Monday, February 27, 2023

Not So Bad


Today has been a better day and how could it not have been, waking up to see the light pouring through that sort-of curtain? I got the yellow silk a million years ago from a sale bin in front of a Woolworth's in St. Petersburg. Florida. And the heavenly fabric over it is a silk scarf I got in a consignment shop once in Tallahassee. Together, they make me very happy. 

I did a few hours of weeding in the garden this afternoon and that was good for me. It has been in the low eighties but it was mostly overcast and breezy today and so I did not feel as if I would die of heatstroke. I also finally planted the Purple Haze camellia I bought weeks ago. The problem has been trying to figure out where to put it. The place I wanted to plant it was nixed by Mr. Moon as being too close to the house. Plants that touch the house cause continual dampness which leads to problems. And then it seemed like every other place I suggested was also a bad idea. Too close to the gas line. Too close to the generator. 
Hmmm...well. He's so practical. 

So I finally just dug up the camellia he'd planted a few years ago which had died, probably due to not getting enough water, and planted this one there. It's between two blueberry bushes which do not get enough sun but camellias like shade so as long as I keep it nice and hydrated, it has a chance. And we might actually get some blueberries this year because the few that always grew were plucked by the chickens who would do the most awkward flutter-hops to reach them with their clever beaks. 

The wisteria is already beginning to purple up. I tried to take a picture today but it did not turn out well so I edited it a tiny bit for light and color. 


I usually do not cheat my photos except for some cropping but sometimes, it is fun. Anyway, once the wisteria begins to bloom, you can practically watch the grape-like bunches of purple flowers appear, swell, and open so there will be more soon. 

The people who lived in the house before us built the trellis and planted the wisteria and that is one thing that they did which has my approval although due to the fact that we don't trim it enough, it has reached and twined itself into the lower branches of the pecan tree above it and tries desperately to grow up the roof of the house. Despite its springtime beauty, it is an invasive, just as the Bradford pears that grow in two rows in our back yard are. Mr. Moon has been saying that we need to take them out every year we've lived here. Today, in fact, he was standing in the yard looking at them and said, "It's now or never. I have to get rid of them. They'll be blooming any minute."
I know they provide us shade in the summers and their blooms are beautiful but they are a nuisance tree, eager to share their DNA with the native pear trees. The Bradfords do not fruit which is NOT what you are looking for in a pear tree. I suppose if we cut these down we could replant with the native sand pears but we'll probably be dead and gone by the time they provide shade. Of course my idea is to cut them, and then put in a pool. But that would require a screened enclosure because of all the other trees around the area. We would be trying to remove pecan and magnolia and live oak leaves constantly, not to mention the critters that would decide to take a swim and never get out. 
But oh, wouldn't the grandchildren love it? 
And wouldn't we? 

We had a pool in the last house we lived in. That house was far beyond my dreams in so many ways. It was a brick Colonial house, almost estate-like, centered on mostly bare lawn-covered acres with that pool in the back and it was a lovely pool and there was a huge screened-in back porch looking out on it. However, there were no trees around the house at all because the man who built it had worked for an insurance company and he was deathly afraid of trees falling on the house. 
Of course I planted a live oak and some olive trees and ripped out the boxwoods between the back porch and the pool and planted herbs and flowers and vegetables and palm trees and that was so lovely. It felt like a dream to have that pool. It still seems like one now.
But that house was never mine although it was a fine house. 
And this house is mine for as long as I can live here and I'm not sure I want to look out from the back porch and see a screened-in enclosure instead of the wild things I can see now. 



This weather is so weird. It looks like it's going to rain and yet, no rain is called for. It feels like it's going to rain with the wind kicking up...
wait.
It is raining. But just the merest sprinkle. 

All right. I've gone on long enough. Mr. Moon has gone to the last FSU basketball home game with Tom and already had his supper of left-over soup which is what I'll be having too. I feel at loose ends with nothing to cook. All of the laundry is folded and put away and as we all know, my routine is my routine and when it becomes disrupted, I just don't even know what to do. 

I suppose I'll figure it out. And the tiny sprinkle of rain has already passed us by. Wasn't enough to wet a frog's green head. 

Love...Ms. Moon




29 comments:

  1. Arghgh Bradford pears, planted here as street trees for the blossom. Which smells of cat pee. Miserable trees. I don't like wisteria, either, damaging thing, chokes out native plants, rips off roofs, brings down power lines. Not that I have any strong feelings or anything.

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    1. You are so right about both Bradford pears and wisteria. But at least the wisteria is so gorgeous. I know! I know! That shouldn't matter! You are right. It can be evil and often is.

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  2. waking up to sun through that saffron colored curtain would be enough to cheer anyone! And love the Wisteria..... one of my favorites, though we can't grow them here. Had one back at my 100 year old hippie house back in the 70's and it was much loved and savored, visually. Can't believe you are in low 80's. We haven't even hit 60 for almost 10 days......with rain daily, and hail..... cold. Hubby trying to whittle enough kindling to get me though his week long absence (starting tomorrow).....so I won't die of cold while he's gone LOL!
    Susan M

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    1. Oh, please do not die of cold while your man is gone! You won't. Your weather does sound miserable. Stay cozy.

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  3. I have to prune the grapes and I don't know how. My neighbors hack things down, trees, shrubs and flowers. I, on the other hand, have a jungle yard which I love. Many trees and flowers and apples. Magnolias. Dogwood. Japanese maple. It snowed this morning and has melted now. Gray skies. Tulips, lilacs and daphne are budding out and coming through the soil. Yes please.

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    1. Cut back one third of the growth and hope?

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    2. I know nothing of pruning grapes. Or anything, really. I am sure that there are thousands of Youtube videos on how to prune anything. I absolutely have to cut some things back here or we would not be able to leave the house without a machete. I'm serious. But I leave a lot wild, too. May your spring be upon you soon.

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  4. My sister adored wisteria. She commissioned a trellis and planted one. By year three it had climbed ten feet of trellis and started on the roof. She finally had the visualization of the roof being ripped away. The wisteria was removed. Several climbers were tried. I don't know what the new owner did. The whole garden is a jungle mess/mass now.

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    1. Oh god. Yes. It can happen that way for sure. Sounds like kudzu here in the south.

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  5. I love wisteria and they are popular here. Your garden is the sort I love. I am not into neat beds and manicured lawns.
    Your sort of curtain is divine. What a wonderful sight to wake up to.

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    1. I could not grow a lawn if I wanted one! Thank goodness I don't want one.

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  6. Wisteria! We had a vine in one of the many homes we have lived in, it covered the front porch (how I miss that front porch) and for a few weeks it would be just a mess of tangled bare branches , then buds would appear and by the end of the week it would be in full bloom with hundreds of bees getting drunk in the flowers. It was in full sun on the western side of the house and when we got a new couch and chairs we put the old ones out behind the wisteria so we could sit in its shade. It was heaven! but hubby was in the Army and got his moving on orders and we had to leave :(
    Nothing to cook? Make a batch of brownies.

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    1. That does sound heavenly. And I've seen so many bees on our wisteria (although not lately) that the whole arbor was abuzz. Unbelievable!
      I made banana bread. Ha!

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  7. I just love your last sentence......I might use that next time we have a smattering of rain!
    Our wisteria is still looking winter dead. It will be ages before it flowers. Actually it is next door's wisteria .....it came through to us some years ago and we trained it all along the back of our house and half way down the garden fence!

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    1. Just watch that wisteria because it can take over before you realize it's happening!

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  8. I love your curtain, and the way the sun filters through. No matter how cloudy it is outside, you've got a bit of golden light inside.

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    1. True, Debby. Honestly, my bathroom is the prettiest room in the house.

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  9. It has just been hot here in the mid 80s, too hot for February by 10 degrees at least. and yes been overcast but won't rain which we really need. I bought 4 tomato plants yesterday and hope I can get them in the ground in the next few days. Still have more weeding and earth turning to do and spreading out the zinnia seeds. I don't think the wisteria over at the shop is budding out yet.

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    1. I AM GOING TO PLANT ZINNIAS THIS YEAR! I swear it. Thank you for reminding me. I laughed at Glen for putting in tomatoes so early but I don't think there's a chance in hell they're going to freeze.

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  10. Those silks as simply sumptuous, especially together like that. And I vote for the pool! I can just imagine the joy of your grandchildren!

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    1. Oh my lord. Wouldn't they love it? I'd never get rid of them. At least until cold weather. I would have to have an entire refrigerator for their summer treats. Popsicles galore!

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  11. What a lovely scarf! That was a terrific find! I have used vintage linens to make a valance in my bedroom. I like the way it looks and often imagine the people that used these tea towels, napkins, hand cloths in their homes. It was fun collecting them in resale shops.

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    1. I do the same, Ellen! And I also love to use shawls as window drapes. Curtains can be so boring.

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  12. I hate to see any trees get cut down, but I understand the need to curtail the spread of the Bradford pears. I remember landscapers planting those things like crazy a couple of decades ago. They were commonly used as street trees, as I recall. I guess no one knew they would become the problem they are today!

    I like the fabric hanging in your window. Our drapes are terrible!

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    1. Yes! Same with the Chinese tallow trees. Those things are fiercely invasive.
      Go thrift shopping and find old linens to put up in your windows! And tablecloths! Have fun!

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  13. Cut down the trees and plant something you love. We don't plant trees for ourselves, we plant them for the next generation.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.