MarthaJeanne's Garden 2020

OK, new thread for the new gardening year.

The lettuce starts I bought 6 weeks ago are doing well. I offered our neighbor a few, and she gave me elastic for face masks. Most of the lettuce she didn't take is in another container.

I also sowed two rows of peas. A mixture of seed from two new packs and what was left of last year's seed for the variety we really liked the past two years. I really wish they would open the garden centres. I also sowed some spinach, but that is quite old seed, and I'll just have to wait and see if anything comes up.

I did buy some potting soil at the supermarket, but now I feel really guilty about it. I didn't read all the fine print, and now read that it is 95% peat. This is actually from the biggest name brand around here. I usually buy the garden centre's own brand, and it's peat-free. Anyway, guess what brand I'm never buying again. It did fill up the bed where I have now sown the peas.

>2 MarthaJeanne: Avoiding peat is tricky. What's in the mix you usually use?

And happy new gardening year and thread!

It's a big garden centre chain. I think a major part is compost from their nurseries. I don't have an old bag handy, and they aren't allowed to be open right now.

I know that avoiding peat completely is hard, but 95% isn't even beginning to try.

>4 MarthaJeanne: Agreed. I like coir based mixes, but it's expensive and not all that easy to find where I am.

>2 MarthaJeanne: I watered the bed today, and both the peas and the spinach are beginning to come up. That seems very fast. Now I need to pay attention to watering. We have such beautiful blue skies now that there are very few con trails. But we could use rain.

It rained, It rained! I have filled two watering cans with the rain water so far. That leaves space for more water if it rains more overnight. I had used the last of my rainwater on the citrus this morning. If it rains more overnight I will water them again tomorrow, generously this time, and hope that I can end up with full containers.

Garden Centre! Garden Centre! Yeah, Garden Centre!

Apparently it had been really busy in the morning, but when we go there around noon, things had calmed down. It was cold waiting our turn to go in, but the line moved fairly quickly. I was tearing up going in. Surely just part of the way the mask interferes with my glasses? It felt so good. In the end I mostly bought flowers for the driveway holders, as I want to buy the vegetable sets somewhere else. But just moving through the racks of basil and celery and chilis felt good.

I also got earth (peat free) and suet balls. I had bought more than enough on our last visit, just because I was there. Darn good thing because I just put the last of those out. I get a lot of pleasure watching the sparrows and woodpeckers and tits on the balls. I did check - they have balls in their online shop, but only the ones with plastic nets, and I hate those.

The rain rather flopped. I was able to fill my third watering can this morning, but it is dry today. Still cloudy and windy. Did I say 'cold'? The thermometer says 11, but it is a very cold 11.

Note: Austria has said that from today (yesterday was a holiday) on the one hand you are pretty much supposed to have a mask on anywhere in public, on the other hand small stores, garden centres and hardware stores are allowed to be open. Still not my favourite book store or the libraries, but in April I'll even give garden centres the preference.

I also bought a plant of Clerodendrum thomsoniae this morning. having looked it up online, I rather suspect that it won't last long with me. Oh, well, it's very pretty for as long as.

We went out again this afternoon for more plants. Oxenherz had quite a few herbs I wanted, but the veggies need another few weeks. Fine. I have dealt with over half of what I bought today before my back insisted that I quit.

That's great that you can go to the garden centers. The garden area of our home improvement store in town is open but I have a friend living in another state where seeds and other garden accessories are not for sale during this crisis.

I have needed several things during the 4 week shutdown. It's been frustrating. That's why I was celebrating yesterday. Apparently the hardware stores were the ones that really got stormed yesterday. We'll probably do that today.

I read this thread often. Slightly off topic...Can you recommend a book(s) about Chickens A relative (in Latvia) has always wanted Chickens. I too am rather fond of them :-) and would like
a good reference on them.

Guido.

>12 guido47: https://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=MarthaJeanne&tag=Chicken&c...

Thanks >13 MarthaJeanne: I was rather looking for Books ABOUT Chickens - ie. their lives, types, personalities. Although I do love a good roast chicken! BUT living chooks are rather fun.

>12 guido47: I am trying to remember a book I used when I had chickens, back in the 1990s. If I recall the title I will let you know.

I usually buy most of my container flowers at Schönbrunn palace. The sale would be starting next Monday. But it has been cancelled. They always have such nice things, and both cheaper and more exotic than the garden centres. Needless to say, I am not pleased.

I am getting so tired of not being able to go anywhere! Added to everything else, I'm having problems with hay fever.

We compromised today with a visit to the other garden center. I found nasturtiums for the first time this year. I bought three Lewisia 'Mountain Dreams' in the hopes that they will need less water in the containers on the fence. They might even be winter hard. I also bought a (tiny) hanging rosemary for the gate container. It should balance my current one eventually. Also various other small flowers. It's a start. I couldn't bring myself to buy any geraniums. They just aren't as nice as the Schönbrunn ones.

Today, besides doing a load of laundry and starting a quilted cover for my husband's computer chair, I also cleared my tomato patch of weeds and overgrown Vogerlsalat. I put a bag of (torf-free) earth on it, and now need to buy more.

The chair is comfortable, but the upholstery is glued in. At this point it is visibly worn through at the front, but the lower layers are still OK. So a fitted cover held on with elastic seems to be the best solution.

We went and bought tomato and pepper plants yesterday. What was a brisk breeze in Vienna was a fierce wind in Seewinkel. I did not do as well as I should have.

I think most of the tomatoes are orange - I would prefer more variety, and I thought I had bought 6 vines and 2 bush, But it was 7 and 1, so the plantings are not quite what I had intended. But you try breathing through a mask, pushing a walker over rough ground, in a strong wind, and then try to think straight. It doesn't work well.

The peppers vary from 0 to 5. I have warned Jerry that the Starfish Yellow I've planted near the grill is the 5. The red one there (King of the North) is a 0.

Tomato planting is:
Tomato bed

Orange-grünes Zebra / Hogs heart

Azoychka Russian / Sophie's Choice

Black Cherry / Green Zebra Cherry

----------------------------------
Round planter

. . . . . Pennsylfaania Deitsche Karotten-Formige
King of the North (0) . . / . . Starfish Yellow (5)
. . . . . . White Bush

The other peppers are planted with the mild ones closer to the house.

minirocoto red (6)
farmers jalapeno (2)
cows horn (2)
pimento largo de reus (0)
lunchbox orange (0)

All the plants are now set. (Until I buy more.) I have some flower tubers I bought this morning. Also the tomato supports need some work. Maybe tomorrow.

I enjoyed reading about your trip to the garden center, and all your gardening journals. I stopped growing tomatoes and peppers years ago because no one was eating them, and I can't tolerate them anymore. But I am growing my little root veggies (carrots, beets) and once it gets a little warmer, will plant some summer squash, and probably tuck a sweet potato in one of my raised beds. I did that several years ago and wound up harvesting a whole bunch!

I don't care for sweet potatoes. I have three zucchini plants, two lemon cukes, one mini cuke, and a hokkaido. The lemon cukes are no problem if both survive, as my neighbor loves them. I do worry about the zucchinis, as normally my husband takes the surplus to church. The African and Middle Eastern women living on minimal money in city flats are delighted to get them. Same with extra tomatoes and peppers - especially the hotter ones that we tend to be wary of. But it isn't clear when services will start again. Current rules say the 15th, but limited number of people, that works out to about 10. For some reason, the pastor isn't enthusiastic.

I have King of the North this year, too. Also black cherry tomato, which is one of my favourites. It will be interesting to compare notes!

We have Black Cherry every year. How happy we are with it can vary because of the weather. But it is a nice size for grabbing on the way past, and it produces every time.

I managed to grow some tomatoes from seed again this year, and they are getting leggy. But we may get snow this weekend!

Either the neighbors are trying out a new and very loud cuckoo clock or the first cuckoo bird of the season is looking for a mate.

>21 MarthaJeanne: Well, now I know why those tubers were marked way down. I couldn't find anything cohesive enough in the packages to plant.

>28 MarthaJeanne: oh, what a shame.

On the plus side, I got another section of flower garden cleared, so the next plants can go right in.

Finally a real soaking rain. You can see how happy the plants are. The zucchini look like they are lifting their leaves up to get as much as possible. And I have enough collected to keep the citrus happy for several weeks. Even the birds sound happy about the rain. This at 10°C when we've been having 20-25. Our weather men have been saying that the cold and rain came now just by chance during the 'Eisheiligen'. Thirty years ago it was frost or snow. I remember really intensive hailstorms about 15 years ago. And always during the feast days of Mamertus, Pancratius, Servatius, Bonifatius, und die Kalte Sophie.

>31 MarthaJeanne: I know exactly what you mean about the plants looking happy. It doesn't matter how well I water my gardens...when we get a good soaking rain all the plants "perk up" and grow.

I planted more sets out in one bed to replace ones that died, probably of dehydration. Amazing. After all that rain, the soil was still on the dry side. I had tried to keep up the watering, but apparently messed up there.

Also more marigolds to fill in here and there.

I started to get things out of the greenhouse now that the cold snap is over. We knew the wooden things we keep the potted plants on were at the end of their lives, but I was a bit surprised that a leg fell off of the long bench when I pulled it out. Now I need to find a suitable replacement. Looked a bit last year without really seeing anything. This year without the normal garden events it will be even harder. Checked our usual garden centre today without any luck.

The red poppy has started blossoming.

I adore poppies!

So do I. We have a field nearby that is full of the wild ones right now. Beautiful! And this poppy plant in the garden gets bigger and more glorious every year. Right now there are two open, but lots more to come.

This is the field.

And this is our garden bush.

BTW, these two are my iPad photos. The first one is Jerry's. You probably already realized that.

Today eight poppies are out.

We took the tent down today. The base still needs taking apart and drying. We probably can't do that tomorrow. Things don't dry well on rainy days. Question: Will there be a reasonable amount of downpour? Probably not, but one can hope.

Did I mention that I like poppies!



This picture is mine, but Jerry took the hose out for me.

Poppies are so very pretty, I wonder why I never have grown them?

I've never grown Four O'Clocks or Dianthus either, and they were in my mother's gardens when I was a child.

Compare to >38 MarthaJeanne:.

I put this in one year, and unlike many other perennials I have tried, it just gets bigger and more glorious every year.

I add a few dianthus every year because I love them and their scent, but they rarely last more than two or three years. No problem. I plant more. In German they are called Nelken which is the same word as cloves (the spice), In England often Clove Pinks.

I love the pictures of your poppies!

They don't grow well where I live, but I have both dianthus and four o'clocks. The dianthus I purchase or start from seed - they only last for a few years for me, too. The four o'clocks reseed every year - they're volunteers from some previous gardener.

It sounds like it's raining!

A nice gentle rain all night and this morning. Sunny now but storms predicted over night. I have already given a fair amount of rain water to the containers that don't get rained on. I'll be very happy if I can do that again during rainfall tonight.

I got wet doing the additional watering. This is much heavier than last night. Great! we so needed the water.

Speaking of water, we went to the local national park on Thursday. On the way a farmer was watering his field. This farmer has a tank thing, and he drives slowly down the field spraying a wide swath of the field as he goes. Behind him the field was not just wet, but full of puddles. And in one of those puddles was a stork with his head down, watching for prey. Lots more exciting than anything we saw on the Schlossinsel. However we were able to get a table in the garden of the fish restaurant after our walk. Nice outing.

Believe me, the herb garden looks better in Jerry's picture than it does in real life.

>46 MarthaJeanne: looks healthy!

I like the green "pockets" planter. What was it originally?

The pockets are meant to be planters. The pockets are a good size to just dump garden centre plants into, pot and all. They also encouraged you to fill the pockets with earth and set the plants properly. I'm not convinced that would work well when you want/need to change plants. The pockets are plastic lined. I quickly discovered that I needed to puncture the plastic in each pocket a few times so the plants can't get waterlogged. Now, several years on, the plastic is crumbling, and they don't hold water well at all. Also, from the beginning, if it rains, the top plants get water, but the lower plants don't.

Still they are very cheerful all summer as we walk up the driveway, and if a plant gives up, I just buy something else. It is easy enough to pop one pot out and replace it with another. I haven't finished filling the garden side yet.

You actually see (more or less) six of them because I have tied them to both sides of the fence in pairs. They need replacing if I see anything I like.

>46 MarthaJeanne: Good photo editors are hard to find. Keep him.

Lovely patch. Thanks for sharing.

>46 MarthaJeanne: Well, it certainly does look gorgeous in the picture! I wish my results were half as good. Thanks for sharing!

We went to the garden centre to get more bird balls, but of course I wandered through the plants, and they now have 6 packs of various flowers for €3, so I got carried away. The bit of the herb garden you can't see in the picture because all it had in it was weeds has now been weeded, filled up, and sunflowers and zinnias planted. In a few weeks it might be worth including in a picture. I also cut back that exuberant Sage a bit.

Then I saw that the recent rain had encouraged the weeds to pop out in the flower bed, so I went to discourage that. That disturbed a lovely little frog. I also saw him try to eat a worm I had also disturbed, but it was too big for him to handle, at least with me looking on. Gardens can be lots of fun.

I picked a handful of peas.

I also saw that maybe half a dozen peaches survived the frost we had when the tree was in full bloom.

>52 MarthaJeanne: I never got the peas in this year - my own fault.

Here in Georgia, we (collectively, not me) grow a lot of peaches. We do get hit by those late frosts, but often the lack of sufficient cold hours is more of a concern. Weather extremes seem to get us both ways!

I lived in SC for about 10 years. When a frost hit the peach orchards, they did have a smaller crop but the peaches that survived to picking were bigger and sweeter.

Since we were in England when they were ripe - unlikely this year - we may actually get more peaches this year.

Dry and sunny today, if somewhat cooler than the past few weeks. Rain showers are expected back tomorrow. Today was great for weeding. I did a few sections for the first time this year, and was able to get a lot of roots.

In one area it was exciting to find plants that had totally disappeared under the weeds. I also pulled out a plant tower I haven't used in years. It should look nice once the sets have started to blossom.

I also trimmed back around the bird feeders. I know the birds like those branches, but I like to see the birds from the house. Also the condition of the bird bath was appalling. I think the birds were eating and then sitting on a certain branch and sh--ing down into the bird bath.

Our bio garbage bin is nearly full - pick up is on Tuesdays. I suspect that it will collapse a bit, but if it is weeding weather again I may have to stop because of lack of space. Certainly not for lack of weeds.

I cut the bottom two branches off the Szechuan pepper tree. Once I had cleared the weeds, I wanted space for 'real' plants down there. Now I need to stay out of the garden until Tuesday. The bio bin is really quite full.

We tried two places to replace the things that are still holding my potted plants in spite of rotting away. Raiffeisen did not have what we were looking for. I did buy a dozen half price flowers for filling holes where I took out weeds. Then we tried IKEA, but stayed in the car after seeing the line to get in. I think I will buy various ÄPPLARÖ items, but I do want to see them first.

The bees have done great work on my citrus plants. The orange tree has lots of baby oranges coming, so it is high time I harvested the old bitter oranges. I've got a recipe for a caribbean orange bread I used to make, and I see it calls for both orange and lemon. Perfect! I'll use two oranges. My notes say that doubling everything but the sugar fills my pan nicely.

I also have lots of really ripe bananas. I need to also do something with them.

>58 MarthaJeanne: Hooray for bees! I've been trying to make better plant choices for bees (and other pollinators in general) the last few years.

Banana bread (or in this house, muffins) is obviously calling....

Orange bread is out of the oven. Yes, The bitter comes through nicely. I used four of my oranges, both grated peel and juice. Also the juice of two regular oranges. Then filled up with a mixed juice I had in the refrigerator. There is just not that much juice in these. Maybe because I left them on the tree so long, or maybe that's just how they are.

>59 Dejah_Thoris: We seem to have lots of things the bees like. Now they are all over the sage plant. Several different species, just not honey bees. The lavender will open up soon - probably when it gets a bit warmer again.

Now I need to get up and harvest peas for supper.

Orange bread, yum yum.

We had a week of rain, so everything is growing out of control, think "triffids"...

We got to IKEA today and purchased two pieces of garden furniture. The square one is much lower than we expected, but we aren't really unhappy about it. The other piece is a double drop-leaf table, now set up with one leaf up against the side of the house to hold potted plants.The other is down, but could be put up to hold things like food for the grill, or even for the two of us eating out on the terrace.

Putting IKEA things together takes energy, at least three hands, and the ability to sit on the floor and manoeuver into weird positions. Jerry did help a bit with the drop leaf legs or I think I would either still be sitting on the floor, or would have given up and be lying there.

However, I'm looking forward to not having to worry about benches collapsing under my pots. This was a set of furniture that we got second hand 12 years ago. The chairs have long since gone to the dump. The square ones are visibly falling apart. The long bench has one leg that is no longer attached - the wood has rotted away from the screws. I think it is fair to buy replacements.

You have my approval, if needed. We've always loved IKEA!

>62 MarthaJeanne: "I think I would either still be sitting on the floor, or would have given up and be lying there"

HAHAHA! I SO understand that!

Hey, I like IKEA too, and I've never had a problem following the instructions (although an extra hand or two would sometimes have been useful). Best clue though is to get the stuff delivered and assembled for you, but not all IKEA outlets will do that.

These were small pieces. Besides having the big ones done for you, my best hint is to make sure that whoever is helping you can FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. The IKEA directions work well if you really do step 1, then step 2... and never assume you know what to do next. My husband can't seem to get this, which is why I was putting this together alone until I just couldn't physically bend the way I would have needed to. Even 10 years ago I could have done it alone. 15 years ago I would have had a son helping.

It feels really good to have these out on the terrace holding my plants. And we took the cardboard and plastic packaging and some of the old pieces to the dump. (They lost legs in the process. I am so glad I haven't sat on them recently.) The last piece needs another trip. That's the disadvantage of a hybrid car. Not enough trunk space.

Went out to see what all the huffing and snuffing in the garden was about. Soon I saw a hedgehog, but the noise was further so I went on. Another hedgehog. And as my flashlight beam wavered, there was a third.

Amazing how noisy they are!

Went back out - mostly to do some slug hunting. The hedgehogs had moved on, but then I heard the huffing in another area of the garden. Only saw two this time.

They have not eaten the food I put out for them yet. I know they prefer worms, but I have no objection if they find slugs.

>67 MarthaJeanne: I need hedgehogs in my yard, the slugs have eaten all my marigolds!

Yes, I have several marigold skeletons, too. Still, I figure, if the slugs are eating the marigolds they aren't eating the other plants.

>69 MarthaJeanne: I think marigolds are their favorites.

This guy is allowed to be cute because he is not in my garden

https://www.jerrybarton.eu/Miscellaneous/DailyPicks/i-sLw2mxt

(Remember, in German slugs are Nacktschnecken 'naked snails', so snails and slugs are grouped closely together.)

The neighbour's cherries are ripe, and I have just picked a pailful. Not sure what to do with them, as they are sweet cherries.

I went out a bit too early for slug hunting. (I found a few, but they hadn't gotten to the marigolds yet.) However, I disturbed this tiny fellow.



I took several pictures, but he kept trying to get away, and finally jumped into the overflowing saucer under a large plant pot.

In other wildlife today I pulled up some oregano that had self-seeded behind the day lilies (First blossom today). As I was carrying the oregano to the bio bin, I noticed a bit of textured pink plastic sticking to the bottom of a leaf, as if someone had lost part of a bandaid. But when I looked closer it was a batch of eggs neatly laid out in rows. Not sure who laid them, but I dropped that leaf in a patch of oregano that is staying put.

Yes, I am specieist. Slugs get murdered if I find them in my garden. I will also remove mosquito larvae from water containers if I see them. (I used to feed them to my fish, who would get all excited at the treat.) Flies and wasps only get eliminated if they come in the house and dive bomb me.

>73 MarthaJeanne: cute!

>74 MarthaJeanne: a kindred spirit! My house has cobwebs in the corners of the room near the ceiling because their creators are doing me a service by eliminating flies and other insects that fly into the house. My friends don't care, they don't comment if they notice. I also dump out mosquito larvae from outside water containers, but am careful to not disturb dragonfly larvae if present. And I don't use poison except on fire ant colonies. Fire ants are not a live-and-let-live insect, they sting/bite HARD if you come near, so I make their lives uncomfortable.

>75 fuzzi: We had an experience with fire ants in Florida, must have been about 40 years ago. We were staying with my PILs in their mobile home. My husband had thrown his brand new polo shirt on the floor the night before, and put it on when he got up in the morning. He immediately began to shriek. I helped him get it off, and put it in a full sink to drown the ants. Then helped get the ants off him. The shirt was a write-off. There were little holes all over. One thing they do is spray formic acid.

>75 fuzzi: I don't know about fire ants, but I've treated mound building ants in KY with a jot of gasoline into the nest and then a match. The fumes do an excellent job of searing the inside tunnels and there is no poison residue.

>77 2wonderY: it's not recommended to do with fire ants, as their tunnels go down 15' and across the yard as well. You could blow up your backyard with that method...though sometimes I'm tempted...

This year has been very bad so far for fire ants, our backyard looks like a prairie dog town.

Went to the garden store today. I gave in and bought slug poison. So far only in the tomato bed. I also bought several large, healthy marigolds to replace skeletons.

Also red oak leaf lettuce to replace the stuff that's bolting. And a red flowering vine for the olive 'tree'. Dipladeniehi

They showed day lilies on television a few days ago, commenting on the fact that you can eat them. So I have hunted down a recipe for day lily bud pickles that doesn't assume you have great big baskets of buds to pick. https://www.fourseasonforaging.com/blog/2017/8/3/daylily-pickles

And then halved it. I also changed the peppers to use a bit of chili flakes and some of my szechuan pepper along with the black pepper.

I skimped on the sugar, and also found that there wasn't quite enough brine. Oh, and I used a slice of apple to keep the buds down.

So I now have a half pint of daylily pickles in the refrigerator. We'll see next week whether or not we like it. This isn't a keeping pickle so this amount is probably fine for a two person household. Of course, we will also not have any day lily flowers for a few days.

My nasturtiums are doing very well this year. Once my chilis are fruiting I should try https://larderlove.com/nasturtium-hot-sauce/

I am always amazed at what is actually edible in my flower garden. Some things I would never imagine. I have a friend who is pickling this year so thank you for this recipe to pass on!

The local fruit grower had gooseberries and peaches yesterday. I have just put https://wildwildwhisk.com/mascarpone-mixed-berry-cake/ in the oven. I halved the sugar, and used mostly gooseberries with both red and black currants. I have no idea what it will taste like done, but the batter is really good. Could probably bear even less sugar. Oh, my eggs aren't large, so I needed three.



BTW, It tastes good, too.

>82 MarthaJeanne: Oh! YUM!

>82 MarthaJeanne: 😃

Earlier this evening I watered the garden. Now I've been out distributing bird and hedgehog food and slug hunting. The problem is, I see so much that needs doing. NOT at noon on days around 30°. This afternoon I was out picking veggies for leftover pasta salad, and many plants looked really thirsty. They were mostly looking much better by the time I watered, and those that didn't do so now.

I did buy several weird veggie choices to fill up beds on Friday. But we also saw that a local palace is holding a garden market next weekend. First one this year! I am so looking forward to it.

Bah! I seem to have brought a few mosquitos in with me.

>82 MarthaJeanne:, >83 2wonderY:. If you wanted some, you didn't get here in time. All gone. (And not just me. Jerry must have really liked it.)

Our compostable garbage is picked up on Tuesdays, so Monday is lawn mowing day. Not just us, 90% of the mowing in this area is done on Mondays. The exceptions are mostly weekend houses. And last Monday was rainy, so ours really needed it.

Jerry mowing means grass for mulching is available, so I started working on the tomatoes. They are growing high enough that upper branches need tying in. The very bottom branches need removing. There are a few weeds... BUT, I can't get to the first one I want to work on, because the forsythia branches are in my way. Part of this is new growth, part that when planting two months ago I was only at earth level in my raised beds. Now I need to be active when standing tall.

So I spent the first bit cutting that bush back. What it really needs is the main stem cut out so the younger stems have space to grow. Not this week.

Most of the tomatoes are doing well, and we had a first taste last night. I also did similar work on the zucchinis. As you would expect, I found a harvestable fruit. I did a lousy job of planting them. The yellow one is fine, but the other two are too close. The middle plant was growing towards the end one. I cut out the leaves that were overlapping and tried to convince the middle one to grow over the path and not the other plant.

Tonight is pasta with chard and sausages from The garden-fresh vegetable cookbook. This one recipe is worth keeping the book for. As the author's son says, 'Not at all yucky.'

I was harvesting herbs this morning for my husband to take to a colleague. ( First chance I've had to give produce away this year.) The frog has moved to the herb beds. I put a basin of water out for him. I hadn't seen him for some time, so I'm glad to know he's still around.

>80 MarthaJeanne: These are actually quite decent pickles, just so are the cucumber pickles we buy at the supermarket, and if we eat those, we get to see the day lilies. Not really impressed.

Oh, yes, the brine has turned bright red. We have two plants, one with yellow flowers, the other with red flowers.

James Wong's Homegrown Revolution suggests throwing a handful of the buds into a stir fry, or drying the wilted flowers on your windowsill to use, again in stir fries. He seems to really like them. but I'm not sure it's worth it.

I have two books entitled Cooking with flowers. The one I found suggests using 'tiger lilies' with duck, without mentioning that there are two very different flowers with that name - one of which is poisonous. Whoops!

Found the other! Cooking with flowers, Buchner. She doesn't include day lilies, but only madonna lilies. Again, no warning that only some lilies are edible.

One of the books I read recently suggested feeding birds mealworms at ground level. I've been trying this recently, and the worms were disappearing, but I was a bit sceptical, because they were disappearing, not during the day, but at night. Sure enough, I just saw a hedgehog helping itself. I also saw a frog at the other end of the garden, so maybe there are multiple froggies. Slug count was one killed and a leopard slug allowed to live. Too hot and dry for them.

>87 MarthaJeanne: I love my frogs! They sing at night, wooing other frogs.

>90 fuzzi: I've now put out a basin of water for them. I have tomatoes in the big pot now, and the saucer gets dried out.

Yesterday was the first garden festival this year. Actually, all weekend. Friday was hot and sunny, but Jerry was busy elsewhere. Yesterday they were predicting rain, but the clouds were still not total cover, and the sun kept peeping through. It was a lot cooler than Friday. Prediction for today was not as hot as Friday, but sunny. We decided to chance the weather, and it was great. Not too hot, but a lot of people must have been scared off, either by the rain or by Covid. There were plenty of customers, but thin enough that you could shop without crowding. I bet it's a lot more crowded today. Not my favourite environment, even without Covid.

I came home with all sorts of treasures.
A new vegetable brush, as the previous one has moved outside to clean the bird bath. (This from a British garden tool seller who always looks very relieved to see me after hours of struggling with German. I rarely buy anything, but we have nice chats.)
Several bars of lavender soap without scratchy bits.
Two different lavender syrups - one with elderflower, the other with rosehips.
A blouse and a tunic from a favourite stand of mine. (I was wearing one of their tunics from a few years ago. I was glad to pass on the word that their quilts survive multiple trips through the wash machine.)
A poppy seed strudel (rapidly disappearing).

And plants

4 sorrel plants, as my old ones aren't doing well since I redid their bed.
3 tall pink things
1 tall purple and white thing, unrelated.
(These all have small blossoms at the end of multiple long stems.)
3 might be coleus, at any rate coloured leaves with green veins. One white, one pale pink, one deep pink.
1 lemon savory. (Apparently a winter savory variant. I'm not keen on winter savory, much preferring summer savory, but this one is nice.)
1 marsh mallow.

I was fascinated to discover when I moved to Vienna that I could buy a candy called Eibischteig that was sort of like a very heavy marshmallow, but with more flavour, that was also very useful in cases of a dry sore throat, as sucking on it encourages mucus. The 'real' marsh mallow plant, Althaea officinalis is a tall plant (1-2 meters) with attractive flowers in late summer. As the name indicates, it is really a swamp plant. I have put it next to my climbing rose, right where the rain collector overflows. It should actually look very nice there, and the rose and marsh mallow won't blossom at the same time, so they should complement each other.

It was a good haul, and I was very tired by the end of it. Oh, and they only charged for one of us, on the grounds that a handicapped person (i.e. my walker) needs a carer along.

The plants are all in. Amazingly easy to find homes for them, as I didn't really 'need' more flowers. In the process I found a whole clump of bulbs, so the plants in the flower bed each has a circle of bulbs around it.

How could I forget! I also bought a few sweet lemons. I need to make a tart with one of them.

We went out to the Schloßinsel this afternoon. I stupidly forgot my binoculars, but it didn't really matter. There is one area that sheep and ground squirrels are supposed to share. The latter have long since dug under the glass wall. However today we saw the ram jump over it.

A young female ranger was sent to get him to chase him back in. That didn't work well. If he wasn't totally ignoring her, he was butting her, and her male colleagues on the phone were just saying that she should make him know that she was boss. Well, he had long since decided that she wasn't. He was in a dead end area, but children kept being fascinated, so I stuck around when she backed off to wait for reinforcement. He wasn't sure he liked my walker. He liked it even less when I didn't back off from him. When he backed up a bit I just moved into the area he had left, which he liked less again, and fairly soon decided that his fenced in area was a better place to be.

I had two advantages over the young ranger. Certainly the walker helped a lot, and I would have stayed a lot further away without it. But I think it also helped that I have been a mother. I know how to project the 'I'm in charge' message that she hasn't learned yet.

I bought a Seeadler (osprey) t-shirt. Did I want the male or female version of the shirt. I actually prefer male cut t-shirts. Besides it had the osprey printed much bigger.

We didn't stay long, and got wet on the way back to the car.

You have more courage than most. You’re certainly right about that mother in charge attitude. My granddaughter asked me to use it on her mom when she disapproved of her smoking. Ellie was only 6 at the time.

I suspect that you are imagining a much bigger critter than this was. These are small sheep, and he may have been butting the ranger, but without any intention of hurting her. The same butt could have been dangerous to a toddler though.

One red tomato.

One red tomato. One Black Cherry tomato.

Also a zucchini, but that goes without saying.

>91 MarthaJeanne: I wondered about critters getting stuck in the basin when I put it out, but was fairly sure it was safe for the frog. Yesterday I found a belly-up lizard in the basin, still vaguely moving its legs. I dumped the basin, and a few minutes later the lizard had disappeared. Today I saw a lizard fairly near there, and later at the other end of the garden, so either it survived and is running around a lot, or I have lizardS in the garden. I have put a border stone into the basin. There is still a fair amount of water available, but also a nice spot for basking in the sun and crawling out into the higher area of garden. It also makes this water source the best I have for insects. (The insects use lots of different watering spots, but I do find dead ones in them now and again.) Oh, and even an underwater hiding hole.

It is quite nice knowing that several different types of animals are living in the garden. This does not include the slugs. I'm also not so sure about the Wanzen (shield shaped insects) that are eating (and copulating on) my chard and sorrel. On the other hand, there is so much chard this year because I don't have the usual places to give it away.

>100 MarthaJeanne: I have a deep aluminum dish of water for my feral cats, but have found dead animals in it more than once. I now have an upside-down clay pot in the middle of the dish, so if something falls in it can pull itself out and rest.

Four yellow tomatoes today.

It's raining. Quite a storm! And it started right after I harvested the veggies for tonight's couscous and the bags of chard Jerry will take to church tomorrow. Should I be up early enough I will raid the zucchini plants again.

Tonight's supper was 'what can I make without going out to the store?'

Carbohydrate: Gnocchi in the refrigerator. Check dates, yes, use NOW.

Garden: A very few tomatoes, but some peppers, and, of course several zucchini. Basil would go well.

I sent my husband into the freezer for a protein, and he came up with a partial bag of shrimp.

Add onion and bacon and a ball of mozzarella, and we are agreed that the result was surprisingly good. Also, I made enough for tomorrow as well.

The weather has turned cool and rainy. This is, of course, because we had a new air conditioner delivered yesterday. The old one had suddenly gotten much noisier. This one isn't quiet when actually cooling, but a big improvement over the old one. It will be good having the new one in place when the weather gets warm next spring. Or even if September turns hot again.

>104 MarthaJeanne: I call that "seat of the pants" cooking, and it's what I practice, a lot.

Another garden supper. At the supermarket today I had bought a seeded baguette, an eggplant and some ham, among other things. Couldn't quite face moussaka, what with precooking the eggplant slices, so I started an oven ratatouille. Onion, eggplant, then what I found in the garden. zucchini, peppers (It could have used more peppers, but it got what I had.), tomatoes, bay leaf, rosemary, parsley. Once the original browning was over I added a good glug or two of wine, and stuck it in the oven for a couple of hours. Mmm!

Now I halved the baguette, spread mascarpone on both pieces, then ratatouille, followed by ham slices and grated cheese. This was a great supper, and I have 5 holes of a silicon muffin tin full of ratatouille in the freezer. And the second half of the baguette wrapped up to heat for breakfast.

We are almost keeping up with the zucchinis!

I picked the hokaiodo squash a day or two ago. Now I need to take out the dead looking vine. Seriously, I think I paid more for the plant than I would pay for a squash this size.

I am not keeping up with the watering in general. Luckily it's not quite so hot, and we've had a little rain, but the peppers would appreciate some water. Several other non-productive plants should go tomorrow. I hope I can get up enough energy.

Oh, I did finish plying some yarn. Now if I only could remember the fibre content.

>106 MarthaJeanne: your supper sounds absolutely delicious!

We didn't put the bio-bin out last week, so I pulled myself together and cut back some of the herbs. The tarragon and hyssop look very romantic bending over the edges of the raised bed, but under them is a lot of weeds, and it would be good if the edge there could be mowed tomorrow. Besides, I have lots more than I use. The lemon balm was still in the beds, but it self seeds so much, and the died back blossoms look awful, and again, much more than I could use, so I cut that back, too. Then worked a while on the weeds that all that disclosed.

Quite a difference! There is still more that I could/should do, but not just now.

The cucumber plant has lots of tiny cucumbers growing. I should probably cut out half of them and any more flowers to encourage some to ripen.

Btw, that yarn is so pretty!

I just made a bowl of pickled beets, but I'm not totally convinced that they will suit us. The beet was supposed to be striped, and had a few sort of red striped when I cut the raw beet in half. When it came out of the oven there were at most a few pinkish areas. It doesn't LOOK like a beet. Then it felt awfully fibrous when I sliced it.

We'll see. It certainly needed to be harvested. I got three cups of slices from the one beet.

>112 MarthaJeanne: Heh. If the pickled beet turn out to be any good, send some to Crossfield’s Australian Pub in Meysedergasse. Then they can make some proper Australian burgers.

Pickled beets are easy. They are also easy to buy. If mine are any good, we'll eat them.

>82 MarthaJeanne: Made another cake, this time topped with slices of Amalfi lemon.

I used my big cast iron frying pan, so I needed 1 1/2 amounts of things. Blueberries in the dough, also added cinnamon.



Had to make it tonight, as my husband goes in Wednesday for his operation, and I don't want to have to eat all of it myself.

>115 MarthaJeanne: ooh! I never thought to use my cast iron pan for baking a cake...

Praying for a safe and complete recovery for your husband.

The recipe says you can also use other pans, which is what I did the last time. This time I made 1 1/2 times the recipe to fit my 10" pan instead of the 8" one it called for.

Sorry if anybody wanted a piece. He ate the last bit for his breakfast. I did have to rub it out well with salt before and after, and heat oil up in it this morning. Other pans can just go in the dishwasher.

Well, he's off.

I cut up the rest of that lemon (mostly peel as I used the center part on the cake) and sliced a good portion of fresh ginger. I boiled them up with water and sugar. They are currently steeping. I may add more ginger and boil again.

I've also been looking at Too good to share again. I probably should have done that before the shopping trips yesterday. But there are lots of yummy recipes in there that I have the ingredients for. For the lamb recipes I should throw the left over lamb steak into a pot with broth for a bit. I did get the dates to make single portion sticky toffee pudding.

I also need to make flat bread dough to keep myself in good bread. We bought a few buns, but those will be edible only through tomorrow.

The garden looks sad after the cold weather we've been having the past few days. We went from over 30C to 15C maximums overnight. So several things can get taken out if I get ambitious. I also need to check on the hedgehog house to make sure it is ready for a winter guest.

On the other hand, it is cold and wet out there.

I got four new face masks finished this week. Indoor tasks now include getting back to the 6" sampler quilt squares along with deciding how I will use them. I have a book of 12" sampler squares by the same author, so I may make several of those to get up to enough for a real bed sized quilt. If I get a good day I should warp my smaller loom and/or finish the weaving on the larger loom. I haven't done any weaving this year. Partly the weather, as the larger loom needs to be used outside, and it's too d*** hot when it hasn't been cold and wet. Partly just as Pete Seeger used to sing, 'My get up and go has got up and went.' I suppose I should use these few days alone to sort out one or more of my bigger projects and get back to them. Oh, and I have a skort cut out that I could mark and sew. And material for a second one.

It is clear, I will not go hungry or be bored in the house alone for the next few days.

Worst case, I still have 262 books in my To read collection, not to mention my hundred book wish list on OverDrive.

>119 MarthaJeanne: Pretty bugs!

Now that it is getting colder, I think the house is a warm place to sit. During the summer I saw lots of little grasshoppers, but not these big guys. The bodies are 4-5 cm long.

Had to delodge a large grasshopper who had moved in and started chirping. Now I know it is cold and wet outside, but if you keep letting me know you are in here, you won't be very long. Grasshoppers at least get caught and removed to the outside. There was a pesky buzzy fly earlier...

We get basement crickets. Monstrous looking, but fairly benign.

This is so funny. I decided this evening that I need to make oatmeal cookies. Now mine are healthier than most, as I use whole wheat flour and reduce the sugar, but then I add extra dried fruit. And they are still very high in carbs as well as calories.

Any way, my husband headed up to bed, and said that I should feel free, even if he is asleep, to leave him a few cookies at the side of the bed, like usual.

I responded that if I were a really good wife to my diabetic husband I wouldn't bake cookies at all. You should have seen the look he gave me! I think he prefers the baking wife.

More to the point I moved the new table out from where the greenhouse goes. The last of the old pieces fell apart a few days ago. So I had to move everything that had been there (mostly into the garbage), move the plants from the new table, move the table, then lift the plants back up onto the table.

It looks like we won't get the tent set up this week - wet and rainy, but not cold enough to endanger my citrus yet. Hopefully a Syrian refugee couple will be coming out to help the process. It's hard work, and with Jerry not supposed to bend over or lift, I'm not sure we could do it by ourselves. It has certainly pushed us to our limits the last few times.

I've sort of decided that whether or not we get help, I'll do another step by myself any day the weather cooperates. Next step is getting the frame built together. I should be able to do that alone or with minimal help. Not heavy, just awkward. And no problem leaving it set up even through a few days of rain.

I harvested the orange fruits on my bitter orange tree. Four of them. They have been ripe all summer, but they look so nice on the tree. These don't have much juice anyway. and after drying out all summer, even less. I made an orange sauce to go with duck. We have gotten quite fond of the slow-cooked in a vacuum goose and duck that our supermarket sells this time of year. The recipe took some reworking, as it was meant for making while roasting a duck, but in the end it was really good. I have lots of leftovers, too, if 'someone' doesn't eat them for breakfast. I like using such leftovers for a potato dough strudel. The dough would just soak up the sauce. He likes those strudels, so I think I'm safe.

It sort of feels extravagant to use four oranges off my tree for one meal, but there are lots of green fruits on the tree, so high time I took the previous ones off. We will put the citrus in the tent in a few days anyway, and by the time they come out in the spring, the new ones will be orange.

Two young Syrian refugees worked on the garden for a few hours on Saturday. We got the tent up. I still have to set up the electric stuff - heating, fan, driveway lights - but the tent is up and the plants inside. We also had them take down the shady summer area.

Then they saw the shed and insisted that it needed cleaning out. That hadn't been on our list of priorities, but in the end three car loads of stuff went to the dump. I did have to rescue a few things, but not that much. The neighbour across the street took the boxes of dry apple kindling (at least 10 years). The load included the cold frame I had wanted to throw away years ago. 'No, you could still put that back together. We should keep it.' Actually, it was real garbage, and I knew at the time that it would never get used again. I enjoyed watching it go. Don't think he even noticed.

I did enjoy seeing several things show up that I knew were in there 'somewhere'. The electric screw driver is probably more useful. The shears bought for garden work, but advertised as also usable on a sheep were a greater source of pleasure.

Once the garbage was in the cars we relaxed a bit over savoury snail buns (bacon and cheese or spinach and feta) and sticky date and prune cake I had baked on Friday. They enjoyed. They also enjoyed getting more than minimum wage. They really worked hard, followed my directions, and did it all intelligently.

Still following you, enjoying your gardening posts!

And your sheep have been getting too shaggy. Good that you found the shears.

Sounds like a perfect day.

Actually, I don't have any sheep, and I'm much happier buying wool that has been cleaned and combed and maybe hand dyed ready to be spun. It's just the idea that if there were sheep ...

The weather people got it wrong last night. If the high fog ever developed, it certainly didn't wait until late afternoon to lift. Blue skies and sun all day, temps in the teens (C) so I started planting the Alliums I bought last week. I also did some raking and fit the refills into the mouse traps we collected in the shed. In the process I broke a spring, but as one of the traps had a very old dried out mouse in it, I simply exchanged springs and didn't have to deal with the carcass.

Jerry recently discovered a former bird under his desk by the smell. He dealt with that carcass, so I have been lucky.

>131 MarthaJeanne: nice day!

Poor critters.

>132 fuzzi: Well, if we had known that the bird had gotten into the house we would have done everything possible to get it out again. We've done it before. I have clear memories of reaching into the upstairs hall bookcase behind the books with a towel to grab a birdie that hid in there. I carried it downstairs and released it on the terrace. Mice in the shed are a different matter. They rather make a mess of things.

It is sunny today, and I have added impetus to get out and do the electrics for the greenhouse. We just booked next weekend in Illmitz, and I am looking forward to doing that. But it would be good to have everything set up first, just in case.

My husband pointed out a few minutes ago that the peach tree has lost a lot of leaves. Now it just so happens that he is moderating a virtual conference today and tomorrow. And if he weren't, he is still recovering from back surgery. So guess who is not going to be raking those leaves!

And guess who else isn't raking those leaves today! It is drizzling out there. And the last time I looked at the thermometer it said 10. He says it has warmed up. It is 11 now. I'm still not going out to rake leaves.

I'll sit at the sewing machine and sew quilt blocks together. (And figure out how much more background material I should have bought. Next week's problem.)

Sunny today, and I have just been out getting more of the leaves. (I raked on Monday to get them into the weekly collection.) I also harvested a good amount of Szechuan pepper. I.e. still a lot of red on the tree, but enough for at least a year at my current rate. I also closed the greenhouse. The sun is not on it and the next few nights will be fairly cool.

I'll go out again later. On Monday I brought in most of the green tomatoes and started clearing the vines. There are also pepper and bean plants to clear.

I got the rest of the cloth yesterday, so there is also sewing to do when I want to stay warm.

I certainly harvested too much szechuan pepper. We watched Casablanca tonight, and I got the berries separated from less than half of the bunches. Then I rubbed my eyes. This was a mistake. Much less bad than chilli, but not good.

Ow-y! Not good, for sure!

I have finished sorting the pepper. I have thrown away the supplies I had, and refilled the can and the grinder with fresh. There are also a few samples by the back door to give away.

I also got the bio garbage about 2/3 full and out to the street. It felt like the apple tree was laughing at me. I raked up the leaves for the bin, and more kept landing on my head and shoulders.

Most of the vegetable beds are cleared now. This week I'll probably start cutting back the trees a bit.In a few weeks pick up goes down to every other week, so I'd like to get at least the most result for the least work finished with.

>118 MarthaJeanne: The quilt top is looking good. I have the middle section just about done, and am alternating that finishing work with sewing 12" squares to enlarge it. I have two totally done, one that is too small so it needs a frame sewn on, and two 6" maple leaves that could be part of a 12". I think I need 9.

Hard frost last night. I raked more leaves and took another tomato plant apart before my fingers said, 'Enough!' I need to repeat that tomorrow to fill up the bio bin. Tuesday is pick up, and then we are in the winter period of pickup only every other week. So it's worth getting this one as full as I comfortably can.

>141 MarthaJeanne: so far we've only had one light frost, which is unusual. Most of my annuals are doing fine, with just black/brown edges on the top leaves.

The plumber came. I think it's been three weeks since the pump gave up the ghost. The pump that lifts the water from the toilet, sink, and shower in the cellar into the sewer line. The overflow from the toilet was backed up in the shower, so it hasn't been very nice down there. Luckily it doesn't effect the wash machine directly, but I do have to be in there a few times most days.

Phew! Thanks be for plumbers!

With temperatures down below freezing over night, I'm back to throwing panes of ice away from the bird bath, and refilling it with hot tap water. This paid off today when I saw several sparrow-sized birds on the terrace. No pictures, as if I get anywhere near the door they all fly off. But there was a tit with a bright yellow breast on the bird bath, and one of the birds on the ground was a robin red breast. (European robin, sparrow sized, very cute with the fuzzy red beast, just like a British Christmas card.) We don't get them often, and usually all the birds avoid the terrace feeders, preferring the ones way down at the apple tree. But the attraction of liquid water was greater than their fear. The tit was probably a blue tit, but since the blue wasn't strong, I'm guessing maybe born this year and/or female.

In summer our fancy bird bath is under the apple tree, but I don't leave that out in winter, using a large plastic pot saucer instead. And I have it on the terrace, so even in snowy weather I can easily fill it with hot water once a day.

I should fill the peanut feeders, but I seem to be out of peanuts. Stores will be open next week, so I can do it then.

There was some sun today, and the apple tree has dropped more leaves. Maybe tomorrow. I went to the mall this noon. Jerry had physiotherapy, and I used the time to mall walk. I also got my glasses fixed (bent corner), picked up a few meds, bought some take out sandwiches, and went through the supermarket. (I mostly bought Australian ginger beer. Several other things I would have bought weren't on the shelves.) Very depressing as even several shops that could be open aren't. With so few people walking about, the juice stands and many restaurants that could sell take away don't bother. Besides, you are supposed to go at least 50m away from the shop, and are not allowed to sit on the benches, which makes the whole thing less attractive. The woman in the sandwich store was very pleased to have someone to talk to. So was I. They have now officially announced that most stores can open again from Monday. Now to work out which ones I want most!

I decided to use an overripe banana to make https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/yeasted-banana-sandwich-bread-recipe

After reading the blog post, I saw no reason not to add a tangerine as well. Other than that, I used fresh yeast, no honey, and my flour is whole grain spelt. I did add the recommended gluten. It's now formed and rising. Other than that, I stuck fairly close to the recipe.

Any other suggestions for using the bananas without adding sugar? I suppose I could blend one with juice and yoghurt.

Bread is good. Garden is white with more ice falling. I just gave the birds hot water. Very heavy snow out there with lots of water in it. (-0.2) Maybe we aren't going to the supermarket today.

Chard is such great stuff! I like the flavour, it grows easily, and if you only cut the outer leaves it just keeps on producing. Mine slows way down this time of year as it doesn't get much light, but by March it's going strong again. Tonight I was trying to put various leftovers together into an edible meal, and decided it needed some sort of fresh/green vegetable. I stuck my feet into my clogs, grabbed a flashlight and scissors, and brushed the snow off a couple of plants, there I had just what I needed. I replace it with bought plants in late spring as the old ones flower.

(BTW I learned decades ago that I could throw almost anything into the oven, and if I put a good layer of cheese on top my husband would eat it. Without the cheese he wouldn't. Tonight's leftover casserole had plenty of cheese.)

Current temp is just above freezing. It may even stay there over night.

We were out doing the grocery shopping this noon, driving between fields with light traffic in both directions, when suddenly a deer ran across the road just in front of us. Wonderful timing, as neither we nor the car coming towards us had to brake. I'm not sure we could have. The deer came very suddenly. It was nice to see it.

Libraries will be open from Monday, along with most shops. The message is: You don't need to all come on Monday. Books have had three weeks added to their due dates. Library cards have had three weeks added to their validity dates. You don't need to come on Monday. We are very happy to see you again, but not all on Monday.

I made my uncle's ginger snaps again yesterday. These were better than the first batch. The treacle I have is just too bitter, so this time I cut it with golden syrup. The results are really good.

But I feel a (rather silly) to have a collection of cookies for the Christmas that will hardly otherwise be marked.

I have a few untreated mandarines. I peeled two if them and scraped some of the pith off the skins. I'm not convinced this was really necessary, but I did it. I blended the orange part with a cup of sugar. Another time I might let the skins dry a bit over night. This was rather a mess. The result is very damp, but intensive.

I took a standard sugar cookie recipe (3 cups flour). My standard changes are using whole grain spelt flour and halving the sugar. This time I used partly my orange sugar and partly white sugar. I also added about a teaspoon of mixed sweet spices. (I used Babbette's Mocha Mix. It includes several spices, but not cinnamon. Any mixture you like would work.) Then I also chopped a good portion of dried cranberries, and added them at the end.

Whoops, time to take them out of the oven. Yes, very Christmasy. If I make something else it will probably be walnut and cinnamon.

Ummmm. I can almost smell them from here.

They could do with more cranberries I think.

The supermarket today looked like something had hit it. Shelves were getting empty on the 23rd, but they were still open on the morning of the 24th. Can't have been a lot left to buy. The aisles this afternoon were full of people restacking the shelves, but many things were out and although there weren't a lot of customers when we were there, there was a feeling that they were neither keeping up nor had they gotten new supplies in. We're good now for at least two days. Maybe Thursday things will look more normal.

We have had some sun for the past few days. Saturday we even went for a walk. It was nice to be out in the sun and to see children playing in the park, but it was cold and windy. Even more so yesterday. We stayed home. I have had to put warm water out for the birds. The clouds are coming back.