Shoots Show/Growing Time 2025

 

Mini Daffodils

The title of this installment could be "The Soggy Saga of Thistledown Gardens".

Our weather, with the exception of three days has been cool and wet. Granted, we haven't experienced any flooding, but there's nowhere you can walk without hearing "squish".

In spite of the weather, we've been busy with spring tasks.

Garden is open!

The garden season has begun!

The first harvest

We've had our first harvest! This is lettuce and chervil that self seeded last autumn. I always leave some to go to seed so we can have an early "free" harvest. We're still picking from this. It helps to bridge the vegetable gap we begin to experience at this time of year.

Planting begins

I've sown peas, lettuces and spinach already.

Peas coming up

 

The peas are up but not climbing yet. Some of the lettuce and spinach are up as well.

Chieftan seed potato 

Three types of potatoes have been planted.

Of course, expert help is always appreciated.

Cat acts in advisory capacity

Many of the potatoes are emerging now.

French Fingerling up

I've set out my cool weather starts: cabbage, Asian greens, chard, kale, lettuce, celery and parsley.

Ready for planting

Today I set out my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zinnias. If nights get cool next week, I'll have to cover them.

While I've been busy with the garden, Bob's been attending to his chores.

He sprayed the apple trees with clay to keep the insects off of the forming apples.

Shiitake logs ready to grow

His Shiitake logs are all stacked and ready for the season.

Sycamore seedlings

Two years ago, he sowed some seeds for Sycamore trees.

He has now transplanted six of the seedlings to various locations on our property.

Planted seedling

Currently, he's replenishing the cedar mulch around our back seating area.

Fresh mulch

We participated in a protest in a small neighboring village on May Day. We finished just before the daily rain came.

May Day rally in Ovid

We had three really nice days this month. On April 24th, we walked a portion of the Black Diamond Trail in Ithaca.

Along the Black Diamond Trail

The second beautiful day was Mother's Day. We decided to stay at home and walk on our own property.

Walking our property

We also just spent much of the day relaxing on our porch reading, listening to the birds and enjoying the fragrances of spring.

A good book and a lovely day

Our summer birds are returning. The Hummingbirds returned on May 1st. The Orioles are back and have already gone through two 32oz jars of grape jelly. The Towhees are back and the Wood Thrush are singing in the woods. We really enjoy the birds.

Within the next month the garden planting will be finished and hopefully the weather will be more consistently pleasant.

Happy Spring.

Until next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Red Currant in bloom

 

Jack in the Pulpit

Blustery Winds/Awakening Time 2025

Bright Blooms

We are now finished with the month of Blustery Winds/Awakening. Frankly, the weather has been pretty crumby, with below normal temperatures and nearly every day gloomy and drizzling. Two warm and sunny days in a row would be so nice.

Fog over the garden

I have yet to even walk down to the garden. With my binoculars I can see that the garlic is up. This coming Thursday is supposed to be fairly nice, so I plan to get down there at that time.

A large flock of grackles

One sign of spring is the return of the grackles and blackbirds. Our large trees are often filled with them. Sometimes they all come to the ground to find food. A large flock can cover the ground not only in our yard, but the neighbor's too.

Potting up seedlings

My plant starts are all growing downstairs. This week I will begin to harden off all of the cool weather plants. I purchased my seed potatoes yesterday and am ready to sow my peas. This year will be my 32nd garden. That's almost half of my lifetime!

This is the first winter in 14 years that we haven't had a remodeling project to work on. We've been relaxing more and working on other things.

Harp wheels done

 Bob finished off my harp wheels kit. This is a small dolly that straps beneath the harp and makes moving it so much easier. This is my large harp. It stands 58" tall, is 28" at its widest point and weighs 24#. Since I'm only 63" tall, it can be quite a handful for me to move. I rarely move this harp, but it's nice to have the dolly for the times I do need to move it.

Bob's also been busy preparing for a presentation on home energy efficiency which he's going to give at an Earth Day event on the 26th.

The rest of his time has been spent in various committee and board  meetings, and protest events.

Ithaca protest

Ovid protest, National Day of Protest

I have joined him on three of these protests. All but one have been in cold wind, rain and sometimes snow.

Warming up!

After one event, we were so cold we came home and sat under covers in front of the woodstove all evening. Fortunately, I had thought ahead and had soup all warm in the crockpot. Soup is always a good "warmer upper".

Beeswax wraps in the making

I've been busy, too. I decided I needed some smaller beeswax wraps, so I made eight of those.

I finished the sweater I was knitting and have begun work on a summer top.

Summer top begins

I really like the pattern stitch on this one.

Harp practice and reading round out my time.

Watkins Glen walk

 

The weather has been so unpleasant that we've only gotten out once. We walked the North Rim trail at Watkins Glen State Park. Even though it was cool and cloudy, we enjoyed getting out in nature.

We're hoping that warmth and sun will find us soon. This prolonged grey and cold is really beginning to bug me. So much to distress us these days. Some days are harder than others. It's too bad that I paid so much attention in Mr. Mathison's American Civics class.

Hope you're able to hang in there and that the sun and warmth find you soon, too.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

New protest signs

Flip side of new signs

Icy Winds Time 2025

 

Birthday flowers

The winds that mark the transition of the seasons have begun. This past month we had very little snow but much icy wind.

We're also in the season of alternating cool and warm temperatures. We call this yo-yo weather. It's another characteristic of the changing seasons.

The month ahead will continue to be windy, but the temperatures will begin to moderate by the month's end.

Another sign of the season is the return of many birds. Our place has been the stop over for large migrating mixed flocks of Red Winged Blackbirds, Grackles and Starlings. The Robins have returned, and we had a Northern Mockingbird in our Yew for a couple of days. 

We saw our first Kildeers of the year while on our daily walk this week. I also saw two minks earlier in the month. They were scurrying in a ditch next to my walking path. One popped its head up and we spent about five minutes just staring at each other. Equal interest there, I think.

Another garden begins

You probably know that this past month was seed starting time for us.

I've started lettuces, celery, cabbages, kale, tat soi, pac choi, chard, tomatoes and eggplants. Sweet potatoes are tucked in too. It will be a while before those sprout.

Everything is coming up

Things are coming up and will be transplanted into growing pots soon.

I'm experimenting with my LED grow lights. Last year I wasn't entirely satisfied with them. My plants seemed to burn a bit. We found some more information this year with regards to distance and duration. I'm hoping for better outcomes.

I'm going to try two new types of seeds this year.

New dry bean

The first is a different dry pole bean. It's called 1500 Year Old Cave bean. It looks a bit like a Jacob's Cattle bean but is slightly smaller.

Bottle Gourd Seeds

The second is a Bottle Gourd. This is an edible squash used in Asian and Indian cooking. The seeds were given to me by a woman who has stewarded them (grown and saved seeds) for many years. She has retired and passed the torch on to me. I hope that our growing season is long enough for them to reach maturity. This will be an experiment.

Each of us has been busy with our own activities.

March 25 Ukraine Support

Bob continues to be involved with community activities: attending town board and other civic meetings and participating in rallies and protests.

Protest in Canandaigua

He's also begun work on my harp wheels. (That's the kit we bought three years ago. I did tell him at the time that I was in no big hurry for them. I guess that one's on me!)

Harp wheels

Yesterday he finished clearing the path to our meadow.

Pine blocking the path

Last winter a large pine tree was blown down over the path. With all of last year's hub bub (my broken shoulder, bathroom remodel ...) he never attended to it. 

Work in progress

Now it's been cut into sections and the portion blocking the path has been rolled away.

In addition to routine chores and starting seeds, I've been reading, practicing my harp and working on knitting and hardanger. I find that the hardanger work has been the most effective at absorbing my attention and relaxing me in this stressful time.

Yesterday was a walk in the park

Yesterday's weather was beautiful, so we walked for an hour at the Taughannock Falls State Park. Half of our walk was on a wooded trail new to us. We'll definitely walk that one again soon.

That seems to be all I have to share for now. We hope all of you are well and staying grounded in peace, kindness, truth and courage.

Till next time, 

Kathleen and Bob

Taughannock Falls 

 

Stay at Home Time/Cleansing Time 2025

 

Full moon last night

Another full moon and another chance to see what we've been up to.

Stay at Home/Cleansing Time has been just as the name implies.

Our weather dictated the Stay-at-Home part.

Snow on Jan 29

We haven't had a lot of snow here at our house, but we've had a good deal of cold and high winds. Lately we've had several ice and sleet events, as they are called.

It's still very slippery out there and more ice is expected tonight.

We've gotten out for many of our daily walks, but no extra walks in the parks due to the ice. I have osteoporosis and really don't want to risk a slip on an icy trail.

Morning of Feb 12

This morning there was freezing fog and all of the trees were frosted. It made for a lovely walk.

Because we've had some very cold weather, we decided that Bob's friend (our porch cat) needed some additional support.

Bob's buddy

We purchased another heated water bowl to put on the back porch and a heated "cat hut" to keep him warm. He loves the hut, and on the coldest days he doesn't budge from it.

Mosty Toasty

For the Cleansing part of the month, I've finally decided to set aside a craft that I was planning to do but not carrying through on. This has been hanging over my head quite some time. I finally had the strength to let the idea go and give away all of the materials I had gathered. It feels better. I also weeded out knitting patterns which, realistically I'll never get around to making. 

It's like cutting back dead wood and clearing up my "garden" a bit.

Bob's been cleaning up accumulated building materials and has resumed work on one of his energy advocates projects.

It's been a difficult time for us since January 20th. Sometimes it's so distressing that it's hard to breathe.

I heard someone say that working on a creative project everyday can help you maintain sanity, somewhat.

A new hardanger project

So, in addition to working on my sweater, I have begun a new hardanger project.

Bob's gotten more involved with local political activities as a way to cope.

Once the weather improves, we are committed to getting out into nature more than ever. We hope this will help ground us more.

Ta Da! All done!

The bathroom is finished!!!

We finished the bathroom the evening of Feb 5, one year and one week after we began. We're so happy to be done. What's even better is that this was the last room to be renovated. 

We moved in Aug of 2011 and began work right away. It's been a long process!

We have just a little cosmetic work: minor ceiling repair and painting of walls and ceiling in one bedroom. This is peanuts compared to what's gone before.

Outside we do have two garden sheds which need new sheathing and roofing. When we get to them depends on the prices of building materials. We expect the costs of these to really spike, so we may have to wait a while before fixing them up.

Now, I'm sure you've all been waiting for the Before and After pictures, presented here for your pleasure and amusement.

Lovey Before closet and entry

New, smaller closet

Closet Before (minus doors)

New closet doors 

By making the closet much smaller, we created space for an alcove behind the door, across from the tub.

Alcove with bench

Vanity and sink Before

New everything

Lovely Before tub

And finally, After tub

Before I close, a little housekeeping.

We notify you folks of our newsletters in two ways. Some are on dedicated mailing lists and receive an email. Others are friends on Face Book and see our link there. 

We have noticed that Face Book has a tendency to "drop us off the edge" of their notifications, and many people do not see our posts. This situation may worsen in the future, or perhaps like me, you're looking at Face Book less and less. 

If you want to keep reading our blog here are some suggestions:

1) You can let us know by PM or email and we can add you to our email lists.

2) You can bookmark our blog spot and just remember that we publish a new edition on, or just after each full moon.

3) You can continue to watch Face Book for our links and take your chances.

Till next time, stay strong, stay sane and stay integrous,

Kathleen and Bob

Another view of the full moon

 

Frosted pines on Feb 12th