Thistle Forest: A Story of Clearcutting and Murphy's Law

As careful readers have concluded, Lazy Gnome prefers to lounge rather than to work in the garden. The whole idea of having the landscaping re-done was in large part intended to escape repeating long summer afternoons of pulling weeds in the back forty, an activity that only intensifies LG's dislike for yardwork.

During the period of waiting, it has become evident that LG cannot ignore scenes such as the Dark Thistle Forest on the excuse that the landscapers will take it away when they come. No, some of these plants are as high as LG's chin and are budding out, and it is not possible to claim ignorance of their existence.

With a sigh, LG commenced the planning of removing this patch and another where the carport once stood. However, ever the procrastinator, LG waited until the day after good rainfalls--of which there have been many this last month--which made it much easier to simply pull the evil green prickly things up, root and all. And the work did go relatively easily. Of course, LG did not try to do both sections at once; the work was spread over a week and, ever so nicely, Mother Nature cooperated. The forest in the photo was pulled down July 1--a little Canada Day project.

Now, while there are several honourable reasons for undertaking a project of this size and general icky-ness, LG had another motivation. LG's heritage, going way back, is Irish, and she bows to some of the supersititions common to that gene pool, and this case was no different. She even said to someone, "you know, no doubt as soon as I get all this thistle taken out and the place looking half-decent, the landscapers will probably show up!" LG applies this Murphy's Law type of logic a lot in her life. And, well, guess what: It WORKED!!

Yes, the very next day, the landscaper gave a date in the near future as the estimated date of starting the work--weather dependent, of course. (Note the hesitancy to mention this, and the refusal to provide the date: more superstition, of course, but you use what you got!!)

So, more news soon~~

Th wish is father to the thought. ~~ Derived from Shakespeare's Henry IV.

J's Rose

Last summer, a friend donated several shrubs and perennials to Lazy Gnome's garden. She and her husband were having their own home demolished in order to build a green-conscious dream home, and so loves her garden she couldn't bear the thought that these plants would be trod upon and smashed in the process. LG was quite touched by this donation, and a bit overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for these newcomers.

To LG's surprise and delight, all of the donated plants have survived--even the potentilla. (LG is probably the only human alive who can, without intention to do so, kill potentilla: they grow in Wal-Mart parking lots for crying out loud, but LG has killed every single one she has planted, until the one that arrived in July 2009.)

This photo shows that even the dry-root rose bush made it through the winter, and even bloomed! This was taken June 26 and a few days later the petals were gone. It's hard to see any more buds forming, but the foliage shows it it still going strong. LG is grateful to J for the donation, and promises to look after it through the landscaping project -- the rose garden is out of scope for the landscape work.


~~

Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result. ~~ Oscar Wilde

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. ~~Mark Twain


Success is relative:
It is what we can make of the mess we have made of things. ~~ T. S. Eliot

Persian Yellow Rose...sign of hope!

This shrub makes LG very happy. It is the same as one planted in the last house, which was a mound of yellow for a few weeks, but sadly, it did not return the following year. LG was very happy to have found it again last fall in time for planting. LG had thought it was a hardy shrub, but a worker at a garden centre told her the Persian Yellow is a climbing rose.

LG would be very, very happy if this week rose could be safely lifted, placed in a pot, saved and then replanted once the landscaping work is done. She has visions of it climbing up and over an archway at the entrance to the backyard, its yellow blooms forming a welcoming frame to the garden beyond...who is going to dig it up, care for it, re-plant it, erect the archway, train the branches, etc., etc., is any body's guess...the very thought of all that effort gives LG hives.

But, then, perhaps she will muster the inner resources for this lovely Persian Yellow...

~~
My life has crept so long on a broken wing
Through cells of madness, haunts of horror and fear,
That I come to be grateful at lasts for a little thing.
~~Lord Alfred Tennyson, Maud

Pointer

This guy and his buddies are constant reminders that we are all wild, deep down! He paused long enough for the photo, but LG sees here in the photo, thanks to Mr Squirrel's pose, that there really is quite a chunk missing from the corner of the foundation...sigh. Is this important, readers?

Push Mowers are Heaven!

Lazy Gnome loves her lawn mower. Now, she doesn’t often get all excited about a tool, let alone a gardening tool because being a tool, by definition, it represents work. And, as we know, Lazy Gnome is all about not doing work. However, if a tool can make a necessary chore more pleasant, that is a good thing[*].

This particular lawn mower is a Gardena 380C, a lovely wee push mower. It is LG’s first push mower but not her first tool for cutting the lawn.

This is push mower has so many advantages over the electric or gas-powered alternatives. First, it is quiet so you can safely cut the lawn without worrying about ruining your neighbour’s attempts at entertaining. Second, it is very light making it easy to manoeuvre and in LG’s case, take up and down the stairs as it currently lives in the basement. Thirdly, there are hardly any moving parts and what there are, you can see all at once—no mysteries! Fourth: no bagging. Okay, this is a choice but given the operation of this mower, bagging is not a necessity for safety because the blades can’t get moving fast enough to fling projectiles into anyone’s eyes. And no doubt there are other ways to sign its praises.

Others may find they prefer the power and likely increased speed of the actual mowing action of an electric or gas powered mower. However, the Gardena 380C involves no usage of electricity (so no charging or power cords to deal with) or messing around with gas. (LG’s last mower was a 2-stroke engine that involved mixing oil into the gas. Yikes and yucky!!)

While the push mower is very light to use, a person can still get a bit of a work out taking it around the yard. All the energy in its operation is from the energy burned by the user. And burning calories really is the only redeeming reason to sweat. Sweat = less guilt while drinking Mojitos. This is important: LG’s weekly usage of the 2-stroke monster drove her to drink. She would take an entire evening to do the lawn—to start, it was 45 minutes of edging by dragging two 30-feet electrical cords around tree trunks, under shrubs and around the corner property to operate a $2.00 garage sale weed whacker before she could even pull the mower out. And the bagging—the endless hoisting of the mower bag over her shoulder to carry it over to the contraption set up to ease the operation of dumping the clippings into the black garbage bag, so pleasant a task in itself. Then, every night after all this, she had a beer. Once week all summer over 10 years can build a bad habit: Pavlov would have been proud. It got to the point where even the smell of freshly cut lawn would trigger the beer reflex.

So, here at the “new” house, LG has been fighting that impulse so far with some success. Given that one tactic is to divide the lawn care over several days or evenings, this is a good fight because that could mean a beer every day at this pace!! So, LG owes even her current sobriety to the Gardena 380C...

*Unfortunately, there are some who disagree with LG’s understanding of pleasant activity in relation to cutting the lawn. For instance, the June 2010 issue of Family History Monthly magazine has an essay called “Products that Changed the World: Turf Trimmers” about the evolution of contraptions meant to address a fad that arose from the 1700’s, in which “[a] well-cultivated lawn became a status symbol.” They conclude with this: “With their manpowered equipment, our ancestors found lawn mowing a heavy, tiresome chore. Today, the task has been greatly improved with lightweight, electric-powered hover or petrol-driven machines. Thank goodness for progress and the development of these grass-guillotining gadgets!” Well, they are entitled to their opinion. However, it might be pointed out that the alliteration in the final phrase packs extra punch as the opening paragraph blames the initial fashion for formal lawns on the French...a-hem.

~~~
A bad workman blames his tools~~ Proverb
A bad excuse is better than none~~Another Proverb

Thoughts of Greece....yum!

Okay, not exactly gardening! However, Lazy Gnome has had a fantastic day by her own standards: shopping at the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market buying veggies and meats[*] from local producers (her latest thing); more shopping at another, new grocery store in hopes it would be a breath of fresh air and would, just maybe, focus on local producers--no such luck but at least they sell bus passes; more shopping yet at one of the humongous chains (okay; managed to buy the rest of what was needed); clothes shopping at a local consignment store and managed to buy something like 6 or more pieces for less than $100 including a suit for work(!?); and then visits with neighbours new and those who have moved on; and then naps! Two naps!!

Lastly, and what brings us to the name of this post, LG tried a recipe from a magazine purchased at a liquor store: Santorini Salad. Hmm...yummy! The salad included the requisite feta cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, and so on, with a simple olive oil and lemon juice dressing. Although Lg is not a big fan of raw red onion, she included it, and to her amazement, the acidy yuckiness of the red onion seemed neutralized when she had at least one caper in her mouth. She tried this magic combination again, and again, and in fact had to eat half the salad--to prove her theory and therefore make it publishable in this fine medium--but it worked, every time! Wow!

The angle of the article was about the lowly caper, and LG must recommend it to you. The magazine is called "Tidings" and was provided as a promotion when LG made a purchase some weeks ago at Vinomania on Jasper[**]. (The magazine is free there because the store's owner, Mr Gurvinder Bhatia is a contributing editor to the magazine.)

Of course, the magazine recommended a particular Greek wine to go with the salad...perhaps still scarred by that nation's various alcohols during her soujourn to Greece 20+ years ago, LG is unable to string the words "Greek wine" and "good" together in a positive sentence...Instead, LG opened a Spanish red (of course) and found it to be quite pleasant...but, then, she also used Spanish capers where the recipe called for Greek...

Needless to say, LG is hardly a foodie, but she highly recommends this salad--plus, it is easy!! No doubt real foodies have known this secreat all along...but, hey--it is worth sharing.

* "Meats" including chicken sausage, pork sausage, ground beef and pork cutlets. Yes, for those aware that LG had been off things with legs, feathers or fins, that phase is, well, phasing out...

** http://www.vinomaniawines.com/

~~~
"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise." ~~Alice Walker

Dear Reader: do you exist? No matter: Lazy Gnome has lived up to the name recently and if any readers have given up, they cannot be blamed. So, here goes...

The rain gods have blessed our corner of the world lately--often. So much, in fact, there are reports from the agricultural industry that should the rain gods continue their generosity beyond that of the sun gods, getting the crops seeded on time for harvest may not be possible.

And so, these farmers wait. Not much they can do until somthing happenes to signify they can stop wiating and start acting. Lazy Gnome has this in common with those farmers: waiting. Unfortunately, Lazy Gnome finds herself with LOTS to do while waiting. Lots to do that she thought she would be able to defer or avoid throughout the summer, perhaps until the Autumn. LG is unable to convince herself to pull quack grass from amongst daylilies that could be mowed up and sent to compost in a week, ignoring the half acre of quickly sprouting thistle, and simply cannot be bothered to properly edge the lawn that will be torn up soon...it will be soon, right? The snarled upper lip of alley-way dog walkers is getting under LG's skin, conscious as she is that the "view" ain't exactly a vista of beauty for her neighbours...

LG has been waiting since mid-April for part one of The Project: the removal of the crap currently masquerading as lawn and landscaping. In late May, the landscaper advised that LG's name was getting to the top of the list. Even then, LG was somewhat perplexed, having assumed that things could start any time as she is ready and rarin' to go! But, the landscaper's note clearly referenced "all this horrible weather!"

Really?

Has it been all that bad? Certainly not in April. Yes, there were those couple of unseasonable bouts of snow, but in LG's (albeit poor) memory, it has been cool more than wet, and even after the rain the ground seems to dry out quickly enough.

But, if farmers can't sow, it stands to reason the landscaper is stalled, too...right?

So, we wait, LG and the farmers...


What may be done at any time will be done at no time.~~Scottish Proverb

Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else. ~~Baltasar Gracian

The butterfly counts not months but moments, And has time enough. ~~Rabindranath Tagore

Punctuality is the thief of time. ~~Oscar Wilde