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| The lupines are beginning to bloom. The rhubarb behind is almost chest high. |
60 degrees/cloudy/calm
Pentoga Road
The rain threatened to fall all day Saturday, but other than a few intermittent showers, held off until later in the afternoon. Thankfully, there was plenty of time to do a bit of laundry and hang the sheets on the line to dry.
After spending Friday doing all maintenance chores, I was anticipating having some fun on Saturday. The first order of business, weeding several beds in the garden.
OK, so my definition of fun and yours may not be the same, but I enjoyed myself just the same. I like sitting down on the wood chips alongside whatever raised bed needs to be worked on, getting my nose right in there, and weeding and cultivating, usually with my fingers. I love the smell of the compost and dirt and get such satisfaction when everything looks so nice and the plants are healthy and growing strong.
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| The pole beans are just beginning to send out tendrils and should soon begin their summer-long climb up the trellis. |
I was delighted to see that the honeyberries are beginning to ripen. We should begin picking those in the next week.
A member of the honeysuckle family, honeyberries are an oblong fruit that taste very similar to a blueberry but are much easier to grow. They are insect and disease resistant, thrive in any type of soil and are cold and heat hardy. In other words, they are fairly bomb proof. We enjoy eating them fresh off the bush, but if we have enough this year, will freeze some for next winter's use.
Our two bushes are only three years old and I don't expect to begin picking handfuls of them until the year after next. We enjoyed the flavor of the berries so much last summer, the first they produced, that I added three more bushes this spring.
Page Two
The rain was still holding off. I really wanted to work on the side yard, but with the threat of rain, hesitated to bring up the backhoe. I opted for Plan B, cutting the weeds where I intended to dig.
After almost two hours of mowing, it still wasn't raining. Perhaps I'd go ahead and haul the backhoe to the front of the property, get it ready for this coming week.
Usually, the tractor is used to move the backhoe, but I had the idea that utilizing the old truck might be easier and quicker.
The first thing was to place two, 2x6's across the back to keep the bucket from slipping out while moving.
I lowered the bucket into the bed of the truck and lifted the front part of the backhoe off the ground. It worked like a charm.
Still no rain... it was time to dig.
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| This bad boy was about all the backhoe could handle. I finally got the boulder out of the ground. Now all I have to figure out is how to move it. |
Sargie was home early last night and we had a quiet evening eating pizza, watching television, and reading the weekend newspaper. She reads the actual paper that is delivered every afternoon. I read the same online where the print can be enlarged or better yet, have the computer read it to me.
Sargie's off today and says she's going to mow the lawn. I'm plan to move those rocks and boulders I dug yesterday. Other than that, who knows? It's Sunday and no doubt, we'll take our usual afternoon drive, probably stopping in town for a loaf of homemade bread and a box of fried chicken. Life's tough in the fast lane you know.
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| I've always pitched anything not wanted in the garden over the electric deer fence into the weeds. Now that the area is being turned into lawn, I'm discovering all kinds of surprises. A bunch of chives made themselves at home. If you look real closely, toward the back righthand side is a potato plant. Both are coming up volunteer. |
Coffee's done. Time to pour a cup and think a deep thought or two. After all, a man's work is never done.
So are the tales from Pentoga Road...
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