GARDENING – Page 9 – Skelton Sketches

To Water or to Dig…

Posted on August 8, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

I went strolling out for my morning garden tour with no particular mission in mind. But when I got to the potato patch I wondered… shall I water these sad looking plants–some yellowing, some clearly dead, others chipper and green and trying to thrive despite their want of regular watering–or shall I dig…

Bracing myself for disappointment I grabbed a hand rake and scritched at the surface of some of the withered lifeless vines…when what should appear but a lovely dusty potato!!! YIPEE!

I scritched and scratched some more, and more potatoes–whites ones and red ones, even one JUMBO one (there’s always one fellow that taps into the water just right and busts his buttons outgrowing the rest). And soon I was hunting down the pitchfork and digging deeper to turn up buried treasure.

Wonderful hot sweaty work it was in the morning sun. But I turned about a square yard of that bed and I have potatoes for many potato salads to come!

The moral of the story is, don’t judge a garden or a life by its surface. Fruit may not be visible but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Dig a little. Get to know what’s beneath the surface of that foliage, that face, that lifestyle….You may be in for a surprise!

————-

In other news this week…

We watched rampaging Redcoats (aka the RCMP Musical Ride)

motored across the lake for a swim…

beheld my Japanese Anemone in bloom (I love it! Thanks Nola!)

Walked the neighborhood admiring neighbor’s dahlias

and documented the wonder of being together…

for just a little longer…

while this bedazzlingly warm and dry summer fleets sweetly away…but not without notice!

–LS

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…” Eccl. 3:1

Heat, Blessed Heat!

Posted on July 25, 2013April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

It brings the garden to life. Nasturtiums tumble over themselves in spontaneous flaming festoons…

a palette of warm colors

glorying in morning sun….

This variation, a peachy cream, was a surprise!

Potatoes rush to bloom…

And the zucchini is outgrowing our ability to consume it! No sooner does one become a delicious meal of ‘Zucchini Wonder’, then another two are ready the next morning…We’ve got a backlog already and they’ve only just begun! (If you live in the vicinity, don’t hesitate to come by and pick up a zucchini for dinner!)

[And if you don’t live nearby, please share a recipe!!!]

All because of blessed heat! Oh, I love it, when I can shed wool socks and sweaters and leave doors and windows wide, and dare to dip in water!

These gi-normous bullfrog tadpoles love it too! And they know where to find the warmest water. So naturally, we had a swim together yesterday in a sheltered cove on Powell Lake.

My sympathies to those of you who must endure searing steering wheels and cannot relate to heat being a blessed thing. I was there once… But for this season of life, I just can’t get enough of summer’s blessed heat and all the good things it brings!

–LS

Around the Block…

Posted on June 27, 2013April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

After a busy week of planning and carrying out great celebrations of our youngest ‘chirp’ graduating, it’s been good to recoup and regroup…and make myself get out in the little windows of brightness without rain and see that all is well and still beautiful in my Father’s world…

One saggy evening after a slow day of much rain and little inspiration I stepped out to walk around the block. This little bird, intent on rousing me from my malaise, kept swooping down at my back—till I turned and had a talk with him now high on his perch. He twittered back and we had a little responsive whistling going for just a bit before I went on my way, just a bit brighter than when I’d set out ( :

So, may I commend to you a walk around the block next time your day hangs heavy?

And consider too these lyrics which brightened my morning today, sung here by GLAD:

This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad? The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad

–LS

A sad little end note here… no longer are my solo walks under surveillance from this window. My elderly neighbor of all these years, who moved here with her husband from Italy in the 50s and built the house next door to us, has moved away to live with family. Her house is now up for sale, complete with these ‘pinks’ that she always insisted smelled so much better than mine!