One of the pumpkins is just about ripe, and I wanted to enter it at the Barnstable County Fair.
Unfortunately, there’s no category for pumpkins. Could be because they are just too large. Also, I would suppose for “real” gardeners, pumpkins shouldn’t be ripe this early.
Maybe next year I’ll get my act together soon enough to enter one or two “plate” vegetables, like beans or tomatoes.
We got our driveway this week. The topcoat went on Thursday morning, so we’re giving it “a few days” to harden.
I decided there’s no good time to do a driveway. In Spring and Fall, stuff lands on it. In Winter, it’s too cold, and in Summer, too hot.
I’ve been working since 5:30 this morning. Made oatmeal and coffee, then started cleaning up the street (there were blobs of asphalt for about 30 feet in front of the house), watering and transplanting. Moved the big liatris to the back garden and the yarrow to the front. The liatris was actually two plants.
Ron and I loaded up the truck for the transfer station. We’ve been working on laundry as well.
John and Candy dropped by so John could give Ron a consult on replacing the light by the slider. We found this fixture for $2 at a yard sale. Ron did a fantastic job, and it looks great.
He also bought me a Cuisinart food processor this week! More on that later.
We put some of Ron’s “treasures” on the walls as well, a great “Buffalo Insurance Company” sign and a beautiful buffalo plate.
This afternoon, after the transfer station run, Ron went back to Edgewater to fix Peter’s lawnmower. I ran a couple of errands.
We are planning a quiet evening to recupe, since we have plans for tomorrow.
We’ve bought local oysters at Coonamessett Farm a couple of times this summer, and I’m getting pretty good at shucking them with Ron’s big knife.
We waited a year for this: first time out, at the Falmouth Gun Club’s annual open house for families, Robert hit 5 of 7 clay targets!
Peter and the grands came over for a cookout tonight: hot dogs, tuna for Emme, steak, corn, watermelon and watermelon cake. It was nice enough for all of us to eat outside, which was a pleasant change.
I cleaned the house, food shopped, went to the hardware store, put fresh mulch on the front garden, deposited a check, did some ironing (including the flag that we put up yesterday) and trimmed the front bushes. Made a nice omelet for breakfast with mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and some rosemary from Coonemesett.
Getting a little worried about the lack of rain.
I finished the new garden yesterday. Put fresh mulch on about half of it today. Fluffles was guarding a file folder, I think it might have been Ron’s. What a good cat!
Unfortunately, we found out too late that the big annual Fourth of July party in Wareham was happening this year on the Third.
We had melon and proscuitto for breakfast, steak on a stick for lunch and oysters for dinner(!) Ron and I were able to shuck them pretty easily with one of his utility knives.
Ron changed Fluffles’ litter; I did laundry and changed the sheets. I moved some things around the second bedroom so we could put Ron’s new file cabinet next to his desk. I like this arrangement a lot.
We attended the PowWow and did a transfer station run with our stuff and Edgewater’s.
I picked up a new flag holder at the Flag store in Davisville, and Ron put it up after I reinforced the sleeve of the made-in-China US flag.
I finished the front garden! Carpet rose, Joe Pye weed, sedum, Bee Balm, lavender, Forget-Me-Nots, Alyssum, phlox, yarrow. We should have color throughout the season.
Stick a fork in us.
Ron had a traffic accident just after he dropped me off at Hyannis Toyota to pick up the truck after the . No one was hurt, but what an irony, just sent the first premium in to Arbella for the new coverage.
We were able to pick up the truck yesterday, and I came close to blows with a self-indulgent customer who whined ad nauseum to one of the service techs about work that she wanted Toyota to pay for because she’s, well, her.
We bought Ron a Stihl trimmer which he loves. I had to go back for it because it wouldn’t fit in the van. We also picked up a 2-drawer file cabinet which Ron put together; it looks great.
Traffic was pretty horrible on Route 151.
I made a fast trip to the transfer station very late in the day.
We stopped at Cambridge Eye in Falmouth for an adjustment to Ron’s glasses. I deposited my paycheck at Rockland and mailed some bill payments. We stopped at Coonamessett for the items missing from our Thursday CSA order, including cheese.
I bought plants for the new front garden at Sandwich Agway and later on, a carpet rose at Mahoney’s. Picked up Blue Eyed grass, a bright pink yarrow, two Joe Pye, two Bee Balm and two phlox at 20% off.
Laura and Joe came over to chat, a nice break. We had ribs for supper.
Yesterday, we executed new wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies and the deed to Edgewater. We also got the ball rolling on a title search and insurance to purchase Dixon.
We hired two contractors, too, one for the septic at Edgewater and the other for the driveways. We were approved for a loan from the county for the septic work. Having finished the third week of the contract with Lighthouse, I’ve earned just about enough to pay for the drive at Dixon.
Ron had his first appointment with a local podiatrist and booked himself for a hearing aid fitting. He got some positive news on his Worker’s Comp claim, still to be resolved but heading in the right direction.
I harvested the first potato. The Bee Balm is blooming, just in time to take over for the roses. We have THREE pumpkins.