Hurt Ankle

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Attila is limping. He says he hurt his ankle. He spent the morning resting with his foot up, but by lunch time he was itching to be up and about, so up he got and about he went. It is a cloudy day here, humid, but not unpleasantly hot. The construction at the end of the street seems much louder today, probably because of the atmospheric conditions. It will be strange to sit in the back yard and have the windows of the rental units looking back at us. I hope the units are occupied by reasonable people! This morning Attila and I took coffee on the back porch. It was raining, gently, and the light breeze made the flowers dance. A Hummingbird moved slowly along the fence, visiting bloom after bloom on the Scarlet Runner Beans. It was oh so peaceful. Peaches are in season here in Ontario. I love peaches! I sliced five peaches this morning to serve with the pancakes Attila made for breakfast. The pancakes were made with the last of the pancake mix that was purchased two summers ago, because it required no milk or eggs, perishables that would have to be kept in a … Continue reading →

Spicy Globe Basil

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Monday, August 13, 2018 At least it isn’t a Friday the thirteenth! Attila just harvested some of our Basil, Spicy Globe Basil, and it is very aromatic.  We love basil, and use quite a bit of it in the course of a year.  I had been receiving organic basil from a farmer friend, as a thank you for help I provided with his computers and internet activities.  Now we have our own organic basil, grown in our back yard!  We are drying most of it for winter use.  I saw a tip on drying herbs on a YouTube video, they suggested putting the cuttings in a paper bag, and placing the bag in the passenger compartment of your vehicle.  Now tank smells divine! We took a trip out to visit the Rideau Camp, as the weather was lovely on Saturday.  We found a dead mouse in every trap.  And from the aroma inside Grace the Trailer, our guess is that a mouse died in the walls or floors at some recent point in time.  Eventually the smell will disappear on its own, we would have to tear the trailer apart to find the dead mouse, so we won’t find it, … Continue reading →

Zucchini Surprise

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Attila continues to chip away at the garage project.  Last weekend he finished closing in and trimming the back exterior, and the interior back wall.  He continues to move building materials into the garage from the basement.  The push is over, now slowly but surely the garage project is progressing. Do plants smile?  I think they might, you can see them if you watch carefully enough. We had a thunderstorm and heavy rain yesterday afternoon, the garden was glad.  The few remaining Scarlet Runner Bean plants are beginning to produce beans, we have had two meals with fresh beans.  The tomato plants are prolific.  Attila planted, at my request, mostly small tomatoes, Amish, and two varieties that are of unknown varieties.  There is one round tomato plant, Pink Girl.  The fruit is not particularly sweet, but is very tasty, and perfect for toasted tomato sandwiches.  The hot peppers are yielding quite a crop, those are for Attila, I don’t eat them.  The Pole Squash, a heritage variety we ordered online, are barely surviving, one actually died, and I anticipate no fruit from those plants.  The Blue Hubbard Squash is beginning to take over the yard, and wants to trespass on … Continue reading →

Peach

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Here it is, 12:30 p.m., and I am still sitting on the back porch. The shade won’t last much longer out here, my fingers and feet are beginning to swell, and the air is beginning to feel oppressive. After I type this paragraph I will pull the cabana curtains across the deck, bundle my stuff into my arms, and head for the air-conditioned inner sanctum of Mist Cottage. I have enjoyed sitting out here on the back porch all morning, watching the wind blow in the trees, the flowers sway in the wind, the hummingbirds and butterflies, the birds, and Attila working away at the exterior finishes of the garage. But alas, the heat is chasing me away! I feel thoroughly refreshed for having sat outside for over six hours! The garden is beginning to gift us food. This morning breakfast consisted of a toasted tomato sandwich, with a plump, juicy, red tomato from the garden. There are Scarlet Runner Beans sitting in the refrigerator, washed and prepped for tonight’s Instant Pot dinner. All morning I have been snacking on the last of the edible pod peas. Since the rabbits and/or squirrels killed most of the Edible Pod Pea plants, … Continue reading →

Hula Hoe

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A while back Kate (hey Kate!) described the hoe she uses to weed her beautiful flower garden. It looked like a great hoe, and I had never seen anything like it before. Well, I finally got around to looking for something similar. I finally found one that seems the same, a Hula Hoe, called by many other names. My reason for pursuing this now is that the garden is almost overwhelmed with weeds. Attila is the gardener here. He has been working on the garage roof project since late June. It is a huge project, and he has been working on it almost every waking hour that he has not been at work. At the same time we experienced a very dry four or five weeks, almost a drought, which was hard on the garden. Attila took time off from his roof project to water his garden. There just wasn’t any time left for weeding. I have arthritic knees, there will be no kneeling to work on the garden for me. I also have back and shoulder issues, less serious, but serious enough that bending down to weed causes enough pain to require medication. I was not going to be … Continue reading →