A Night Out, and Veggie Garden

55°f/13°C clear. High of 84°f/29°C expected. 81° as I write this at 3pm. 

After working in gardens and yard all day, we decided to have a night out. We ate dinner before we decided this, but there was live music

 at Taylor's Bookstore in Charleston, and a new Irish pub I have wanted to check out, so we  cleaned up and headed out.

The pub, called Hagy's, was a little disappointing, to be honest. I was hoping for a warm space with lots of wood, but this pub was more modern, with walls a nice shade of green, some contemporary-looking metal art on the walls that I suppose were Celtic symbols, and hard surfaces. The bar was beautiful, though,  a nice thick, rich wood. Service was okay, not particularly warm and welcoming but polite enough. I ordered an Irish coffee, which was very good, and Larry was thrilled that they had Guinness on tap. We checked out the menu, and noted many traditional dishes, like Champ and pasties of all kinds. So we will go back to try those out and hope for a better experience now that we know what to expect. At least they were playing good Irish music. That was nice.

We then went on to Taylor Books, which never disappoints. The vibe there is what I hoped for at the pub: eclectic furnishings, wood floor, deep red trim on the walls, a nice crowd of people of all ages and kinds. Wine and beer are $5 a glass, and free live music. And books, lots and lots of books both new and used, and art everywhere. They even have an underground theater where Indie movies are shown.

We chose a half-round booth which could actually seat 5, but it was soft and we were tired and decided age gave us a little privilege. Over the course of the evening various young people sat with us, and we had some very enjoyable conversations. The music was great, kind of swing with bluegrass overtones. 

We stayed until after 10 before beginning the hour-long drive home.

Today I've talked with my sons and had a long visit with Derek, who came for breakfast and stayed to chat on the porch. Perfect. Then I was back in the garden. I tilled it yesterday, 2 1/2 hours of jouncing along behind the tiller, and today I went back over it again. This evening, I hope, we can get some corn and beans planted. Rain is forecast tomorrow,  so if we can get some things in the ground that would be nice. At least I am now easy in my mind about the garden because once the ground is ready, planting is a simple matter.

It's hard to get a photo of the whole of this long, narrow garden. Here you can see the pale green lettuce to the center right, but can't see the kale and small patches of spinach, radishes, and chard. There is a row of onions in there too. Tomato plants are in the straw-covered area.

My trusty steed. Behind it to the left, peas are slowly growing on the trellis, there are onions in front of that and rhubarb under it. At the top are the leeks I planted last fall, ready to use now. Just behind the tiller I will plant summer squash and zucchini.

On this upper end I'd cabbage and broccoli, with the row of purple asparagus just visible behind them. We will plant cucumbers on this trellis; right now that's weeds you see at the base of the trellis. Pmanning on onions behind the asparagus,  garlic in front of it. Then corn in front of the cabbages, flowers behind them.

In the center front will be peppers and maybe squash. Celery will go in under the trellis.

Wishing all of you who wear the badge Mother a happy, beautiful day! 

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

A Day to Wander

55°f/13°C, overcast after a night of heavy rain.  Our little creek is roaring, water is puddled all over our sloped yard, the ground completely saturated. As I write, a bit of blue is showing in the west, so it may clear up today. 

Seen in through the window of Taylor Books in downtown Charleston,  WV. Pretty cool name for a construction company. 

Yesterday was a road-tripping kind of day, but it didn't really start out that way. Our intention was to drive down to Charleston's Farmers Market to search for some plants I want---black tomatoes, no-heat jalapeños, and celery. All three are favorites of ours, and we didn't find a single one. So disappointing! But what I get for not starting my own plants this year.

Still, we had a good time wandering around the market and talking to growers, going inside to check out the wine sampling and other great stuff, and Larry bought an assortment of what used to be penny candy---root beer barrels, Mary Janes, Tootsie Rolls, and my favorite sesame seed-honey candy.

We left there and stopped at Taylor Books, an independent bookstore, for good coffee and a small lunch. Beef, bean and mushroom soup for Larry and chicken salad for me. Yum. I used the leaf of lettuce as a wrap.

Outside of another restaurant,  a group of waitresses posed for a photographer.  It was Derby Day! So they all had hats. We were too far away for a good photo,

but I found this one on the Adelphia Sports Bar and Grille's Facebook page.

While eating lunch we decided to drive over to the Darrell Norris greenhouse in Ohio where I had gone last week, to get some plants for my (numerous) flowerpots, and more herbs for the block planters in the herb garden. It wasn't too far out of our way, and since we were already on the road...Larry is a good sport!

We arrived there after 4pm, and it was clear that they were winding down from a busy day. There was a food truck, even. And a funky little place to rest!

Across the road, a line of trucks were being loaded for transport to markets. There are two greenhouse companies here, across the road from each other, and both are big operations. 

Plenty of enticing displays inside.

So much to choose from!

Once again my wallet was depleted when we left, and I have plenty to do to get everything planted.

When we left there we took a different way home, which can be translated into "we got lost".  A lady at the greenhouse told us how to go, but evidently we made a wrong turn or two and ended up making a b-i-g circle! But it was interesting to drive these back roads through an area that apparently is slowly being abandoned, with many homes grown over with vines and trees. Southeastern Ohio is part of Appalachia, with rolling hills and little industry to keep people in the area. There are, however, many churches. This one is still in use.

You can barely see the old brick chimney hidden in the trees.

This building is actually in a small park and was renovated. I believe it was an old mill.

This church was abandoned. 

A former store, now being used as storage apparently.  As you can see it was spitting rain, so I apologize for the rain drops on the windshield.

Another church, no longer in use.

And another former store.

Churches, churches. At least there seemed to be more of them than bars! A good thing, I suppose?

In Antiquity, Ohio, where there is little else but the church.

So many abandoned homes. Often there were a half dozen vehicles, campers, even tractors left behind in the yards. It puzzles me because these things have some value, if only for scrap, so why just leave them to rot away? Ar least this tractor and camper appear to be cared for, but the truck, not so much.

This is just one of many empty houses we saw. Perhaps it wasn't the best home, but with good flat land and a good road, it seems the property could be sold. It may be that these homes are tied up in heirship, a thorny web to untangle usually.

We saw acres of land already planted with tomatoes and peppers,

and other fields lying fallow, perhaps having a year's rest. These are all along the banks of the Ohio, very fertile ground, and also a place where Native American artifacts are often found.

A sign of the future for this valley? A huge solar installation is covering many acres here that formerly were produce fields, growing tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli,  corn and other truck crops. This installation will provide all the electricity for the new lithium battery plant being built on the West Virginia side of the river.

And finally, over the river to home!

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

Down by the Riverside

I took these photos last week and have not had a chance to post them. We were at the state capitol building for a concert at the culture center, both of which are located near the banks of the Great Kanawha River in Charleston, WV. The night was beautiful, the building glowed and there were two sternwheelers on the river.

 The West Wing entrance to the capitol. This is the entrance to the governor's offices; the wide walk leads to his mansion which was just behind me as I took this photo.

The first sternwheeler cruised into view just as the last light of the day was fading on the horizon.

See the water splashing off the paddles on back of the boat?

In a few minutes, the second sternwheeler came up but I could not get a good photo of it. When I turned around there stood Lincoln, as somber as ever: the bronze sculpture called "Lincoln Walks at Midnight" captures the essence of what it must have been like to be president in the turbulent days of the Civil War.

Some evenings stay in our memory a long time. With digital cameras, we can retrieve those times in photos to savor again and again. Even if the photos aren't perfect, they make me happy and help me relive the soft breezes, clear air and the fun of walking at dusk with a friend along a beautiful river.