I love Saturday.
Below is a picture at the start of a successful picnic. The principal got everyone fed, the kids ran around freely with little adult intervention. Seems like the increased boundaries decreased the conflicts. There was plenty of open space.
The kids are unloading in the distance and the woman on the left in this golf cart is the recipient of the malabrigo prairie shawl. She really worked hard to get everything together.
Our face-painting station was the most popular. Can someone please explain to me the attraction of face painting? Do kids assume a different identity via a simple flame mustache? At one point we had 40 kids waiting for face paint (this is when a schedule would have -and will next year- come in handy.)
Today is another lovely day and much work has been done already outdoors. What previously was a washed out faded bench thingy is now a washed out faded bench thingy adorned by fuschia and geraniums. It's what greets me as I walk up the steps to the back of the house. GoodneighborEllen suggested a powerwash and a paint job. Why didn't I think of that?
Turning the corner to the back door I am greeted by another basket (peonies I think) and our rhododendron bush which will get a good trimming one day next week. I need to figure out what I can put along that shady wall that will be low maintenance and not so ugly as just mulch. That might wait another year- there's a big ole pile of black plastic underneath that mulch.
and walking across the back deck, looking to the right between two more rhododendrons are the many things I planted and mulched today.
Planted and added today are dill, garlic chives, orange mint, sweet basil, lady lavender, fennel, rosemary, sweet lavender, parsley, and rosemary.
Later tonight when the cooler part of the day returns I will tend to digging dirt in the garden, picking those little suckers from tomato plants, building mounds around corn, cucumbers and potatoes, and removing the maple trees that are determined to grow there.
And.... drumroll please.... I am about 8 rows (giant rows) from finishing MMarios Queen Anne's Lace in a burgundyish lavold silky wool. I can't wait until blocking time to see how giant it gets.
6 comments:
I spent another 4 hours in the garden this morning planting the seed things (beans). I will finish up the peas and beans next week add some more radishes and carrots and maybe some lettuce. Then I will be done.
Can't wait for the blueberries and raspberries to ripen. I also hope the fig tree has figs this year.
Oh yeah the corn goes in next weekend too.
so glad you know some camp songs to teach these kids. that is a life skill worth having.
my theory on face painting and why kids love it so much: (1) yes, they do assume a different identity, just like we all do when we dress up for halloween or other cosplaying. (2) it's intimate, positive attention in a way that most kids stop getting after they stop getting bathed by their parents. (3) it's time to be still but not wired. those are all things i'm betting that most people crave, kid or not.
you yard is so pretty. Love your garden journal!
1. That bench is "rustic", "shabby chic", has the "patina of age". Clearly, that music teacher needs better pseudonymic skills.
B. The power wash is a good idea. but not paint. If you paint it you will have to paint it again and again until you die or it does. I'd recommend oiling it.
iii. Can't be peonies in the basket -- they are a long-lived perennial that grows into a 3' bush. Petunia, perhaps?
d. Perennials for the shady area: (for flowers) lilies of the valley, bleeding heart, Virginia bluebells, lungwort (pulmonaria); (for foliage) hosta, ferns; (for both) coral bells (heuchera). I see all the flowering plants I listed bloom in spring and early summer, so good foliage plants are a must. You can also fill in empty spaces with shady annuals -- wax begonias, impatiens, coleus.
Go, you!
Another thing with the face painting is that it attracts attention, and that's cool. It's like temporary tattoos.(Though I'm told that many people get tattoos just for the endorphin rush.)
Looks like an awesome picnic and just the perfect day for it. Yay you!
Did you finish?
Facepaint=new identity.
Post a Comment