Time moves on, and spring advances. My peach trees are finishing blossoming, my cherry trees are just about done with theirs, and my apple trees are just starting to think about it. My neighbor, who is a bit familiar with what our garden was like with its previous occupants, says that she thinks that the half-dead peach-ish tree in one corner is likely a nectarine tree, from what she remembers. Maybe we'll get lucky and it will fruit for us this year? I didn't see any last year, but then we were a bit busy. :-) I bought a white nectarine sapling which is still in its pot, and it's already trying to produce fruit! I suspect that I'm not supposed to let it, but...I'm not sure I will be able to resist!
We're also getting some variegated pink lemons, and some blossoms on -- one of our other dwarf citrus trees in pots, I forget which. But the flowers smell very nice. Fruit grows slowly...or perhaps it's just a citrus thing! Even one of my outdoor orchid plants is happy with me at the moment, and has four lovely sprigs of flowers on it. I am thinking of giving one to a nice lady in my group tomorrow. Our manager is in town (he's based out of a remote location) this week and we're supposed to be going out to dinner all together tomorrow or the next day, so I will bring it to her then. I also have some lovely peacock feathers from when I visited L last year; I might bring one each to two lady co-workers who I've been working with over several iterations of a long and not very well run project. They've been working hard and I find them to be nice and courteous people despite our trials and tribulations, and I'm told that folks who grew up in India (of both genders) particularly value the beauty of peacock feathers. I have always enjoyed feathers (right, Mum? :-) ) and am happy to find that others enjoy them, too, particularly such lovely ones!
I have been working on making vegetable beds over the past few weekends; as of yesterday, I have a completed (for this year) 10" x 4' x 8' vegetable bed, with the clay soil loosened and amended with compost from two different sources, plus some nice planting mix and fertilizer. I have planted some Dragon Langerie beans, which I have enjoyed in a previous year at our previous house. They're purple and white on the outside, but turn green if you cook them. At least they're easier to find than regular green beans when you're out there pushing leaves around! I also have some lettuces and basil to transplant into there when I get a chance, and hope to plant some tarragon rows inbetween, as supposedly tarragon is distasteful to nibbly bugs, and so makes a good companion plant to most things. Bed 2 is constructed, but needs to be dug in, to make it settle slightly below soil level, and to be -- well, leveled. Digging is a lot of work! I have the wood and parts for Beds 3 and little Bed 4, but -- that will come later. I suspect 1 and 2 will keep me plenty busy for a while. That and the digging I will have to do soon to plant my tomatoes -- hopefully in the ground. And then sometime I really should get out a weed whacker and whack some of the taller weeds so I have some better surfaces to spray Roundup or whatever onto.
Still learning -- but enjoying it!
G continues on in his job, which we are thrilled that he is now being paid for, although of course it brings with it a little more stress, since he's no longer just 'the stagier who is here to learn' but is now a regular employee who is sometimes, in the heat of the rush, expected to already know how to make and assemble the zillions of different components that comprise the menu at the PH! All of which, of course, have to be placed very precisely, and not bumped or squished in the process of placing all of the other components.
His schedule is a little tough -- he gets home after 10pm 5-6 days a week, not having eaten yet. He has decided to stop going to (effectively auditing) the evening class in SF to improve his chances of having Saturdays off of work, and, incidentally, try to preserve his sanity.
That's all for now -- time for bed. Life is going pretty well at the moment, and we're enjoying the process.
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