Garden Progress and “West with Giraffes”

Greetings from a very hot, very humid Massachusetts! We are in day three of a heat wave with one more day to go. (Or as the weather folks say, "We are under a heat dome. Don't you just love how they come up with new ways to describe weather conditions.) It’s definitely way too hot for gardening, but I thought I would show you my progress. Yes, put a gold star on my forehead as I have finished the 9’x10’ garden and the 4’x20’ strip across my large garden which is 20’x24’. If the weather will only cooperate, I should be able to finish the rest later this week. (There was no gardening over the Memorial Day weekend as it was raining with temperatures in the forties and low fifties for the entire weekend.)

Emma approved and carefully supervised my work.

The small iris bed was spectacular this year.

This gorgeous yellow iris came from my godchild’s garden.

On one of my visits to a local garden center, I spotted this iris, and it definitely had to come home with me. ;-() “Edith Wolford” is the name of this exquisite iris.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading, but nothing worth recommending until now. West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge is a great read!!! What a marvelous storyteller this author is. If you think the story of transporting a pair of giraffes cross country during the Depression doesn’t sound engaging, you would be wrong. It is wonderful. I cannot recommend this novel more highly.

Another recommendation: Lisa Walton, quilt artist from Australia, was a recent zoom presenter for a meeting of the Quilters Connection Guild in Watertown. Her talk was very entertaining. She also told us about a series of Youtube interviews she has been posting. You may find them by searching for “Lisa Walton Quilt Stories.” What makes these short interviews so interesting is that she interviews a quilt artist about one art quilt.  They discuss the inspiration for the work, the planning, and the constructing of the art quilt. You may pick up some wonderful ideas and inspiration watching these videos. I particularly enjoyed the interview with Gloria Loughman. While I was acquainted with many of the American quilt artists, it is interesting to learn about other quilt artists from down under. Definitely check out Quilt Stories. I was even inspired to sign up for an online class with Lisa Walton. I chose the Aurora - on demand class.

That’s it. Stay cool and stay safe.

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Covid Update:

Deaths in the World: 3,739,884

Deaths in the United States: 598, 094

Deaths in Massachusetts: 17, 915

As of last Friday, all Covid /Pandemic restrictions have been listed in our state. Masks are optional although stores and other businesses may still require them. There are no longer restrictions in houses of worship. In my church, you may choose to sit in a area where everyone wears masks and seating is socially distant or you may choose to sit in an area without any restrictions. One small happy change, hymn books are back in the pews and everyone is encouraged to sing.

From my observations, it would appear that many are being cautious about mask removal. Most people who are outside are not wearing masks, but about half the shoppers I have seen are still choosing to wear masks. For now, I fall into the later category.