I always thought the English language had a perfect word for this kind of day: muggy. There is no Polish equivalent, possibly because I rarely recall muggy days in my country of birth. This morning, as I set out to deal with the animals, I think: it's muggy. Pre-storm weather. Which leads me to water some of the hanging baskets (because they hang underneath canopies of leaves, so a rain has to be substantial to reach them). Oh, do we need rain!
The fields are now at their peony and iris peak. It wont last long, but it really is a beautiful bridge between the seasons.
Breakfast, on this very warm morning, outside.
We talk about farmette jobs that still require our attention. I tell Ed I took a good look at the two meadows and one is sprouting very many thistles. We take a couple of buckets over to it and get to work. I pull out some of the tall grasses, Ed goes after the thistle.
I haven't much hope this year for the peach orchard meadow (the newer one). Sure, I did seed it, but I'm not convinced we mowed it at the optimal time. We may have mowed down the flax flowers and other early bloomers. And in some places we did not mow at all, so the grasses probably smothered any of the wild flowers.
The thing is, I can't give my full attention to every flowering project. Ask me, for example, how the lavender field is doing! You really want to know? It's awful! For reasons I cannot understand, half of the bushes did not survive the winter. Given that they were several years old and quite established, it makes no sense to me. Why was this winter especially bad for lavender? (Other lavender plants in farmette flower fields also had a 50-50 survival rate.) Everything else seemed to have had a splendid resting period. Yes, I should replace the dried out lavender bushes but I wont. It's a really low priority. I rarely go to that field, even when it's healthy. The meadows are slightly higher on the list of "Important Farmette Projects," but still, they take a back seat to other jobs. I wont give up on them and today I cleaned up one meadow and seeded the other, but then I'll cross my fingers and step back. Too much to do elsewhere.
(have you ever seen a chicken slurping spaghetti? delightful!)
By the lunch hour, it finally starts to rain. This is a good thing. There are rumbles of thunder as well and I wonder about Snowdrop's field trip -- they were to go on a day-long hike today -- but of course, a sudden change in weather is what stories are mode of for future telling. You can't lead a calm life as a kid and expect to have good material for family sharing when you're an adult!
I pick up the kids and bring the to the farmhouse.
Snowdrop tells me the class hike was brilliant and the dip in Devil's Lake even more so. No storms. A little rain, but that, too, was fun. Sparrow, I think, is counting the days until he can be in 4th grade.
The rain pauses (more please!), then resumes. Muggy turns to windy and wet. No hail, no tornadoes, no destruction. June is showing herself to be kind to us. We are very grateful.
with love...
