(Pictures are from yesterday)
I woke up around 5:30 this morning, managed to stay in bed until just after 6 — couldn’t sleep, didn’t want to stay in bed. So I wandered out to the hardware store to get some hoses and hose materials (mostly connectors so I don’t have to have a single, 300-foot hose), and some more shelving pieces. Now working on the two linen closets, and trying to figure out a way to have taller items on the floor but sufficient shelf space. I like the closetmaid system because it is pretty easily reconfigured if I change my mind! Which I tend to do.
The rest of the day was spent looking in some boxes, found a couple books I thought I had discarded after the fire. They still need to be discarded, but since I had forgotten to get the title and author names, I am glad to have had the reminder. Also a lot of of miscellaneous items that I want to keep “for now” but not forever, and will simply box up again until I need them. I’ll put labels on the boxes this time, after I sort them into the appropriate piles! Someone seems to have mixed up some of the items; I find cleaned items next to soot-covered items, which is disconcerting and means I have to be very careful when lifting things out so I don’t smudge the clean ones. {note: I made a couple editorial changes when Tom suggested that perhaps some of the items were “scrambled” by having been taken to the apartment and hastily reboxed at some point}
And then I spent some time sitting with Mother on the little patio Grant built me, just visiting and talking about how things are going. Little by little both the house and the yard are taking shape. Here are a few pictures I took yesterday. I’ll post a few more of the patio and front entrance once I have cleaned it up a little more. I finally have some ideas that will better define the “drivable” and “off-limits” areas, and will get that finished over the weekend.
Here is my official “greeter” who used to sit facing south, but now relaxes under shelter as people walk toward the door. She was a gift from my mother in law when we first moved here.
Here is a quick walk through the garden. The first image is one of the ageratum we planted near Grant’s patio. I have always wanted ageratum, they are simultaneously ethereal and solid. To be clear, the visible foliage is from an ornamental St. John’s wort.
Then, continuing the sublime and mundane theme, a kale volunteered to grow in one of the planters holding an ornamental grass!
The Korean dogwood, in full bloom. It is naturally an understory plant, and does well between the smaller chestnut tree and a snowball viburnum.
Gooseberries! They appear to be ripe, so will be harvesting in the next couple of days. Mother likes them, and might make a pie…
The Buddleia (butterfly bush) that was another gift from my mother in law. It is leaning FAR to the side to get as much light as possible, so I will have to prune it back heavily in a week. It is crowding my favorite Asian pear!
The most perfect blackberry blossom (Himalaya blackberry).
New growth on the four-year old madrona next to the driveway (self-sown).
A single pink rose…
And a nosegay of roses, all on the same bush. Another gift from my mother in law!
A now-you-see-it…
…now-you-don’t view of a thimbleberry. They are particularly tasty this year.
Chestnut blossoms. These are the male flowers. The female flowers are held under the leaves and look a bit like space aliens. I will try to get a decent picture of one of them before they get too “pregnant.”
Seeing the plants (those that survived being untended last year) growing and thriving reminds me that time moves on. As we gradually sink our roots into our home plot again, we too will bring to thrive again. I am looking forward to seeing the fruit on the trees and the bushes ready to pick, and to watching the seasons shift through all the phases.
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