June, OR…
This morning I spent quite a bit of time writing to this weblog, and then the power failed. There was no warning, no storm outside, nothing to make me think I’d lose all my text. I found out soon after that a beaver had fallen a tree right onto a power line at a spot near here.
I haven’t written for ages, and I can’t believe how fast June has gone by. It might be apparent that I’ve stopped stewing over my “loyal” customer sending her dogs to the new groomer; after all, every day brings new things to stew about!
I’m semi-joking. The risk with an on-line diary is that someone I’m troubled about might read about themselves, and in turn be more hurt or fretful than I was in the first place. It’s only cathartic for me if I don’t think I’m upsetting anyone. There are times that I should confront someone or deal with things differently, but I am a chicken-shit. There.
Early in June, I had a wild idea. For a long time (months, many months, and then years) I had been wanting to see a beloved aunt and uncle in Edmonton. I also had not seen my sister since November which is not a long time, considering we don’t get together too often. In the same thought process, I decided that I could go to Alberta to buy some apple trees from a nursery which was going out of business, see my sister and family, see our aunt and uncle, and skeedaddle home… all in two days. And that is precisely what I did.
One of the happy results of my visit to Rae’s home was that her dear daughter has been in touch with me via email. That 15 yr. old girl must be the bright star in her mom’s life. She has inner beauty and is blessed with physical loveliness. I wish I could see more of her, and perhaps I will be able to as time goes on.
The visit with favourite aunt and uncle was nice, though short. Our cousin, their daughter, was visiting, so we three women went out to lunch, leaving my uncle at home with what HE wanted for lunch. It is hard to see loved ones failing; my aunt told me that I will not see my uncle again. My aunt, even though her 87th birthday was the very day I was there, is still a little spitfire! I will make an effort to see them again before a sad occasion.
The purchase of apple trees for reselling turned out to be a good business move. I’ve planted 5 for myself, but of the other TWENTY, only three are left. Now I’m “pumped” to get more nursery stock in the spring! One of my online chat friends owns a large nursery in Saskatchewan, and he has been encouraging me to expand business in that direction.
Yesterday I dug, cleaned, processed and bottled HORSERADISH. I wanted to remove the plant from where it had volunteered, and got several large roots, so now I have a dozen jars to sell at the Farmer’s Markets. Last year it was a hot seller… pun intended. Also, I made a batch of blueberry jam, with berries picked from the health food store. Soon I’ll be obliged to make strawberry jam, as we’re getting quite a few every day from our own patch. Yummy.
This morning I got busy and poured several “rhubarb leaf” stepping stones. All I did was mix water with cement (no sand, gravel or other stuff), and pour into garbage can lids on which I’d laid a suitably sized leaf. I went into town for coffee after that, and when I returned, I noticed that I really didn’t have ANY of the molds LEVEL where they sat on the lawn… but too late now! They will still be good enough for me, and I might even sell some.
A funny thing happened on my way to pouring stepping stones. I KNOW that I had lifted the 80 pound bag of cement into a corner of my grooming shop “all by myself”. I had bought it from the hardware store, packed it out to the truck, and into the shop, last spring. TODAY, when I went to lift that bag of cement, I could hardly budge it. Is this what happens when we don’t work out, or when we turn fifty? I finally wrested that bag into a picnic cooler, and then because it now had “handles”, I was able to drag it outside, lift it onto a stump, and then scoop cement powder into the wheelbarrow in which I was mixing. The rest of the project went smoothly enough, considering I’m not a perfectionist. We’ll see.
I’ve been at this long enough, and I’m surprised you’re still reading! Thank you, dear “Annie’s weblog” fan, for checking in with me. I’ll try to be more faithful to posting entries, AND/OR see you in the Garden Chat room !
~Ann
