Kale, pretty healthy stuff!

gardening

This weekend we planted tomatoes and weeded strawberries.

The planting was the easy part. Prepping the dirt and getting the plants into the ground went well. But it was 28 or 29 degrees the night before with no promise that this is the end of frosts for the season. So, we put covers on all the plants, 55 in all.

For decades we have been using waxed paper “hot caps” for the purpose, but a few years ago some one invented a gizmo called “walls of water.”

It is a series of tubes that are filled with water, that modify the temp inside the structure. When they first came out I was not impressed, being sure it was an inventors gizmo and maybe not a gardeners.

But there are all sorts of studies to show that it works an works pretty well. So that is what we did. The problem is that it takes about 5 minutes to set each one in place and fill those tubes with water. At least it takes that long for us to do it!

But the job was done and now there are two long rows of tomatoes, along with a few pepper plants, growing ready for warm weather.

A couple days later I helped the nearby daughter dig the dandelions out of her strawberry beds. The two plants grow well together, that is the Dandelions grow with abandon, and eventually crowd out the strawberries.

But we dug out a big pile of weeds, replanted some of the berries and got it watered, ready for another season of good taste.

It was good.

I had a good time photographing these old earth movers.
Between then and now they were cut up for scrap and sent to the smelter, or China.
Glad I did not have to drive one of them, but they were colorful to photograph.

travel day

Today was travel day.

We are visiting a couple of daughters this week end. Mothers day is Sunday. We will have 4 or 5 mothers for brunch!

Packing was more complex this time. She did not get much done, so I choose a lot of her clothing, she is just not able to make those decisions right now, at least not quickly.

I asked her not to wear the old sweat pants and shirt she had on and war erupted, but later peace reigned and she change into the clothes I chose for her.

Next time, I think I'll do her packing and just answer her questions later. Most likely there will be few questions.

For a very long time we traveled with Leo, and this was the first trip without him (except for the trip home after we left him with daughter 4.

Strange feelings. Leo is still in my head and in my memory. I make sure I turn on the light before going into the downstairs bathroom, “just in case.” When I leave the door open for a minute, I expect to see him make a run for it. When I lay down for a nap, where is leo who would sleep beside my knees.

Tonight we sleep in the teardrop trailer and where will Leo sleep? Oh I forgot.

It is good to see the grand kids again. Alan will be 20 in a month or so, and his sister Amy (the youngest of my grandkids) will be 13 a week or so later.

Gas at $3 a gallon (and more), travel will be less frequent this year.

Maybe!

happy birthday sister

Today is my kid sister's birthday (I only have one sister).
Happy birthday sis.

Portrait of a Lady done by daughter 4 (Lia) when she was in college a long time ago.
I came across a couple of very thick folders of her work while moving my studio, and this was one of that I found.
She has made a good living as a graphic designer for about 25 years now.
I have popped buttons over her (and her sisters).

asparagus

This is Asparagus season here on the micro farm.

Our patch is not huge, but it provides about as much as we can eat. In fact we give some away at times.

Last week (Tuesday) I made some Asparagus cream soup. It was good, but for a cook that never made gravy or has any real knowledge about thickening things like soup, it was too thin. We ate it any way!

Wednesday, I made a thicker soup, added more asparagus, the soup left over from the day before and some sauteed tofu cubes. It was pretty good.

Thursday, I extended the soup base again, adding more asparagus and this time shell pasta.

Then I skipped the asparagus for a while, (but today we start over).

Until hot weather sets in, asparagus is a cool weather crop, we will have more than enough for soup every day.

It is sort of like my squash. Last year I had a bumper crop of winter squash. My favorite (butternut) grew in profusion and I still have a pile of them in the pantry.

Trouble is that I don't know too many ways to use them. I made squash soup a time or two, but it didn't ring too many bells. Baked squash is good sometimes, but some how I don't get to it often enough.

So I make pumpkin pies. I make them two at a time and for two people that is a lot of pie. Takes a good week to eat them both, but I force myself (haha).

It is a tough life. (But we eat well).

Aunt Ruby

This morning we lost my father's only sister.

Aunt Ruby was the 2nd of 5 children, my birth father being the oldest. One brother was 11 years younger than her but he was killed in a car accident about 15 years ago.

She was 94 2/3 years old. I live in the same town as her and have had a lot of good times with her and her family.

It was not unexpected, but we are never "ready" for that news.

Ruby grew up in Oklahoma during the depression and knew how to work and survive.

Once not too long ago someone was chiding her for always working. "Sit down and relax." " It is not in my nature," she said and she did not slow down until age forced her to.

Any good life should have had a bit of cane raising and Ruby did her part. I love her.

To the Honorable Walt Minnick, US Congressman.

My wife has Alzheimer's.

I have guardianship of her, you know the stand before the judge, trade a pile of cash for a paper with his signature and a stamp or two, that kind. I naively thought that would cover all contingencies.

Our health care clinic says that the Social Security has the wrong date of birth for her and that I should check with the local SS office and straighten it out.

I entered a whole new world. I am not remotely anti government, but wow.

They don't recognize my guardianship. They don't recognize a POA. All they recognize is her signature. Right now she could sign her name, but that is a short term deal. The lady said I could take a paper home and have her sign it, even with an X, and bring it back in. I said I could do that right there.

She hesitated and said that would not work.

They gave me a form for getting a new SS number. That is the last thing I want or need. And, interestingly on that form there is no place for her to sign. I as her guardian was asked to sign.

Now my question. What am I to do long term. When she is really totally incapacitated, am I shut out of her records for the rest of her life? Do I forge her signature?


Her name is Miriam Bertha Spears Griffith
Birthday January 18, 1937

Dave Griffith guardian

These three portraits are of Josh my 4th grandson by birth, but at 6 foot 2 or more he is the tallest of the lot.
Griffy his little brother is the only grandkid who has chance of catching up with Josh. TIme will tell if he succeeds.
This is Josh's portrait (by his talented mother) before the Senior Prom at his high school.

I can't find Fergie

I can't find Fergie the Frog.

Illogically I asked Miriam about it. She obsessed, but has no idea, of course.

She kept telling me that Fergie was in the garden, but he is a stuffed toy that vaguely looks like a humanoid frog and gardens are not part of his plan.

He was a gift from daughter number one for the teardrop trailer and he sits up in the corner of the galley carefully watching all that I do.

Still, he is gone. Not stolen. He was not taken in by the Animal Control person. He is right where I put him, but I am not able to find him. I will, but not today.

I found a picture of him, but he is slouched over in a very undignified manner.

One of the towns we drive through used to be two towns about a mile apart. There was Milton and there was Free Water. Along the way they joined into the long name of Milton-Freewater. During their festival days each year the name morphs into Milton Frogwater and Fergie the frog is the mascot.

So if you find a green frog with a very small back pack, who looks like he does not know where home is, let me know. In the meantime I'll look again in one of my studios.

I'll bet he is hiding in plain sight – right where I put him!

Here we are with Lora and Amy.
In the background, at the bottom of the canyon is the mighty Snake River.
The day was as blustery as the clouds suggest, but it was wonderful to be with family.

burial

Aunt Barbara died in January.

She was with her family in southern California when she passed. They had a service for her then, but she wanted to be buried with her husband, my uncle Wayne.

Wayne was killed in a car accident a bit before he was going to retire to live his retirement here in Idaho.

Today their 4 children came up for the burial of her ashes with her beloved husband.

Uncle was 12 years younger than my father and he did not have children until his late 20's, so his children and mine are precious close to the same age. Uncle was a pastor and health educator.

Aunt Barbara once calculated that they had moved over 40 times! She lived in our town for 14 years I believe, and that was the longest she ever lived in one place in her life. Her father was a pastor also.

So today I got to see cousins I don't see often. Though they were sure they would come back here for a visit some time, there really is no one here but cousins, and they don't know us too well.

I had the distinct impression that I would likely never see them again. They are good people, I am honored to be related.

We will keep in tough by email.

It was a beautiful spring day, a good day to honor Aunt Barbara's memory and to reconnect with cousins.