The weather here has been unusual for late July. For the past few days, there has been cloud cover and sometimes rain. The garden is sprawling. Sometimes tomato plants develop a lot of stem and foliage but few tomatoes. This will depend partly on varieties. This year, we have both. We tried a potato tower, and the results were so encouraging that we started a second one. Around mid-July, the plants had appeared to quit growing, but with the recent rain and cool weather, those plants are growing again. The green beans in the two raised bed containers have taken over the two pepper plants in each container, and the okra between the containers. The basil is growing well, as it usually does once the wet, cool part of spring is past. And corn! There are 2-3 ears on each stalk, and the electric fence was installed soon enough that the raccoons have been disappointed. The ears were well-pollinated, maturing to the tips. This means that there were no corn worms. And so far, there are no tomato hornworms. That is concerning. The squash bugs are working desperately to get into the mesh tent where the squash is trying to grow through the tent. They succeeded in laying eggs on a part of a leaf that stuck through, and there must have been areas I missed, because there were eggs on stems in three places yesterday. Delicata squash to squash bugs must be euphoric; these pests are incredibly persistent.
All in all, the garden is doing well, and Grace and I have been enjoying some of the outcomes. Grace has spotted a few butterflies, but there have been fewer than usual. I have seen a honeybee, a bumblebee and a borer bee, but insects in general have been scarce. That is concerning.
With the squash in a mesh tent, I have to pollinate the flowers. This is a sticky mess. There have been a few creatures small enough to get through the mesh that have apparently helped out. Finally, I looked for a Youtube video and found a very practical method by someone whose plants are in the open air. The only way that I can imagine to do this successfully would be with a container on concrete using pesticides and hand-pollinating, and perhaps by living where there are no stinking squash bugs. These bugs fly in, and they can demolish squash vines quickly, then progressively destroy other vining plants in order of their preference.
Until recently, the weather had been so hot that if I opened the door to let Grace into the south yard, she would either look at me like my thinking was unfit or she would go out for 30-60 seconds and ask to come back inside. The south yard has a Maple tree with branches that sprawl across the swing and the southwest corner of the yard, where Jade is buried. In cooler weather, we do activities or I sit in the swing and Grace listens to the sounds. That is a normal enjoyable time for a Newfoundland, when the birds are singing, the cars are passing and other interesting sounds emerge, like the train whistle or a motorcycle. On Wednesday, she went outside and didn’t look back. I went about whatever I was doing, and within a couple of minutes, she was barking at the door. The windows and doors had just been cleaned last week, and since she spits when she barks, there was now spit on the sidelite. Other guests would see that as dirty instead of what it really is: the joy of living with a Newf. This time, when I opened the door to let her in, she had other interests. She looked straight at me and turned, asking me to come with her. Then I noticed that it wasn’t hot outside. I followed her to the swing. Sometimes she gets onto the swing with me, but that gets a bit crowded. She sat down beside the swing, so I sat on the swing and drifted back and forth lazily. The shade of the Maple and a cool breeze made it a very nice time to sit and enjoy being outside. I pushed down the nudging of things that needed to be done. Good idea Grace!
She walked over and sat beside Jade’s grave, and she studied the sky and the birds and the butterfly and the cattle. Jade loved to do this also and I was nearly in tears. There was, as usual, a long list of things that needed to be done, but when someone invites you to their party, you stay and enjoy it Gracefully, and you learn to live life in that moment. These are the important kinds of moments.
After a while, I got up and went on to the next task, but Grace again had other ideas. She was jumping, running and spinning like when she was a puppy [ a few months ago : ) ]. On one spin, she came rushing toward me in a way that I thought I was in trouble, like she was thinking of jumping onto me or up into my arms. I’m not quite that rugged now, Grace. Her spirits being lifted like that was another joy.
Grace wanted to spend time outside again yesterday, and she wanted to play Stick, rather Keep-away. Most days now are too hot for this. It was cool enough that I had goose bumps wearing shorts. Grace was running and turning, daring me to get the Stick. She would rush past fast enough that I could touch it. (Of course, you never try to take something from the mouth of a Newfoundland unless they are stopped and you are teaching “Give”.) She was having a blast. When she finally laid down, giving me a chance to get the Stick, I threw it for her a couple of times, then switched to Find It, using treats.
Again this morning, it is splendidly cool, and we took an early walk. We adventured down a new street, with different cracks and grates, and different places where male dogs have peed. We walked back around to the social zone, but there weren’t yet people mulling around. When we got back to the van, she protested. She didn’t want to get in. I put the ramp in place. Still she pleaded against having to get back into the van. Then my light came on: “Do you want to go to the park and sit for a while?” “Yes”. Then she got into the van, we drove on to the park and looked for a bench that wasn’t too wet. Someone was walking a dog off-leash, so she had to wait for a moment before exiting. The grass was wet, so I opted for a seat at a picnic table, forgetting that Grace would want to be on the table, where she had a better vantage point for listening and watching. She went to the end of the table to sit, so I tuned in to her responses to the surroundings, in case she tried to launch off. About a week ago, she had spun around while we were walking as if she wanted to catch a rumbling black pickup that was coming up from behind. She may be maturing, but impulse still can take hold. We sat quietly and listened. Until you take time to stop and listen, your busy mind may tune out the background sounds as “noise”. After her need to be Present was satiated, I said, “Are you hungry? Do you want to go home and make breakfast?” No reply needed; she came easily.
Happy Friday from The Bigfoot Club!