Not Summer again yet

I swear it was warmer than this in February. I am mystified as to why I have few bird in the garden this year. Maybe they know that in a couple of months Lily-belle will be released into the wild to hunt at will. Maybe it is the Tibetan prayer flags that, flapping in the wind as they do, frighten them away. maybe there has been an environmental catastrophy that I am unaware of that has caused their disappearance. I hope that haven't decided to stay on in their winter habitat just as it is about to be engulfed in crude oil.
The papers keep speaking of surprise at the rapidity of the growth of the slick. Surely it is a fairly simple calculus problem ( albeit idealised ). The oil is gushing out of the pipe at a (probably) constant rate, being a "point source" in a 3 -D medium, the plume is conical. It may be distorted by currents, but fundamentally it is conical.
The water is a known depth, presumably someone has measured the rate of flow, which translates directly to the component of velocity of the oil heading towards the surface. The spread at which it hits the surface is calculable. The angle of the plume must surely be dependent on the relative densities of the oil and the salt water as well as the exit velocity.
No doubt this is all calculable. I bet the average 1st year calculus student could have a good stab at the simplest model.
What a great problem for all the calculus classes out there.

It is time to plant my garden. But first I have to clean my house.

Garden is producing well

I am really getting a little tired of endless watering and deadheading. It is all I seem to do. The monotony is relieved by the Fig war against the starlings, but Xena is learning the ropes and enjoys climbing the fig tree to stand guard!
The broccoli is producing well and a volunteer squash plant has produced a giant round Zucca. (Can't call it a Zucchini!!!)
Everything looks a little sad and wilty and I suspect the lilies will be done blooming by Saturday which is a shame.
If next summer is like this one, I shall have to install a watering system.

Deadheading

Before I left for Boston my garden greeted visitors with the cheery wave of hundreds of Shasta daisies bobbing in the breeze. On my return I was faced with a sea of dessicated flowers begging to be lopped, that they might bloom again. I never did get around to picking the armfuls of flowers before I left and now I am faced with snipping sad little yellow crowns before they spread their seeds. As I was out in front of the house I had random conversations with passers-by, a great way to spend time. The little old lady who walks round the block started picking seed heads out of my bin. She was after the wild sweet peas. I tried to explain that they were not edible and nor did they have scent, but this was hard as she speaks no English and I recognise nothing of her language. God I love trying to have effective non-verbal conversations with people who speak other languages. It is the ultimate test of common humanity. The mail lady came by and we talked about how many people grow gardens now and how nice it is that people make time for their yards now.
The lilies are glorious, but every one of them is poorly placed in the garden, so I shall have to dig up and move some in the fall.

Wilting in the heat

We had rain on Sunday. Fairly significant too, but now it is Thursday and it has been sunny again for the last couple of days and things are wilting again. My Wisteria has perished, at least in the upper reaches. I now have twigs nicely entwining my trellis instead of a lush canopy. The honey suckle is similarly sad. I suspect they are both in rather poor soil. I do hope the wisteria recovers.
Xena is discovering the great outdoors and loving every moment of it. The peas are finishing and I picked the last of the first lettuce crop today. The next batch is doing well. I also picked my first Zucchini and my first plums. The broccoli has a few heads on. I don't know what will happen when I am away next week. Someone else will have to do the daily picking of the sweet peas so they keep flowering. It is going to be a bumper year for grapes, which is very exciting and the tomatoes are perfect now, but in a week or so I shall be buried in them. The new bed is the perfect spot for them. i think I will try egplants and peppers too next year.
The rose bush by the living room window is amazing. I love the view from the front of my house, now. I never saw it when we had the old wooden shutters up. They were always closed for viewing the TV.
Xena is in her favorite spot, watching the birds at the feeder.

The sun returns

The sun has returned and I had not been as dutiful as I might have been about watering on the cloudy days. Things are looking a little sad, so I got the hoses out for deep watering. I cannot keep up with the jobs to be done and now we have the opportunity to acquire more bricks to finish off the patio. it never ends.
The figs are ripening, the grapes are doing well and the tomatoes are unbelievable. I also have some glorious flowers. I have fuschias everywhere, hardy and otherwise. I love the delicate ballet dancing flowers.
The daisies have taken over parts of the garden as they always do. But they are very pretty. I should pick huge bunches of them and bring them into the house.

A change in the weather

The blistering heat has ended, but there has still been no rain to speak of. My Wisteria is looking sad and I decided it is because its roots extend under the brick patio and had been getting overheated, and very dry. So yesterday I watered the bricks. I am not sure if it has helped. It is a hardy plant and I am sure it will survive. it might just look a little ragged all year. The grape vive is going gang busters however. We will have lots of grapes. I can't keep pace with the sweet peas and the lettuce. The tomatoes are producing enough to consume daily and I have a glut of snap peas. I just wish it would rain hard and for a long time as I am getting very sick of lugging hose pipes around the garden. I am making a mental note of all the tasks to be done in the next twelve months.
1. Install a watering system.
2. Prune trees
3. Plant and Elderberry bush against the fence.
4. Dig out the Lilac and turn the front bed into a rose garden.
5. Rationalise the parking strip.

I found I do have a few apples this year. I thought I had none, but found about four on the tree the other day. The foliage is so thick it is hard to spot them.
I really do need help in managing my home and garden, I can potter around all summer doing small chores - cleaning out cupboards, gardening, washing, making things. I love the pace, but it makes life seem sisyphean.
And then there is the pile of wood in the driveway. it was gone for about 6 months, but now its back and who knows when it will be gone again as the next two weekends are full.

The Hammock

Today I lay in my hammock and watched a cloud dragon drift across the sky. I marveled at the size of the figs on my tree, as well as their sheer number. But I made a not that certain branches will need pruning after the fruit is ripe. We neglected to prune the plum tree this year and although it was laden with blossom in the spring the plums are few. The tree is too heavy with leaf and casts too much shade around it.
It has been ridiculously hot and I need to water some things twice a day. CPR must be administered from the hose pipe in the heat of the day or everything wilts. There are cracks and pops of fireworks resounding about the neighbourhood and I fear the danger of fire is great. Everything is tinder dry. Tomorrow is the fourth and everyone has a cache of illicit fireworks, there will be people on our balcony watching the Lake Union show. It is a reasonable view from here. We will be at the 15 th annual 61st Street parade all afternoon. When it began Rachael and her cohort were the toddlers, now there is a whole new generation coming up.
28 years ago I got married for the first time. Independence Day is always bitter-sweet for me. most people think it's just because I represent the losing side in that particular war, and i have been known to wear black to the parade, but really it is my personal mouring for a hideous mistake.
Life is immeasurably better than it was back then.