How Does Your Garden Grow?

Just look at these celosia! Wow! This coxcomb variety is like velvet brain coral. 

The celosia reseeds, as do many of the other flowers in this bed. I just added some zinna seeds into the mix this year, because I didn't dare to go out to the garden center during planting season. Some of the zinnas from last year came up too, as did the guinea impatiens. There's others in there too, some melampodium daisies which aren't really supposed to be perennials here, but apparently are. I love these dramatic flowers. There is a huge bush of yellow celosia that grew next to a bed of snapdragons from what seemed to be just a crack in the driveway. It is now so big I have to take care backing out my car so I don't run it down.

When these plants were first emerging, they looked quite weedy, but I knew they weren't weeds and let them grow. Growing flowers gives me such joy! Especially perennials who sleep and then re-emerge as bright little surprises. I am always amazed they survive. And always happy to see how they have redoubled or spread. (Like the white butterfly ginger plant below).This year was a particularly great year for flowers. We had a very wet winter which I think made them all very happy. 

As for my sweater, I got lost on sleeve island for some time. Truthfully, I knitted one sleeve twice. 

I started with magic loop and found that my stitches in the round were just too tight. I was also not happy pulling the cord of the circular needles back and forth every half row. So I pulled back (almost the whole sleeve--oh dear!) went up a half needle size and went round and round on trusty dpns.  Now that I have one sleeve finished, it shouldn't be too hard to motor on with the second. However, I am pretty sure I am not going to have enough yarn to finish. Even if I undo my swatch. I only have one more full skein.

Each day I go to school and come home and see my dear husband. I walk or walk the dog. We eat and watch mysteries or old movies on TV. It is a simple, routine life, which feels important now because nothing in the nation is simple or routine. Each day brings tremendously unsettling news.  I do what I can, make donations, love and support all the people I know and see. Little by little I try to keep the doomsayers at bay and fight in small ways for justice and truth and peace. 

Work and Play

I really think I have never had a busier school year.  I get to work earlier than ever before--usually by about 6:20.  The principal is on making reminders announcements about then, and then the kids enter at 6:50.  I am on all day. Most days the 90 minutes I have for "planning" is taken by a meeting.  No kidding--I'd say three out of the five days really there is a meeting.  Lunch is 20 minutes, and I work like a crazy woman during every minute of it.  I push myself to leave the building by 3:30, but a couple of days a week I stay until 4 or nearly 5.  Of course I take work home, though I don't always do it, except on the weekend; I have to get everything caught up and ready for the race of the next week.
I don't think people realize what high school teachers really do.  I have fewer students this year than last.  Only 170 or so ('or so' because each week some move in and some move out). Last year I had 200!
But that's how it is.  I am not complaining, just saying.  Really, it's amazing what we are asked to do.
So, I've been doing SCHOOL mostly--All caps this year, and an exclamation point too. SCHOOL!

Last weekend, I really slowed down--and this one too.  Lying around a lot.  Knitting some. Browsing catalogues or watching knitting tutorials, activities I find strangely relaxing.

We also cleared out our sadly neglected garden.  Worms devastated our green beans, so we picked the beans and pulled out the depressing remains of the plants.  We still have some cowpeas growing, but worms pretty much got to them too.  Next week or the next, I think we will build up the planter boxes and try to put in some beets and radishes maybe.  Not too many plants.

A handful of determined little beans!

We've had fair harvest on tomatoes, and really productive poblanos.

The cucumbers and eggplants did not produce well, and I wondered if it was for lack of bees.  Our bee keeping neighbor moved away.  And really, there have been fewer bees.  I wonder what it would take to keep some hives myself?  I am a friend of bees and try to plant bee friendly flowers.  I'll have to look into it.

Aside from work and garden, I have managed to get out and about a little. A friend has an art exhibit downtown.  I love the animalness of her artwork, and these are not too grotesque (as I find some of her work--you know like, interesting but too much to look at every day in your house kind of work--seems a lot of artists I like fall into that realm, now that I think about it!).

Exhibit by Linda Hall at Eyedrum, ATL

Sunday in Spring

Today is warm and everything is blossoming!  I put these flowers out on the front porch.  I haven't tried them before in these planters--so I am hoping they'll thrive.  I just love this type of flowers.  (Here's hoping they love me back!)

Above the planters on the porch, I've been watching a two little house finches (the male looks like someone dipped his front half in raspberry juice) trying to make a nest.  They do this every year, and every year some other bird comes and chucks out their nest material before they get it properly built.  I put up a nest box on one of the pillars to try to assist, but they never move in there. (Though other birds have slept there from time to time.--And once a baby squirrel slept up there before I put up the nest box!)

Meanwhile, the peas have put up their little heads.  Always a miracle to me that things really do grow from seeds!  A few beans are sprouting as well, in spite of the fact that the dog and the squirrels found the fresh soil irresistible.

 Our backyard is covered in little purple violets.  My mother-in-law used to tut and shake her head and tell me if I didn't get rid of those violets they would just take over and ruin my lawn. Well, I guess they have taken over, but I don't care.  They make me smile.

Because they remind me of this fabulous little book.  One of my all time favorites.

I'm very excited too, because now that spring is here I am going to use my new purse!! Mmm.  It is delicious hand died leather.  I've never owned a bag so nice.

It was a gift to me from my dearest husband who bought it while we were in Florence at Christmas. What a sweetheart!

Gray and Rainy

Well, after what seems 100 years, I have returned to my blog!!

Yesterday was another overcast, wet day.  I have to say I love those kinds of days.  I love the sound of rain on the roof and the windows.  I love fog.  I think sometimes of moving to Seattle.  People here say,  "Seattle?  That's a depressing city.  Too rainy."  But, I think I might like it that way.  Maybe.

Anyway, despite the wet, I got out and ran another 5k.  I was very happy to do so.  I ran that one back in the fall, and then hurt my foot and then it got cold and I got into hibernate under blankets mode.  I really needed to sign up for this run and go out and do it to get moving again.  So, I did it.  And I am not really sore at all--rather miraculously. But, it isn't like I haven't been walking and I have been a jogging, biking, hiking person for many, many years. So.

I am also crocheting a sweater (my first ever!) in mostly gray.  I love a mostly gray sweater. The button band will be either a blue or purple color and there's trim to add too.  Hopefully, it will look something like this in the end.

I gave up on knitting the mitts.  I wasted so many hours trying to get one made.  I had it to the thumb and lost my way and had to rip it all out.  I cast on so many times it was depressing.  I couldn't get the thing to join correctly.  I finally quit.  Maybe I was just at the point of breaking through to the light at the end of the tunnel, but I just couldn't go on.  I'll just have to get back to that some other day.

Meanwhile, spring is in the air and today we cleaned up the raised beds and planted sugar snap peas, cow peas, and some bush beans.

I've still a million things to do, but I really want to come back to my neglected blog.

Spring Dreams

I finally found time to clean up my yard and put in a little vegetable box.  Hooray!  I have always used barrels for tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, but I wanted to have a go at some other edibles.  My problem is that I have so much shade.  The sun shines on the driveway.  Hence, my container gardening.  But I've been watching the sun patterns over the last summers and have decided I can probably grow a few things in this one little space.

Look at that smiling wolf on the far left!  Better than a scarecrow.

 Here's what everything looks like now.  In another few weeks I'll take another picture for comparison.

Lemon tree blossom

Lots of blossoms.  Will there be lots of lemons?

Blood oranges.  New this year.  

Looking over the shade.  Sometimes I imagine putting in a pool here.  Something rustic with stones around it like you might find in Hawaii or some place.  I don't really care for swimming, but the idea of a pool seems relaxing.  Of course, while I'm imagining, I imagine a pool guy too to keep all the leaves and pine straw/cones/general mess out.  While I'm at it, he can bring my lunch in a dish with a cover over it, and lemonade with lots of ice and a long straw, and he may as well do the dishes too.  And he can be very handsome and bring a large leaf fan thing--okay, okay!  Enough.
I'll just keep the yard and the rabbit run.