Scattered Seed

Every evening when I return from work, I do a walk around the yard. My first stop is usually out front at the pea vines to pick a handful or two. After about three days I have enough to use for a meal.

Alongside the peas I have a few collards growing. George enjoys them. I do not. He made up some this evening to have with his dinner. It’s hard to find them fresh around here, and canned don’t sound appealing, so I’m glad we have a little harvest going on.

Out back, in my experimental bag garden, I have peppers and tomatoes coming on, though slowly. Green beans are beginning to appear, and there are many squash and cucumber blossoms on the vine.

A big surprise has been several plants that have popped up around the base of the hollyhocks.
We just noticed this past week that there were what appeared to be squash blossoms. Looking closer, I see three separate plants growing. We didn’t plant anything there this year, but we did spread some compost. It seems that we might be growing acorn squash!
The seeds must have survived in the compost since winter. That is the only time we eat that type of squash.

We didn’t do much this weekend, other than catch up from the week’s work. I made a raisin bread….
and chamomile sun tea (which Rebecca and Melissa got us hooked on)….
I puttered in the garden (here is our first little pepper)
and we started gathering our supplies for our August camping adventure.

It has probably been 15 years since we have been camping, so I’ve been recreating a master list of what we will need. I held on to my old list till about five years ago, then figured our camping days were past. With the addition of an air mattress to cushion those aging body parts, we think we can give it another go!

I was turning sixteen that summer. My dad had sold our little home. He put our furniture in storage and we moved to my grandparents cottage at the lake while waiting to take possession of our new home on Main St….the brick house where George and I were married three summers later.

It was a magical summer, being at the lake. Waking up to the sound of the wind in the willows and the water lapping the shore. We had cookouts and picnic dinners, card games and naps on the porch. Walks down the lane to pick black caps for jam and pies. Being sixteen, full of dreams.

The quiet of being at the lake….an occasional motorboat, the sound of kids down on the beach at play, the occasional call of crows and blue jays. There was a phone on the kitchen wall, but it was a party line. I had a little radio to keep up with the Top 40 hits. And in the livingroom was a little black and white TV with a grainy picture and rabbit-ear antennas. There was always so much to do so it was rarely turned on.

But I remember this date 40 years ago…..sitting on the couch at the cottage, adjusting and readjusting the antenna so that we could get the best picture as we watched the lunar landing. I remember my grandfather watching along with me, hearing “the Eagle has landed”…..and knowing it was a phenomenal day.

For the remainder of the summer, as I looked out at the moon over the water, I tried to imagine a man walking there….tried to imagine a U.S. flag still flying there.

It was a summer like no other…..perfect for a sixteen year old, full of dreams.

It was a busy day, catching up from a busy week. It’s late already, so I’ll just post some photos from our day….

Dinner on the deck….

Fresh, early corn….

and birds to entertain us….

From a little patch in the yard, where the wild things are left to grow, sunflowers have taken root….

Summer seems to be flying by.

We headed up to Seneca Falls this morning, to see Dad and Evelyn’s new apartment and to see what we could do to help them get settled in. Garrett drove over from Orchard Park, and my sister, Kathy came by for the afternoon. It was a good day, filled with accomplishments and mishaps. Dad said, with a smile, that it would definitely be memorable.

We celebrated Garrett’s 24th birthday a few days early, and I took this photo before we departed.

It makes me smile.

We spent the day up at Sapsucker Woods after reading the post on Round Robin yesterday. Check out their slideshow.

We wanted to see the young great blue herons for ourselves. It was a beautiful day to be in the woods…..well, except for the mosquitoes.

We checked out the heron’s nest from above and below, and from different vantage points around the pond. We saw two adults down in the pond, but could never see more than three young ones in the nest.

It was amazing to think that four chicks could live on that nest out in the open, especially when you consider the storms that have moved through our area in the past couple of weeks!

Heavy rains hit here mid-afternoon, and I thought to close down the windows and bring in the hanging planter. I forgot to turn over the camp chairs though, and they collected a good amount of rain in an hours time.

After the storm passed through I went out back to check on things. The birds were returning to the feeders, and this little chipmunk showed up. He (or she) is new to our neighborhood. George caught sight of it hiding in the neighbor’s down spout yesterday.

When we first moved here, there were no trees to speak of, and so, not much wildlife. As things have grown up in our yard and around the circle we have seen rabbits, then woodchucks, squirrels multiplying with each passing year, and now this new little fellow.

We are under another weather watch at the moment. Heavy rains and 60 mph winds are just to the west of us. Time to batten down the hatches, and wildlife should take cover….

When we were clearing out some things in the basement last week, I found one last suet cake of a case that my brother-in-law, Mike, gave me last fall. I wondered what birds would come to it in the summer.

It is packed with nyjer, fruits, and sunflower seeds and hearts in the shape of a Christmas tree.

I noticed a downy woodpecker and black-capped chickadee on it this morning, and this evening two hairy woodpeckers were attached to either side, hammering away at it. I don’t think it will last long.

After hearing about the daily rains, and the hail storm that hit here while we were on vacation, it has been surprising that the weather has warmed up and cleared up since we arrived home.

Thunderstorms were in the forecast for this afternoon, so I have been keeping my eye on the sky. Taking the clothes off the line just a little bit ago, clear skies were suddenly filling with clouds.

Every few minutes the view changed.

The clothes got dried on the line, I watered the garden, but George put the top up on the Miata, just in case. It seems that the storms are going to stay to the north of us.

Feeling rested from our vacation and sleeping in a little late this morning, we went on to have a busy and productive day.

Rhubarb was picked. Weeds, that grew out of control while we were gone, were pulled till my knees hurt. Laundry was hung out to dry. A loaf of rye bread was made in the bread maker. Chicken was cooked on the grill.

Our greatest accomplishment of the day, however, was tackling the room downstairs. Morgan’s stuff has been stored down there since she graduated from college six years ago. She’s poked at it each time she is home, but we decided to reclaim the space for George’s use. We did a major heave-ho today with her blessing.

Morgan and I have a similar nostalgia meter and it’s really hard to let things go for either one of us. The obvious “junk” is gone, but her special little mementos were tucked away just a little more compactly than how she had left them.

George seemed motivated once the space opened up and spent the rest of the afternoon erecting shelves and setting his truck models in place.

I had been giving him the evil eye each time he considered bringing a new acquisition home. His trucks were showing up everywhere in the house. Now he has his own space and he can decide when things get too cluttered!