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Angler of Bliss
Apr. 14th, 2021 10:15 pmWe had warm weather, and then rain, and the all the trees have moved out of stasis and started budding and leafing. The maple tree outside my bedroom window is blooming in little green and red tassels, an annual event that I look forward to. The redbuds are blooming. Now, however, it's chilly again, so everything will slow down. That's all right with me. I like a leisurely spring. However, I hope it won't go so far as to snow next week, which they say it might.
I biffed off to the grocery store and did the shopping this morning, then hastily stuffed a lot of vegetables into the refrigerator. We had a rather fancy dinner. The Sparrowhawk baked the whitefish with lemon and herbs, and fried some potatoes, and I steamed the artichokes and made a spinach salad with some grapes that were starting to get a bit dessicated, some chopped pecans, leftover lemon juice, and a little balsamic vinegar. The fact that the grapes got a little wrinkly only made them more sweet and tasty.
My heating mat for making seeds germinate finally arrived! So I brought the two trays of seeds I'd planted inside and set them up on the mat. I hope it works. On Monday, I ripped up the rotted frame to one of my raised beds, and replaced it with the new composite frame we finally were able to buy. Everything having to do with gardens is in short supply, because COVID. The Sparrowhawk brought me a good screwdriver from his toolbox and showed me how to use the thingie that drills a mini-hole so you can start the screw firmly. Not a code phrase. . . . I thanked him, and he said rather gloomily, "Welcome to my pre-1965 world of no power tools." He felt bad that he didn't have a power drill and power screwdriver like all the other boys on the block. It's just as well. I'm sort of pre-industrial myself, and power tools scare me. I need to get used to using hand tools first. Today he also got me some soil amendments--peat moss and perlite. I wanted vermiculite, but there is none to be had. All the garden websites tell you sternly that perlite and vermiculite are NOT the same thing, but the perlite will be better than nothing. I hope. I hope I can make SOMETHING grow this year.
Our reclusive neighbor, on the other side from the genial Irish, knocked on the door to tell us that the Sparrowhawk had left the back gate of the car up when he unloaded the garden supplies. He also told us that someone else up the street had their car stolen this winter, when they left their keys in the car. Another guy had a duffel bag stolen out of his car. This caused him some troubled because there was a gun in it . . . . It's disturbing, because obviously there is some predator who prowls the area and takes things at random, when found unguarded. We've been making sure to lock the car, but it's not a nice feeling.
I biffed off to the grocery store and did the shopping this morning, then hastily stuffed a lot of vegetables into the refrigerator. We had a rather fancy dinner. The Sparrowhawk baked the whitefish with lemon and herbs, and fried some potatoes, and I steamed the artichokes and made a spinach salad with some grapes that were starting to get a bit dessicated, some chopped pecans, leftover lemon juice, and a little balsamic vinegar. The fact that the grapes got a little wrinkly only made them more sweet and tasty.
My heating mat for making seeds germinate finally arrived! So I brought the two trays of seeds I'd planted inside and set them up on the mat. I hope it works. On Monday, I ripped up the rotted frame to one of my raised beds, and replaced it with the new composite frame we finally were able to buy. Everything having to do with gardens is in short supply, because COVID. The Sparrowhawk brought me a good screwdriver from his toolbox and showed me how to use the thingie that drills a mini-hole so you can start the screw firmly. Not a code phrase. . . . I thanked him, and he said rather gloomily, "Welcome to my pre-1965 world of no power tools." He felt bad that he didn't have a power drill and power screwdriver like all the other boys on the block. It's just as well. I'm sort of pre-industrial myself, and power tools scare me. I need to get used to using hand tools first. Today he also got me some soil amendments--peat moss and perlite. I wanted vermiculite, but there is none to be had. All the garden websites tell you sternly that perlite and vermiculite are NOT the same thing, but the perlite will be better than nothing. I hope. I hope I can make SOMETHING grow this year.
Our reclusive neighbor, on the other side from the genial Irish, knocked on the door to tell us that the Sparrowhawk had left the back gate of the car up when he unloaded the garden supplies. He also told us that someone else up the street had their car stolen this winter, when they left their keys in the car. Another guy had a duffel bag stolen out of his car. This caused him some troubled because there was a gun in it . . . . It's disturbing, because obviously there is some predator who prowls the area and takes things at random, when found unguarded. We've been making sure to lock the car, but it's not a nice feeling.
