I'm remembering, now, one of the chief disadvantages of this otherwise beautiful time of year. There's WAY TOO MUCH daylight. Dawn comes before 4:30 a.m., dusk lingers after 9:30 p.m., and Olga begins vibrating and standing over us in bed, tail wagging, as soon as there's enough morning light outside for her to believe (deludedly) that she can catch a fox or a squirrel.
Which means that today, I got up at 5 a.m.
So here I am, half an hour later, in broad daylight, doing laundry.
The garden is still doing amazing things. Here are some of our peonies. They're a variety called "Bowl of Beauty," and don't they look like ornate chopped salads from a fancy Asian restaurant?
And here's the sage that was gnawed to nothing by slugs not even two months ago. It recovered well after I put it in a pot, and now it's blooming!
Not much news from the library, except that someone left a single crutch standing against one of the bookcases the other day. It's been in the lost-and-found ever since. How did a person who needed a crutch to walk into the library not need it to walk out? Does the library have healing powers? Did they hop out?
(Top photo: A grassy path through Buckhurst Hill, East London, on May 20.)
I love this post. I love the peonies and the way you described them. And the mysterious crutch. I hope you're well --
ReplyDeletePerhaps the student who left the crutch had just read a book about self-healing. Either that or the librarian on duty was/is The Son of God.
ReplyDeleteIs there a prop department attached to a drama class in your school? Could the crutch somehow be related to that? Because otherwise- whew! What a mystery.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd like that much daylight. Nope. Do not. Then again, too much darkness would drive me mad too. I suppose we're used to what we're used to.
I wish we could grow peonies here.
That's a long day!
ReplyDeleteThe crutch reminds me that one day after school I found an arm on the floor! A kid with a false arm took it off and left it there. He did come back for it.
ReplyDeleteYour garden must be bursting with color right now! The mystery of the crutch is certainly a puzzler.
ReplyDeleteWhat joy to have such a garden outside your back door! It doing lovely things.
ReplyDeleteIT'S doing lovely things. Sorry the kettle was whistling and I didn't proofread.
ReplyDeleteOh, you remind me of the four years I lived in Port Townsend, WA. That high northern latitude light in summer. The first light peeping through at 4:30 am and not getting dark until after 9:30 pm. Yikes. Not my favorite time. And then there was winter. I had a theory that we grow accustomed to the light we spent our youth in, and everything else is truly wacky! Love seeing your beautiful garden.
ReplyDeleteYour sage looks marvelous. Our herbs are doing well, too, in spite of the heat. I have found that the addition of some freshly picked and chopped sweet basil and Italian parsley to my Friday night pizza makes all the difference. Best we've ever had.
ReplyDeleteThose peonies are magnificent. Ours have been in one little corner for over thirty years! They come up , no matter the abuse. We are in pretty much the same zone as you, Daylight!! I am loving it. Especially since we get so little of it during the rest of the year, but I can imagine that a ready to go Pup would be annoying at the crack of dawn, which should be night. Olga is helping you adjust...she is being helpful.
ReplyDeleteWe are still working on a 5:30 sunrise and 9:00 sunset, but we'll get to where you are very soon. I don't mind the light but in summer the only coolness we get is at night, so the longer days just make the heat worse!
ReplyDeleteI can just see Olga "vibrating" - at least she doesn't try to eat your hair when she's ready to get up, like a certain cat I know.
Beautiful photos...Your sweet dog is just reminding you of the wonderful change of season...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the early mornings. Rupert bounces around on the bed until one of us lets him out, he's the only one who wants out, the other four are still sleeping.
ReplyDeleteSo maddening.
Loving the Peonies, they were one of my Dad's favourite flowers.
As for the crutch, I often see people walking along with them dangling from their arms and wonder why on earth they have them.
Briony
x
I am not an early riser. I'd have to have black out curtains or no one would want to be around me. and the peonies are beautiful. I wish we could grow them but it just gets too hot here.
ReplyDeletePeonies .. the show offs of the plant world x
ReplyDeleteThose peonies are gorgeous! They're one of my favorite flowers. Mike's already plotting to plant more for me next year.
ReplyDeleteWe have light blocking curtains on one side of our house because of the very hot afternoon sun, but they also work pretty well for keeping it dark in the mornings.
The crutch mystery is bizarre - but I think Red's story wins. Whoa!