Stamani nel giardino

I basically ended last evening with yard work and, once my slow-moving rear was in gear, began today with a continuation thereof. I pulled out a few more dead plants and replaced them with fresh ones and did a fair chunk of pruning roses that had been badly damaged by sun and wind. I cut back bare branches, leaving the sections with new growth sprouting and pulled off lots of sunburned leaves.

Here are photos from this morning.

Circus roses

A semi-panoramic view with zucchini,
the Methley plum tree, Tournament of Roses
rose bush, and French lavender

Una vespa (not the kind you ride)

Zucchini blossoms

A newly replanted color spot pot

Closer view of Tournament of Roses and lavender

This morning's harvest (and part of my breakfast)

The photo above omitted the cherry (shown yesterday) that I plucked and just now ate. It has hidden itself when I washed the others. It was only the size of a large pea or a small chickpea but it tasted quite nice.

Now, will I really launch into cleaning, cooking, laundry, recycling, and exercise?

An evening in the yard

Here is proof that my cherry tree has borne fruit. I have eaten two of the four so far. This one is slated for tomorrow. You can tell that my cherry tree is not faring well. The leaves are crisping and falling. All the other fruit trees are lush and green.


I mostly give you close-ups - cropping out dead and dying stuff, focusing on flowers for drama. Tonight I am sharing a couple of larger views. This is a portion of the south wall that was planted later in the spring and has recently been partially replanted.


This is a view standing near the cherry tree and looking toward the grapevine. Yes, that black plastic tub holds a new rose bush. More on that momentarily.


Last year I sowed cosmos seeds everywhere and they sprung up with a vengeance, choking out other plants. This year I have some volunteers and this is the first to bloom.


White petunia and artemisia. I love the gray leaves of the artemisia.


A penstemon just about to bud.


The tomato harvest has begun on this bush.


This is a Methley plum. Much riper than the one I showed here recently, though only a few days later. It will be ready for eating soon.

Now, we all know I should step away from the rose aisle in garden centers, but allow me to tell you a story.

In my first gardening season in Albuquerque (spring to autumn 2007) the pride and joy of all my roses was a Tournament of Roses bush with its stunning pink on pink blooms. It gave me incredible joy to see it day after day. It did very little the following year and by 2009 was basically a sickly looking non-producer. When I replanted roses this year it was among those ripped up and thrown out to make way for something in healthier shape.

Tonight on the way home I saw a Tournament of Roses bush at Home Depot. There is no way I could pass it by, even though I had to find a new spot to plant it. Well, it is planted between the crookneck squash, the Methley plum, and the nearer Circus rose.

This is why I could not say no:


And that is this evening's garden tour. I had other chores on my to-do list but planting and watering (which I did not begin until around 7) took me up to nightfall. I will see how many items on my long to-do list for this weekend are accomplished. I suspect paying the gas bill will be the last accomplishment this evening (unless you count reading chapter 6 of Mark's Gospel out loud in Italian to the kids).

What can I say? When one has a priest for a daddy one gets the strangest bedtime stories.

--the BB

Stasera

I did not ride the bike tonight either and I have not yet started a load of laundry but I did rip out more dead plants and replace them this evening, did some pruning and dead heading, and watered the yard thoroughly.

The Methley plums look a bit riper than in this photo from last weekend, but I had not noticed that they were ripening at different speeds. When I got home tonight the wind was whipping about the yard. As I got to the section where this plum tree is I noticed four plums had fallen to the ground. They were not green but sort of purple and orange washes over yellow-green. In other words, they looked almost ripe, and they certainly were not going to get any better lying there. So I washed them off with the hose and ate three and a half of them. Tart, certainly, but also sweet, yellow flesh, fruity. I had been eating cherry tomatoes at the rate of one a day. Now the plum harvest has started. The Santa Rosa plums are not ready but I see a few more on the Methley that are almost ripe, along with many that are still quite green. With weather going into the 90s this weekend ripening may speed along.

I am scratched and my shoulder aches but I got at least one form of exercise tonight. Now, on to laundry and novel research.

Ci vediamo!

--the BB

Heart thread - 06/16/2010

I ask your most fervent prayers for Kirstin:

Kirstin ... got the PET scan report back. Metastasis to lungs and bones, "several other places." Waiting for another doctor to call me back and tell me more. Prayers please.

Holy Raphael, archangel of healing, companion and guide, watch over Kirstin on her journey and intercede for before the throne of mercy.

O Christ, be present with Kirstin. May your loving arms hold her, your light shine within and around her, your peace sustain her, your grace provide all she needs in abundance.

Mary, Mother of mercy, extend the mantle of your protection over Kirstin.

All you Saints and Angels, pray for her to Christ our God.


--the BB

Working on that checklist

Two things on the checklist were MUST-DO items for this evening:

1. Catch the first Italian class. This was quite pleasant and the instructor is very personable.

2. Order prescription refills. I was going to do this a week ago and the days were fast slipping by.

Both done.

Tomorrow: back to the yard and laundry (and bicycle?).

This is not some kind of checklist punishment; I am trying to build the practice of doing things that make my life more enjoyable and more anxiety-free. Since I have lots of bad habits, mostly related to procrastination, I would like this summer to be a period of taking action toward my own greater happiness.

While killing time between work and class I stopped in Uptown and found some shirts in my size on clearance at Eddie Bauer. The shirtaholic is very happy.

Dolci sogni.

--il BB

Heart thread - 06/15/2010

Jane R asks our prayers:

Next time you check these comments, do ask the folk to pray for our parishioner Tom, age about 80, who is having open heart surgery (bypass) tomorrow Wednesday here in Greensboro. He is a dear and we are understandably concerned. My own daddy had a triple bypass around age 85 and it went well, and he is alive and kicking at 91 and a half, but one never knows when the person is more than four score.

I ask your prayers for Elizabeth and her brother and the whole family. If you have not already, please read her moving post, "Blackbird, fly." This is an ongoing prayer request.

Likewise we remember Frank and Jim and Janet and Lolly and John Bear and all those who love them.

I ask your fervent prayers for our sister Kirstin. She shares her journey with us.

For Jonathan and the Missus.

For the Executive Council of TEC meeting in Baltimore.

For the waters, soil, and air of the Gulf of Mexico. For those who have lost their lives in the explosion. For all the creatures of earth and sea. For the people whose livelihood is in danger. For the healing of the earth, God's Body. For all who work to help the healing.

For Diane and Spirit.

For Jack and his family.

For those facing deadlines that involve a great deal of their vocation.

For the confidential prayer requests entrusted to each of us, the secret needs, the private anguish, those in their personal darkness that need us to hold them in the light.

For peace in Kyrgyzstan, for healing of ethnic strife, for those murdered.

For deliverance from drug violence in Mexico.

For an end to so-called honor killings (story).

For those killed or lost or dispossessed in torrential rains: in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the French department of Var.

For all who, for whatever reason, find themselves beginning over again. May they find grace, strength, and courage to move forward.

Let us pray.

--the BB

A few items checked off

I had a long list of things I wanted to do this evening. Several remain undone. Nonetheless, I managed a few.

I did not ride the bike this evening.

I did not do a load or two of laundry.

I did not put up an Oremus post, though there are so many of our dear ones in need of prayer. Shoot an arrow prayer toward heaven and Godde will know who needs divine and human love.

I did fill the gas tank.

I did pick up some replacement plants and planted them this evening. I put in four new Vinca minor plants (creeping myrtle) over in the NW corner of the yard, hoping they spread and cover the ground there. I also tore out a number of plants that have died or as near as makes no never mind and replaced them with new zinnias, dwarf yellow marigolds, and pink flowering vinca. I tied a couple of rose stems to a trellis to help keep the bush growing upright. I watered everything thoroughly. By which time the sun had gone down and it was getting dark (8:40, to be exact).

I also picked up some items to further the garage organization project.

After all this I had a nice yak on the phone with my BFF who just returned from a short trip. Nice to catch up.

At lunch I worked on Italian vocabulary. First Italian class is tomorrow night (twice a week for seven weeks, a nice summer introduction).

Given the source of much of my knowledge of Italian, it is not surprising that about every fifth word in the vocabulary book suggested a snippet of opera to me. "Purchè"? Purché porti la gonnella, Voi sapete quel che fa, from Don Giovanni.

So, in retrospect, I am not going to worry about the items I did not accomplish today. Time now to read another chapter of il Vangelo secondo Marco and go to bed.

Dolci sogni, amici.

--the BB

Progresso - it's not just a soup

OK, I just cleared books off the comfy chair in the library (which looks like a bookstore explosion - books scattered everywhere in addition to ranged on shelves), sat down, and read the first chapter of Mark out loud in Italian.

I am sure there were numerous errors of pronunciation but I'm guessing 80% was correct enough. I had my new dictionary at hand but did not bother opening it. The text is too familiar not to know what is being said. Verb forms, prepositional phrases, and fine-tuning of vocabulary will come later, but it was a pleasant exercise. I shall let that suffice for self-assigned "homework" today.

The lavender is another shot from this evening (and because I believe you can never have too much lavender). In the yard are French, Spanish, and English lavender. Several new little plants of French lavender were put in along the south border this year. They are still quite small but that is how the lovely bush in the photo above began. I trust that in three years there will be masses of it.

It may be my favorite thing to water on a warm day because a moist scent of lavender rises in the air to refresh body and spirit. It is always gentle, never overwhelming. Ahhhhhhhh. This is true even watering just the greenery, before blossoms appear.

Sweet dreams, chipmunks.

--the BB

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

Running out of excuses

As a boy I rode my bicycle all over the neighborhood. This was before the days of clever bike acrobatics that one sees nowadays. Just flying like the wind, never having to think consciously of balance because the bike and I were one.

In my late twenties I did a lot of bicycling again around West Hollywood and environs.

Before leaving California I acquired a bicycle but barely rode it. In the move it was rather put out of joint, so to speak. So it has languished in the garage, waiting for some refurbishing.

Mimi and Jane and others will testify that I am a big bear. So I have a big bike. The very first disappointment when I bought it was that it does not fit in the back seat of my car, even with the front wheel removed. No small thing to get it to a repair shop then.

My BFF has a pickup, however, and took my bike to Stevie's Happy Bikes (yes, that's the real name) and got it all spiffed up. I still did not have a bike rack. Today I drove to Stevie's in Corrales and obtained a bike rack, stopped at BFF's and picked up the bicycle, and brought it home.

There he is: Jibril Mazashunk, ready to be ridden.

Jibril is one of the Arabic variants of Gabriel. My bicycle is named for the archangel. I no longer remember why unless it is because my car is named Rafael for another archangel. Mazashunk is a Lakota word for bicycle (iron dog). [You really did not expect my naming conventions to be uncomplicated, did you?]

One excuse for putting off the repairs was that I could only ride two blocks before facing hills that, gears notwithstanding, I am in no shape for. But now that 98th Street has been paved on the little stretch between open fields, I can theoretically go for many miles with nothing more than mild inclines.

Still, today was hot and very windy and I stayed inside. But I am running out of excuses.

Time to do something truly nice for my body and spirits.

--the BB

Not very imaginative this evening

So here's some rioting redness for y'all.



Two days earlier it was a shy bud like this:


Sweet dreams.
--the BB

Questa sera

Was it Shel who asked if these smelled as roses ought? Yes, they do, but evening is not the time to sniff them. Warmth and humidity bring out the aroma. Alas, when I photograph the bush the roses look a brownish pink. I adjusted the color to look like what my eyes see. Who you gonna believe, a photograph or my lying eyes?


The trumpet vine seems very happy this year. Summer has not officially started and it is blooming away.


I did not have the camera in hand when I went out to water the yard and the sky was in a thousand shades of lemon but here is tonight's sky after watering.

Why I live here.

--the BB

Flower of the day

--the BB

Господи помилуй

Photo of dead oil-soaked bird on beach near Grand Isle, LA, by Carolyn Cole, Los Angeles Times, May 21, 2010. Detail of carpet page for the Gospel of John, Lindisfarne Gospels, by Bishop Eadfrith of Lindisfarne.

Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especially for those animals that are suffering; for all that are overworked and underfed and cruelly treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat against the bars; for any that are hunted or lost or deserted or frightened; for all that are in pain or dying; for all that must be put to death. We entreat for those who deal with them a heart of compassion, gentle hands, and kind words; that they may share thus the blessing of the merciful. For you, O lord, will save both human and beast, and great is your loving-kindness. Amen.

--the BB

It may take a long time but the truth will out

Marcy updates us:

But in what I’ve reviewed so far, the new documents reveal one important new detail. Page 44 of this PDF provides a mostly redacted record of the briefing CIA gave Porter Goss and Nancy Pelosi on Abu Zubaydah’s torture on September 4, 2002. We know–because both Goss and Pelosi have described this detail the same way–that CIA did not tell the House Intelligence leadership that it had already tortured Abu Zubaydah. CIA told Goss and Pelosi about waterboarding, but spoke of it as a technique that might hypothetically be used in the future, not something that had been used 83 times on one detainee the prior month.

...

Assuming CIA’s own documentation is accurate (always a big assumption, given the CIA), then Jose Rodriguez–listed as D/CTC–is the one who gave Goss and Pelosi that deceptive briefing.

Jose Rodriguez went on to participate in destroying evidence of torture that should have been briefed to Congress. And these documents prove (again, presuming CIA’s documents are accurate) that Jose Rodriguez was deceiving Congress about torture right from the start.

Imagine my surprise.

Those who claimed loudly that Congress was briefed may now kindly go away and STFU.

--the BB

Let the harvest begin!

Yes, I know it is still way too early in the season... but you see that red cherry tomato in the photo below? I just ate it.


Ahhhhhhh. I could have let it ripen another day or two but it was ready enough and I was ready enough.




As you can see, the eggplant is quite prolific this year. Baba ganoush city. And there's always imam bayeldi (if you are very good).


Zucchini blossoms. Hooray!

I also have a number of failed plants and lots of scorched rose leaves and sundry items that need to be yanked and tossed. But even so, lots of loveliness no matter where one turns. And all but a few roses have new leaves coming out.

--the BB

Following up

How could I use the line in the post below and not add this?



I had to use Ethel Merman's version, the classic.

Stand up on your lazy feet and sing: Hallelujah!

--the BB

Blow, Gabriel, blow!

If your day, or evening, needs to be jazzed up a bit, these trumpet vines are for you.

--the BB

So butch I can't stand myself

As long-time readers know, I bought a workbench and a fancy schmancy toolbox a few months ago. Well, today - on a day slated to reach 102 degrees F. - I finally unpacked and assembled the workbench. That part was a bit awkward but not too challenging. Then came the time to get it turned over and upright. Mind you, it is eight feet long, the top is hardwood, and the legs and cross support are steel. It took all my size and leverage to do it, but it is now in place. One more corner of the garage taken from chaos to a semblance of order.

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, critters and friends.


Oh, the starting point today is that this corner was full of cardboard that needed to be recycled, so I had to cut up boxes until my recycling bin is full and then I could unpack this puppy.


Is this tool box one sexy beast or what?

Before you get too impressed with all that shiny black and chrome, you should know that it comes with a flannel-lined cosy.


I remember when the most macho men in West Hollywood all wore flannel shirts. There's an analogy in there somewhere. *snerk*

Time to run off to a dinner party. Laterz!

--the BB

Flowers of the day

I hope you have enjoyed a good Shabbat. In any case, may these penstemon give you a lift.

This weekend the peak temperatures are at or just above 100 degrees (F.). I panicked this morning. I did not water the garden last night because I counted on doing it this morning. I usually am up by 7:30 on Saturday mornings. Today I slept until almost 9 a.m. My nephew and godson's high school graduation was slated for 10. I barely had time to shave, shower, dress, and get there. No watering. When I got home midafternoon I watered the plants, even though it is the worst time of day to do so. I did not dare let them wait any longer. I have lost some plants this week but with as many as I have planted one must count on some losses. "Failure to thrive" is a term one might apply to all living things. All in all, not too many losses at this point.

After 7 p.m. I ventured forth with the camera and took almost four dozen photos. These were among them.

--the BB

Memory eternal

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.

The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me good company.

The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms, but in mutual trust alone.

--Blessed Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (25 November 1881 – 3 June 1963)

Blessed John, pray for us and beseech the Almighty to send us another loving and enlightened pope like yourself.

--the BB

Donné qu'hier fut leur fête

Martyrs de Námugónga, mes frères dans la foi, vous connaissez le contenu de ma prière, qui n'est pas changé. Je vous supplie de prier le Seigneur de la part de vos concitoyens d'aujourd'hui. Amen.

[Honi soit qui mal y pense.]

-le BB

Il fiore del giorno

A little something to brighten your day.

--the BB

1089

06/02/10 DoD:
Army Casualty Identified
Spc. Jonathan K. Peney, 22, of Marietta, Ga., died June 1 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when he was shot by enemy forces. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.

06/02/10 DoD:
Marine Casualty Identified
Pfc. Jake W. Suter, 18, of Los Angeles, Calif., died May 29 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

06/01/10 DoD:
Marine Casualty Identified
Lance Cpl. Anthony A. Dilisio, 20, of Macomb, Mich., died May 30 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, IIMarine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.



Requiescant in pace.

This bird is dying for our sins

AP Photographer Charlie Riedel
at The Boston Globe

Our desire for an endless, cheap supply of oil leads directly here.

Our abandonment of the Red Car in Los Angeles to build freeways for the benefit of Standard Oil leads to this moment.

Our refusal to design cities where effective public transportation meets most needs and you have neighborhoods where you can obtain most of what you need in a reasonable radius... leads to this disaster.

Our lack of political will to shift to renewable/sustainable energy... leads here.

Our not forcing Congress to raise the CAFE standards on mpg in vehicles over decades... leads here.

Our indifference and unawareness as a philosophy of government that believes government is bad and, when in power, proves it, has left us uninvolved as lobbyists wrote laws, regulations were defanged, and greed and corruption could proceed without interference until it all... leads here.

Our acquiescence while Dick Cheney convened an energy policy team the very membership list of which was secret... leads here.

Our not going on a general strike and shutting this nation down when Bush led us to war in Iraq with lies - so that four western companies could control almost all the oil in Iraq (oh yes, we divvied it up nicely, we did)... leads here.

We are complicit at every turn.

Which is not to say I will let BP, Transocean, and Halliburton off the hook for proceeding in haste when there were multiple warning signals and safeguards were ignored. Some BP honcho[s] ordered this affair to proceed and on his/their head[s] must lie eleven human deaths and all this devastation.

But we do not get off the hook either.

--the BB

La fleur du jour

If you could use a little encouragement or consolation today, this rose is for you.

--the BB