Nel giardino

A while ago I asserted that my Black Tartarian cherry tree had one lone cherry. I lied. It has at least four. Now that they are turning red they have become more visible. This is one of them (not the one pictured in the past). Actually, by the time I took this photo I had eaten that first one. It was not quite ripe, but close enough.


Fruit is ripening apace in the back yard. Here is a Santa Rosa plum.


And here is a Methley plum.

The older Elberta peach tree is sagging with fruit. I thinned further today.


And here is a China Doll rose blossom from this evening. When I bought that bush it was covered with blossoms. They passed and back in the heavy wind and freeze period the entire eastern side of the bush sort of went away. Very sad. But the bush is recovering, has lots of new growth, and is beginning to bloom again.

I am happy to say the most severely blasted rose bush is also recovering. I am encouraged by such resilience.

This weekend has some minor yard puttering. I have replaced some of the plants that have died. More to do. Lots of pruning and deadheading needs to be done. Thought given to propping up the peach branches (better than I have done with one branch so far).

Tonight I also got to just chat over the back yard fence with a neighbor. How very old-fashioned and pleasant. I like my neighbors and that is a good old-fashioned feeling too.

Life gets busier next Tuesday as I begin seven weeks of classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Beginning Italian. I have never completed a beginning Italian class before (though I started a conversational Italian class years ago). Admittedly, I am beyond the beginning stage but I need some solid grounding in basics. I am about to sit down and begin reading my Italian Bible. Methinks I will start with "Vangelo secondo Marco," the Gospel I know best.

Reading, of course, is one thing and articulating thoughts in a foreign language quite another. I recall that when I was a freshman in college, reading my French Bible taught me some very elegant French style. I may have been the only one of my classmates fluent in the imperfect subjunctive (which is not used in contemporary speech but, by God, I could do it - back then, anyway).

Alora, ho bisogno di leggere. Ciao, tutti.

--the BB