Paul worked in the yard most of the day. Sue paid the bills and did some laundry plus made a very nice lunch for us! It was the last of the onion soup so we are now awaiting arrival of the next batch of onions!
We call the England this morning and talked to Brian and Jan. We are anxious to have them back in the US as they are just wonderful people! We miss them when they are gone. They plan to return in the next 3-4 weeks. Before the call, we got out our “British Cheat Sheet” so we could understand them 🙂
It help!
Our blueberries had to be moved so we could put a bird net around them or the birds would clean us out! To do this, Paul had to move the very heavy yard swing. He decided this was the last time he was going to “drag” the yard swing around. Getting up in years Paul decided to invent the wheel! Off to the hardware store and $60 later plus an hour of prep, the wheels are on!
Casters make the moving of the yard swing easy!
The swing normally goes where the fourteen barrels are located as shown below. After the blueberries are completed with their production, we move them to the south side of the house where they are protected from the intense rays of summer. During Spring, we move the berries to the west side of the house to get morning sun and to enable us to put net over the crop!
Fourteen barrels of blueberries
There are hundreds and hundreds of blueberries on the bushes. There are several kinds of blueberries and living together in harmony! We can pick them from April through July having fresh blueberries every morning is a delight!
Did You Know? Blueberries consist of 14% carbohydrates, 0.7% protein, 0.3% fat and 84% water (table). They contain only negligible amounts of micronutrients, with moderate levels (relative to respective Daily Values) (DV) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin C, vitamin K and dietary fiber (table).[33] Generally, nutrient contents of blueberries are a low percentage of the DV (table). One serving provides a relatively low caloric value of 57 kcal per 100 g serving and glycemic load score of 6 out of 100 per day.
The blueberries are doing well!
Part of the secret to a good garden is mulch. Mulch is a layer of something to protect the soil from the heat of the sun and keep moisture in the soil. We have used straw for years! Our neighbors wanted five bales of straw for their Halloween decorations but did not want to store them! We arrived at a compromise.
We bought the straw and they used the bales in their front yard Halloween decorations. After Halloween, we moved the bales to our house and use it in our garden!
Straw needs to be left outside in the weather (hopefully with rain) so the seeds will germinate inside the bales and not grow when placed into the garden. We get about 90% of the potential growth this way.
Paul has spread three bales of straw into the garden
The strawberries are coming alive as evidenced by the blossoms. Another few weeks and we will have strawberries every morning.
Come on strawberries… Plump up and get big!
The apple tree actually has four different varieties on the same trunk. The flowers come out at different times. The apples are so crisp when picked they snap! We have an apple tree in the front yard but the passers-by seem to pick them faster than we can get them!
The apple tree is doing wonderful!
Mr. Nectarine is showing his stuff. We will be loaded with nectarines this summer!
The nectarine tree is showing life!
After working most of the morning and early afternoon, Sue suggested a time to rest. Paul managed the TV remotes and Sue did the treadmill. We watched another Hallmark Channel mystery entitled: “Mystery Woman: Wild West Mystery”. Summery: When a traveling Wild West Show comes into town, Samantha gets involved in solving the murder of one of the cowboys. Stars Kellie Martin and Clarence Williams III.
The movie was first shown in 2006 making ti ten years old
We then got cleaned up and headed to Garden Grove to go dancing with the gang. The Brander’s and Woolston’s were there plus Wil and Iris and Pat. Paul did the salmon which Garden Grove Elks should be famous for… so tender and juicy! We had a good time leaving for home about 10:00 PM.
We watched another movie and crashed at midnight. Tomorrow is a big day as our fourth oldest grandchild, Connor, turns twenty-one! He follows Jonathan, Zachary, and Cassie into adulthood! After Connor, we have five more to go!
