A Diversionary Post

 

Picture of me, above partially minus my head (*1), astride, as a diversion. And I may well be posting as Neko and I are at the trot- a gait to which one posts (*2). And I'm posting a post to my blog so let's discuss how confusing the English language is. Or not!

Okay, so I've established my attempts to divert my own mind away from what's seriously on it: the (not-so) supreme court. All I am going to say is I am so out of my mind in wonder and anger that the conservative majority has proven to be so radically out of step with the average American and has imposed their Draconian religious views on all of us. Did that sentence even make sense???!?! You get my point... I'm truly pissed off.

Whether it's relaxing concealed carry laws (a day after Congress passed the first (modest) efforts at gun control in a decade) or it's reversal of Roe vs Wade (a day after the fourth January 6th hearing showing The Orange Menace and CO attempts to subvert the Justice Department), the supreme court has basically affirmed Clarence Thomas' view that the people's voices just don't count.

I'm with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in saying that several justices should be impeached for lying under oath to the Senate. No one is above the law. Or so we can hope!

So there is now steam spewing from my ears and I'm probably red in the face. But I had a lovely ride and Neko and I are making fine progress together. My trainer (hello Maiya!) who took the above picture, is challenging me and helping me become a better rider. So some things in life are pleasant despite my ongoing consternation about the State of the Nation. And seeing as how our car died (*3), I may need to ride my pony into town to do the shopping.

(*1) But in riding, who needs a head? A useful equestrian adage about the proper position of a rider on a horse, "Shoulders of a queen, hands of a lady, hips of a whore". Hahhahahaha! No mention of your head!

(*2) Posting to you non-equestrians out there is the act of rising and resitting when the horse trots. You rise when the outside leg of your mount is forward and you sit when the inside leg is forward. It prevents bouncing and is easier on the horse's back. And to further complicate matters, you CAN sit the trot. Utilizing your core muscles, you can learn to absorb the bounce. Advanced dressage requires that you sit the trot but I'm not there yet!!

(*3) Yes, Trusty died. More on that in an upcoming post!

More Garden Charm!

 

Well... that picture looks sorta small and doesn't convey the extended view through the garden. It took me by surprise: I was hard at work on the back side of the Blue Garden and I looked up and realized that there is an incredibly long perspective all the way through the Blue Garden, past one of Bob's fabulous (new) sculpture, past the golden Chamaecyparis obtusa "Crippsii", past the Rosa rugosa all the way to the horse barn. Why had I never partaken of this view?

(Delphinium in a cage! It keeps them from toppling in the wind (and goodness knows we've had monster winds of late!) and it keeps Robin the Good and myself from running into them when we're at work in the garden. Gotta love that blue color!)

Probably I was too hard at work, planting, edging, weeding and generally trying to get this year's garden into shape. And I'm almost done. (*1) I have a couple of orphans still in need of the perfect home- a stray Anagallis monelli, two small cups of Morning Glories, a few other stragglers. But most of the heavy lifting is done and the garden looks pretty damned good!

An overhead picture of a cluster of containers on the corner of the terrace. Dizzying but in a good way. Oh and Happy Summer Solstice!

(*1) Ah yes! the eternal question... is the garden EVER "done"? There is- inevitably- a section that could have benefited from editing, or rethinking. My gardens always have at least one problem zone. I know the area I'm thinking of right now; not sure what to do about it. Alas!

So Busy I Forgot to Blog!

 

I suppose this is a mea culpa. Spring is a notoriously busy time for gardeners (and artists! (*1) what with buying plants, planting seeds and plants and digging out dead and dying remains of last year's gardens. When I checked my last posting, I realized it was from two weeks ago. I don't think I've ever gone this long between spurts of words.

So I am illustrating my blog with attractive pictures of what's happening here in our garden-in-progress. I mowed the lawn yesterday (beautiful weather!) and the beds- some of which I have actually weeded and edged!- are set off to perfection. Add in the misty, overcast fog of this morning and you have what looks like an English garden. Just in time for the Queen's millionth birthday or something jubilee-ish!

So while running around multi-tasking and generally moving at warp speed and trying to do everything at once, I have stopped occasionally to muse on those weird individuals who do absolutely no gardening at all. I remarked to a fellow plant-enthusiast with whom I was out purchasing horticultural delights, "Look! There's one of those exotic houses perched on a wide expanse of green lawn with nothing interrupting it! How... unusual!" Indeed, I was tempted to snap a picture to immortalize the sheer brazen nakedness of their landscape. How do they resist the urge to plant? To fill that void up with flowers and shrubs and trees... I see it as an unrealized opportunity; I guess they see it as an E-Z care, no-brainer on the order of polyester no-iron sheets or microwaveable plastic-wrapped meals. In my mind, I am laying out garden beds and designing magnificent borders. But the inhabitants of these unadorned houses are the first to exclaim, "So much work!" when they see our gardens...

Yesterday, every machine in a three mile radius was bellowing their song: weed whackers, mowers, chain saws, back hoes... nice weather and work to be done! The immediate next-door neighbors joined in with several work men accompanied by several large pieces of equipment shoveling and pushing and grading. I thought, "Hey! Maybe they've spied how lovely our yard looks and have decided to plant more attractive shrubs and ornamentals!" But what actually transpired, after the dust had settled and the workmen had departed, was that they'd had foundation plantings removed. The front of their house (*2) was stripped bare and you could now see the railings of their porch. Ironically, Bob and I had recently admired (from a distance) how pretty their full blooming red and white azaleas were... no more. Gone! I imagine they didn't want to prune or dead head.

 

In an abstract way, sort of like trying on some one else's glasses, I try and understand the urge to remove plants; to Marie Condo your garden... make it tidier, emptier and easier to maintain. But I say you can have it. I want abundance, fertility, over-blown, stuffed garden beds bristling and brimming with flowers and foliage and bugs and butterflies. Nature abhors a vacuum... and so do I!

(*1) In my own defense I am in 4 shows at present. that was a lot of finishing/getting ready/delivering to do, along with installing garden delights. I need  an assistant.

(*2) And (sorry!) their house is bland and not much to look at. Now it's even more anonymous. Sad.