Kettles

Tom asks, why not "hard landscaping... containers, pots, boxes and the like?" And I have to say, um, well, why would I? The soil is good, if long neglected. Clay is nutrient rich, all it needs is better texture. So I got one bag of peat moss (gz, I promise, just one bag, and this is Canadian stuff, not a shortage - although I know it's not renewable either) and a garden fork, using the leftover shovel and the neighbor's spade, and my own toil, some bulk clover seeds, as well as the seeds and plants I'd have needed otherwise, stolen leaves from the block, found rocks and sticks from the overgrown hedge, and I have got a garden.

Building raised beds is not something I could do, not having the tools, materials nor skills, not to mention interest. I may one day want to learn this, have a poly tunnel for winter, make the back porch a greenhouse while I'm dreaming, but that's not a realistic plan for now. Bringing the soil to life seems much more valuable than hauling in dirt for a potted planting.

And for the sake of this email from D while I was still at work -Moby wanted to go out for a while immediately after we got home. We spent a lot of time in the front garden, so I think he likes how it is now, too.

Not to mention that this neighborhood, although mostly safe, is very mixed. The logs left behind, that I put on the front lawn, were stolen. A nice pot would probably get walked off with. The chairs on the porch have stayed just fine. I cannot explain this.


Got some potatoes for baking, and sour cream, and snipped some of the chives that somehow came up under the board, after a poor showing last year. D amazed at how good they smelled, and I enjoyed the effect better than I expected. A comforting dinner.


Wednesday, I made several pots of tea. But about 8PM, it would not turn on. Dead, deceased, defunct. D walked me over to the store, and we found a new electric kettle. Lovely blue light. Getting the manufacturing oils (?) cleaned off has been a process, but improving.

I thought about just taking the water bowl kettle and using it on the stove. But it's slow, and we'd have to do something more efficient by summer anyway.

And Moby had an opinion about this as well.



"No."