Dan's Ramblings

Dan here ~

Beautiful evening last night. Just about dead calm. I went out in the kayak and rescued Bob (more about Bob here) and tried to get some pictures of the plantings to show you. 

That was the second time I have pulled Bob out of the brush along the shore since I talked at you last. I don’t think I’ve kayaked when it was as calm this season. Not as hard on my arms, nice ride.

The flower boxes along the front retaining wall are looking nice. They will get their first hit of fertilizer on Sunday. Basically, anything that gets watered on Sundays here, gets hand watered from a watering can and gets fertilizer. That way I can remember, Sunday equals hand watering and fertilizer. Works for me.

We have a little garden that contains a lilac bush from Carol’s folks old place in Auburn. In it I planted a couple other lilacs. Second year with them, one blossomed from the first year the other one ….. nothing. That one may have to go. With as little space as I have now plants have to do what they are supposed to do or move elsewhere. That lilac might find itself living up by the septic system. The other one I planted is a Japanese lilac. I like it because it blossoms after the other lilacs are done for the season. Another opportunity for that wonderful fragrance.

Earlier this spring I found a lupine beside the road on my walk and transplanted it here as well. Lupines are hard to move because of their long tap root. I moved this from real sandy soils and was real careful and I think I did good. Hopefully it survives. It is in bloom now. It is purple and in my gardens in Rangeley it would have been disposed of. I did not allow the purples to blossom in my yard. I had too many odd colors I had seeded out in the greenhouse and planted and then saved the seeds and replanted etc. I had many bicolor blues and reds. The purple is the dominate color in lupines so I pulled them to try to keep them out of the gene pool in the yard. It seem to work in my yard there. Here I won’t be so fussy. 

I was also happy to find a couple foxglove that made it here, probably as seeds with plants I brought from Rangeley. I have moved them as I found them and put them all in this garden. This seasons foxglove is almost ready to bloom. One of Carol and my favorites. The foxglove is biennial so we’ll see if they continue into the future. Fortunately I have been playing with them long enough so I will recognize them as small seedlings and then I can move them around if and when they do show up around the gardens. They produce a lot of seeds. After they go by I don’t know what will come up in that garden for the rest of the season, I’ve scattered some seeds. I guess we’ll see.

Won’t be sharing what I’m sewing for a while as I am sewing a top for Carol to quilt for a friend of ours. It should keep me busy for a while. I’m sure I’ll be able to share it with you at some point in the future once I get permission from her.

Meanwhile, I am just enjoying the calm evenings of late sitting out by the fire. Either reading a book or listening to one most evenings until 9-9:30 then I head into the studio and sew until about 1. I sew either listening to music or listening to audiobooks. The silence with nothing on causes me to think too much. Too much thinking too late at night can create too many bad thinks. We all know that if you think about something long enough it seems like a good think when it is definitely not. But in reality some thinks are like some of my quilt ideas, they are best left as ideas and not acted upon.

Enjoy what ever comes your way for weather this weekend, as long as it doesn’t snow I guess I’ll be ok. Remember whatever comes, comes; whatever goes, goes; but only the sun shines. Let’s hope the sun shines this weekend. Enjoy.