The Garden Blog

Blogging in the garden at 8 am. The sun slowly warming the plants, birds singing in the trees, cats basking in the morning sun on the patio, the sounds of buses and cars from beyond the confines of my yard trickle in as another day in Brooklyn begins. A plane flies overhead, making its way to LaGuardia (yes I’m in their flight path). A friend of mine returned from Pittsburgh yesterday and said he flew right over my house—he saw my backyard . Isn’t that nice?
I just have to digress for a moment and tell you how fabulous my garden is looking. All the bulbs I thought wouldn’t come up this year are making appearances—tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and grape muscari my favorite. The peonies I wrote off for dead are getting bigger by the day, the clematis is winding their way up the pergola, things I forgot I planted are poking slowly out of their hibernation. Upstairs I have seedlings in their mini greenhouses sprouting up, awaiting the time when they get to go in the garden once the ground is warm enough and I figure out exactly where they will go. Jung Seed, the company I ordered from sent me double the amount of seeds accidentally so I’m going to have nasturtiums, sweet peas, delphiniums and tomatoes up to my arm pits. Maybe I’ll have a plant sale or something.
Wanda, Eddie’s mother is putting her laundry out. She’s got the third story clothes line on a pulley that’s attached to a tall ladder like structure at the back of the yard (everyone’s got one). The pulley creaks and whines as she pushes the line out after hanging a shirt, then another shirt and another creak. Wanda is in her eighties I believe and still going strong. She’s great. Her son Eddie lives with her and he and I trade news and gardening tips over the back fence. He’s a true Brooklynite; accent, attitude and all. Eddie is always busting my chops about being from California and not knowing how to garden ala the east coast (it’s true I must admit) but I retort with the rhetorical question why California hasn’t fallen into the ocean (answer: because the rest of the country sucks). He’s going to look after my yard over the summer while I’m gone so the place doesn’t go all to hell like it has the last two years when I was away.
All quiet over the other fence since Pete and Jackie have been gone for the week in Florida. They come home today and I’m off to Florida tonight for the weekend to sell some Tcat t-shirts (have YOU placed your order yet on line???) and visit a friend of mine. I miss P&J, so dull here without them. Georgeanne, my neighbor on the other side, I heard is in the hospital apparently to get some fat removed from the bottom of her foot. I find that hard to believe, fat on the bottom of your foot, but if you look at the size of her and her brood it is possible. Veronica, the neighbor two doors down says she has diabetes and is getting her foot amputated. It could be the case since her kids all seem glum when I see them. Poor thing I hope it’s not the case.
Wow, already the beginning of May where has the time gone? Before you know it, I’ll be off on a plane bound for Afghanistan with a bunch of kids. Before then I have many miles to go before I sleep and lots of t-shirts to sell too. My shirts won’t be ready until Monday (ARGH!) there was a problem with the printers or something and they needed more time. It’s OK, at least I got a deal on my next printing job out of it. More time to tweak the website and prepare other products like collage art work and the Von Trapp Cats. Von Trapp Cats you ask? Basically a small stuffed kitty made out a variety of upholstery fabrics I came across. Very hip. Hey if Maria could make clothes out of curtains, I can make cats out of upholstery fabric. You can see those on the website soon. Got to finish stuffing some. Maybe today before I stuff a suitcase full of clothes for Florida. So let me start my day darlings. Ciao for now.