Thursday, May 08, 2014

higher still

We reached 82F (nearly 28C) today -- that was a first! Was it last September that I was this warm outside?

It was so unusual, so sudden and, looking ahead at the prognoses, so fleeting, that when we got up to open and freshen up the coop, we decided to stay out.

And this is how I find myself doing raspberry field (you can no longer call it a patch) work before 6 in the morning.


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(The chipped area is the repaired field. Oreo and Butter are testing the raspberry leaves of a newly transplanted cane.)


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We work hard and stop only because the thought of breakfast on the porch is so tempting me that I can't quite shake the image. (This photo is not of the breakfast table, but from the breakfast table, looking out.)


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At midday, I ride Rosie (the moped) past fields to the east, still cultivated by a community of Laotian truck farmers.


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I'm on my way to check in with my back therapist. It's my second and final visit, so that we may review the exercises that I really mean to be doing. My back is feeling too fine. If I had a twitch at least, I would have an ongoing reminder of how bad it could get. I would slow down and take heed. As it is, I have no twitch, ache or pull and so I continue to work. But, I have made at least one adjustment and it's a big one: I strap on knee pads when I head out to the yard. They remind me to get down rather than lean forward when I need to weed or plant. You gardeners out there, I strongly recommend them. $8.95 at Farm & Fleet.

Later in the afternoon, I have a wonderful iced tea break with a friend. So yes, I do have a bit of a respite. But immediately after, the garden beckons. Ed and I expand the flower bed and, too, we build a teepee for the soon to be planted purple beans...


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And I finally tend to last year's strawberries. They are popping with new growth! I have no doubt that our chicks are going to go after the berries once they grow and ripen. For now, we have draped netting over most of the plants. Ha! As if that will keep chickens away! We'll surely have to adjust our game plan as the season unfolds.

Dusk. Take out pizza, I'm that tired. Head full of daffodils and summer mornings on the porch.


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