Pennsylvania May Garden 2018 To Remind Me, In Just a Month

Covid-19 Virus Diary of a Mad Woman

Well, Well Dear Folk,

What did it take to get me back to blogging, a Pandemic.  After Hennypenny posted on my Instagram, why was I planting bittercress in pots?  That I certainly must have turned a corner into madness, because then I realized that later in the summer it turns into this wiry weed that takes over the lawn, I will be out there tout suite and rip it out, thank you Hennypenny.

How has everyone been?  I think a lot of spring and summer plans have come to disappointment.  I personally was planning a trip back to see family and friends in the UK, but will put that on hold for now.

We have been hunkering down.  Actually I find it to be a guilt free time.  One can positively stay at home with no guilty conscience and with that comes a certain freedom.  I am so happy that I got my she shed built last year and I can take a wander down to the bottom of the garden and escape.  As a child I remember that feeling of running out the back door at the end of a school day, across the lawn and turning the corner into the wilderness of "the bottom of the garden."  It truly was a wilderness down there.  A giant old cooking apple tree, very large apples but sharp, great for pies.  Loads of blackberry brambles and stinging nettles in profusion, with dock leaves their remedy.  We had a shack in the middle and a stream that ran by at the edge, with willow trees, we thought it was the greatest place on earth.  So I always think of my she shed as a trip to the bottom of the garden.  I've named it "Deux Portes Francaises" due to the fact that it has two sets of French doors, I hope that is the correct French.

I send Mr. B. out on food foraging trips, as little as possible and make a list.  We had, to a certain extent seen this coming so had a little reserve, but there's always those everyday things, like milk.  Rob our son is still working so we feel he is the weak link in the dyke and since he's already out in the world of coronavirus, I will get him to stop off for milk or odds.  It's all a gamble.

I have Netflix, Prime and Acorn, all those platforms must be holding people over and everyone wishing they'd invested in them instead of other things on their 401K which took a dive, as we all know.  Of course if it takes another twelve years as it has from the last dive of 2008 to recover, I may not be around to see that, or be too old in life to even worry.  The world is a roller coaster these days and it's not the tranquil little mouse ride that I'd take Rob on, at Bush Gardens as a boy, but the neck breaking sort of rides I avoided.  Of course if we'd have known what the CEO of the owner of the New York Stock exchange and his senator wife knew back in January, we could have jumped ship too, unfortunately we are just the pions of this world.  I wasn't going to get on this tack so let me reign it in.

I've been working on my crochet Sunset Shawl in the very fine Noro yarn, you need a lot of time to make it grow and I have that.  Finding the Great British Sewing Bee on You Tube and then the Great Pottery Throw Down held me over for a bit, although that might have been earlier before we really had to lock down.  Have found some quite good Icelandic series and watched Gracepoint the American version of Broadchurch, which does follow it quite closely, except for the ending, but shall I say it, yes I will because I'm in that mood, it was not as good, what are your thoughts?

Reading, oh my, what an escape reading can be, it is almost like going back to ones childhood years, reading was an escape then and it can be now.  I'm re-reading Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery, that story was set during WWI and Montgomery dedicates it to her cousin Frederica Campbell MacFarlane who died January 1919 of Spanish Influenza, which of course brings you right down to earth and you think of people not just as statistics, but lives and families and hope.

It has been a mixed bag for us.  Mr. B. had two part time jobs, one he lost a contract on earlier in the year, not due to the pandemic and then he lost the second one due to the pandemic.  After Mr. B. lost the first job we decided he would collect his Social Security early and I would collect mine at 66, but since he lost the second job I moved my Social Security up to collect it earlier.  We are only too grateful to shuffle these resources around as many people are not in that position and I feel for them.  I think he should also be able to collect some unemployment, not sure how that works really.  Since the government has promised some money for each family, that should certainly help.  Not quite sure what that will work out to be.

I will end on a gardening note.  I am so thankful to have a garden, I have pretty much finished with the big clean up from the giant oak tree, which as my neighbor put it so succinctly "the gift that keeps on giving."  If I gave someone a million dollars they could never collect up every oak leaf that arrives down in my garden.

As you might have seen on my Instagram I made another little patio area to sit and enjoy.  The bistro table and chairs date back to our very first house, almost forty years ago.  Originally they were white, then blue and now black.  I have other garden furniture that all needs a lick of paint, but will have to wait as I'm not going out for that.  I need to name the patio, any ideas?

Daffodils, forsythia, crocus, celandines are blooming along with primulas and Virginia bluebells are coming up. Yes spring is here waiting to burst forth.  I will end with some poignant passages from Rilla of Ingleside:

"How can spring come and be beautiful in such a horror," wrote Rilla in her diary.  "When the sun shines and the fluffy yellow catkins are coming out on the willow-trees down by the brook, ..."

"We never do," said Miss Oliver "That is why we are not left to chose our own means and measures of development, I suppose.  No matter how much we value what our lessons have brought us we don't want to go on with the bitter schooling."

Take care dear folk, keep safe, self isolate and be good.

Christine

Button Sewing

Hi Dear Folk,

Why does one so procrastinate over sewing buttons on?  Mr. B. gave me two items this morning.  One was a pair of shorts bought at the thrift where the button needed resewing on as it was hanging from some threads.  The other was a well loved and worn flannel shirt with a hoodie.  He has three of them and they predate The Boy so at least thirty years old.

Mr.B. came up with three buttons, I came up with one, that made four matching and it was still missing two more buttons, I found two that will do for the bottom buttons. So I sewed on six buttons and also hemmed some of the bottom edge that was fraying.  All this should have been done ages ago.

I've been working gang busters in the garden, to the neglect of my house.  Who wouldn't want to be outside rather than in dusting and hoovering?  But then though it gets to the point where it starts to drive me crazy and insane action needs to be taken.  Ashes still sitting in the stove from our last wood fire, stove door glass needs cleaning and a complete spring dusting never done.  Wood stoves cause a lot of dust.

I think my biggest nemesis is the Simla Room, it's been rather a sewing and yarn dump all winter, and I haven't tidied up properly because I keep telling myself that there is no point as a lot of things in there are going out to my new shed, if I can last that long.  I will really need to get stuck into painting it, all ahead on that.  I must completely finish it, I have a tendency to almost finish things but not quite.

Rob has been investing in some hi end video equipment and camera lenses to shoot weddings.  He has done that as a side line for several years, working for someone else and using their equipment. He may still carry on with that, but he's going to work with a co worker as that is their job expertise, only at work they shoot cars and all car related accessories.

He took some shots of me in the garden with his new lens.  Now this is a boy that takes such candid shots of his mum, that my sister phones from England and says "Why in the earth has Rob posted that awful picture of you on Facebook?  Get him to take it down."  Yes just a little too much reality.  But these I quite like.

No gardening today it is pouring and has been all day, plus they are calling for flood warnings, I've already got puddles on my lawn.  I look out of my Simla room window and the rain drops on my day lily leaves look like diamonds, you have to love that.

Have a lovely weekend.

Christine

Jenkins Arboretum

Hi Dear Folk,

A lovely afternoon out at Jenkins Arboretum.  I went with friends and we took a packed lunch.  Sunday was rather chilly and cold, in fact last night went way down to the thirties.  The arboretum is at it's best this time of year with the azaleas and rhododendrons, it's also known for woodland flowers.

Spring is that green here in Pennsylvania.

Trillium, I love them with their three leaves, they also come in white.

A deciduous azalea, I had two at my old house and wish I'd brought them with me.

Christine

Shed Shingles Maybe Tomorrow

Hi Dear Folk,

I was happy about breaking new ground for my rose garden, which is exciting, but a lot of work and will take me several days to just finish the making of the garden.  It sits right outside my Simla Room windows, so will enjoy that.  It will be dug out all the way to the azalea bush.

As I was working the area seemed to be a haven for these little black midge flies, they get under my glasses as I'm working and although you don't feel it at the time, sting you.  I must be very allergic to them, because the one side of my face and eye is totally swollen, itchy, the skin feels stretched, so quite painful.  It happens to me every year in the garden at some point.

I did enough turning of soil to plant two rose bushes.  I will monitor them carefully, because I am pushing the boundaries of where they can be planted.  Roses like 6 -8 hours of sunlight, and best to be first thing in the morning.  This area only gets 4 hours and not until the afternoon.  If they really don't like it there I will dig them up and move them.  So may not turn out to be a rose garden right there, but it will still be a garden, I have a few things to add to it.  Listening to Small Spaces Big Dreams, Monty Don, one can push boundaries, you just have to see.  I also decided to take out of a big pot and plant here, my Strawberries and Cream hydrangea.  The two dailyness and butterfly bush were already here.

On the whole my eight existing rose bushes haven't had the total attention that they have needed, so to rectify that I am feeding them a fish fertilizer that I saw recommended and see how that works.  Also I compost so have added that to the soil.

I thought the roof shingles would go on yesterday, but they did not and today rained most of the day and now it is very dark and looks like a thunder storm is coming in, yes it's pouring.  On the whole the weather has been favorable for my shed build.  I think it may be finished by the end of next week, but that depends on the weather.

The scaffolding is up to put the roof shingles on.

I'm second guessing myself on window light.  I love the porch on my shed, but it will limit the light coming through the French doors there.  Also the whole shed sits right under my giant pin oak, so a shady area already.  I have another set of French doors going in on the oak tree side, along with an almost floor to ceiling window, and I have another window going in on the street side, a little smaller but still a fair size window.  At the moment the two end walls and part of the side wall are still open and it seems dark inside, so I'm wondering if it needs another window.  I had originally wanted a little one on the apex opposite the front entrance, but they are so expensive, that unless I come across one cheaper, I was not going to put it in, but may need to rethink that.  Things are always a work in progress.  In fact I thought the windows I got were too large when I got them home, but now I'm thinking there is not enough light.  Mr. B. said there is no reflective light inside, so will definitely be painting the inside white and I think that will make a huge difference.

I am happy with the placement of the shed, because to get the width I wanted and distance from the street that the borough requires, I thought it might look a little squashed against the trunk of the tree, but it does not and enough room to walk through easily and give the tree room to breath.  Plus we had no need to cut into any of the roots and I was happy about that.

The builder mentioned at a future date insulating the shed, and panelling it, but I like the wood framework of the shed showing inside and on the whole I hate panelling, but maybe there is new stuff out there that I would like. I have some ideas about this, one painting the beams white, then using denim insulation, which is about two inches thick, the R factor is not as high as fiberglass insulation, but I don't have to use the shed in the depths of winter.  Over the insulation, which will go between the wood structure, I was going to staple a fabric.  Whether this will work I don't know.

Will step up onto the porch from my patio.

I will have a view right down the length of my garden from the porch, can't wait.  Iced tea lemoncello here I come.  This is something I've dreamed of for years and probably will wish I had done it years ago, still I'm enjoying it now.

I was asked the style of my house and it is Dutch Colonial, that is what it is called here in Pennsylvania.  We don't think of the Dutch as having a huge influence in America, but that is not true.  Many of the old families were of Dutch decent, such as the Roosevelt's, also New York City was at one time called New Amsterdam, and of course Harlem and you could go on.

Lots of work in the garden, here was one little job but took a lot of time.  I had one pot of hosta on the oak tree patio in an old plastic pot falling apart, so I split the hosta into three and planted it here. It was very heavy. I also lifted all those path stones, they were so sunken that roots from the fir tree had grown over them and every time it rained they were covered in mud, now they are a lot better.  My peonies are budding there, so I'm quite happy with this newly cleaned up area leading into one side of my Simla Room.

Every time it rains a different type of fungus pops out on the root stump of my old ash tree.  Such a rich brown and texture, covered in pollen from the oak.  I've seen blue fungi and red fungi, tall and short, different shapes, such variety and joy to see, doing it's work breaking down those old roots.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Christine

Rolling Right Along On The Shed Build

Hi Dear Folk,

Things are coming together on my shed build, a couple of boo boos but nothing major that can't be rectified.  The French doors are 80 inches high and we only made the side walls 78 inches high, we could have made them higher but didn't.  This can be worked around.  The doors leading onto the porch will be full height and will open inwards, the doors leading off the side will be need to be cut two inches and will open inwards.  The apex of the roof it around 9 feet high.  The builder kept the angle of the roof in line with the angle of the roof of the garage and I think that works well.

The two windows I bought are quite large so almost floor to roof line windows, that's ok lots of light and a picture window view.

I love my wisteria, the fragrance and beauty, the bees love it too.

The porch roof was added on today, it's truly starting to shape up.

My neighbors across the road are moving after 45 years, we will miss them.  He said when they moved in my pin oak was 10 feet tall.  Now after fifty odd years it is a monster, fortunately healthy with a life span of 120 years so a few more to go, it will see us out.  I don't fancy having to have it cut down.  I said to Mr. B. we could pay someone a million dollars and they would never be able to get rid of every oak leaf in our yard, it's never ending.  My neighbor said "the gift that keeps on giving."  Just after you finish cleaning the leaves then all the cattails with pollen fall.  The life of a gardener.

Just a couple of things in the garden, stag horn fern one of my favorites.

Columbine flower, always think they should be in fairy tale picture books.

Well that's it.  No not quite, I've decided to plant a rose garden outside my Simla room windows.  My aunt has over one hundred roses in her garden in England, it's heavenly.  I have eight in my garden dotted about, but a whole garden just of roses would be nice and they would get enough sun there.  I'm looking for some specific roses, several I wanted were already sold out, I guess I've left it a bit late.  But a couple still in stock are Julia Child's and Macy's Pride, I also liked Amber Queen and I am trying to keep within a certain price range.

Christine

I'm Shoveling Snow?

Hi Dear Folk,

I did finish my patchwork and crochet curtains and I'm pleased with them.  I gave them a nice starch and an iron, which the crochet at the bottom especially needed because it was curving in, but after a good iron and starch it straightened out.

I think this fabric must have came from an old tablecloth.

Hanging in my hallway.

I used the pattern from this old seventies crochet book.

Two men in the house and I'm out shoveling the sidewalk.  Of course The Boy was at work and Mr. B. hurt his back shoveling the previous snowstorm, so who does that leave but the woman in the household stepping up to the plate as we so often do.  And of course who is in the house taking photos.  Yes you can guess.

The garden is nada on the flower front because of all this snow and cold weather, so I have been filling this void with some bought flowers and plants.  Tulips which when first put in water drank up almost the entire vase, they were so thirsty.

A miniature rose bush for a little peep into what summer will bring.

This little arrangement is still going.

I cleared up a counter top in my kitchen, where we kept papers and pens and things.  Now that's cleaned off I have another work counter which was needed.  I moved all the papers into the vestibule area by the back door, because we still need to keep these things for easy access in the kitchen.  It looks so much less cluttered.

I cleaned the top of my fridge and all the kitchen cabinets.  What a lot of up and down, I was exhausted.

The square tin with Nelson's column on the front was a yard sale find up in Canada.  As soon as I saw it I knew I would add it to my collection, mum had this tin, which originally of course had sorted biscuits in, but then was used for cakes and other goodies.  Each side has a different London scene on.

I was able to add my picnic basket up here, got rid of some things and just generally sort things out.

I love these little palm creations, that were given to me by a basket vendor in Maui.

A hummingbird and a fish.

I've kept some things up here, but later on I think they will go out in a yard sale.

I have plans for these three picture frames.  I liked these teacup card prints, but they have been up here for years and faded out, so time for a change.

I bought this little recipe book in England, more for the pictures than the recipes, although they are nice.  I'm going to cut three out and frame them.  These two pictures for sure and one more.

Christine