This is the haul from one day of picking up walnuts in the garden. You can see what I'm dealing with here. I'm being inundated.
I guess I could just leave them -- they'll eventually decay, and that would be very much in keeping with our casual back-to-nature approach to gardening. But meanwhile it would feel like walking on golf balls, and I'm not sure my ankles could take it.
Yesterday a friend from school came over for lunch and brought his mother, who's visiting from the states. She saw our video on Gardener's World and wanted a first-hand look at the garden! (Maybe I should start charging admission?) We sat out and chatted for a while about the plants and then went to lunch at a local Lebanese restaurant -- and come to think of it, Chris bought my lunch, so in a way he did pay admission.
It's finally blackberry season in our back garden. The berries have taken their time this year -- I'm usually picking them by mid-July, but this year I didn't get my first handful until right around the end of the month.
Our temperatures are ranging from the 50's to the low 70's F, or between 13º and 22º C. I think that cool weather is affecting not only the berries but some of our flowers, too. I have zinnias and sunflowers that are taking their sweet time to get big enough to bloom.
This is where I eat breakfast when the weather is nice -- on the back garden bench, with Olga on her bed by my side.
Today I'm going to visit a "valuation day" being held by a local antiques and jewelry firm looking to buy inventory. Dave has a few items that I think we could sell and I'm curious about what they might be worth -- though I'm not sure we'll sell them until I hear what their offer might be. (Obviously I've sought Dave's permission -- he knows I'm doing this.) I've never attended anything like this so I'll tell you more about it tomorrow!
OLGA, who's a pretty girl??? I love how she is sitting squarely on the spot, makes it look like her bum is the star!
ReplyDeleteCurious to find out what you find out about value of thing.
Thing has value! Surprisingly!
DeleteI wouldn't like walking on golf balls either!!
ReplyDeleteOur blackberries are still green...but we are a fair bit further north
Are yours normally ripened by now? We're definitely behind here.
DeleteI am not much further north.....about 20 miles? ....and the blackberries around here are still tiny green things! Must be the heat of the big city!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe! But most of ours are still green, too.
DeleteI’d be picking up the walnuts, too. But what a lot of work! The blackberries look luscious (as does Olga). I’ve got some jewelry I’d like to unload, but I was disappointed by what I could get for it at the one place in town I checked. I hope you have some nice surprises.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in sitations like that, I think we almost always are offered less than we think it's worth, but I guess the dealers have to make their money too. I figure, if I'm not wearing it and it's doing me no good at all, maybe it's OK to sell it even at less than I expected.
DeleteI laughed out loud when I read about your trip to have some of Dave's things looked at. Then I read that you have his permission.
ReplyDeleteAnd I had been so looking forward to the next blog post on that subject. *sigh*
I wouldn't sell it behind his back! What kind of person do you think I am?! :)
DeleteShall we see you on Antiques Roadshow? Ah, local you said. No Fiona.
ReplyDeleteOlga does not look comfortable as she poses.
No Fiona, although this was set up to be similar to "Antiques Roadshow" -- same kind of format.
DeleteThe walnuts! That's a lot of work.
ReplyDeleteHow nice that people are interested in your garden now! And being taken out to lunch is a sweet admittance fee.
What beautiful fat blackberries! And Olga- so sweet to pose for her ten millionth picture. I love that you bring her pillow for her to sit on.
Yes! Let us know how the jewelry thing goes. That's so interesting.
Yeah, I thought a free lunch was a perfectly fair admission price! I wonder how many pictures I've taken of Olga. Ten million is probably not an unreasonable estimate.
DeleteI can feel the walnuts under my feet as I read that.
ReplyDeleteSell some of that jewelry, and start a garden tour "As Seen On ..." to make some extra coins. For an extra bonus, i.e. $$$, they could sit with Olga for a while.
Ha! You're thinking like an entrepreneurial American!
DeleteYou're famous now! And that's a great photo of Olga. The blackberries look delicious in the cereal. I'll be curious how your antique pricing adventure goes. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
ReplyDeleteThe blackberries ARE really good, I think. Dave doesn't like them because he says they're too tart, but I like them that way.
DeleteThose blackberries look delicious. Yum. I would love to have some, but all the bushes and vines here are taking their time as well. I guess foggy foggy days with temps in the 60s just doesn't coax their ripening beauty. Love seeing Olga on her bench bed.
ReplyDeleteWeird that yours are behind too! Didn't you all have a big heat wave, or was that north of you?
DeleteI think the blackberries were waiting for you to return from Florida! How fun that your garden is so famous now that visitors are coming to see it!
ReplyDeleteHope you are pleasantly surprised by the amount of money you can get for Dave's treasures!
I actually thought they'd begin ripening while I was in Florida, so you're right -- they waited for me!
Deleteand that is what I do every year with the immature pecans that usually start falling in July though I haven't seen any on the ground so far this year. and things were late to bloom in my yard this year too but it's because of the deep freeze we had. and all the rain too I think has had a detrimental effect.
ReplyDeleteso sort of like a minor antiques roadshow.
I thought of you picking up your pecans! At least you can sell those. These walnuts have all been squirrel-nibbled so they're good for nothing but the yard waste bin. Yes, "Valuation Day" is similar to "Antiques Roadshow."
DeleteI love your breakfast spot! I wonder why I don't eat breakfast outside more often? Possibly because we have Adirondack chairs & they tilt back & I'm a bit of a klutz. It's 69 degrees here today (at 10:00 in the morning) & as per usual I'm annoyed. I was also annoyed when it was 90 degrees. I can't be helped.
ReplyDelete69 degrees sounds pretty nice! Just a few degrees shy of ideal. Seize the moment and eat outside! :)
DeleteThe Heard Museum has valuation events twice a year. I've taken things before. It's interesting. I'm not convinced that one of the so called experts was really an expert but that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI love your breakfast spot.
Ha! Well, yeah, who's to say what qualifications these people have. You just have to hope you get someone who knows what they're talking about.
DeleteOlga says, "Blackberries. Smackberries. Where are my crunchies??"
ReplyDeleteYeah, she is not interested in blackberries AT ALL!
DeleteOlga has a good life. I love how much she enjoys it, too.
ReplyDeleteShe's a very positive dog. Always living with gusto!
DeleteThe valuations event should be fun. Hopefully you'll have something really valuable. I never have. Given that all of my ancestors were fairly poor, it's not surprising that their "heirlooms" were all of no value.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun (see my next post) but I didn't exactly make a bundle.
DeleteOh, Olga! What a sweet, sweet face :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a LOT of walnuts. Are they edible? Considering what they sell for here, you could have a valuable side hustle. lol
They are edible, but we'd have to get up in the tree and pick them, and I can't even imagine how we'd do that. Besides, the squirrels rely on them for food!
DeleteI love that you sit beside your dog and getting taken to lunch is always good. What will you do with all those nuts?
ReplyDeleteThey all go in the yard waste for composting by the local government. They're squirrel-nibbled so by the time they fall they're useless for anything else.
DeleteOlga is so well-behaved! Mine would be helping themselves to my breakfast!
ReplyDeleteI think you're wise to pick up the walnuts. It might prevent you from having a Wyle E. Coyote moment like I did once with some acorns. It was as if the Roadrunner had dumped a huge bag of marbles in my path! 😂
Oh no! That sounds hazardous!
DeleteI bet those blackberries actually taste of of something, unlike the enormous watery ones from supermarkets. We still have to wait few weeks for our wild ones which grow all around here.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're very tart! You're right about the supermarket variety -- like most supermarket produce I think it's meant to ship and store well rather than to taste good.
DeleteHi Steve and Olga. Tell Dave Hi for me and hurry back to London. Olga know she is a pampered pet. I just love her and appreciate the good you all do for her. You can always tell when a pet is really loved. I know she is a happy pet and believe me they are happy when they are comfortable. My 3 little ones eat and sleep. (lol) I make sure their food is prepared and water bowls are kept clean. They do have doctor bills if they aren't kept that way. Milo was the sickest that I've ever seen for a pet because the idiots who had him wouldn't feed the baby. He is happy and healthy now and I will never regret the day I took him from a neighbor (ex) who was going to put him on the street. It cost me $795.00 emergency room bill but I saved him from the hell he was going through.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for saving Milo! He's so lucky to have found a home with you!
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