Apparently, I am still channeling Grandma Rose this week with my plantings and we seem to be on the same planting schedule by chance. I, too, have pink dianthus seeds and tomatoes going! I sent this photo to my sister Jamie this week as well; I’m also channeling Grandpa Archie who had these filmy Money Plant “coins” by the front porch in cement planters. I remember sitting on the steps, peeling them apart and blowing the seeds onto the yard, and then he’d yell at me for it! But they were fun to peel! So this year I’ve started some of these seeds in honor of him to add to my memory garden – I had thought to make my memory garden only for the women in my family, but it seems only right to include these for him as this memory sticks out to me so vividly. I hope they grow. I always did like them, and I think they’d look neat with my pumpkins on a stick when they’re dried out and in a vase. *fingers crossed*
NOTE: As always, I left her spelling, capitalization, and punctuation as much as possible.
_____ WEEK 15 _____
April 9, 1978 – Got up 8:00 when I woke up at 7:00 I couldn’t straighten out my right arm, after all the raking yesterday and my back pained some, low down – other than that, felt pretty good. Too cold to work outside, so laid down on the couch until Len got up little after 9:00 – Made bed, fed cat and had breakfast. Swept kitchen and rest of the trailer. (Just in the middle.) Cleaned good last week.
Len and I took top of Kims machine and oiled it. Len piddled around making pretty stitches and button holes. Sews good. Len called David. He was at work, so he talked to Carol – wanted to find out Susies phone number. Susie called back half an hour later.
Wrote letter to Olive. First jonquils are in bloom in old rose bed –
53° 11:05 P.M.
April 10, 1978 – Boy! Did I sleep last night! Did not wake up until 9:00. Didn’t even hear the school buses go this morning. Sun was shining beautifully this morning. Put on water for coffee, fed cat, mailed Olives letter.
Picked up all evergreen limbs in breezeway and loaded them on wagon. Emptied and stacked more pots including hanging baskets.
Brought in half bushel of saucers, plates, and glass cans to wash. Washed curtains for sewing room and half wall, after lunch. Watched “soaps.” Washed hall windows, put in screen. Washed East bedroom window. Put in screen – washed bath storm windows and put behind head board.
Low 47° High 80°
61° 11:20 P.M.
(Note at side for the 10th – “Picked my first jonquils this afternoon and brought in to Len. Forsythia blooming. Checked on my hyacinth up front. Big buds showing through the ground.”)
April 11, 1978 – Didn’t get up until 9:00 Poured rain from 7:00 on I think. Len got up first. I mailed Susies birthday card. Still raining and cold and windy. Fed cat; had breakfast – started sewing on dish towels from feed sacks of Rosies – made three before lunch. Watched “soaps” while mended and fixed a sweater for Olive. Made five more dish towels before supper.
It quit raining and the sun came out this afternoon and wind died down some – put dish towels and Lens shorts and undershirts to soak.
Low 50° High 69°
49° 11:15 P.M.
(Note at the side for the 11th – “Pulled some grass from the iris up front this morning. Sure is plenty of it.”)
April 12, 1978 – Got up 8:05 Put on water for coffee. Put on brace and dressed – went to green house 8:20. Desk sorted seeds, clips, markers, and emptied Rosie’s long planter. On way to get mail, I worked on a bunch of iris up front, getting grass pulled out.
After breakfast, washed out 8 prs Lens shorts, P.Js – 2 prs P.Js for me and 3 flannel shirts. Windy but clothes dried like they’d been ironed. Watched soaps, got clothes off line about 4:00. Cleaned off about quarter of asparagus bed. Brought out the pansies to get used to the outdoors. Cleaned up part of the old rose bed and jonquils and tulips. Worked on my old Garden Talk book for a couple hours.
Low 44° High 78°
48° 83° 1977
April 13, 1978 – Got up 8:15 Sorted my personal clothes. Put on brace and got ready to start the washing. Washed first load after breakfast while Len dressed and made bed – was all done with wash and tub emptied by 12:45. Len did most of the work.
Watched “soaps” after lunch then hung clothes in garage. Winds were up to 38 mph – clothes would have blown to pieces on the outside line. Spent couple hours this evening reading my Flower adn Garden magazine.
Thought – Without a challenge, a man isn’t getting the most out of life. – Charles Lindbergh
Low 50° High 58°
50° 83° 1977
April 14, 1978 – Got up 8:15 – Made my coffee and headed for the green house to get the clothes line, hung out all the heavier things we washed yesterday – Carried rest of Better Homes and Garden from garage to green house and put on shelves in plastic bags. Ironed four pillow cases, 4 cobbler aprons, 2 shirts, 2 table cloths, 2 strips of curtains. Easier ironing in the garage – Lots more room to move about.
Watched my “soaps” and fixed (finished) sweater of Bobs for Olive. Turned over compost pile. Spaded up breezeway flower bed by green house. Brought in some clothes for Len to fold. Very cool today. Not quite so windy 28 MPH.
Think about: Flattery should be used like perfume. Smell it and enjoy it – but don’t swallow it. – Eileen Easterday, Williamsport in the Herald 4-14-78
Low 35° Hi 60°
50° 71° 1977
38° 11:15 P.M.
April 15, 1978 – Got up 8:15 Coffee water on – went out and worked on patio flower bed wall hoping to get some pansies set out, but back gave out and I didn’t get it finished. Worked for nearly three hours. Took time out to come in and get our breakfast.
Transplanted two Mullin pink plants near lilac bush. Pulled grass around Donnas day lilies in old Rose bed, and around the blue bells. Found two of the hardy sweet peas Olive had given me starts of a few years ago.
Took an hour or so nap. Get lazy in the afternoons. Took much needed bath and hair wash.
Low 34° High 56°
44° 11:15
_____ WEEK 16 _____
April 16, 1978 – Got up 9:30 Len already up – after breakfast, I swept kitchen and dusting the living room. Len ran sweeper in living room, halls, bedroom, and bathroom and sewing room.
I carried my tray of pansies and snap dragons outside and set it in the breezeway flowerbed to get them used to the cool weather. Took Scottish heather to the greenhouse.
Wasn’t much to do or anything I felt like doing, so I took myself a nap. Laid down about 1:45 – Len didn’t call me so slept until almost 4:00. Cooked chicken for supper. Had noodles and tossed salad for supper. No company today.
47° 11:05 P.M.
April 17, 1978 – Got up 8:00 – Woke up at 7:00 Seemed awful early to get up – Lay there and thought I could work outside even if it was chilly – the sun was shining so bright. Put coffee water on; then dressed, brace and all.
Went to garage for wagon and gardening tools. Worked on side flower bed until almost 10:00 and around the maple tree, from the locust tree to the maple. After breakfast went back out and worked bed, between the two locust trees. Found a few bunches of Bergamot.
Came in for lunch 12:15 – Put drops in Lens eye – watched “soaps” while mending a pair of gardening gloves – went outside again 3:15 – loaded up wagon with trash and grass clumps – emptied on bank. Hoed tulip and creeping phlox bed. Dug up ground around lilies in bed in front of trailer, and dug up half of old mum bed. Brought some rocks to breezeway that I picked up around the yard.
Len went out to get the paper tonight, for the first time since his last eye surgery. Len called me to the window today and for 5 minutes or more, we watched an orangy gray rabbit sit there and take a bath. He licked his front paws then washed behind his ears then both paws, washed his face.
Low 34° High 61°
April 18, 1978 – Didn’t get up until nearly 10:00 this morning. It was raining and I couldn’t get outside anyways. Didn’t even go out to mail letters. Had breakfast and we piddled around until after lunch. While I wached my soaps, Len scraped 3 pkg carrots and I froze them about 4:00 P.M. Got 4 pint containers. Brought in perlite and mixed up soil and Len planted 1 egg carton of tomato seeds and I planted 1 egg carton of pink Dianthus seed.
8:30 Storming; so we can’t watch T.V. Pump, TV and tank off. Len reading Arizona Highways. I got an urge to look over my California mem and reading my book. Good feelings, remembering my trip to see Betty. Len even looked at the pictures.
April 19, 1978 – Got up 8:15 Put on coffee – Put on my brace and got dressed for outdoors. Empried the wagon load of evergreen limbs – cleaned up around back shed and cleaned up cuttings of grape vines. Raked more in lower half of bank flowers and fertilized the small hedge plantings. Disposed of trashed I’d piled up in the beds on Monday.
Len called me in about 10:00. I was in the greenhouse emptying more flower pots and putting them outside. After breakfast, went back out and got more soil to plant some morning glory seeds I had soaking. Watched soaps after lunch. Thunder storm had come up about noon, but cleared up enough to watch soaps. Laid down and took an hour nap. Sacked up some leaves for Ef. Raining again 4:30. Potted oxalis bulbs Donna gave me.
April 20, 1978 – Len got up 8:30 put on water for coffee – I got up at 9:00. Raining. Mailed letter (phone). Had breakfast and get ready to go to eye Dr. It’s cold this morning and I took my big coast to the garage, thinking spring was here.
Ralph came about 12:30. Ef didn’t come – was disappointed. Had wanted to yack. She sent a letter. Took Len to bank then I went on over to Revcos, but there was a dozen in line, and I knew I couldn’t get checked out in time for Dr. appointment. We were out of Dr by 1:30. On to Big Bear. Ralph went in and pushed the cart for me. It had quit raining by tiem we came out of the grocery. Got glasses and paraffin from the garage, also juice to make strawberry jelly in the morning. Put bread and other frozen food in big freezer. Covered the pansies again. Supposed to snow.
Low 42° High 46°
42° at 11:15
April 21, 1978 – Awoke at 7:00 Couldn’t go back to sleep so got up at 8:00. Drizzling yet but went to green house and got more containers to sow more seeds. Made two batches of strawberrry jelly after breakfast. Mess of sticky pans to wash up.
Watched soaps after lunch. Got so sleepy I couldn’t seem to keep awake. Started letter to Effie.
Low 36° High 43°
April 22, 1978 – Got up 8:00 Put on water for coffee. Dressed and opened the garage and green house and fed cat. After breakfast, put law fertilizer on west end from front to even with the trailer – Limed lilac bush, all the hardy geraniums, sweet Williams, a few of the sedums, Hens & chickens.
In afternoon, worked on wall of breezeway bed, fertilized and set out all 3 boxes of pansies, and 7 of the snap dragons. Len ended up doing the sweeping and the house cleaning. Finally got Len to go outside for a walk this afternoon. He talked to Kenny awhile. Tired him out to walk around, since he doesn’t go out much.
Cleaned around rose sedum in front flower bed, and limed. Transplanted a couple sweet rockets.
Low 27° High 56°
43° 11:15 PM