I've been gardening

Today I weeded and used the tiller on the garden where I could, then spread the straw around.  You can't really see the plants too well since I put the straw down, but in a week everything will be showing and growing well.  I have three Celebrity tomato plants, one Jet Star, one Better Bush, one Cherokee Purple, and two Defiant.  That adds up to eight plants, when I only intended  to have three.  I've planted cucumber seeds in a corner, to grow its vine up the fence like last year.  I also have a variety of herbs:  I love having fresh parsley, basil, and oregano.  The plants in the foreground against the fence are Gladiolas:  I saw some bulbs really cheap and bought them, thinking how nice it would be to see flowers in the garden when I walk out the back door.

This morning I told Cliff, "Even though I know blight will probably ruin my tomato crop, there were times it wasn't so bad.”  So I still have hope.  I love the feeling of hope fluttering in my chest (or maybe that's my irregular heartbeat), watching the tomatoes grow and bloom, each bloom soon replaced by a tiny green tomato.  I'm always thinking "this year might be different".  And I think of the Emily Dickinson poem:

 Hope is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

Then I think of an old hymn:

I've lost a lot of enthusiasm as I age, but I thank God I haven't lost my ability to hope.

Five baby bluebirds hatched in the birdhouse a couple of days ago, and they are already covered with blue fuzz.  We have more orioles around this year than I usually see, and they are sticking around longer, which makes me happy even though they demand jelly every day, not to mention oranges.  I have the usual hummingbirds; I'm fighting ants, of course.  They think the nectar is for them and they will climb high in order to get to it.  They like the oranges too.  I guess nothing comes without problems, even hummingbird-feeding.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of Gabe this morning, sitting on the tractor with Cliff.  When Cliff got off the tractor, Gabe followed him.  Next time I glanced at the tractor, Gabe was waiting on the seat for Cliff.  Apparently he wanted to ride some more.  

I cooked some sirloin steak in the Instant Pot, cooking some potatoes in aluminum foil with them.  It only took about half an hour, even counting the time the pressure cooker took getting up to pressure.  If you want to try it, you'll find the recipe HERE; it can also be done in a slow-cooker.  It was a luscious meal:  We had some broccoli, as well as corn-on-the-cob, or roasting ears, as many relatives used to call them; I heard it as one word, "roastineers" when I was a kid, and didn't know what it really was called until probably sixth grade.  

Gabe is staying with me so much better outside, so I don't have to worry all the time about him wandering off.  I understand why people are always saying a dog is good for older folks.  He brightens up my day in so many ways.  Cliff likes him too.

Our holiday weekend was nice, with relatives coming to eat with us.  We've had a couple of tornado watches nearby and even one warning, and there is a lot of flooding in Missouri.  None of this affects us personally, since the tornado missed us and we are on a hill high above the water; but the flooding is bad for farmers.  The river bottom land won't even get planted this year; it looks like an ocean down there.

I hope life is treating you kindly.  

Yours truly

Donna