Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Midsummer Musings


As always, summer is passing too quickly. Already the stores are flogging fall clothes and winter catalogues appear in the mail. I refuse to look at them for now. Why would anyone want to dwell on winter coats when the sun is high and the breeze is from the south?

I've been blessed with the first opportunity to meet my niece's new baby girl, Grace. One forgets how very tiny and delicate a newborn can be. Poor dear is minding the humidity and heat we've been having and was a bit fussy with heat rash. She did me the honour of falling asleep while I held her in the rocking chair. Little ones are so very precious it makes the heart ache. She has a full head of golden hair, softer than chicken down.

My son is off to summer camp, and decided that long hair was too much bother - so he shaved his head!!! A bit of a shock - he's lucky to have a dimpled smile and gorgeous brown eyes that keep him from looking like a neo-Nazi. Just had his 17th birthday, they grow up so fast.

In the garden, the scarlet runner blooms are beginning to develop beans, tiny summer squash are growing behind big yellow blossoms, the peas are done, swiss chard is producing a small second crop and the garlic chives are in bud. Bee balm has just begun blooming and the milkweed is almost open. I've seen a few monarch butterflies, but have no caterpillars on the plant. They are supposed to thrive on milkweed so I'm hoping. At least I'll get to enjoy the vanilla-scented pink flowers soon. Gold and peach daylilies are among the plants passed along from my sister's divisions, as well as several leftovers from the plant sales. I have pansies and violas here and there in both raised beds and in containers. Tomatoes are lagging this year. I have a few on each plant but they are far from prolific.

I've been making homemade iced tea from pineapple mint, lemon balm and lemon verbena and it's good, citrusy & sweetened a bit with honey. Borage leaf is good in tea too, but I discovered last year it has to be used very lightly. Has a pronounced laxative effect in larger amounts about which I will say no more.

At the edge of the yard, wild raspberries are ripening and blueberries are almost ready to pick as well. In back of the shed, masses of green berries promise a good blackberry crop later. Just up the road, an old woods path is a great spot for picking blueberries. If only the mosquitoes would stay away, being outside would be wonderful.

When I'm not busy, I love to sit by the window with a good book, pausing now & then to look out at the garden. The hummingbird whizzes by to hit the feeder again or to perch at the fuchsias. Butterflies drift around, birds call, and I bask in the peace and quiet. I've been enjoying Miss Read's stories lately. Her tales of life in an English country village are just the thing if you like stories about the everyday dramas of ordinary people. She has a keen appreciation of nature and the countryside and the seasons feature in the stories. I don't much enjoy writers who seem not to see nature around them, though I do like different types of literature. Also reading "The Proud Tower",Barbara Tuchman's history of pre-WWI Europe, heavy going at times but full of insight and fascinating anecdotes.

We've had some (much needed) rain & thunder showers the last few days, and on July 19th I watched a fantastic sunset after a storm. The eastern sky was blotted out by a mountain of clouds, shaped and layered with shades of lavender, rose and at the very peak backlit to almost gold, wonderfully dramatic. As I watched, jagged streaks of lightning flashed out from the darkest centre of the lower cloud formation. At the same time, the sky to the west was clearing to the bright blue of a sunny day, turning to gold and pink as the sun lowered on the horizon. A sunset to remember.

Watched an interview with Nelson Mandela and the celebration of his 90th birthday. My son is proud that he has the same birthdate as such a true hero (an overused word but true in his case I think). We could use a few more like him in this world. Makes me proud to have supported the Free Mandela movement in my student days, in a small way. Think globally, act locally & all that, not a bad way to carry on everyday life at all.


Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Gardens,Grace & Gravesites


Our most exciting family news is that my niece's long awaited baby arrived on July 5th, about a week later than expected. She is the first girl born into our family since her mother came along in 1980. Her great-grandmother may smother the poor child in pink dresses, but it's nice just the same, balances things up a bit with two older brothers in the house. Welcome to our Grace Ann!!! An old fashioned name for a 21st century girl.

Coming into high summer now and the weather is getting hot, hot, hot!!! Temperatures up to 30c are not at all unusual, and with our southern exposure it's hard to get the garden work done without feeling a bit fried at times. Today a good breeze is keeping things tolerable although it's another hot, dry day. Despite the heat, my shade loving impatiens and fuchsia are doing beautifully on the side steps. In shades of blush pink and rose, they cheer me up first thing every morning. The hummingbird likes them too. My Berries & Cream nemesia - a lovely scented hybrid - looks nice too, with bright and soft yellow mimulus that blend with the buttery yellow nemesia centres. Look out, Martha S.!!!

We've had a few snacks from the food plants, one harvest of mesclun (spicy lettuce mix) from the cut & come again planting; a few sugar snap peas; and the first leaves of swiss chard. It is delicious sauteed in a bit of oil with onions and tomatoes, then sprinkled with the tarragon/chive vinegar made from my chive blossoms.

Coming into bloom now are the gem marigolds - orange, gold, yellows; daylilies (a gift from my sister, so mystery colours till open, mostly gold varieties; antique shades pansies; rose coloured milkweed; and the glorious peony Sarah Bernhardt. Sarah's almost past it now, but for about two weeks has been a joy to behold, full of lush pink blooms. It's a plant I've had for thirteen years and has moved twice with me. I think when the time comes to leave this place it may be better off left behind, though dividing is a possibility. Perennials are a mixed blessing when renting, because you leave a bit of your heart behind with every garden you've made. At least I do. I still remember fondly a wonderful collection of Asiatic lilies from my garden in the city. How I'd love to have them again.

This time of year the wildflowers are as showy as anything in the garden. Out back in the unmowed meadow, purple wild peas, tall snowy daisies and red-orange devil's paintbrush are so beautiful they make me wish I could paint like Monet. The butterflies are frequent visitors, orange and yellow "flying flowers" that lift the spirits just by being. When walking to the store, I spotted a graceful clump of mauve and pink foxgloves just growing in the ditch - pretty as can be, and frustrating as I've tried to grow them several times without success. Wild roses and strawberries dot the roadsides too, along with feathery clumps of ferns. My son grows impatient when I stop to look at everything in bloom, still young enough to often be in a hurry.

As I walk in late afternoon, I often hear the soft hoots of the mourning dove's call from the woods. I've read that in the Appalachians, mountain folklore says that the spirit of loved ones passed over are calling. Life and death side by side always, and meant to be in the natural way of things, though parents are meant to be the first ones to go, not our children. Still, I find comfort in the many ways people of the world keep our loved ones in memory when they're gone. They are always with us.

I always make up a special container for my son's grave in the summer, and soon it will be time for Dad and I to take his rosemary and marigolds out, rosemary for remembrance as always. It's a peaceful place bordered by silver birches, and I like knowing my flowers are there by the footstone that spells out his name. Blessings on us all, especially the family of our latest fallen soldier. He grew up in Fredericton, where I lived for many years. May they all be at peace.


An Old Irish Blessing


May you always be blessed

with walls for the wind

a roof for the rain

a warm cup of tea by the fire,

Laughter to cheer you,

those you love near you

and all that your

heart might desire.