Here's another dahlia. Overall, my dahlias seem to be having a very slow year. Some of the bushes haven't even bloomed yet, though all of them have buds. I blame the compost mix I used to pot them in the spring. This compost seems of rather dubious quality -- the water runs through it and then it's dry again in about a day.
God, I wish it would rain. A good, long, soaking rain. Heaven! I think my wishes will come true starting on Saturday, if the forecasts are correct.
I gathered more blackberries yesterday morning. I love being able to forage my own food from our garden! Not enough to want to deliberately grow food -- although I admire vegetable gardeners and am always impressed by the crops they manage to produce, I've never been interested in growing my own. (Hey, we have our one tomato plant -- we're doing our part!)
I did notice as I made lunch yesterday that my broccoli from the local grocery store came from Kenya, just like the string beans I made the day before. That seems insane to me. Surely someone in the UK is producing string beans and broccoli at the height of summer. Why on earth are we flying in vegetables from Kenya?
I know, I know, we could go to the local farmer's market, blah blah blah. Except I am not in charge of groceries in this family. I eat what Dave buys.
Miss Olga, aka the Dowager Countess of West Hampstead, sat with me in the garden most of the day. She likes to lie as close to the teasels as possible, even pushing her back against them until the whole plant is quaking. They have little thorns so maybe they're like back-scratchers to her.
I also did some housekeeping, moving the furniture in the living room and giving all the floors a good vacuuming. I found a ticket from the dry cleaners from March, and wondered if we ever picked up the cleaning. I took it by the shop in the afternoon and yes, in fact, we had picked it up. Whew! It would be pretty embarrassing if we'd left clothes at the cleaners for four months and didn't even miss them. I'm pretty sure I'd notice they were gone. We don't have that many clothes.
Last night's movie entertainment was a double feature: "Earthquake," one of my all-time favorite camp disaster movies from the '70s, which I have seen so many times I practically know the script by heart; and "Tony Rome," Frank Sinatra's outing as a Miami detective in the late '60s. Dave won't be sad to miss either of those.
Your compost is definitely unfit for purpose if it won't hold moisture. I imagine people having homegrown veggies are growing for themselves and certainly don't have enough to be supplying supermarkets and there are all kinds of inspections and certifications that go along with that, so if you want home grown, tell Dave to shop at Farmer's Markets. Kenya is an awful long way from London. Have you tried growing your own green beans? Mary Moon could give you some tips, she grows hundreds (thousands?) every year.
ReplyDeleteOf course the weather will be bad next week - it's the first week of English school holidays!
ReplyDeleteOlga looks happy. Storms are predicted here too.
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonder dahlias haven't done better with all the good weather you've had.
ReplyDeleteKenya is certainly some food miles away. I wonder why not from the continent, at the very least. Brexit?
I wonder if the green beans are a casualty of brexit,too. And maybe uk market gardeners have lost their domestic market.
ReplyDeleteThat compost sounds like a fail to me. Now you know what not to buy.
You are rapidly taking on the mantle of a monkish hermit. I wonder if you might be able to purchase a monk's habit online. A Franciscan habit would suit you best - brown.
ReplyDeleteI watched Earthquake once. I thought that was enough, but I might enjoy the campiness again. Have never seen Tony Rome. A charming portrait of Olga.
ReplyDeleteThe picture of Olga is lovely and definitely destined for a nice photo frame.
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
I bought grapes this week. They came all the way from Peru!
ReplyDeleteThere are many complaints about compost this year. Previously reliable companies are not coming up to the mark. Very short-sighted!
ReplyDeleteWe've been getting lots of thunder yet no rain until yesterday when it poured for nearly an hour. And that cooled us off a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI love an Olga smile.
I love Olga's sweet face. Pretty girl!!!
ReplyDeleteLove that smile on Olga's face! We've had mega rain for one full day and overnight hard. I think it's over now. The plants needed it so that's good. Temps really dropped into the low 60s. Go figure! Sounds like a combo productive-relaxing week.
ReplyDeleteWe finally got a good rain yesterday. It was overdue and I am grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteThat picture of Olga should be printed and framed ... she has that Mona Lisa smile going on!
ReplyDeleteOlga looks so happy!
ReplyDeleteFunny how Olga prefers the teasels I also find it wild that veggies are flown in from Kenya. Totally feel you on the compost struggles too
ReplyDeleteIt is baking hot and no rain in MA too. 90-100 degrees F. with high humidity makes being outside intolerable.
ReplyDeleteMy Caesar has a thick black coat and goes to the door but refuses to step outside unless I coax him out with a treat. He does his business and comes inside to the air conditioning. Olga has found a bit of garden shade as well as a massage from the teasels. Olga and Caesar do love their creature comforts.
Locally grown veggies are not found in our stores either. Peru, Thailand, and Spain seem to be the growers. I'm shopping local farmer's market, and the veggies are remarkably good.
We are desperately in need of rain! That's such a sweet photo of Olga. We grow tons of berries around here, yet most of the store berries currently are from California or Mexico, in the winter, South America (which is understandable). I'm wondering the same thing.
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful dahlia. I hope you get the rain you need. We were supposed to have some yesterday but that was a total bust. The Dowager Countess is looking very regal in her lush domain.
ReplyDeleteThat might be exactly why Olga likes the teasels. We use to have a dog who would get under a bush outside my office window and scratch her back. I could hear her moaning with pleasure inside the house!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever seen Tony Rome. I'll look for it.
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