Instrument of Grace: Changes

There have been a lot of changes here at IoG lately, some good and some not so good. Much of what's been going on has kept me from posting, and I'm trying to find a way to continue with my writing and photography to help keep me sane.

Garden Man's dad, the Old Man From The South, passed away recently after a long, valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. None of us thought he'd live almost three years after his diagnosis. Even though we knew a long time ago that we'd be losing him, it didn't make the loss any easier to bear or the grief any less. We have been doing a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between here and points much further south, and we're not yet done.

I have known for a long time I'd have to go back to work full time at some point in the future. I didn't know how quickly that point would arrive, so quickly it left me no time to plan. I got the call on a Friday afternoon that I'd be starting the following Monday. It's a new job with a promotion, which is nice and self-confidence boosting. The downside is that I've probably said goodbye to 8 hour days for a while. Add on 2+ hours of commuting each day, and my days are looking pretty long. When I get home, I say a silent prayer of thanks that Garden Man has dinner going.

Because the change came so quickly, we've been trying to take advantage of every spare second to get many of the things on "our list" taken care of which has left no time to photograph, write or read. We did get the garage cleaned and the last of the shed things moved to the shed. The ceiling fan is finally in the guest room (we've lived in this house almost 6 years) and we have new light fixtures in the upstairs hall and foyer. The new shelves in the family room are "dressed," and I went through my wardrobe and have several large bags for charity. I've also gone through a lot of other stuff, and the living room is beginning to look like Fibber McGee's closet. We were planning a yard sale for a few weeks ago, but Dad's passing has put that on hold until the fall. The living room is now the staging area, and I have to go on record with this: The management of IoG cannot be responsible for your safety if you enter the space formerly known as The Living Room. You enter at your own risk. Beware of falling objects and unstable mountains.

I do have some good news in all this sadness and upheaval; I say upheaval because what's going on has really been a huge change for us. We harvested our first two cucumbers yesterday and we harvested two yellow squash and our first zucchini today. We'd already harvested a couple of yellow squash, so these weren't the first. I also have a lot of teeny baby green beans I'm urging to grow so I can pick them. And I have baby peppers and a lot of green tomatoes. The yellow squash and zucchini plants are monsters, and they've completely taken over the onions, lettuce, delicata squash and some green beans. I'll forgive them if they keep producing. Their behavior has caused me to rethink (again) the kitchen garden. We expanded it this year, but I need more space. Garden Man, be ready. I want to feel that wonderful feeling I get when I pick something, and then come in and prepare it for a meal, and I want to feel it every day. Like I said, I need more space. I just wish I had more sun.

There's a lot blooming, and the Sorbonne Oriental lilies are perfuming much of the yard. I'm delighted my Liatris has decided to double in size this year since I've moved it. The Rock Fairies (actually, just Adele) visited me today with a 5 gallon bucket of rocks from her PA farm. The rocks are now part of the ever growing edging of the back border. I can't believe I'm so excited about a bucket of rocks, but I am. Every one was beautiful, and there was a limestone one in there!

I saw a lot of bees/pollinators today. I usually see Eastern Carpenter Bees, but today I saw Bumblebees and some new ones I've never seen before. One is small, mostly green and may be a kind of wasp. The other has huge eyes and is colored like a yellow jacket but is also very small. And they both fly FAST.

Here are some photos to tide you over to the next post. This is one of many Bumblebees enjoying the Drumstick Allium and Liatris.

This unknown looks more like a wasp than a bee. Today was the first time I've ever seen it. It's mostly green with pointy-oval green eyes. It's pretty small and moves very quickly. It was moving between the Liatris, Drumstick Allium and Heliopsis 'Summer Nights.'

Here's another new-to-me pollinator. It's even smaller than the green pollinator and moves like a flash. It has huge eyes and was moving between the same flowers. Could it be a hoverfly?

If you know what these unknown-to-me pollinators are, I'd love to know. Now, it's back to the chores so I'll have time during the week for some more posts.