Monday 6 July 2020

July the Sixth, 2020

This is the summer of my childhood. A summer where the heat was thick and constant, and you sweat your way through the night, tossing the covers off, and your shoulders were burnt, and the air smelled of diesel, green apples, and manure. 

Others moan and complain about the heat and can't wait to sit in air conditioned comfort. I honestly don't mind it. I like when summer feels like summer. I like a distinction among the seasons. The pool has never been this warm before. The water temperature was 88 degrees today. It's funny how my husband, who is only two years older than I am thinks in fahrenheit and I think in celsius.  Canada started to change to the metric system in 1970. I was only four years old, but I do remember learning metric measurement in about grade two or three. However, the construction industry still uses the old system, and most recipes are still in imperial measurements as well. And to bring it back around, our pool read outs are set for imperial, as is our thermostat in the house. Can you guess who set them that way? It doesn't make sense to me.

Although it is very, very hot, we are lacking now in moisture, so I have been putting the sprinkler on my vegetable garden fairly regularly. I don't bother with anything else. The perennial boarders and the shrubs have to tough it out. Here's a look at what's blooming in early July in my neck of the woods:

My pretty hydrangeas, which are quite small in stature, and hostas. I actually don't like hosta blooms and often chop them off.

Hmmmm,, I want to say fleabane?? I'm not sure.


Delphiniums - be still my heart.  The good thing about lack of rain is that these beauties don't get beaten down by the rain. 


I believe this is Incrediball hydrangea. It is a very big plant and is just starting to whiten up.


I always have hanging pots of flowers on my porch, but this year I wanted to try something a bit more classic, and went with ferns. I quite like them. There are enough colours in the beds all around the porch, so some minimalism is fine.


This is part of perennial bed in front of that same porch. The spirea are just becoming pink and frothy. 


I have a number of clumps of Stella de Oro daylilies around the property. They are shorter than other daylilies and tend to bloom longer. My regular daylilies are not yet blooming, but have buds.

I used to have many hollyhocks in a whole range of colours. I've cut back on them because they can start to look quite mangey later in the summer and they have a habit of self-seeding in awkward places. This is a gorgeous dark pink, but unfortunately, most of my hollyhocks have become this insipid pale yellow:
I'm not all that fond of this non-colour. 


This is Gerald, our Easter Island guy who greets us at the entrance to the pool. His crazy hair needs a bit of a trim. This variegated willow was a bit of an error on my part. It dominates this shrub border and has increased in size so much that digging it out would be a monumental task.


This lovely pink yarrow doesn't mind the dry conditions. I think that picture is sideways but I can't be bothered to flip it around. Just turn your head.


I waited too long to buy annuals for pots and urns. It would seem that all the folk who were stuck at home decided they wanted to become gardeners, and green house suppliers also put forth a smaller amount of stock, so by the time I went to look for geraniums and petunias and such, there was next to nothing left.  I ended up going to a local green house and purchasing some really awesome coleus and whatever that purple bushy stuff is. I also have dark purple sweet potato vine too.


The vegetable garden. I've had to replant many things. The frames have chicken wire across the top face to keep birds and bunnies away from seedlings until they are big enough to survive. 

And now, I shall leave you with something that stopped me in my tracks today. I went grocery shopping and had planned on purchasing chicken to make a grilled vegetable and chicken supper later this week. I think we've established that the price of food has increased through this pandemic, but I just couldn't believe this. Was it a special chicken? Was it not the golden goose, but the golden chicken??


If you can't quite see it, that's four chicken breasts for $29.13!!!!  Basically thirty dollars for four chicken breasts. That is insane. Needless to say I left them in their nice display case at the store and reconsidered my menu plans for the week.

Have a great day everyone. Enjoy the summer. 

44 comments:

  1. I can't believe the price of that chicken! I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and I'm going to check what the price is here in Alberta. I'm thinking that chicken must be organic, free-range, grain-fed.

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    1. Nope, just plain old chicken. Not even one of those "free from" kinds (which is stupid because all beef and chicken in Canada is "free from" anyway). Crazy, huh?

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    2. Well! I checked the price of Free Run chicken here and it is $17.51 per kg. Your package of 1.854 kg would cost $32.46 in Alberta, so this must be a Canada-wide phenomenon! Holy moly!

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  2. We don't seem to be having those crazy prices and I hope we don't get them! Wow! That's surely not forsythia. It looks like Anthony Waterer spirea. You have many lovely things in your garden. I always made mistakes about how big things would get! Oh, my. But now I only garden on the deck and my flower beds are sort of on their own....I love peonies for their gorgeous flowers but also because they are so good at suppressing the weeds that would grow under them. I love those variegated coleus.

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    1. Oh!! You are absolutely right! It is spirea and I think you are correct with Anthony Waterer. What was I thinking?? I shall change it in my blog right now.

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  3. no way are chicken breasts that expensive here in Missouri. It has gone up somewhat but it is still less than $2.00/ pound. I remember visiting my Mother in Nova Scotia and having to switch my brain from miles to kilometers and F to C... still struggle!

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    1. You wouldn't want to mess up your km vs. miles! The chicken price shocked me.

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  4. I enjoyed that walk around your garden Jenn and I love your fern hanging baskets on the porch. That is a ridiculous price for chicken!

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  5. Thank you for the tour of the garden Jenn, great to see the pictures. I like the chairs in the porch.

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    1. Thanks, Rachel. Yes, we have seating on both porches - one faces east, the other faces west, so you can have sun or shade depending on what you want.

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  6. Yes! You can say...Fleabane..!
    The Erigeron is a large genus of plants in
    the daisy family...

    https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/fleabane/daisy-fleabane-growing.htm

    Well..think l've said it before..l'm no gardener..but
    l do love seeing a nice well kept and tidy garden, and
    especially flowers growing where they belong, and 'NOT'
    in a silly vase on a windowsill dying away the hours..! :(.
    "Every flower is a soul, blossoming in nature, please
    don't take their life by plucking them"
    (Lessons Taught By Life)..

    And..food prices have gone up over here to..though as
    a professional shopper, l can keep one step ahead of
    them..like yourself, if it's something l buy, say,
    every week, and it goes up, l don't buy it, look for
    something else, l do eat most things, it does'nt really
    bother me..! :).

    Still..I've had a busy morning..time for a bit lunch..
    Cold meats, salami etc..olives, artichokes, goats
    cheese..and a glass of vino, maybe two! :). Cheers! :o).
    🍁 🍂 🍃 🍁 🍂 🍃 🍁 🍂 🍃 🍁 🍂 🍃 🍁 🍂 🍃

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  7. Your garden doesn't look like it is hurting from the lack of rain & intense heat. I am enjoying the mornings on the patio as the scent of newly cut hay wafts across the field; that is the scent of my childhood summers but thankfully now I do not have to participate in the back breaking task of bringing in the hay bales for the horses. I cannot believe the price of many things at the grocery store & they say it is going to get worse :( Corn on the cob (a summer staple) was priced at 4 cobs for $10. All because of the cold spring. ... Mary-Lou =^[..]^=

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    1. Oh my word! That's a ridiculous price for corn. Maybe later in the summer you can find local corn for a better price. The smell of cut hay is a great smell!

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  8. Beautifully Photographed - Stay Strong

    Cheers

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  9. The garden is looking beautiful. We have that frothy pink spirea in our garden too. Our hollyhocks have disappeared but I love your pale one.

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    1. If you lived close by, I'd give you some seeds. :)

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  10. Whoa! That's a lot of money for chicken! It must be the golden goose of chicken. We just got in on a bulk sale for chicken and got 120 pounds for about $120. We're also raising our own meat birds this fall, but only 15 of them.

    The gardens all look good. Mine finally decided to start growing. We're working on the front perennial garden this year. Slowly. Oh! And I love ferns on the front porch! Such a classic look.

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    1. We raised meat birds once. They were excellent, but the problem was finding someone who would process them.

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  11. Isn't there a saying that is something like, "The earth smiles in flowers?" Your yard is grinning ear to ear! Simply beautiful.

    Yes, I've noticed that food prices have been going up each week, but the price of that chicken meat is out of sight. Who can pay that much?

    I know I grump about our cool springs and early summers but now that we're into real summertime (or the few weeks we get of it each year!), hubby and I are both suffering from the heat and humidity. We're such wimps.

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    1. I think I'm odd in that it just doesn't bother me that much (and I have no Mediterranean background or anything like that).

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  12. What's with the chicken? Even U.S. money that's a lot! We've noticed all the food prices increasing too. I think some of the meat might have to do with the packing plants and covid stuff. And if you get food delivered, adding on the delivery fee and such really ramps it up. Gee I haven't been to the grocery since March 14 -- and that was in Ontario. I miss it. Oh, wait -- the 16th at home. And that's it.

    I adore your front door and porch. The ferns look great and so does your garden. That shot of the hydrangeas and hostas -- that's a stunner. You must be working your tail off in the garden and it shows. I'm watering my measly little pots a lot too. I shudder to think what will happen to my stuff at home with no one tending it and the heat. (But like you, I like summer!)

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    1. You have such a lovely setting at the lake, Jeanie! That's the best way to spend the summer.

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  13. My snowball bush is starting to put on a great show too. I had three, pulled two out and the remaining one has given a sigh of relief.
    I've taken to shopping the sales because the prices of meat has gone NUTS. If it isn't on sale, it's not on the menu.

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    1. Well, that's the thing - there really aren't any great sales. Two packages of pre-made frozen hamburgers (for example President's choice) were, I think, 2 for $26 dollars. I don't consider that a big savings either. I couldn't imagine having a large family and possibly having lost a job, too.

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  14. Scary chicken prices Jenn. I'll have top be happy to have canned chicken. Your flowers are beautiful, so that heat is working on them. Blessings sweet girl, xoxo, Susie

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  15. Your plants are just gorgeous! Those chicken prices are scary and I don't blame you for not buying any. I wouldn't either. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.

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    1. Thanks, Edna. I ended up going to a different grocery store where they had some packages of chicken thighs at 40% off (read into that, pretty close to not being able to sell them...) and I bought those and put them directly in the freezer when I got home.

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  16. The garden looks amazing! But yeah, those chicken prices are insane. No way. Yikes! Finally, to make you feel better, here in AZ, our pool has been 92 the last two days. It's barely tolerable, but this weekend our temps are moving from 110 to 115, so we might avoid the pool. It's almost too hot right now.

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    1. Yesterday, it actually got up to 90!! Unheard of (at least for us).

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  17. What beautiful photos--and your porch! Be still my heart. Your flowers are not too far behind us, maybe two weeks. I had delphiniums once, and your brilliant blue ones make me want then again. The chicken? Someone was smokin' something when they priced those.

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    1. I think that chicken will end up just sitting in the cooler and then will have to be marked down because no one around here will buy it at that price. Yes, delphiniums are gorgeous - treat yourself to some!

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  18. Your C/F story with your husband reminds me of Laura and time. If I told her to be home at quarter to nine, here wheels would whirl, and then she would say, "Oh, you mean 8:45. Loads of beautiful flower pictures, and you old brick house must be more amenable to heat. Heat is heat, nevertheless.

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    1. Ha ha, digital vs. analogue! Kids are now so used to everything having a digital time on it, they have a much harder time with terms like half past, or quarter to...

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  19. Your garden is lovely. Once I planted sweet potato vine and at the end of the summer when I cleaned out the pot, there were purple sweet potatoes under the soil! I did cook them. Insane chicken price.

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    1. I've had sweet potato vine for years in my planters and didn't know you could eat the actual sweet potato. I don't know why, I guess I always thought it was a different kind - for decorative purposes and not eating.

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  20. I've not seen your porch from the front before, it's very cute. And the rest of the garden is looking so lush and extremely pretty. Even, Gerald haha! I can't believe you had a blanket of snow not that long ago ... I also grew up during a transitional phase from imperial but not in temperatures as it's been celcius for a very long time here. I can think in inches and feet as easily as cm and metres (courtesy of the bilingual rulers at school and the easy 3:1 ratio), but have to do the rough calculation in my head to get kms out of miles. I can visualise stones and kgs (again, courtesy of bilingual bathroom scales even up until quite recently) but have no idea about ounces for cooking, nor the American way of speaking about body weight as total pounds. I can only make sense of a baby's weight as pounds. It's like being raised with a kooky dialect ... $30 for chicken boobs is just crazy talk.

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    1. Your comment got me thinking. I'm like you in terms of feet and inches, too. Our rulers have cm on one side and inches on the other, still. But when I see someone's weight in stones, I have NO idea what that is. And I know here are 8 oz in a cup, so that helps with some things. I remember when gas was sold by the gallon, but don't think in those terms.

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  21. Oh yes the brain acrobatics of imperial and metric, I was a teenager when it changed here, I easily got my head around our currency, I just don't get people's height and weight but I can work with small measurements in cm and grams..... confusing when all Quilting instructions and tools are inches 🤯🤯
    We are Celsius in temperatures here which is fine but unless it's 100F (damn hot !) I can't remember what the rest of it means.
    Oh well, keeps the brain from being lazy.😁

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