A Moveable Garden

Weekly recap of my ritual of existence in this liminal space called life. (See here for more info.)

I’ve mentioned this before but to see the photos enlarged, just click on them.

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• Weather

Highs ranged from 84.2°F to 62.6°F, with an seasonably average high temperature of 72.2°F this week. The average low this week was 49.9°F, ranging from 43.5°F to 59.9°F. We got about an inch of rain, almost all of it on Monday. It feels kind of dry out in the garden and I’m watering the seeds and seedlings most days.

• Beginnings

We had a porcupine on the motion camera on Tuesday, the first we’ve seen here in a few years, since July 2021.

I saw my first damselfly of the year in the garden on Tuesday, an Aurora Damsel.

My husband installed the window A/C in the upstairs office/guest room on Thursday, signalling the start of almost-summer.

My husband caught a brown trout, not native to these parts, while fishing on Friday, the first brownie in quite a while.

• Wild Flora, Fauna, Fungi

We were lucky to see this luna moth recently eclosed from its cocoon on a nature trail nearby on Saturday.

Some other wild things on walks and in the garden: plants, spider, fish, mammal, insects and insect larvae, bee, amphibian, birds:

Birds Merlin heard this week on walks and in town:

• Wandering 

We walked in town on Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, and Friday, and we walked in the gardens and on the trails at The Fells and on a local nature trail on Saturday, and on Sunday we walked around the lake.

We went to the local nature trail specifically to see the pink lady’s slippers that bloom there this time of year, and we were not disappointed.

Some photos from The Fells:

Photos from the lake walk:

In town:

• Curiosity & Discoveries

The luna moth (above) was certainly a fortunate discovery. Here is in context:

We also were in the right place — edge of lakeside trail at The Fells, facing the nesting platform placed there for the common loons — at the right time on midday Saturday to see the loon pair together and one of them entering and leaving the nesting platform. (I had my camera with me and we are farther from them than it may seem, and also partially hidden behind trees. I’m sure they were aware of us but didn’t seem alarmed.)

The next day, Sunday, we happened to see a cormorant on a dock at another lake.

• Creating

I started a new nature photos album over the weekend and sent the link to those on the email list.

• Repairing and Maintaining (everything but the house & yard) 

Body/Mind: Husband had allergist appointment at Dartmouth on Wednesday (we both went up so I could shop at the co-op there).

I worked out 4 times (4 hours) this week and walked more than 14,000 steps on three days and more than 10,000 steps on six days. I took my blood pressure on a couple of days, with an average of 114/69 and pulse average of 65. We both had negative Covid tests on Thursday morning.

Cat: Got next week’s visits for Bumble with cat-sitter sorted and updated/printed notes for her, on Sunday.

Hobbies: Husband fly-fished a new spot on Friday, catching a nice-sized brown trout. I renewed my 6-month Ancestry subscription on Monday.

• Gardening/Yard 

I gardened about 6 hours this week, usually in the evening after dinner, watering and weeding, and on Tuesday mid-day I planted tomatoes, nasturtiums, and jalapeño pepper seedlings from Foundwell Farm. Next week I’ll be planting a few more veggie seedlings and some flower seedlings. My husband mowed for the 3rd time this year, on Sunday.

Photos from the garden this week:

• Nesting 

Cleaning/Maintenance: Husband installed A/C in upstairs room on Thursday. I watered houseplants on Monday. Did clothes laundry on Sunday.

Food: We had a lovely veggie lasagna a friend brought over on Monday and Tuesday (thanks, Mary Anne!). Wed. and Thurs. were premade Indian meals with papadums. Friday we grilled hot dogs (beef/soy) which we ate with sautéed new potatoes, onions, garlic (ours from last year), and red bell peppers in olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar. Saturday, my dinner was a salad from Too Good To Go with greens, carrots, edamame, chopped red bell peppers and cabbage, toasted almonds, and ginger-soy dressing, and my husband’s was another grilled hotdog, asparagus,, and a baguette. Sunday we had veggie burgers, corn, and Annie’s mac & cheese.

Supplies: Ordered a refill of loose Fortnum & Mason’s Royal Blend tea for my canister on Monday, which was delivered on Thursday. Bought some pants on Ebay on Saturday.

• Sleeping & Dreaming

Sleep was mostly OK this week, with two nights’ sleep scores 90 or above and only one in the 70s. The average sleep score this week was 83.7. My time asleep ranged from just shy of 6 hours to 8 hours 49 mins, with an average time asleep of 7 hours 23 mins. I had just about 12 hours of REM and 9-1/2 hours of deep sleep. I haven’t been writing down dreams because it’s intrusive to my sleep and my husband’s, and it wakes the cat.

• Reading / Words & Ideas / Listening / Watching  

This week I finished reading Tana French’s excellent book, The Hunter (2024), a sequel to The Searcher (2020). Highly recommended. I was reading it in bed, with the cat, below, when a moth banging and buzzing against the window screen needed watching by our own little “hunter.”

The book is crime fiction but not in the traditional sense, e.g., there’s no killing until 3/4 of the way through. The novel is beautifully written, expertly conveying the culture and community of the rural Irish — farmers and mountain people in Ardnakelty, a fictional townland in west Ireland — and how the reappearance in town after years away in London of the feckless, careless Johnny Reddy, proferring what appears to be a get-rich-quick scheme to eight or nine of the townsmen, sends dangerous ripples throughout the community and disrupts the lives of many. The women shine.

I learned several new words (Irish usage) reading this book, including malavogue, to treat or punish severely; to beat or hit, used by parents to their kids; and a new meaning for yoke, which is a placeholder word like thingamajig or whatchamacallit, used informally to refer to an unspecified object or indescribable person. Also: yokeamabob.

I like these:

“If something you’re about to say would look good on a decorative throw pillow, don’t say it to someone who is suffering.” ⬇️

And this simple cole slaw recipe from Clinton Kelly, a favourite Instagram account:

• Connections &  Community 

Local Support: My husband volunteered at local car museum on Tuesday and Thursday for about nine hours total. He also fixed a wooden goose cutout for the museum (broken neck!).

Bought leftover food via Too Good To Go from local café/bakery on Wednesday and Saturday, and bought some items from the same bakery on Sunday. Shopped at regional co-op on Wednesday.

Relationships: My cousin A’s birthday was this week — I mailed her birthday card and ordered her gift from Danforth Pewter on Tuesday. My nephew C’s birthday was also this week; sent him a text, an ecard, and an e-gift card on Wednesday. My sister called Monday and we talked for 40 minutes. A friend (MAB) brought us a tomato seedling and some delicious veggie lasagna on Monday; I delivered more seedlings from the same friend to another friend’s house (R) that afternoon and got a garden tour.

Permaculture group met via Zoom on Thursday morning with six of us.

Salon met in person on Friday afternoon (12-2:30) with all six of us locals, plus Chelsea cat.

My husband and I Zoomed with my college friends (R & Ch) in Baltimore on Friday evening for 1.5 hours. On Saturday late afternoon, friends (A&A) dropped by while out for a drive and we chatted in the driveway/garage for 15 minutes or so. Sunday afternoon, while we were both gardening, my next-door neighbour (JL) and I chatted for a half-hour. Also traded a bunch of texts with some friends and family.

Donations: Made a donation on Monday to Bark & Bray, a farm animal sanctuary nearby; donated a small amount to Maine Sen. Angus King’s grassroots re-election campaign on Thursday.

• Endings/Harvest 

Used our garlic from last year in cooking this week … and most weeks, in fact many days, but I just forget to mention it. Soon it will be arugula and baby kale harvest time.

• All This Useless Beauty

Comfrey is so artsy.

Cats can be so artfully relaxed.

Nearby marsh/pond – wetlands have an allure all their own.