For almost 40 years, I lived by a calendar with a packed schedule. I accomplished a lot in every week, and I enjoyed the frenetic pace. In retirement, I was doing more of the same, but on my time. Then Covid hit and things shut down. Now I am settling into a routine, and somehow my weeks seem to fly by. The spring-like weather last week allowed for plenty of garden time. I did get all the leaves into piles,
and with the help of my daughter and son-in-law, they all got moved to the back yard or shredded and laid as mulch on pathways. The yard looks great.
Luckily, I got it done before the rains yesterday. I did not get as much rain as I had hoped for, (less than ½ an inch) but it helped, and I think more is coming. I have had to water regularly all week. It meant dragging hoses as I did not want to turn on the sprinkler system and wet my leaf piles. The temperatures definitely dropped, but not low enough to kill summer annuals and tropicals-many of which are still blooming prolifically in my garden and others. I did move my olive tree and my bay leaf plant into a more protected spot between the foundation plantings and my house.
Hopefully they will sail through this winter unscathed.
I don’t move many plants indoors for the winter—I don’t have a lot of extra space is one excuse, but the other more honest answer, is I don’t do well with houseplants. They are not of much importance to me and I often overlook watering them. Overwatering is never a problem in my house, actually quite the opposite. I will take care of temporary plants, like a bromeliad, an orchid or a poinsettia, until they are past their peak, and then I toss them out. I know I am in the minority, with friends’ houses overflowing with their plants that make the move annually. As for me, I buy new plants every year. It is odd, since I water prolifically all of my outdoor containers and plants in the ground, but houseplants don’t excite me too much.
I seem to be falling into a routine. I walk with a friend several times a week, I write columns and blog posts weekly, I garden, I cook, I read, I visit with friends and family, sometimes social distancing/masked, sometimes by phone or by zoom. I zoom, I clean, I grocery shop—it is becoming a cycle. To break the monotony, I try to do something different every week. I may go for a ride with a masked friend or by myself. This week I drove up to Fairfield Bay and back. A friend and MG Marguerite Dory, is a pottery whiz. I saw some of her work on Facebook and ordered some. I drove up to a small, but lovely local art shop in Fairfield Bay to pick it up and ended up buying even more. Then I drove to Shirley, and another local art store for more goodies. I came home with a haul--the pottery is from Marguerite, but everything I bought was from local artists.
So instead of a second Friday night art event, I did a Saturday morning art drive. I had an audio book and it was a delightful day for a drive. Sort of like my old working days, but without a packed schedule. It was nice to stop whenever I felt like it and look at things.
I also experiment in the kitchen at least once a week, making something new. This week another friend called and asked if I wanted some deer meat. I met her son and got a beautiful deer tenderloin. We are not hunters in our house, so game cooking is not a ready skill. I soaked it in milk overnight and had the kids over for dinner. We cooked it two ways—chicken fried
and like a beef tenderloin—medium rare.
There was some trepidation on the part of my family, but it was fabulous—as good as any beef tenderloin. We were all amazed.
So, life is good.
As we head into the Thanksgiving week, it looks a little different than holidays before, with no extended family coming together. I am grateful that I have my immediate family with me and will be able to celebrate together. We may not have everything we desire right now, but we need to be thankful for what we do have. I am thankful for so much; my family, my friends, my dogs, my garden, my health, and a wonderful retirement! I am truly blessed! Petals is just thankful I am home all the time. She sits at the door and cries when I am even outside!
