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7/1/2009 July already? May and June flew by so fast as to be almost unrecordable, and now it's July already. Our hot patch of weather apparently ran itself out, as it's been cool and rainy for two days, and today looks the same. Saves me from having to water the lawn, though, and that's a good money saver. My garden looks great...if you don't get too close and see the weeds and grass growing among the flowers. I did manage to use the hedge trimmer on Oscar's privet hedge on the south side of the house. I'm not a big hedge person myself, but he wanted that one sooooo much. Now where the heck is he to manage it???? Sigh.
But the lilies are having a good year, the roses are gearing up for a 2nd bloom, and even the lawn looks pretty good now that I've managed to get the 2nd fertilizing done. I believe 4th of July is the time for the 3rd application, but oh well. I'll get to it one of these days.
Jane and I are picking up sandwiches and going to the 'brown bag concert' in St. Joe today...if the rain takes a break. Tomorrow, Joyce and I plus Cheryl and her just-moved-here mom are going to check out the Senior Center. We'll have lunch there and explore the place. From their newsletter, it looks like they have many activities, from exercise groups to trips to card games, so hopefully this will be a place where Doris (the mom) can make friends and plan this new phase of her life.
Friday will see me back to the shrubbery. The spirea has finished blooming, so time to whack it down a bit. I am feeling glad I didn't sell my house last fall. It's fun to get out there and garden a bit. Oh sure, I don't need quite so much garden, but I wouldn't like having none at all.
Hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July. 6/25/2009 Sum, sum, summertime It's here: summer! After that unbearably long, cold, rainy spring, we midwesterners feared this would be one of those years that forgot summer entirely. But no, the weather has been in the high 80s and 90s (Kalamazoo hit 100 yesterday) and the beaches are crowded. Skies are clear, sun blazing. Perfect summer weather, made even more so because we have air conditioning.
Joyce and I were asking ourselves over dinner last night how we had survived all those years without it. I remember hot summer nights in upstate N.Y. Bertie and I shared a room up over the kitchen. I think it was originally attic space, all eaves and low ceilings...and one very small window. It was unbearable on those too-warm August nights. Not much air, even less sleeping. But we managed, and here we are, pampered beyond belief by the magic of whole-house air conditioning!
This is the time of year we neighborhood kids, back in the 1950s, would put on our backyard circus for the amusement of our parents. We'd hang from the bar on our swingset as if we were truly flying on a trapeeze. Not much talent, perhaps, but oh, the joy! The Coeymans school had a shallow swimming pool behind it, and we'd trudge up that hill to cool off for a few hours, then trudge back down, hot all over again. That was our version of swimming back then. Later, when we were teens, we'd go to the pool in Ravena. It was not a 'cement pond,' but rather a man-made lake, with a raft for us to swim to. I wonder if it is still there? We had many happy hours hanging out with our friends there.
Well, I am waxing sentimental when I should be out weeding my garden while it's still the cool of the morning. My little veggie plot is growing nicely; the squash have flowers on them, the tomatoes are tall. But the weeds are thriving, too, so off I go. 6/19/2009 Mother Nature struts her stuff At 3:00 a.m, I was jolted awake by blasts of thunder. At 4:00, the electricty went out. I lay there for two hours feeling the house shake and listening to the sheets of rain pouring down. Our block was lucky, though; the lights didn't stay out long. Noel's was not so fortunate. Quite a few large trees went down all along the ravine behind those houses...and they took the power lines down with them. What a mess. Bob says they probably won't have power for at least the rest of today.
I just returned from a quick trip to the grocery store, only to find it closed...no power! Nor was the traffic light on the corner working. So how fortunate I still have coffee and one library book left to read! 6/17/2009 Amelia Earheart"On June 17, 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman. She flew from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours." From today's NY Times.
This was a decade when women were making huge strides towards equality. Amelia was a true heroine, going way beyond equality into superhero status.
I give you 1928, which in general, was an eventful year on all fronts:
A vibrant, exciting year. And, as we know from history, just one short year away from "Black Friday" and the beginning of the Great Depression. But, oh those songs. We still sing them; Mickey Mouse is here for eternity it appears; The artists, the composers...we know them all so well today. Russia and China...in 1928, that must have seemed so hopeful. History informs us of the outcomes there. And as always, there were political assassinations, political turmoil. We don't really understand peace, do we?
6/15/2009 That week flew by It's been almost a week since I posted...can't believe how fast life is zooming by. The air-conditioner and sprinkler system guys have come and gone, as I may have mentioned already. Somehow it feels more like summer after their visits. I've been out spraying weeds in the lawn; watering and fertilizing annuals,roses, and veggies; deadheading the last of the iris; in other words, gardening my heart out. It's finally warm and sunny here. Rejoice!!
Jane, Pam and I had a wonderful time at the Meijer Garden in Grand Rapids last week. Since my last visit there several years ago, they have added the most charming children's garden. One of the many features is a miniature version of the Great Lakes...large enough to float boats, and with the elevations correctly relevant so a child can see how a boat from Lake Superior can traverse the system. There is even a small Niagara Falls. There are tree houses, woodsy walks, a maze, just about anything an imaginative landscape architect could think of. We were delighted at every turn.
I had a quiet weekend, which I enjoyed very much. It's possible to be too busy, and that has been my life this spring. Now I'm ready for some lazy time. I did buy my beach pass, so I'm ready whenever guests visit or even just to go down and float a little by myself. Where did I put those blow-up rafts anyway??
I'm mulling over shampooing the dining room carpet. I would love to tear it out and put in a wood floor, but the budget's not allowing that right now. My list just keeps growing. Houses, I fear, like gardens, are never done. Now that I've decided to stay awhile that's ok; when I was trying to get the house ready for the market, I was much too aware of every project I hadn't gotten to. Now I have some time and am developing a five-year plan. |
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