We are experiencing a heat wave. Other parts of North America are experiencing even more extreme heat.
The garden is doing well. This year the Cucumbers are not thriving, which is disappointing, we love our pickles. The Red Currant bush we bought last year has a decent crop, which is almost ready to harvest. I anticipate enough Currants to make a batch of Red Currant Jam. The High Bush Cranberry bush purchased at the same time has only a few berries on it, and is concentrating this season on a healthy wealth of leaves. It was infested with aphids when we bought it, and struggled last summer to survive.
Every day we enjoy fresh salad greens. Our Snow Peas are a welcome addition to the salads. Every other day greens are frozen for winter meals: Kale, Spinach, Beet Greens, Swiss Chard.
At the moment Granny’s Rose is still blooming, as is the Clematis. The Scarlet Runner Beans are blooming profusely, and the white blossoms of the Snow Peas are heavy on the trellis.
The Heliopsis is taller than I am, and still reaching for the sky. The Sunflowers are chest height. The Cosmos are waist height. These will all bloom later in the summer.
Every morning I sit on the back porch until the thermometer reads 30C. Today that point was reached before 11:00 a.m. I observed at least a dozen Cabbage Moth Butterflies in the garden, not good news. I tried to chase them down but they see me coming, so it is hopeless. But worse still is the small bunny who is able to get through the fence, to gain access to the garden. That little furry being will destroy our food if we are not diligent. It is not frightened of me, as the adults have been in the past, and will not leave. Maybe he/she will grow quickly and so be unable to get through the fence and into the garden. Trouble ahead.
We haven’t been to the Camp for several weeks. When we were there last the Gypsy Moth Caterpillars were stripping our trees, deciduous and coniferous, of all leaves and needles. At that point they had only stripped the Beech, Oak, and Pine trees. We expect that on our next visit we will find a winter like landscape, bare branches on all the trees, no shade to be found. I’ve been through many infestations of Army Worms (Tent Caterpillars), but the Gypsy Moth Caterpillars are much more voracious and are very aggressive in their quest to sate their appetites. It will be interesting to see if they consumed the garden that was planted at the Camp this spring.
Back at Mist Cottage, we have two very tall Ash Trees that have been killed by the Emerald Ash Borer. Attila is taking down dead branches slowly, over time. Some of the wood and branches are being burned in small, legal, well attended camp fires in our back yard fire pit. Other parts of the trees will be used around the property for various things, such as edging for garden beds. There are hundreds of mature and stately Ash trees all over this area, all completely dead. This is so sad to see.
Pandemic Thoughts (And Happy News for Us)
Attila and I have reached a milestone. We each have received two Covid-19 vaccination shots plus more than two weeks time has passed! Right now, that means we are unlikely to contract Covid-19 even if exposed, and in the unlikely event that we do contract it we are unlikely to experience serious illness. We can still catch Covid-19 and pass it along to more vulnerable people. We will carry on isolating, wearing masks, and keeping social distance until this Pandemic has run its course. Government regulations are the bare minimum of precautions needed in my opinion, so we protect ourselves and others beyond their modest standards.
To my great surprise, I found myself in a state of complete euphoria for a while. I haven’t felt this relaxed about life for nearly a year and a half. Attila has been terribly vulnerable through all this time, being an essential worker, and that has been the elephant in the room for a very long time.
Variants can change our level of safety at any time. So I am going to enjoy this feeling right now, while I can! I am ready for another downturn in the course of this pandemic, more isolation, further challenges. But for now at least, I am enjoying this most welcome respite.
I am praying for the people all around the world who have no access to vaccines, or adequate medical care. Attila and I know that we are lucky, and we know that most Canadians are lucky. Some vulnerable Canadians who are in Home Care, and in other difficult situations, have not received their first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine. This seems almost criminal, considering we are rich country with many resources, and a health care system we boast about.
I wish everyone in the world were as lucky as Attila and I.
Worldly
Weather
Updated on Tue, Jun 29, 1:25 PM
31°C
FEELS LIKE 39
Partly cloudy
Wind 9SW km/h
Humidity 54 %
Visibility 28 km
Sunrise 5:26 AM
Wind gust 14 km/h
Pressure 101.9 kPa
Ceiling 10000 m
Sunset 8:55 PM
Quote
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”
Helen Keller
1880 – 1968
I’m sorry about your dead trees, that is a sadness. I wonder if a different type of tree would be less vulnerable????
I’m glad you both have the vaccine now. The WHO guidance is to keep wearing the masks indoors, due to the Delta variant. The US CDC needs to get in line with this, who knows if they will? Meanwhile, Julia and I will still mask indoors.
Stay cool and hydrated!
Joan, it is too bad about the Ash trees. Ontario also saw an invasive Dutch Elm disease kill all our Elm trees, that was half a century ago, so very sad. We will plant another tree in our yard. There is a small maple that has taken root in one of our raised beds, I think we will transplant that into the chosen spot. It will be along time before it matures, and it will be fun to watch it make its way into the world.
The Delta variant is concerning. I am still completely isolated, and Attila is too except he has to go to work, and the rare occasion when he has to enter a store to place an order. We wear masks even when we are walking down an empty street, because you never know when some jogger, or kid on a skateboard or bycycle, will come whizzing past breathing hard, without a mask.
Ah yes, staying cool and hydrated, so very important, and you would certainly know all about that! 🙂
It’s sad to lose trees like that. Congratulations on getting the second shots! I understand the euphoria. After months of not being sure you’d survive the pandemic, now you will! I had the same feeling after my second shot. I just wish we could get more people in all countries vaccinated, ((Hugs!))
Sandy, yes it is sad to lose a tree, we have lost three here at Mist Cottage. We will plant more. And we have a new apple tree coming along well in the front yard, yay!
I am so glad you have had two shots of the vaccine! What a beautiful, beautiful wish, for vaccinations for people in all countries! ((Hugs))
Oh Maggie: I understand the loss of the tree. When we bought this house in 1995, we had a HUGE oak, right in the middle of our back yard. The second year that we lived here, the tree did not leaf out in the Spring as our other 5 oaks did. By the next Spring, the tree died. We had an arborist look at the tree…he said the tree was most likely over 200 years old. No evidence of insect damage; no lightening strike. It had simply lived its life out. We had the tree cut down, and then chopped into fire wood….which lasted us over5 years. But, I was so disappointed to lose the tree. You will chuckle at this…I read somewhere as the tree was declining that I should beat around the trunk with a baseball bat, and this might encourage the tree to grow. I did; it didn’t help, and I am sure the neighbors thought I was nuts. I have seen the news about the heat wave. Thankfully, so far this year, we have been getting rain every week, and we are not having temps in hundreds yet.
We haven’t needed to water anything, and lawns and most landscapes are beautiful. Not like the summer when we had 90 straight days of temps over 100. That was a horrible, brutal summer. I am very slowly gaining some strength/ stamina. The A-FIB remains an issue; but taking the blood thinner, and the other 8 medications seems to keep my B/P under control. But the high heart rate….uses up all of my nutrients, so I am maintaining my weight around 108. Still way to low with my height of 5’11’. Mike continues to do all of the heavy housework; helps me when I cook, and is wonderful….dealing with my health issues, and I find that I am despondent and angry that I can’t do all of the things that I want to do. So, I am not a lot of fun to be around. Heck, I don’t like being me either. I try so hard to keep my mood up….I have always been an “over doer”…. We finally got our master bath remodeled. It was the last big improvement we had planned. We used our stimulus money, so at least we felt good about using the money to employ some folks.
Well my friend….I so enjoy your journaling/ blogging…. You write very well. Take care, and stay in touch. xxoo Margarett
Margarett, so glad to hear that your health has improved, and hoping that you make further gains! Losing a mature oak would surely be a sad event! Oak makes excellent firewood, glad you could enjoy that for five years. I smiled thinking of you out there with your baseball bat attempting to save the tree!
Congratulations on the bathroom update, especially satisfying as bathrooms are used daily, increasing the delight in their beauty. Feeling despondent about health issues seems like a normal healthy reaction to unwanted change. I do hope that future change brings back your opportunities to do your things!
Take care and prosper! xxoo Maggie