Garden News

 


All the rain we've had has made my garden plants very happy.  The lone Health Kick Roma tomato (it has extra lycopene) is getting taller every day.

The potatoes leaves are poking out of the bale.  It makes me smile to think of the magic happening inside there.  The roots are snaking around and little potatoes are starting to grow on them.  I can't wait until the plants die back which will mean that it's time to open the bale to find the potatoes.  I planted three, I wonder how many there will be.  Last year I planted three and got thirty.




And the onions are growing like crazy.  I can pull some small ones to use like scallions and let others grow bigger.  Hopefully some will grow baseball size or at least billiard ball size.  Last year none got bigger than a ping pong ball and that made them hard to peel and chop.

I knitted on the second mitten tonight at Friday Night Knitting and got through the thumb gusset and into the hand before my hand got tired and I quit for the night.






12 June--Barbara Malcolm, Tropical Obsession. 

It was late afternoon before either of them got back to the villa.  When the couple from Wisconsin, Sam and Maxi, who had picked him up on the southern tip of the island near Willemstoren Lighthouse dropped Jack at the villa he was surprised to see his rental pickup truck parked out front.  He made an excuse to not invite them in but nodded politely when they told him where they were staying.

“Just down the street at Happy Holiday Homes,” Maxi the wife said.  

“We are in the orange bungalow,” Sam said.  “We are staying for a month.  Stop by any time, bring your wife.” 

Jack thanked them again for the ride, unlatched the gate and went inside.  “Mona,” he said loudly, but got no answer. 

He went through the house, checking the patio to see if she was dozing on a lounge, but seeing no one he went into the bedroom, stripped off his dirty and sweaty clothes and took a shower.  Before he stepped under the spray, he checked himself in the mirror to see if he had any scrapes or bruises from how he got from the extreme northern end of the island near the shore to the foot of the lighthouse on the extreme southern end. 

While he was in the shower Mona got there.  She too was hot and sweaty, looking forward to a shower and some clean clothes.  She called for Jack but then heard the shower running so she went into the bedroom.  Just as she entered the room, the shower turned off.  She undressed and tried to open the bathroom door to take her own shower but was surprised that the door was locked.  She was standing there, hands on hips, when Jack opened the door.  He looked her up and down as she stood there in the nude. 

“I like your outfit,” he said. 

“Since when do you lock the bathroom door?  You never have before.  Are you up to something shady?” 

He looked at her.  “In the shower?  What could I be doing shady in the shower?”  The logic of that took a bit of the edge off of her irritation. 

“Well.  Well, I do not know but you have been acting odd ever since you hooked up with that Manning character.”  She folded her arms across her chest.  “What happened to you today?” 

“What do you mean?” Jack asked. 

She pointed at his right thigh and shoulder.  “You are all bruised and scraped.  Did you fall?”  

He twisted to see his haunch in the mirror.  “No, I did not fall.  I think someone knocked me out when I went up to watch them at the site.  I ended up down at the lighthouse with no truck and no wallet.” 

“Oh my God, Jack, what happened?”  She dropped her arms and walked over to him. 

“Hell if I know, Mona.  I woke up hours after I left here, and it took me a while to flag someone down.  I got here just before you did to find my truck parked out front with my wallet and cell phone on the front seat.  I needed a shower so here I am.  Where did you get to this morning?  Where were you all day?” 

She snorted.  “Not in much better shape than you but without the conk on the head.  I drove up to watch the sunrise in the park and got a flat almost as soon as I got there.  I had to wait for someone to come along and that took a while.  Then I waited for someone to fix the tire which also took forever.  People do not work at any speed down here, you know?”  She shook her head.  “I am going to take a shower.  Will you make drinks, or do you want to wait for me to make them?”  By the time she finished talking she was already in the shower. 

Jack made drinks.

I did bales of laundry today.  The downside of having lots of clothes is that I can let the wash pile up and pile up before I have to tackle it.  The upside is that it makes me go up and down stairs all day.  Getting in my steps.
--Barbara