Monday, June 24

Well, the spring that wasn't quite spring ended over the weekend. The weather people are promising more seasonal weather with warmer temperatures. I will believe it when I see it. We had monsoonal type rain yesterday for a brief period during which we got almost an inch. The gardens, which I finally got completely filled in, survived it nicely.

I harvested quite a bit of spearmint last week--enough to, when dried and chopped, fill three quarters of a pint jar. I used the remains of last year's peppermint and lavender for a herbal tea mix. I also chopped the lemon grass I harvested a couple of weeks ago with the remains of the hibiscus tea and added that mix to some hibiscus/lemongrass mix I got from my favorites morning herbal tea supplier. That gave me about a pint of that mix so I won't have to add it to my list of teas for our next shopping trip.

We have had on-and-off again sun and clouds so far today with more thunderstorms this afternoon. However, I got out to pull some weeds and do a few other small chores in the gardens. A major task though was pruning my large rosemary. I don't know what happened but about a third of it died back. It was the side I had facing the window in the living room and it was constantly brushed by the curtain when the wind blew while the window was open. I checked to see if the pot was well watered and it was so water wasn't the problem. I cut off the dead parts and generally pruned it before giving it a really good watering. All my rosemary plants are outside for the season unless we get a severe, unseasonal cold spell.

My agenda for harvesting, when I get some dry and sunny weather, include lavender, chives, lemon grass, catnip, and lemon balm. That last was a surprise survival from last year's garden.

Coming soon: pictures of my latest projects as soon as I get them off the camera and onto the computer.

Thursday, June 13

Goodness--here we are half through June. My containers are only half filled. In years past I would have had the entire garden planted and be harvesting herbs almost every day. The plant offerings at all my usual sources are dismally uninspiring. However, I can report that the last snake bean transplants have revived and we may get to see those spectacular blossoms. The Black-eyed Susans I started in the garden (after the transplants failed dismally) are also growing as well as the two tomato plants (Black Russian). I found creeping Jenny and purslane--the first is already in a pot while only two of the others have found a home in one of the large pots with the verbena. I added lemon basil to the two sweet basils. The peppermint, spearmint, thyme, sage, lavender, and chives are all doing well.   I have some marigolds that need a home soon if this weather breaks.

I am glad I got out to get some weeds pulled and a couple of plants (stevia and lemon basil) situated because today is beastly. We have had high winds and steady rain since we got up. The forecast says it should break and be merely windy and cloudy for most of the day. We have a couple of errands to do today and so would welcome that.

The morning news commentary concerned #45's interview with George  Stephanopoulos where he said he saw nothing wrong with taking "opo-research" from foreign governments even equating Poland (Nato member and sort-of ally) with North Korea (and the unstated Russia). Nor would he feel compelled to inform the FBI. Nor could he be bothered to get upset at foreign meddling in our elections because (the old six-year-old's excuse) everybody does it.

The commentariat dwelt on the legality (or lack of it), the immorality of it, etc. Me? I had a series of flashbacks and concluded that #45 is very much the apex of moral degeneration in this supposedly Christian nation. First flashback: college organic chem lab where an ambitious male student sabotaged the work of two other (female) students so they wouldn't get higher grades than he did. After all, he wanted to go to Med School and his grades in chemistry, math and physics counted heavily with the admissions offices. Second flashback: the student who wanted me to let her crib from my test because I was getting As. She was upset when I said no and sat as far away from her as possible. Third flashback: a news report on college students cheating--buying term papers, stealing test answers, copying answers on tests, etc.) complete with an on camera interview with students who brazenly admittedly cheating and saying they would be glad to do so again if they "needed" to. Fourth flashback: the numerous cheating scandals at several elite schools including the service academies. There were other flashbacks but I think you get the idea. I remember thinking, after reading a report on cheating by military officers (not cadets) on exams concerning their proficiency with respect to the nuclear weapons they would have had charge of, that their conduct wasn't surprising given the society they came out of. We have a family of grifters in the highest office in the land but they have come out of a society where grifting is increasingly shrugged off. Where, all too often, amorality or even immorality pays handsomely.