Otherwise, I achieve nothing. I don’t know where it comes from, probably my far-distant childhood, that I should not let a day go by without an achievement of some kind, even if it’s only getting the dishes done.
It’s too bad the weather has such a profound effect on me; I seem to succeed in doing any given task according to how cool it is, whether it’s sunny or rainy, snowing or blowing. Cool, sunny, and blowing (to chase the bugs away) are the best. Those are the days when I almost feel as if I can conquer the world, but on other days, especially in the heat, I tend to blob most of the day, and get little, if anything done.
But then a butterfly flits past, on its way to my hanging basket. I hung the basket outside my computer window a few weeks ago, when I put in my instant garden. At the greenhouse, where I got the zucchini and a couple of other plants, I had asked for something to attract hummingbirds, and this beautiful basket, loaded with blossoms of many colors, was recommended.
I brought it home and put it up, but I have yet to see a hummingbird anywhere near it. I have no complaint, however, because it attracts butterflies …many monarchs, the same hue as the yellow flowers, as lovely as the flowers themselves. This morning, in fact, as I write this, I am watching the myriad of butterflies that have chosen these blooms for their nectar. They are a wonderful sight. I was also told to feed the basket with Miracle-Gro once a week, which I have been doing faithfully. With this treatment, it is supposed to keep blooming all summer….so far, so good.
I would love to get a picture of at least one of the butterflies, but have had neither the time nor the patience to sit out there with my camera until one flies into view; they’re pretty swift in their comings and goings, as I watch them attend to their jobs from inside the house.
Maybe, some time, if the humidity eases off, I’ll actually go out to make this effort. I do have to get out, away from my cooling fans, for a bit anyway, to cut back some of the rife forsythia that is overshadowing the zucchini. Will it occur to me to take the camera along? (ho-ho-ho.)
And then there are the weeds in the garden, mostly grass spears that like to spring up here, there, and everywhere. It’s a serious effort for me to get them out, although I do try to pull about three a day during the summer. I take my chair over next to the garden, sit, and dig quite contentedly, filling my fingernails with the dirt that will all come off later on.
It would help, obviously, if I could get up earlier in the morning to get out there, but I’ve been sleeping in much too late lately. I console myself with the idea that I can get to the garden later in the day, when the sun is casting shadows on it, and I don’t have to sit in full sun.
I’ve also been watering, unless Mommy Nature decides to do it for me, when I can take an evening off. All in all, the garden is looking good…my efforts seem to be paying off, and I can hardly wait for the juicy taste of those first sweet tomatoes, fresh from the vine, and the zucchini stew that I’ll build and freeze for the winter.
Wanting one zucchini plant at the greenhouse, I came home with several. I gave some away, but ended up with two this year myself, when last year my one plant was more than adequate. But please remember, I imagine I’ll use most of my crop myself, so if you find a few zucchini on your doorstep, come harvest time, I probable did not put them there; you’ll have to blame someone else.
