How easy it is to slip back into summer routines after a vacation! Well, sort of easy. Look at it this way: typically in July, I spend on average 3 hours a day working in the garden. Not watering -- no, that's separate, depending on the weather. I spend it on pruning, deadheading, clipping, weeding, staking. This is when the garden is at the peak of color and I work hard at keeping it at its best. So, having been away for twelve July days, there is an absence of 36 hours of work. And to my eye, it shows. Tall grasses have invaded the flower beds. Tall lilies have tumbled. Day lilies haven't been deadheaded and I ask Ed -- there are so many blooms now! When I left, there were just a handful. You said it wasn't really exploding yet! He answers -- I didn't want to have you worry that you were missing it...
I have a lot of work before me!
But the weather? It's sublime! I left in a smoggy hazy heat, I returned to pleasant temperatures and clean skies. How good is that!
So in the morning, very early, I head out int to the garden (because you know, jet lag has you wake up at 3, 4, 5 and your body keeps asking "now is it time to get up? No? How about now? Not yet? Maybe now?" until you finally give up on this futile discussion and get going).
Some stuff that caught my eye:
It's really pretty right now!
In my absence, a tree fell down on top of the sheep shed. Ed chopped it up so we could actually access the barn again (it blocked the door where we enter). I notice that. In my absence, too, there was rain. A total of 4 inches for us. That really alleviated some of the tension in the soil, though I doubt any farmer will tell you the drought is over. The rain was once again spotty, though this time we were lucky and got some of the more copious amounts. Our CSA farmers say that in the last two months, they've had just under an inch total. That's miserable!
So okay, I dont have to water the beds for at least several weeks. But rains sure have had the weeds jumping for joy. I pull out a few and then decide that this can be a weekend project. Let's just concentrate on getting most of the lilies cleaned up.
And of course, there are the usual tasks of a return: get groceries. Do laundry. Clean. Bla bla bla. But any writing work, paper work, worky work -- I do these on the porch. Because now is the time to truly believe that the farmette is the most beautiful place on the planet!
Breakfast, with sweet, solicitous, helpful Ed.
And then some more of the same, until it is time for me to head out to Snowdrop's summer camp program for her end-of-week presentations. Yoga and drama. This time she is in a play rendition of the Sour Grape and she plays the granny and she is thrilled!
She comes back to the farmhouse with me and we do our usual.
And toward evening, I take her to a place where her mom and I agreed to meet up for a chat. My daughter wants to hear more details of the trip and I do offer some, but honestly, what you read here, on Ocean is the meat of my travels. Still, it is so pleasant to reflect on a trip that continues to be "in progress" for the younger family (a hellish return from Paris lasting --so far!!-- two day!), a trip that had all the beautiful memories any one person could possibly store in her head!
And finally I am home.
Reeling from a time well spent. Happy to be home, because, in fact, I do love home.
