Starting tomatoes

Almost all the snow is gone now. There’s a little toward the bottom of the drive, where much was piled on the edges.  The daffodils are up, not yet in bloom.  The Chinese witch hazel at the end of the drive is in full yellow glory. It’s time to start on the perennial beds and clear them. We have some crocuses.  Many were eaten this winter by various rodents, as I suspect were many of the tulipsI planted.  I so appreciate daffodils because nobody eats the bulbs.  That means tulips disappear and daffodils multiply.

I started paste tomatoes and a 6-pack of climbing cherry tomatoes last week.  This Wednesday, they had all sprouted and gone out to the greenhouse or the bay window inside, so I began on the main crop tomatoes.  Three yellows or oranges, four big reds, two pinks and a ‘black.  They should sprout by Monday, although they might be delayed.  Yesterday I had an appointment with my osteopath, and then we ran errands all over the Cape.  By the time we got home, six hours after we set up, my ankle was bloody sore.  I had to ice it for quite a while to get the swelling done.  At night and when we’re both away, we turnoff the heating pads.

Mingus went into the vet for a checkup on Wednesday.  Willow was supposed to have her annual rabiess hot, but she hid so well, we couldn’t find her.  I made an appointment for Friday.  We took no chances.  We got up late, I grabbed her and shut her in the upstairs bathroom.  She was miserable, but it worked.  She couldn’t get out, although of course she tried. But off the vet she went.  Both cats were pronounced very healthy and in good shape.  I was afraid Willow would be mad at me, but she came home rather happy and wanted to be petted and fed.

I am eager to get into the gardens to plant spinach.  The earlier we can work the soil, the better for spinach.  It doesn’t mind a bit of frost but hates warm spring days.  I have not been cooking Brussels sprouts this winter after the few the fat rabbit didn’t eat were cooked.  But the ones from the supermarket are so spongy, I have given up on them. I’m one of the people who loves Brussels Sprouts.  Apparently it’s genetic.

My neck is healing just fine but my ankle is taking its sweet time.  Way too much time.  Walking was my favorite exercise all of my life before the gym accident.  I miss it almost daily. I’ve walked from one end of Paris to the other, and walked allover Manhattan, Brooklyn, Prague, London and San Francisco.  Since I moved to Wellfleet, I walked five times a week for between 3 ¾ to 4 miles each time.  One of the reasons I fell in love with CapeCod was the multiple walking trails.  My other favorite exercise was dancing and I can’t do that either.

At least I can garden. Trump’s new budget is terrifying, cats to medicare that so many of us depend on to get the medical help we need. Cuts to everything useful to ordinary people.  A cruel and unnecessary budget. 

Thye turkeys are back with us after a hiatus.  I love to watch them.  The cats are less positive: the turkeys are birds but run on the ground and are BIG. Birds shouldn’t be that big, the cats say. I always feel you can see the dinosaur in them.  They are curious birds, always looking in the windows or getting up on the front porch and looking in the glass door.

I’m still going through old files and making more space.  It’s an ongoing project as I’d let my office get overrun and crowded.

I’ve been into scallops lately.  I was off them for a while after I had some bad ones.  They’re sweet, easy to cook and so delicious.  I’m hoping Woody can get some oysters soon now that the ice has thawed.