June weather and my garden

 Anyone else taking issue with this weather?

At the beginning of the month we got some scorching weather. My poor garden.  

During March and April I had been planning for and anticipating cold weather.  Possible frosts, too.  My last average frost date is June 1. I'm in zone 3b.

Instead, we got temperatures in the high 90's Fahrenheit. Our area is not used to that kind of heat so early in the season. 

Some things had been planted already.  Those plants did all right.  Some of my cool weather transplants did not fare well.  Some things simply withered away in the heat.  Other things, like my broccoli and lettuce, bolted. 

The weather then settled down a little bit, temperature-wise.  Then there was no rain. The forecast kept promising rain, but I was out there every day, trying to keep everything watered and the transplant shock to a minimum. 

A few things I direct sowed popped out of the ground within three days.  Practically unheard of, to me.  My carrot seeds didn't sprout, I think.  The ground was drying out so fast and I completely forgot the trick of laying boards or something down, to keep the moisture in until the seeds sproud. Do I have time to reseed?  Maybe. 

This past weekend and the last few mornings I've been waking up to temperatures in the 40s Fahrenheit.  C'mon, man! At least we got rain on Sunday. Sunday we lit a fire in the wood stove.  A fire. At the end of June. Even though we were bundled up in layers, we were still cold.  So we lit a fire and kept it going for the day. 

Last year I wanted to do videos, documenting the garden throughout the gardening season.  Things went awry, because life likes to throw curveballs, and that didn't  happen.  A bummer, too, because it wound up being a beautiful and wild garden. Tomato plants taller than my husband.  Broccoli stalks as thick as small trees, with beautiful heads of florets. Cucumber vines that stretched from one side of the garden to the other.  

I also did a mixture of some flowers in there, too.  I wanted to attract the pollinators to my garden, and help things along. I had butterflies and humming birds checking things out.

This year, I don't think it's going to be quite the same. That's all right with me. Whatever does happen and anything that comes out of the garden will be a success. 

I'm already harvesting lettuce. I picked off a few little broccoli heads, too. 

So, speaking of garden videos, I've made two so far.  Real quick videos that I stood in the center of the garden and turned in a circle.  Early in the morning, and early in the evening you can hear the birds and there's not a lot of neighborhood noise.  It's calming, and I would rather share those sounds than me talking about the plants. 

Here's the video, taken June 14, 2021. 

Here's the video I took this morning, June 23, 2021. 

I shot the video, then thought about going around and sharing what the plants were.  My phone was out of memory.  I have to delete some old audio books, videos and memes off my camera roll.  Maybe I'll attempt it again next week. 

I'm still here, I swear

 I feel the need to apologize for disappearing off the blog for so long. 

For a while, this is what my life was like.

This painting is by Andrea Kowch, A Michigan native, Andrea Kowch cites the Midwestern landscape as the prime inspiration for her work. 

Life got really busy for me. Like, really busy.  It got to the point where I felt like I was on a merry-go-round of all the things I needed to take care of. 

Suffice to say, things had to give. Writing and my hobbies went by the wayside. 

I had reached burn out and had some crappy symptoms of it. Thankfully, last week I had very much needed time off from my job and was able to decompress. I'm feeling much better now. 

Things have also calmed down and there's no longer the constant merry-go-round feeling. I'm also trying to take better care of myself and take time for the crafting every day.  Even if it's just 15 minutes of something, or knitting while my son is driving us to town.

I'm feeling feeling like I can resume writing.  I don't know how frequently it will be, though. I have ideas percolating in my brain, but I don't know if/when I will follow through with them. 

A quick run-down on things: 

Furby is doing well. I think we are having a "Call of the Wild" moment. Since the weather turned nice I've been letting her go outside.  She can see a little bit, so I'm not too worried about her wandering off or getting lost. 

Well, in the morning, after she's had breakfast, she usually starts bawking and calling until I bring her outside.  She spends a lot of time out there and she's pretty content by the time I bring her back in.  If I bring her in too soon, she lets me know.  She's also hanging out with the young birds a bit.  I think her instinct to be with a flock is pulling her to the coop.  I let her hang out with them and she looks confused, for the most part. I think all the hustle and bustle makes her nervous, still. 

I put the garden in the second week of June. Well, most of it.  I have/had grand plans of some things and they haven't come together just yet. The extreme heat we had did *not* help things. Our area went from near-freezing overnight temps to almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit, in just a few days.  Very unusual for my area this early in the season.

Earlier this week I took a quick spin around video of the garden bed. It was so peaceful out there. I felt the desire to capture the moment. 

I'm sorry to have to write that I haven't seen Porkie since April. We are thinking that Porkie was a girl and went off to have a baby.  Or, Porkie just wintered here and has now moved on. 

In any case, I know Porkie was very much loved by the people I'm connected to on social media. I feel privileged to have been a part of Porkie's life for a short bit, and help him/her make it through the winter. If you ever need a Porkie fix I have videos on my Youtube channel. 

So ... that is what I've been up too. I'm still alive.  During this crazy time, I know sometimes people worry when someone abruptly disappears.  Or, maybe no one noticed I had stopped writing because I am still sort of active on Instagram, but not so much on other social media.

Until next time. Thanks for reading.