What a crazy week and weekend. I managed to finish planting and seeding my garden, balancing between the sunshine and the rain. Thursday I seeded my lettuce and carrots while it rained and I'm glad I did, because that was the last comparatively dry day. It looked like rain in the morning but I was determined to finish my garden. I usually pick up a yard of topsoil to fill up flowerbeds and also for my seeding, because when the soil gets clumpy it is difficult to seed. I prepare the beds and then I spread a thin layer of topsoil. That way seeding is fast and the seeds get tamped down nicely. I don't have to worry about air pockets. I'm a firm believer in raised beds and this year it paid off again. We had a terrible downpour and thunderstorm Saturday. The walkways in my garden were filled with water but the beds don't get drowned out.
My tomatoes and peppers survived the downpour (we even had a bit of hail) and the rest we'll have to wait. Hopefully the seeds didn't get washed away.
The tomatoes I raised in the basement are doing fine and are holding their own among the plants I bought. Next year I will seed more varieties and maybe I won't have to buy any plants. I'll save the seeds from the ones I have. It's not that difficult to do that. I found the information on the internet and it worked for my Sugar Snack. Last year I found only one plant by accident. Guess what: This year I saw them again at Home Depot. The plants didn't look much different from mine. Even though they were a bit leggy. Leggy tomato plants are no problem. I just strip the bottom leaves and bury most of the stem under the soil. It will grow roots and make the plant stronger.
That was quite some storm we had. Many streets in Winnipeg were under water and many basements were flooded. Living in the Rural areas is not so bad. Our ditches were full and we had quite a lake in the back yard, but as long as we don't get a power outage we're okay. We need the power for our sump pump. If the power goes then we may be in trouble.
The grass is growing like crazy, especially since I put on the fertilizer a couple of weeks ago. I cut it last week Wednesday because it was too windy to work in the garden and I'm happy I did. When the grass is too long I have to bag it and take it to the dump, but after spreading fertilizer ($150.00 worth) it is a good idea to leave the clippings which contain fertilizer. As soon as it dries up I'll be sitting on my lawn tractor. It's one of those things: If you want it nice you have to work for it. If I want a nice yard I have to put fertilizer on the grass, which means cutting it more often, which means more work, which means less time to write.
I'm working on Book Four of 'The Xandra' but it is slow going. I have to re-read what I wrote last year to get back into the story, but somehow I can't seem to get into it yet and the writing is slow. I'm not at home yet on the fifth planet of that star system and the characters aren't living yet in my head but slowly I'm getting the feel for the story and as soon as it comes alive I will be spending more time with it. Maybe it's just the chapter I'm working on right now, because I have plenty of ideas and something of an outline already written. It's just a matter of time. Too many other things going on right now which are more important.
Maybe my brain needs a bit of a break. I wrote so much last year, and sometimes it is hard to leave the world that occupied you for so long and move to the next one.
One more note: My weather vane became a victim of the high winds. It bent and is just hanging there. Well...back to the drawing board. I hope the wire doesn't break when I straighten it out. I'll have to make it stronger.
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