Oscar is away for two weeks. It’s amazing how much free time I have. What an incredible discovery!
I’ve only done laundry once. Dishes twice- in the dishwasher and that was just because there were some specific dishes I needed and I didn’t feel like washing them by hand.
I’ve barely cooked a meal. I’m eating salads and grilled cheese to my heart’s content. Working my way through a couple bottles of wine. Yeah, savoring the Pinot.
Baked a chocolate cake for Mother’s Day, ate one piece and froze the rest. I did hear from all my kids. Miss them terribly but two of the three are out of town. My son lives maybe 90 minutes away but he’s been working so much he didn’t feel like driving in and I didn’t feel like guilting him into doing so.
It’s just… Wow! And a little weird. Jake and I are pretty boring if left to our own devices so Oscar better get home soon!
Oh! So here’s the garden news. I harvested all the lettuce except for some leaf lettuce growing in planters. It was taking up too much space and I’d been supplying the entire block for a month. The lettuce, or mixed greens, are now blanched and in the freezer. I cut back the arugula, cooked it up with some prosciutto and chilies. Saving that for Oscar. He gets back on Wednesday.
I harvested the last of the radishes before they could bolt. They’re all bagged up in the fridge for the hubster.
I used the space to plant more eggplant - Black Satin and Japanese, and Thai chilies because my daughter in Montana demands Thai chilies. I already have eggplants, jalapenos, Fresno chilies, poblano chilies and mole chilies growing. I need extra eggplants because I’ll be shipping the fruit to Montana weekly- along with chilies.
some of the eggplants and chilies
Did you know potatoes, eggplants, chilies/peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos are all members of the deadly nightshade family? Along with cape gooseberries and goji berries- also known as superfoods.
Once again my volunteer potatoes are taking over the world- Damn those French fingerlings! Delicious little suckers. My purple beans look great. The squash is minding its own business. Still getting some asparagus. The white turnips are huge. I gave in and planted one tomato plant. I tend to resist tomatoes because like potatoes one tomato plant can conquer the world. Oh, almost forgot the beets- hope they do well this year, the peas, the parsley and the cilantro.
All in all an exceptional year for gardening.
Garden 2014
I wish my family would go away for even a few days!
Enjoy your down time and gardening.
It’s very relaxing, at least for a while Amber.
I need to either send the newly-retired spouse somewhere - or go somewhere myself - to get the benefit of only thinking about myself, truly and completely, for a couple of days.
It does no good to go to Mexico to see my family. My Dad and I have great chats, but my extended family (about 100 of them) live a frantic social life impossible for a person with CFS - and they ALL want to see me, so it’s an endless round of social life interspersed with hours of sitting in the car getting from one place to another in Mexico City traffic - even when they don’t let ME drive. Exhausting. Good for me, but exhausting.
My perennials are doing well - my food comes from BJ’s in bags marked EAS Whey Protein. If I could just get you somewhere and steal a tiny bit of that excess energy!
Enjoy your time alone - it will be gone way too soon.
Now, back to an idea I had to make PC better…
Heh. Just looking at that garden is exhausting. I KNOW how much work that is. And yes, I’m delighted when the hunk goes to the grocery store and I have a few minutes to myself… ENJOY!!!
WOW!! How wonderful to have so much room to grow a vegetable garden. Fresh picked are THE VERY best. You have been busy, busy, busy.
Glad you had a bit of time to yourself. Just enough to make the heart grow fonder.
We are lucky, Roberta. When we moved in, the area was hard packed dirt and weeds. We’ve gradually morphed it into a productive garden. Yes, the heart has grown fonder.
It’s actually easier now that I have raised beds, Anny. Before the raised beds, constant back ache. Yes, I cherish those alone moments!
Mexico City would be interesting, Alicia, but I imagine very stressful! Oh energy. I know you could use a boost. Wish I could bottle Jake’s energy!
I am living vicariously-garden-wise-through you, Julia. I look at your pictures, look out my window at the snow, look at your pictures, listen to my furnace running, look at your pictures and sigh….
Oh Jaye, what can I say? Go ahead and live vicariously. At least your snow decreases the chance of fire later in the summer.