Each year I have volunteers in my garden. The chipmunks have seen to it that I have a steady crop of dill to be found in a number of the beds. One year Cleome took over half the sidewalk garden. Despite that, I’m thinking about sowing Cleome when I move the Dutch Iris this year.
Out in the herb garden, I’ve grown a number of things in the center of the center box. Some of those things are herbal, and some are just for color. The annual poppies have decided that it’s their turn to volunteer.
If you can see the picture above, there are Ox-eye daisies (which have volunteered now for about 16 years), and the red poppies. The salvia is a perennial. I was thinking the other day that we almost have Red, White and Blue going on, if you overlook the purple-ish cast of the salvia.
The walkway of the garden is supposed to be covered with a very white “chat” or tailings, or screenings. It’s a very tiny limestone particle. We had intended to settle brick into the chat to make a brick walkway, but we haven’t gotten there yet. I like the look of the volunteers in the chat, but it’s been so disturbed with the rebuilding, that I may have to dig things up, lay down more chat, and maybe even lay the bricks. Right now, in addition to a few weeds, we have garlic chives, fever few, lamb’s ears, the poppies, ox-eye daisies and thyme on the walk.
I’m frequently of a mind to let volunteers grow. God’s surprises can make for interesting gardens. I purchased a pack of wildflower seeds, intending to have DH rototill an area for me, where I could strew the seed. I don’t think we’re going to get to it, so I might strew the seed on the edge of the property where we don’t mow. I wonder if we will see visitors and volunteers for years to come, or whether we will be simply providing appetizers for the chipmunks?
“Bloom where you are planted!” Is this the lesson of the day, or is my mind just absorbed with the gardens? *G*
Daily Archives: June 2, 2007
More Weather
We’re supposed to be in line for thunderstorms this evening.
Elegante Mother is not a happy camper about heavy weather. Luckily, her rooms are on the east side of the house, and most of our weather comes in from the west. And, if we are lucky, she will be in bed, asleep, early enough to miss most of the storms.
The light has changed. We’ve gone from a sunny afternoon, to overcast. The grove behind me is still, but you can see leaves here and there starting to sway. It’s time to check out the radar and batten down the hatches.
I’ve moved most of the container garden in under the overhang of the entryway. I moved the last of the plants to be planted into the garage, and I may encourage my son to put his car in the garage, too. Let’s hope that Dear Husband is fortunate, and that the storms miss the lagoon where he is moored on the Chicago coastline.
I think I’ll go see if Ed is ready to come in! *G*
I hope you’re all safe this evening, and getting as much rain as you need….or would like.
Role Reversal
Harrier: “any of several short-winged hawks of the genus Circus that hunt over meadows and marshes and prey on reptiles and small birds and mammals.” *
I was driving home today, and saw a good-sized hawk being attacked by easily a dozen smaller birds. The little birds had banded together to drive it off to save their fledglings. It tickled me to think that the little birds were “harriers!”
There’s a lesson to be learned here. I think homeowners in Illinois need to follow the little bird’s example and harass their state government into restructuring how education is supported. Our property tax system is broken and needs very badly to be fixed! A law was passed roughly 15 years ago that was supposed to cap how much increase there could be per year in property tax. Unfortunately, the assessor gets around the law by re-assessing the value of our property. Soon, we will look very wealthy on paper, and be broke in reality.
I wonder how government believes that it can continue to grow without eventually killing off the hand that feeds it?
I need to ask my sister to direct me to the statistics, but I thought I heard that the State of Illinois was 48 out of 50 in terms of what is given to state education, and this is despite the Lotto, which was supposed to support education, and our gambling casino profits.
As I said….the funding system is broken, and needs to be fixed! Come on, little birds….show us the way!
*harrier. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved June 02, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/harrier
These are the Times that Try Men’s Souls…
…and women’s too. I am concerned about our ecology. Our household recycles more materials than just about anyone I know. Glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, chipboard…you name it, it goes out in our recycling. We are willing to heat the house to less than 70 degrees in the winter, and cool it to 76-78 degrees in the summer. We do not keep our grass to a regulation 2 inches, and a great deal of our outdoor work is done by hand, where it can be.
I’m contemplating keeping a bucket to catch water as the shower warms up, to be used to water the plants, and we have not let the water run as we brush our teeth for ages. We use hair products that pump, rather than spray. We’ve begun to change our light bulbs to those which are better choices ecologically.
We limit our driving. We have ALWAYS done all our errands in groups, and tried to create the shortest route possible. We’re becoming savvy about eating food grown nearby, so that we’re not adding shipping fuels to the expense of getting them to us.
We have areas where we can certainly do even better, but we try, and we try hard, to avoid making our ecology any worse than it is. But, I think I’ve found the point where I may find it difficult to be a good citizen.
I ran two errands today and when I came home, I felt like I was ready for the paramedics! It was all due to the humidity. We have been in a drought area for a number of years now. We finally got a tiny bit of rain the past few days, and coupled with heat in the 80s, voilà: HUMIDITY!
I’d forgotten just how bad humidity affects me. Unfortunately, I’m one of those people whose head and face perspires buckets when it’s humid. I get to the point where I look like I’m standing in my own private waterfall. There’s no way the perspiration can do it’s job to cool me, because there’s too much of it, and the humidity won’t allow it to evaporate. So, I get warmer and warmer, and can’t find any relief. At least during exercise I can wear a headband, but it’s not realistic to think I could wear one all the time.
So, I cannot give up my air-conditioning. I wonder what would happen to me if our circumstances changed and I didn’t have access to cooler, DRIER, air? I can envision renting a carrel at the library (if they had them). I could haunt the mall, or do a lot of grocery shopping. I could fill the tub with cool water and immerse myself for an hour or so. If I was still working, maybe we could find a small part of an air-conditioned office to sublet. I don’t need a lot of space.
Meanwhile, I pray for enough rain to keep my plants going, but not enough to drown me in my own perspiration the following day. There has to be an answer to this problem!