, overcast after a night of rainshowers. High of 81 yesterday, 77 expected today, with clearing in the afternoon. 

View from my rocker on the porch. 

Yesterday was a full-on garden day. I planted those lily bulbs, and transplanted a coral bells plant that was being crowded out by hostas and a peony. Then I watered the plants I put in last week, as we had only had a small shower since planting. 

Next up was tilling. I have experimented over the last few years with no-till gardening, with mixed and not really satisfactory results. I think perhaps our soil still has too much clay for this to work. The plants took longer to get established and overall didn't seem as robust, the soil stayed wet much longer, and I had more problems with diseases. On the plus side, weeding was minimal, and when the drought hit these plants still did very well. So after weighing the pluses and minuses, I am back to tilling, but will continue to mulch as I have done for years. The soil looks amazing, very rich and friable. Which it should, after years of care and nourishment.

Later in the day--after a couple hours porch time and a couple glasses of iced tea!--I went back out to 
put in some seeds: Indian corn, onions, spinach, beets, basil, dill, and parsley. I have never grown onions from seed before but it have had good luck with leeks so I thought I would give it a try. The leeks seeded a few weeks ago are already up. I planted beans, cucumbers and squash last week. So the garden is filling up! I was tired, but boy am i glad to have done this, as the overnight rain really settled those seeds in perfectly.

I was delighted to see the row of glads I put out there in the veggie garden are now poking through the ground. When I was a child, our next-door neighbor grew rows of glads for the local florist, and they were a beautiful sight. I think a row in the garden will look so pretty.

I did stop a while to make dinner too: broiled steak,  pan-grilled asparagus, sweet potatoes cooked in brown sugar and butter , and a macaroni salad like my mother used to make, just the pasta, chopped celery, celery seed, salt, pepper, and mayo. I added minced parsley and chives from my garden, and a little poppyseed dressing with the mayo. Simple and good.

Larry mowed grass most of the afternoon, but when he stopped to fill up with gas, the mower would not restart. So aggravating. He also finished up this little table for our booth. At least  that made him feel good.


The past two evenings, we've had firepit time. It is our reward for our day's work, and so pleasant to be out there with the dogs, listening to the fire crackles and the birds go to bed. It can be a challenge to make Larry stop, with so much to be done. And hour or two out there just restores the soul.

His and hers!



Today we are off to his doctor appointment in Charleston, stopping to pay the last of our taxes on the way. There goes $$$. Maybe I'll stop on the way home and buy plants. More $$, but so much more satisfying!




Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Monday, April 27, 2026

More Blooms

47°f/8.3°C again this morning, clear and crisp. 

It's a great day to get in the garden! And that is where I am heading in a few minutes. First, a look at the flowers that opened over the weekend.

That's Larry's blackberry patch behind the iris. 



I love the way this spiderwort looks like a skirt on the old chair.

Peonies are opening, 2 weeks early.


I think this is the first year for this peony to bloom.


More irises.








This one was a surprise. I do not recall planting it, especially where it is in the garden. It is smaller than the other blooms too. 


Today: plant something lily bulbs in have had for a few weeks. I hope they are okay. I forgot about them! Then till some more in the vegetable garden,  and this evening continue the major weeding I started yesterday. I spent two hours yanking weeds, which were 99% ground ivy. I also want to paint the last porch table. Need more paint to do the patio furniture so it will have to wait.

Off to work I go!




Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Another Race in the Books

47°f/8 3°C this morning, overcast. Expecting a high around 70, but it is pretty chilly still as I compose this post.

So another year of the Great Greenbrier River Race is over. 

The river was very low this year due to lack of rain, so the kayaks were out almost in the middle. This is a triathlon: run about 4 miles, kayak 4, bike 10.

The start/finish line looked a little lonely before the race.


Spectators on the bridge to watch the kayaks take off. 

The first leg of the race is the run. My oldest is in the hot pink shirt, kinda in the right middle.


Here he arrives at his kayak. My videos were terrible this year, most not coming out at all or having to be greatly edited. Lord knows what I was doing!


Here's Grace, paddling downriver. You can see how low the water was, creating traffic jams. Several got stuck.


So after this there is a lull of about an hour or so for the spectators,  as the kayaks get downriver to where the bikes are waiting. Then they run to their bikes and finish the race with the 10 mile ride.

And the finish! I almost missed George because he came in sooner than I expected!


Right after the finish. Boy do I look tired. (Very bad night's sleep, up at 5 to get on the road, and it shows!)


I missed Grace's finish, but here she is right after with her Dad 


George placed 3rd in his age group, getting his first medal in the 15 years he has competed. He was 15th overall out of 400 participants.


Grace also placed 3rd in her age group same as last year, I think. Like father like daughter?





George's good friend since college, Jeff and his daughter Lexi also competed again this year. 


What did we do while waiting for the bikes to come in? Well, the Greenbrier Grille is right there by the bridge, and has an outdoor porch overlooking the river, so we had lunch. BLT on marble rye for me,


burger for Larry. The food here is always good, and great coffee too.


We watched as the kayaks continued to take off,


and also watched this little rain shower move over the mountain and up the valley, eventually reaching town. But we were warm and dry on the covered porch, with our hot coffee and beautiful view.




Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
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