PNewL PNewS
Volume 21 No. 1 “All
the pnews that phits.” June 2013
The Reluctant
Gardener Returns
It is that time of year—the bulbs have
mostly come and gone, and they were particularly lovely this year. I swear the
azalea blooms were twice as big as normal. There are more shades of green out
there than I can find on a paint chart. And with all the bleeping rain this
spring (something like 16 inches
more than normal), things are growing happily. Meanwhile, I grouse about.
Sometimes, I wonder what I was thinking. There is a lot of work to be done
around ye olde hacienda and knowing me, it ain’t gonna happen—thus the
grousing. I putter around over here and then there and the adult onset ADD
kicks in and everything is half-done at best. Like right now, I could be
outside (which I was just moments ago when I was inspired to come write about
it but I really need to take a shower and go to Knitting) but I’m not.
I do get a few things checked off the
list. I have a wonderful weed whacker. It’s battery powered so when the battery
dies—just about the time my attention is wandering, I have to stop and recharge
it. I had some trouble with it tangling but I did some deep breathing and
googling and learned how to rewind the line and also learned that it didn’t
like the last line I bought but really likes the new line. And I try not to
attack the bottoms of high weeds, working top down, slowly, mindfully.
Very…Zen? And then the !(*#&!&$*^$ just stopped working. The
troubleshooting guide says things like “If it’s dirty, clean it.” “If there is
stuff wound around the pole, unwind it.” DUH. SO I had a good chat with it. I
said, look, I really need you to work—there is no way to FIX you, so please?
And then I smashed it into the ground and bingo! It works! For now.
I bought half a whiskey barrel at Tractor
Supply. In California, they are wine barrels, in North Carolina, whiskey. They
burn out the inside so there was a lot of ash and charcoal inside which I
didn’t think much about as I wedged it into the backseat of the car. I thought
a lot about it as I looked at my pants and then the backseat. Oops. Then I got
it home, filled the bottom with foam peanuts topped with a lot of soil. And
then it started rain. Man, that thing is water tight. I guess when I got the
one in California, someone had drilled holes in it. Oops #2. The foam rose to
the top and was floating in
amongst the soil. What a mess. So I got the drill out and put holes as close to
the bottom as I could—it’s too heavy to lift—and watched the murky water drain.
Now I have a mess, but it is a relatively dry mess. I better get the herbs
planted before something else happens.
You might be thinking, she doesn’t come to
this living in the country, enjoying all of Mother Nature’s offerings (along
with those from the hardware store) naturally. Egggggzactly. Thus, the “what was
I thinking?” comment and this column too.
Meanwhile, I have been wondering when it
would be time to stop feeding the birds…when the bears would be out looking for
big juicy bird feeders. Well, I found out. About a month ago, I looked out and
the big hefty feeder was gone. We walked the property, peered into the woods.
Nada. It’s gone. A couple mornings later, I was brushing my teeth and noticed
that there was something wrong with the split rail fence below. The top
rail….was broken in half. And beyond that, the forsythia bush looked like a
small vehicle had driven through it. Seems the bear came back looking for
another snack. Fortunately I had brought the other feeder in. Nature’s busy
here in the mountains!
As the time passes and I still haven’t
finished this, things are constantly changing. Today I went out to have a look
at the blueberry bushes and looky there: BLUE berries. Big fat juicy. Yum. Now
if it would just stop raining I could go back out there with my bucket…Enjoy
the bounty that is summer, y’all!
Things I am Learning
& Miscellaneous Observations
• I made a quick trip to
Sanibel for visits with friends and family and with some stops on the way home
with other friends. It was a good trip, though the weather was such that I
didn’t get to the beach and the traffic such that I didn’t get to my favorite
restaurant. It did make me think a lot about the different choices we
make—lifestyles, locations, projects--particularly as we get older and the
choices are more precious.
• I take a lot of
classes—mostly craft-related. I am starting to learn on youtube but I like going
to classes. What I don’t like is
outdated supply lists. Craft teachers, in my experience, are notorious for
asking students to bring a lot of crap that never gets used. The number of
teachers who say things like, Oh is that on the supply list? I thought I took
that off, is remarkable…and annoying.
• While watching the movie
“Lincoln” at home, I started checking birthdates—they rarely pair actors
appropriately age-wise. Sally Field is 11 years older than Daniel Day Lewis
while Lincoln was nine years older than Mary. I also learned Daniel Day Lewis
is one day older than me.
• I had my favorite chaise (which Gini got for me at a garage sale for $25) reupholstered. After months of looking at new ones, none of which was exactly what I wanted and feeling odd about sending a perfectly good piece of furniture that I love away. I paid more than some new ones cost to bring it back to life. When I dropped it off with the fabric, Ronnie the upholsterer started laughing at the fabric. I said what's so funny...and he said STRIPES. It didn't read stripey to me. When I picked it up, I laughed—he asked what and I said, I didn’t notice how golden the fabric is. Alas, it is home and inside (thanks to Jeff and Susan), and I am happy.
• I had my favorite chaise (which Gini got for me at a garage sale for $25) reupholstered. After months of looking at new ones, none of which was exactly what I wanted and feeling odd about sending a perfectly good piece of furniture that I love away. I paid more than some new ones cost to bring it back to life. When I dropped it off with the fabric, Ronnie the upholsterer started laughing at the fabric. I said what's so funny...and he said STRIPES. It didn't read stripey to me. When I picked it up, I laughed—he asked what and I said, I didn’t notice how golden the fabric is. Alas, it is home and inside (thanks to Jeff and Susan), and I am happy.
• I tweaked my back looking
at pans on the bottom shelf. I was leaning in and picking up heavy stuff in the
back of the cabinet and thought, I bet there's going to be a time when doing
this is really stupid and stood up and realized, this is the time! I now have
an itty bitty understanding of back pain. Ouch. My sympathies.
• Listening to The Splendid Table recently, I was intrigued by talk about chick pea
flour. I thought—that is a win-win: flour made of BEANS. Practically a health
food! I could buy chick pea flour, but why not just grind up my own? I can tell
you one reason: it’s really LOUD. Fortunately, I had just come from a pseudo
black-smithing class, so I knew where my ear plugs were. The result—tortillitas by Mark Bittman (Google him)—was very nice.
• Andrew and Kendall got
married in the Washington DC area recently. It was one of those happy
coincidences: I was planning to go to a conference of do-gooders in Washington
DC the week before the wedding and Andrew was getting married (which was not
only a happy coincidence but a happy event). A two-fer! How often does that
happen? Both events (and a few bonus visits with friends) exceeded
expectations. The tears shed at the wedding were all for my pal of 35+ years
Stephanie watching her baby boy. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
• Why do I always feel like I
am leaving the house, even for just a few hours, with luggage? I can’t even go
to the store without a load of stuff. I haven’t counted my canvas bags but they
seem to reproduce when I am not there. And they are often loaded with all sorts
of stuff I just might need. What if I get stuck somewhere and need something to
read? What if the car breaks down and I need a sweater? Might be able to
squeeze in a stop at the gym. Always travel with a snack…and paper and pens,
and things that need to be fixed or returned or dropped off. You never know.
That “be prepared” scouting stuff can be all consuming. Now that I think of it,
maybe it was from the days of Let’s Make a Deal when Monty Hall gave money to
people who had hard boiled eggs in their pockets.
• I have one of those grown
up tasks facing me. It involves money and authority figures and decisions and
trust and responsibility. These are not at the top of my list of skills and/or
favorite things. As I read through documents, I get kind of interested and then
– bing, oh look I got an email. Back to it and bing, I wonder if I need to put
toilet paper on the list. I’ll just go look and see. Then, grinding on along, I
read someone’s analysis of the issue and become engrossed by their ability to
use language in a way that is so foreign to me and it makes me feel sad that I
can’t do that and that all of this stuff is so pathetically hard for me and
then I wonder if I have any skills and why I haven’t done something more
important and serious and grown-up
with my life and BING…it’s just a bleeping hurdle, get on with it and
bing…don’t I deserve and need a soothing game of Solitaire right about now? As
mom always said, This too shall pass. This passing does not appear to be going
smoothly, however.
• I am heading out of town
soon (usually) and so have been doing some serious paper shuffling. I came
across one of those articles I can’t seem to find a place for but I can’t throw
away. It is about the joy…and the importance…of solo travel. If you are so
inclined I recommend it highly. It is one of those articles I would kill to
have written (ok, maybe not kill, but he says what I want to say so much better
and so I am envious…plus in googling his name I find he has a remarkable
career). There are so many quotable quotes, I can’t pick em out…so just read
it. http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/yes-please-party-of-one/
'I have not failed. I've just
found 10,000 ways that won't work.' Thomas Edison
32nd Annual Angel Island Picnic
Saturday June 22. Perles Beach
Come on down.
