Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Re-entry

I, like many of my readers, do not like programmed vacations filled with artificial entertainment.  I did like the Williamsburg visit.  They had a game for young historians called RevQuest where they use clues, decoder charts and talks with staff in costume throughout the historic town.  The children and young adults pretend they are spies for America working with the French during the revolution.  They meet in secret places and wear a scarf so staff know they are spies. They have to text messages from cell phones to get confirmation when they think they have solved a part of the puzzle.   I do not think this part of history gets enough promotion.  Oldest grandson, who loves puzzles, did very well.



Re-entry after our week away was a slow process as I caught an intestinal and other illness (probably from sharing water bottle with granddaughter or visiting two 'amusement parks') and had to schedule an appointment for antibiotics yesterday.  I actually enjoyed sitting around and reading and going through the mail and sitting close to the bathroom and not seeing the problems in the yard yesterday.

Gardeners are the type of people who would rather stay home during the growing season than go off and explore some other parts of the world.  It was daughter who chose this time of year and because we want very much to be with them, we agreed.  We came back to a lot (A LOT) of rabbit devastation.  Almost every one of my sunflowers, some over 6 feet tall, brought down by little teeth.  We were not there to spray with a noxious minty smell every few days and they discovered that sunflowers and parsley were not mint but a delicious breakfast and dinner!  They also dug under the fence of our vegetable garden and we have had a real set back with almost everything planted except the tomatoes, of course.  Fortunately gardeners have a strong heart.

On the plus side, the five bluebirds have hatched and are being fed by mom and dad throughout the day.  Feeding five!!  That keeps you busy.

I did take a short time to visit the used book store in the store area of Williamsburg and purchased a collection of poems by Pablo Neruda, motivated by my recent read of "Paula" by Isabelle Allende, and a memoir written by Katheryn Hepburn on the making of "African Queen" which is one of my FAVORITE movies.




Today we begin to move deck and patio chairs and small items to prepare for the tropical storm that is heading up our way. I have many photos to process.  Actually I took less than 500 for the whole week, so I am getting more precise in what I want to take.  I have a house to clean.  We are picking quarts of red raspberries which are not being totally removed by birds and squirrels.  I have to make an apple raspberry pie and hubby is putting up pints of raspberry jam.  I have to do all this before we may lose electricity in the next day or two!!

20 comments:

  1. I am so sorry about the bug you caught. Intestinal bugs are ugly things....perhaps a norovirus. Pictures. I like the new way you are processing them. Can I do that on my Elements 10?

    I know you are truly saddened by the garden devastation. Perhaps next time you go away, a neighbor kid could spray the goodies with mint. Starting over again this late in the season must feel very frustrating.

    Yes, I loves Williamsburg. When I was in the service, I lived in Yorktown and commuted to Ft. Eustis via the Parkway. It was before one had to get tickets, and we could just drive in, park, and do what ever we wanted. I was married to Paul at the Bruton Parish church. My mother must have had pull. LOL

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  2. I also worry about my gardens when we go away in the summer. Fortunately, I have daughters nearby who will come over and water which takes over an hour to do as I have too many plants. We also do the same for them, and being my daughters, they also have many plantings. Winter vacations are much less stressful for me.

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  3. Yeah you do what you have to do to be part of their lives and give those grandchildren memories. Our garden is growing good but the tomatoes are not setting. That could be due to pollinator problem and we got an artificial thing that claims to do it... we shall see.

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  4. I love Williamsburg and similar historical places. I plan on taking the kids to Gettysburg on the way home this trip.

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  5. I hope you're feeling better before too long, Tabor. Too bad about the sunflowers. I suspect despite that, your garden does better than most. Lovely pics.

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  6. Williamsburg is on my bucket list. I've wanted to make a visit for years.

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  7. While getting ill may have turned out to give you a bit of a break, it's still a sad homecoming, so i hope you are feeling much better soon.

    Good luck with getting things done before the possible storm, and i hope you end up getting more from the garden than the critters did this year.

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  8. Sorry to hear about your garden devastation! Darn rabbits!
    We are having to keep up with the raspberries too, but without the pressure of a tropical storm... Good luck.

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  9. Oh, that last pic made my mouth water! YUM!

    I remember when I was young, crying when my dad carried the shotgun down to the garden to shoot that darn rabbit.

    He didn't shoot it. Well, not while I was around. I'm sure there were several rabbits, anyway.

    Good luck during the storm.

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  10. nice find on the neruda books...

    our used book store just went out of business...

    that game in williamsburg sounds pretty cool...they have that in DC now at the spy museum...

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  11. That'll larn ya to go away. :)

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  12. Yes, I've been watching the storm progress your way. Hope you are ok now.

    Nope, we are an outdoor pool with classes only twice a day. Most of the year, lap swimmers use our pool....or the water polo folks.
    summer is here, and little kids will be appearing soon. One local indoor pool is so popular that there is literally no parking. The other just announced that it was closing for a year. Ours has a faulty heat sensor, and sometimes we are warm and sometimes we have goose bumps. They don't fix something until they have the money saved to fix it. (Mage says with a shrug.)

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  13. You're right, I always fantasize not going away for the whole summer and not letting the garden get away from me. I've never been to Williamsburg but did love the Thomas Jefferson estate visit, so maybe I would like it. Put it on the list.

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  14. Hi There, Just stopping by to say "Happy 4th of July".... Hope you have an incredible weekend whether you are traveling, with family or friends --or like us, just enjoying being home! We hope to grill a couple of steaks tomorrow. Our weather here is awesome right now...God Bless American --and God Bless YOU.

    I still haven't learned not to take SO many photos when we travel... Gads!!!! ha ha

    I'm sorry about your yard damage. We've come home to a mess before --but --knock on wood, so far this summer we have been fairly safe from critters...

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  15. I have a curled circle of chicken wire around all my plants outside. Mot as pretty, but will save them from the critters while I'm out. A Lily opened today! Without the chicken wire squirrels would eat the buds. Just need to worry about insects-
    Miss my Huckleberries now out of reach- Your pie sounds good!
    Enjoy the putter time!
    Hope the storm is kind to you there.

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  16. What the rabbits didn’t get the hurricane might?
    We have heard that the first hurricane of the season has hit N.C. today, it was on our weather new.

    Hope your tummy is better, I hate these bugs which keep you confined to a place near the loo.

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  17. Here the bunnies are not as rapacious as the slugs and the birds. I'm fighting both for crops -

    Not many bees around here either so pollination is suffering. There won't be much of a harvest this autumn.

    That shot of the raspberries is amazing! I've been picking blackcaps by the bucketload. Next year the raspberry plants should bear fruit. Now I just need a good camera!

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  18. I'm sorry about your yard damage. My garden is always been damage by hungry ants.

    Happy 4th July America!

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  19. "One Day at a Time" has been included in our Arlynda Lea's Sites to See #7. We hope this helps to call more attention to your efforts.

    http://arlyndalea.blogspot.com/2014/07/arlynda-keas-sites-to-see-7.html

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  20. Hope you are well now and that you have weathered the storm.
    I know the pain of damage to my house and yard after absence. We have so many critters to deal with in the tropics.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.