My herb bed is now completely planted and some herbs are growing in pots along the stairway on the south side of the house, where I will remember to water them and they’ll get good sun.  Woody put down the drip irrigation systems in all three of the vegetable gardens.  The late lilacs are out now along with the wood scillas, the later peonies and the marigoldsI started inside.  Four kinds are in bloom.  The indigo columbine is flowering and so are the forget-me-nots.  The gorgeous rhododendron forest is in full flower, purple, lavender, white, pink and red.  I bought plants I can’t grow from seed like colocassia and coleus for the two big pots that greet people when they come up to the house. 

I’ve started physical therapy on my ankle to see if that can help.  The first two visits helped, but the one Wednesday was a disaster.  When I left there, I couldn’t get up to our house without Woody’s help. I asked that I not get that particular therapist again and now I have Erin, who seems to understand my ankle pretty well.  Today she gave me some additional exercises to add to the ones I have been doing. 

My planting is done for a while.  I’ve been freezing spinach, broccoli and cilantro.  I’ve done enough of the latter, but I need to freeze more of the spinach and broccoli and maybe make broccoli soup and freeze that, if there’s enough. Now I need to harvest, freeze and weed. This coming week, I have to clean out the gazebo in case I use it for conferences.  I’m not sure I will this year, as my ankle is giving me lots of trouble. The  cucumbers have started.  The bok choi is ready for stir fries.  Woody is outside staking tomatoes now that the irrigation system is down.

Monday was our actual anniversary, our 43rd.  We    chose to celebrate it yesterday with lobster, champagne and spinach salad. The pollen is worse this year than I ever remember it being.  Everybody is sneezing and complaining of runny or itchy eyes. It’s suddenly humid. We had almost continual rain in April and May, but now when the weatherman predicts rain, we get nothing here but grey skies and humidity.  However, yesterday was sunny so is today.  But still humid.

I wrote two poems this week and worked on my examples and lectures for the juried intensive poetry workshop. The negotiations with CBS streaming go on and on and on and the lawyer’s bills keep mounting.  I’m stuck in this process.  I’ve finally given up haggling with them about points I care about – I can’t get anyplace with a monstrously big media corporation. My middle aged weary battered Chicana heroine will end up looking like Jay Lo.

At least three weeks ago, Woody exchanged the windows for screens on the sunporch.  The cats love it.  For them, it’s almost like being outside, as the sunporch sticks into the woods. Birds, insects, chipmunks, squirrels – they are all active and about.  It’s enrichment for the cats.  It stimulates them.  Finally as the weather has warmed up and stopped raining every day, I’m getting my summer clothes out of the storage closet.  Some dresses, some skirts and tops are like old friends.  I remember you, what fun you were.  I’m wearing a short sleeve top and a summer skirt today and enjoying the change. Next I need to exchange the winter shoes I can’t get on my feet anyhow with sandals – I have a fantasy that I can wear at least a couple pairs of sandals without annoying my ankle.

I bought a slow cooker since I can do more in the morning when my ankle is usually not that sore yet than I can around 5 pm when it tendsto be quite angry.  I am just beginning to learn to use it; made our supper in it last night.  Melenie uses the one I gave her last year almost every day and Dale is fond of his. It’s a learning curve.  The chuck was perfectly cooked last night but the carrots and potatoes were a little hard, quite edible and I know some people like them that way – but I like veggies well cooked in a pot roast. We’ll have the rest of it Saturday with a garden salad while we watch the Belmont.