THE FOURTH WAS WITH ME

The Fourth was definitely with me on Monday. I walked an hour later than usual, but managed the walk just fine without too much calf pain. Then, I began to plant the tomatoes and squash I purchased at Swanson’s last Friday.

          In the past, I have had four tomato pots on my back deck. This year, since my driveway is completely empty except for my car, I decided to move the pots out there. I purchased four different tomato plants and buried them as far up the stalk as I could. Then, I installed the metal cages I made and wrapped them with plastic.

          A couple of years ago, I asked John to stop by the dry cleaners and see if they would either sell him or give him four or six of the big plastic covers they put over cleaned clothes. He did and they charged him, but it wasn’t much. What makes me kinda crazy this year is that he had two rolls of plastic in the garage. Maybe he forgot they were there, but I used plastic from one of the rolls and barely made a dent. Why didn’t he suggest I use some of that?

          I was going to clothespin the plastic together, but my walking partner said something about stapling. What a great idea, especially since I could only find four clothespins.  I stapled the plastic together once I got it around the cage. It’s open on top so I can water, and once the temperatures stay above 50 every night, I’ll remove the plastic. Meanwhile, between the asphalt holding heat and the plastic, I should have tomatoes in July.

          In one of the big pots, I planted zucchini squash and in the other pumpkins. Around the edge of those, I planted bush beans in one and snow peas in the other…that’s the one with the green teepee. In another pot, I planted Danish squash and delicata squash in the other.  I should eat well this coming fall.

          There are three empty pots on the left end that don’t have anything in them yet. Later this week, I planted Thai basil and regular basil in the two smaller green ones. The larger reddish one remains empty, but I discovered another large blue pot. I'm going to plant potatoes in that one. 

          I also took the fuchsia out of the tiny greenhouse I put them in after I repotted them. They’re looking good…not as good as the ones I could buy, but those ones have been growing in a greenhouse since last fall. I hung two of them on the deck and haven’t decided where I’ll put the third. The pansies I wintered over in the pot by the front door look great, so I’m not sure if I should replace them with a fuchsia.

          After I finished planting, I moved my car out of the driveway and hosed it down. I always feel so guilty when I do that because there are places and people who would be so grateful for the water I am basically sending down the storm drain. All the needles from the spruce tree as well as who knows what else ended up at the end of the driveway in a big pile. When they redid the street a few years ago, they screwed up at the end of my driveway. They left a little depression that fills with water right by the mailbox. Once that water drained away, I scooped up all the spruce needles and debris and put it into the yard waste can.

          On Tuesday, I went to Fred Meyer because I needed a couple of those cocoanut liners for my hanging tomato baskets. I believe I posted yesterday that I bought the entire hanging baskets because they were cheaper then just the liners. I also wanted to get some quick set cement, but the bags were too heavy. Haley and I can go out for one of those when we go for lunch today. I need the cement to create a piece of glass and metal yard art.

Quite some time ago (decade plus) there was a piece of art that was donated to Jungle Party that no one liked or purchased. I was fortunate to be the recipient of it for free. I bought a short round column and placed the artwork on it in my garden. Over time, the white sculpture part deteriorated to the point it separated into two pieces. I saved the metal leaves(?) and glass flowers(?). Now, I’d like to position them in concrete in a way that’s lovely and pleasing. I may even include some of my own glass flowers if there’s room. Then, it can return to the short white column in the garden.

As I indicated above, my granddaughter Haley is going to work for me today. I know exactly what I want done and it should make a huge difference in the chicken yard. We can make a pile of stuff destined for the dump. I'm hoping my Mother's Day present will be a couple of hours from my boys on Saturday. I'd like them to cut up the hot tub and look at the various piles of stuff I've sorted in the garage. Then I'll have Haley come back with her truck...unless her dad has it on Saturday...and load it up for the dump. 

I cannot remember how many decades ago John purchased the hot tub. What a fiasco. It was supposed to come with a free gazebo. We never got the gazebo, but apparently we were lucky to get the hot tub and cover before the company went out of business. Lots of purchasers were left with nothing.

John used the hot tub faithfully because it helped a lot with all his aches and pains. I didn’t get in it often for a couple of reasons. First, I didn’t like going to bed smelling like chlorine, so I’d have to take a shower. Who wants to take a shower when your muscles have been turned to mush from the hot water? Secondly, whenever I did get in the hot tub, John thought that was a signal for sex; and perhaps if I had gotten in there every night with him, his expectation would have decreased. Still, we had some wonderful times when this derelict amenity was much newer and usable.

The hot tub developed some problems over time, but son AJ was always able to rectify them. The last time AJ did that, the hot tub sat on the deck and ran every single day and night. Our electric bill went up more than $100 a month, plus John wasn’t using it at all. So, I turned it off. Even then, it took a few months for our bill to return to a reasonable amount.

So, as I said in the beginning, the Fourth was with me on Monday, not to mention the remainder of this week so far. I have high hopes it sticks around permanently.  I could certainly get used to days like the ones I've been having. But, it's really up to me isn't it...I need to CHOOSE to have days where the Fourth is always with me...and, Cinco de Mayo disappointment notwithstanding, it's been a GREAT week so far.