We hit the yard at 6:30 am today dressed in our grubbies. We attached the front yard which needed a lot of deadheading, some planting, and a few weeds here and there removed. It was about an hours work but the yard looks great now.
What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it.
We made a sign, put it out front but we had zero takers!
Mary adds color to the garden! She and her little cart work great together.
Up at the crack of dawn, working in the front yard
We called our friend in Villa Park and asked her to join us at Renata’s for lunch or come over to our home for a while. She immediately went into the “sick all night excuse,” so I told her we would call her in a month and try again, but until she goes outside her home, we would not be visiting. The being sick excuse is wearing thin, and she has lost a lot of friends because of her self-imposed situation. That’s just the way it is!
Tom Heaton, our handyman, can over around 10:00 am and began working on the backyard divider wall. It separates the pool from the grass/garden area. It is 100 feet long and about three feet high. He does not look 61 years of age but approaching 80, everyone looks younger than they are to me.
In order to start painting, we had to move fifteen planters, each fed via a dripline system. then the painting could begin! They are 28″ by 10″ by 12″ and loaded with soil; some are almost 50% sand…they are heavy!
The walls are now white and painted with a paint specifically designed to waterproof the stucco.
Tomorrow, I will replumb the planters using a white 1/2: supply line, which will be in the ground in front of the wall on the ground. Then I will attach a 1/4″ white feeder hose line to run up to the planter. Each planter will get a new set of emitters. No more black pipe running across the wall!
The empty planter is going to get a miniature grapefruit tree on Friday! These pots will eventually be flowers as opposed to veggies.
We got the divider wall painted today, mostly!
The wall has a break in it by the veggie garden and three boxes on the other side of the break. They contain edibles such as onions, potatoes, and garlic. These boxes are fed from their own electronic internet-connected controller, which waters the trees, the miscellaneous garden behind the gazebo, as well as the west-wall pots.
The discolored paint is gone, but now every planter needs to be replumbed!
It was a marvelous day for working in the garden. Around 2:00 pm, David and Dianne came to visit us. Mary took Dianne for a tour of the garden, complete with bags to for harvesting. Our friends love to come over and go shopping, and we enjoy not having to throw our hard-earned work away!
I overheard Mary ask Dianne, “What do you call a baby potato?” The answer: A small fry.
Fantastic day to work in the garden
After they departed, I continued cleaning up everything outside, and Mary went to prepare dinner. We had everything needed for Bruschetta, and off she chopped, diced, and sliced fresh basil, tomatoes, onions, and garlic directly from the garden
Did You Know? Bruschetta is an antipasto from Italy consisting of grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and salt. Variations may include toppings of tomato, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese. In Italy, bruschetta is often prepared using a brustolina grill.
A brustolina is a grill that fits over a gas burner on a hob. It consists of a square sheet of metal with holes punched in it and a square grid over the top. Heat is applied from below and is evenly distributed by the base, deflected upward to the grid. Items placed on top of the grid are cooked by both convection and radiant heat. These versatile cooking devices are often used in the preparation of Italian cuisine, for instance, grilling bruschetta, polenta, vegetables, or toasted pumpkin seeds.
Bruschetta originated in Italy during the 15th century. However, the dish can be traced back to Ancient Rome, when olive growers would bring their olives to a local olive press and taste a sample of their freshly pressed oil using a slice of bread.
Brishetta is being made!
When I came in, I was immediately assigned certain chores, including preparing the bread. Dianne brought us a French roll, so I divided it into thirds and put two pieces in the freezer.
A baguette is a long, thin type of bread of French origin that is commonly made from the basic lean dough (the dough, though not the shape, is defined by French law)
Toast the bread with olive oil!
Mary added her magic topping to the bread, and voila, Bruschetta was served. It was amazingly good and, except for the bread, all from our garden!!
The final product; was yummy!
The rest of dinner was leftovers, our favorite, as the food had had a day for the flavors to run together. The white item on the left is a white beet, and it was so tasty; the rest was a Mexican burrito stuffing, a fresh piece of wild sockeye salmon, and some lentils.
Not a pretty fish but definitely delicious to eat!
Dinner was fantastic.
Right after dinner, we got a call from Tom Burns and set up a date for Patty’d Place on Monday. He lost Bunny about 18 months ago, and we are happy to see him venturing out. He likes to dance so we will invite him to our anniversary party.
We started watching a series entitled “Suits.” Summary: On the run from a drug deal gone bad, brilliant college dropout Mike Ross finds himself working with Harvey Specter, one of New York City’s best lawyers. It was on from 2011 through 2019, a total of eight years.
We watched two shows and then hit the swim spa!
The swim spa was an enjoyable break allowing the muscles to recoup and get ready for tomorrow.
We hit the sack at 9:30 pm and attempted to watch the third in the series. While I watched the entire thing, Sleeping Beauty did exactly that! I woke her up at 11:00 pm, pulled off her glasses, and we went back to sleep!
Tomorrow is Girls’ Night Out, and Vicky and Jum are going to join us.
