We had a wet week with rain, and sometimes storms, at least part of every day. Monday was a gray day. During the wee hours of that morning we had a thunderstorm. Deep, rumbling thunder woke me up at 1:00. Then at 1:20, the rain came. It was a warm night and I had the window by my bed open. I could smell the rain before I heard it, that indescribable aroma of rain soaking into dry earth. The rain pelted down for a little while. It makes quite a noise on the metal front porch roof. I like the sound. I fell back asleep listening to it. When I awoke before dawn, the rain had stopped. The sky was heavily overcast. I spent the morning in the kitchen canning tomato sauce and chopping and freezing peppers, waiting and hoping for some sunshine so I could go out into the garden. While I worked, I listened to Chopin’s Nocturnes. They seemed a perfect fit for the mood of the morning. The day never brightened much. It drizzled off and on most of the day. I went out when it let up and retreated to the house when it resumed. In my time outdoors, I made some new wire cages to protect my little blueberry bushes and I picked raspberries. Indoors, I worked on sign orders and kept on listening to Chopin. At chore time it looked like the sun might finally shine through and I hurried out to finish the chores and then do some weeding. But the sunshine was short-lived. Another thunderstorm soon arrived and I abandoned all outdoor work for the rest of the day. Later that night, just before midnight, another, bigger storm came through. The lightning flashed and the thunder boomed until 2:00 a.m.
Tuesday dawned another dreary day with dark skies and everything wet from the night’s rain. The forecast said the weather would clear, but nature paid no attention to it. I stayed indoors all morning, working on signs, listening to Chopin’s Ballades and Etudes, watching and waiting for any sign of the sun. By 10:00 I began to despair of getting any chance to work outdoors. Finally at noon the sun broke through and I abandoned my paints and music and escaped into the garden. I cleaned out a section of flowerbed. I picked a bucket of apples and made a batch of applesauce. Later that evening the rain returned.
On Wednesday morning I saw the sun attempting to shine and I grabbed my camera and hurried out to take my morning walk. It was warm and humid. Everything was wet from rain during the night. I walked out across the yard and down to the beaver pond. I saw a beaver swimming around, but it wouldn’t pose for a photograph. From there I walked up to the big garden and pumpkin patch. The vines are mostly bare of leaves now and the pumpkin are exposed, but they aren’t quite ripe. In a few more days they should be ready to pick and cure. Then I walked along the lower edge of the orchard. There is a patch of ground there where we had the pigpen last year that is overrun with sunchokes (Helianthus tuberosus, also known as Jerusalem artichokes). We put the pigs there last year hoping they would root out and eat all the sunchokes that had invaded that part of the yard, but like the rest of the family, the pigs didn’t like them. They ate the stalks, but not the roots, so this year the sunchokes, encouraged by an ample amount of pig manure, have grown back with a vengeance. They are over eight feet tall. They are blooming right now and are very lush and almost pretty enough to make me like them. But they are very aggressive and spread quickly. I comfort myself by saying that, in a time of need, we can always eat them. It would have to be a very dire need. They taste like dirt. After skirting the edge of the orchard, I continued my walk past the long border. My mid-September flower garden, despite the gaps where I have cleaned it out, is very colorful and lush in places. There is still some nice color there with zinnias, cosmos, salvia and other late blooming plants. I finished my walk by stopping to admire the colchicums. The single flowered ones were open, always the first to open, are lovely.
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| From my walk - across the front yard. |
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| Sunchokes - eight feet tall. |
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| The pumpkin patch. |
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| Part of the long border. |
After my walk on Wednesday, I made another batch of applesauce. We eat a lot of applesauce so I try to can plenty. I love the smell of cooking apples. Unlike boiling tomatoes, I don’t grow tired of smelling them.
Thursday morning was gray and wet. I went out in the morning and picked two buckets of tomatoes and then came back inside and cooked sauce for the rest of the morning. The tomatoes are just about done and I’m glad. We had a great harvest, but I’m tired of canning them. Near noon the sun broke through at last and things dried enough for me to mow the lawn – again. With all the rain we’ve had, there are mushrooms popping up all over the place. I love mushrooms. I love to eat the edible kind and look at the other non-edible ones. Some are very beautiful and some are a bit grotesque, but all of them are fascinating.
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| One of the weirder mushrooms growing in the lawn. |
We left on Friday afternoon to spend the weekend down south with the Thayns and the Fosters. We spent a great weekend together. On Saturday we went to Ligonier, Pennsylvania, to the Highland Games. We watched the hammer throwing competition. We saw the bagpipe band perform. We watched a highland dance competition. There were rides to ride, music, food, and all sorts of fun activities. We left the Highland Games and went to another game, Hazel’s soccer game. While we were together we celebrated Tosh and Hazel’s birthdays. We had great food – delicious tacos one night, grilled salmon on another, birthday cake, ice cream, and so many other treats.
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| We took some garden goodies down with us. |
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| Opening Tosh's birthday presents on Friday night. |
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| Hazel, June, and Mabel with a Westie. |
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| Hammer throw. |
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| Sheep shearing. |
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| Bagpipe band. |
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| Dance competition. |
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| Hazel's soccer game. |
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| Tacos for dinner. |
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| Birthday cake. |
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| Hazel opening presents on Saturday. |
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| A little crazy dancing. |
We went to church this morning in the Thayn’s ward. When we got back, we had lunch, spent some time playing games, and then came home again. Miriam stayed down there to watch the Thayn girls this week while Tabor and Rachel go on a business trip. Now the weekend is done. It ended too soon. We are home. I went down to check on the chickens before it got dark and brought back forty eggs. I took a quick stroll around the yard. Now the single and double cochicums are in full bloom. Now a new week stretches ahead of us. I’m tired from long hours sitting in the car. I need a good night’s rest and away we’ll go.
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| After church today.
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| Colchicums in bloom when I got home this evening. |
Dan
