Whats on the wash line today?

I went to my mother's a few days ago and she asked me if I needed a rug for my front door. I actually do need a rug for my front door. She showed me a rug laying on a chair and I wasn't really interested in it but underneath it was a very familiar rug that really caught my eye. One from my past, way back when, when I was a kid this rug was always in front of our door. "oh my, are you giving this away?" I asked. No, she said "I would like to throw it in the garbage". I'm shocked, she was going to throw away one of my memories. How could she even think of throwing it away? I snatched it up as if I had just rescued a lost puppy, I had saved a memory from the trash. I put it in my car safe and sound vowing that this rug would sit in front of my door for the rest of my life. Let me tell you about the rug;

The rug on the left is my rescued memory rug

My mother was recycling way before recycling was cool, she was crafting way before it was cool. Do you remember pantyhose?

Pantyhose was something that a lady in my mother's generation wore everyday and they never got thrown in the garbage regardless of how many snags and runs they had. First they were patched with clear nail polish....do you remember this? Then eventually they were saved to make rugs. She cut them into long thin strips and then sewed all the strips together, making 3 strips and then she made one long long braid, then sewed the braid together into a round rug (by hand). After awhile the rug didn't want to lie flat so she completely ripped it apart, unbraided it and crocheted the long strips into a rug. It is just a single crochet with an increase at the each end. This rug has got to be at least 30 years old, well used and only has a few small holes in it. It is my new treasure. This makes me wonder if I will end up (or maybe have already) throwing something out that my child will think of as a great treasure. Funny how different things spark fond memories in some but not in others. I look around my home and wonder what could be a wonderful memory for my child, and would it mean anything to me? Is it my old toaster, is it my fruit bowl, or my tea cup, is it a certain pillow case or a chipped saucer? Who knows. I'm not usually very hasty to throw stuff away but I really think this rag could go in the trash as soon as it is dried, what do you think? It used to be a dishcloth and then it became a rag, I had not realized in what shape it was in until I took a step back to admire my laundry hanging on the line (like I always do) I never get tired of looking at the laundry on the line, it is always a beautiful sight (except for that one sad rag) I promise once it's dry I will throw it away.

Can you believe I went to the trouble of washing and hanging this rag to dry?

Almost forgot a garden shot

They are here!

I did it, I snooped under a potato plant and found beautiful, baby potatoes. So new, fresh and perfect. So perfect that you need only hose off with the garden hose and plop them in the pot. I slightly sauteed some Swiss chard and garlic in olive oil, sliced the boiled potatoes on top, topped with some onion greens, a dollop of butter and little thick cream. Served with the first baby beets and a spoonful of farm fresh egg salad. My first perfect garden meal this summer, I would like to eat this everyday. This is my favorite way of eating potatoes, in Canada that is, the Mexican potato is a ubberly delicious as well. 

You know you're a redneck when.......

A friend stopped by my house the other day and asked if I could help her get her lawn mower to the repair shop with ol’Blue (my truck) , I looked at her a little sheepishly with my head down, you see ol’ Blue was a bit indisposed at the moment.  A few weeks ago I had hauled home some manure home for my gardens because I have learned that you can just never have enough manure. I didn’t clean the box of the truck out very well after I was done, leaving some manure in the grooves in the floor and in the corners, and then it rained. Apparently when they built ol’Blue way back in 1986 they didn’t put drainage holes in the floors and so the box filled with water, and water and manure mixed together makes manure tea, otherwise known as gardeners gold....or at least that is what I call it. As soon as I drive out of my driveway and get to level ground all the tea will pour out of the crack at the bottom of the tailgate spilling it all over the street....my manure tea wasted on the pavement....can’t have that. So I have not driven it saving the tea to water my plants as needed, but since it rained I haven’t had to water a lot and so there sits ol’ Blue in the driveway with a box of manure tea, too precious to be wasted. I had planned on making some manure tea in a big garbage can but just had not gotten around to it yet, the rain did it for me.

The beautiful manure tea

Whats new in the garden you ask?

2 1 jar of pesto in the freezer, ate one already

The cucumbers are climbing the willow teepees, and are blooming

The first second bowl of Saskatoons

The pumpkin is moving upwards, have I mentioned how much I love creeping, crawling and vining plants.....I love love love them

The peas, onions and Nasturtiums are getting very very friendly, I worry about my onions, they don't seem to be getting very big onions

Here is a surprise, I had one little runty Nasturtium left and decide to fill a space between 2 cucumbers, this is now the  biggest Nasturtium in the whole garden, the cucumbers, which you can't see now are going to have to start climbing up or get smothered.

Patiently waiting for the first red tomato

The greenhouse jungle of peppers and tomatoes

The watermelon and Marigold have married and have become one

The grapes are so tiny I had to zooooooom in real close, I think I will set the table with the finest china when I sit down to eat these 9 grapes, it will certainly be an event

Here is a shot of the ugly garden bed, the Raspberries. Last year I planted Raspberries but forgot to water them (I know, so dumb) so in the spring I got some from a friend and tried again and they died as well, so a week ago I got some more and they are not looking so good. I wanted to create a privacy hedge with them against my chainlink fence. At this rate it will take years. 

Pathetic Raspberries

Potatoes are in bloom, I have resisted all week to check underneath for tiny little fresh potatoes, perhaps this week I'll have a peek

Wild mint picked at the golf course, I dry it and make tea with it. 

The most beautiful lilies I have ever had. 

The green fence is creeping, soon the squash will help it out