Odd things this year in the garden. The lavender was in full bloom, just once, now faded. Usually I get two or more flushes of blossom from it. The Korean spice bush hasn't budded, nor the cherry bushes. Morning glory nothing. And here's the sum total of marigolds to date
Anything that's mainly foliage, such as the Italian basil, is doing fine. Interestingly the potatoes aren't flowering, so it remains to be seen if I get a crop.
Photo AC
A mystery of gardening. It's affected perennials and annuals, in both potting soil and garden soil, but not all of them..
Misfits box arrived yesterday
and I noticed when I ordered that they're stocking more bagged, less loose, produce.
The result is more spoilage, recently one bad apple, the rest fine, refunded the entire bag. This time it's one rotten onion, the rest fine, refunded the whole bag.
I can't think this is good business and I wonder if small farmers are struggling to get pickers and bigger concerns are taking over.
Also they're offering more nonorganic produce, and you have to read carefully to see what you're getting. It used to be routine for everything to be organic, mainly loose. I'm guessing supply chain issues, maybe small farmers turning away from what used to be regular crops, maybe weather didn't help. I hope the organic movement isn't being pushed out.
Speaking of food: the buttermilk biscuits yesterday, I noticed came out flatter, crisper than usual. As if there wasn't enough fat in the mix. And I realized I'd forgotten the five tablespoons of olive oil. That's a lot of missing fat.
But here's the interesting bit: the biscuits were crisper, breadier, toasted up lovely, in fact I think I accidentally made a new perfectly good version. Without the walnuts and raisins, they'd go great, toasted, with soup. Or anything, really. So consider this a tip!
Last night I watched a corny old Hollywoody movie, Yours, Mine and Ours, in YouTube. Henry Fonda, Lucille Ball, as widowed people who married, joining their 18 children into one large family.
Usual movie glamor, living fabulously well on his navy pay and her part time nursing, yeah right, clothes alone, some nice outfits, amounting to more than their combined income. Not to mention the house.
The cars were great, in fact the main fun was the accessories, clothes, cars, food. No live screenshots permitted, interestingly. Usually I can get a few. Anyway it was fun to watch uncritically, more like wishful thinking. What outsiders think living in a big family is like. Strictly a work of fiction.
My shoulder is still niggling away, and I broke out this simple apparatus, which I got for Handsome Partner at his physio's suggestion. Cheap, easy to set up and great shoulder exercise, so you don't risk freezing.
Two views. You use the strength of one arm to pull down the handle, which raises the other arm, turn by turn. First facing the door then back to it, different muscles and tendons at work. It's so simple but it did all kinds of good things for HP. So I'll try it.
And I did a few minutes' drawing with the pilot pen. I do like it. Well, each tool I use promptly becomes a favorite, as you may have noticed. I'm a bit faithless on this subject.
And, you know how I wish us all a happy day? It's not meant to nag people who simply can't turn on happy on request.
In fact I would like people, all of us, to accept who we are, not be our own critics. The outside world can offer quite enough criticism without our joining in.
We're all good enough. Let's be nice to ourselves. Particularly women, we're terrific at pointing out our own flaws. Let's take the day off from that!
Anyway, happy day, think blue skies while doing our bit to bring them about.