With a low of 22 degrees predicted for tonight, the garden has been put in winter mode.

 May 23, 2013 – Thursday

36 degrees/cloudy/windy

Pentoga Road

If tonight’s predicted low of 22 comes to fruition, we’ll have seen a sixty-degree swing in temperatures over five days. I recorded 82 degrees on Sunday. Strange weather…  I need to call Al and get his take.

Wednesday morning was spent hanging the towel racks and mirror over the tub in the upstairs bathroom. Everything went well but I think I have to move the mirror. Sargie said last night that I missed centering it. Heck, it looked good to me! I’ll have her mark where I should insert a wall anchor and try it again this morning. Hopefully, the large mirror will still cover the old hole. 

I graded a couple of papers, took a short nap, and made my way outside. After a fifteen-minute session of Frisbee fetch with Brutus, I began hauling topsoil and compost to the garden area. The last of the raised beds was weeded and if/when the temperatures ever warm, I’ll be ready to resume planting.

I also changed the oil in the small push mower and cut what grass isn’t mulched over in the garden area. I hope to have the mulch/chips covering all the places I cut before it has a chance to grow again.

It took some time to get the cold weather/gardening covers down from the rafters in the barn. I assembled the hoop house to cover Sargie's geraniums and placed extra large styrofoam cups over the unprotected pepper and tomato plants. I'll leave everything covered until all danger of frost is past from this latest bout of cold air. 

Sargie was home early last night and we tackled cleaning the refrigerator. I stood at the sink and washed the removable shelves and drawers while she pitched old and outdated food and scrubbed the inside. Presently, it looks like Betty Crocker lives here and for the moment, is picture perfect. There will be some happy bears in the neighborhood after I haul the old and outdated food into the woods.

It’s going to be cold and windy today and I’m not sure how much I’ll see of the outside. I’m feeling particularly delicate and vulnerable sitting here beside the wood stove snuggled up to a hot cup of coffee this morning. If I have to move, I suppose the fiddleheads that were picked should be worked up. Oops, we’re almost out of freezer bags. I guess that chore will have to wait until tomorrow. Darn.

There’s a quiz to upload for the class and then I need to haul the tools out of the upstairs bath so it can be cleaned. If only you had my life. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…