I say Tomawtos

I get my best ideas at three in the morning.

This morning I'd spring out in the garden bright and early and just tear out those overgrown tomato bushes, the ones still bowed down with unripe fruit. Then, and here's the thinking part, I'd take those unruly branches down the basement and hang them upside down from the rafters.

That way, I had read, the fruit will ripen and you don't waste a thing. Yes I do know about green tomato relish. forgetaboudit.

Anyway, by the time the sun came up and I was actually out there, it didn't seem as good an idea. In fact, it was one of the worst. The damned roots were enormous and unwilling to budge and the branches were seriously clinging to the cages.

A quick phone call and my sweet daughter-in law Miss Lorrie agreed to take whatever I could wrestle free and she'll ripen them in paper bags and then make salsa.

Now that's a plan.

This is most of the heap after they had been wrenched from their home.



This is where they'd been, tucked between three kinds of peppers, basil and one fennel.I was curious to see what the latter would grow up to be and as far as I can tell, it never did.



This is what I culled from under the bushes. Out of sight there's another huge pail full picked from the branches.



The good news is that once the tomatoes were planted in the spring the bunnies stayed away from the garden. The bad news is that this little wretch appeared the minute the harvest was complete.

Going, going...

The garden is slowly fading away, settling in for a long chilly sleep.

There are some last bursts of bloom, though.
The last Clematis.



And the final rose



This little beauty has a name unknown to me. I forgot to write it down when I did find out. It pops up in the spring showing leaves only, a cross between Lily of the Valley and Hosta. At the end of June it simply fades into the earth until September, when these crocus-like blooms appear. What a bonus.



I got this statue at the junk yard for five bucks. It stands guard over the fish and so far has been doing a fine job.



The Magnolia tree is still in need of therapy. I've moved it four times (don't ask) and at present am air layering a stem to make a new tree in the spring. It still produces blooms that last one day and then collapse. Quite lovely but quirky.



The spiders are hanging out on the deck and this one has a web made of rubber I think. I just skirt around him and we're both happy.

Peace and Quiet

The idea was that I'd move into this small house with an eye to paring down my old life style and once the roof was replaced and the second bathroom installed I figured I would coast along into my dotage.

The toilet never flushed properly in the "new" bathroom but I lived with its quirks until recently. Okay, recently means two years have passed, but I kept a note on the tank to advise the occupant to hold the lever down until the entire flushing action was done. Sometimes it didn't flush anyway.

Finally I called a plumber. The first one on the scene admitted after half an expensive hour that he had no clue as to the problem.

Enter plumber #2. He told me a sad story about what squirrels can do by storing walnuts in that breather thingie on the roof and I was happy to report there are no walnut trees and very few squirrels in the neighborhood.

Then he figured there was a problem in that same vent between the upstairs and downstairs toilets and he would send one of their specialists over to chop a hole in the wall and correct the problem.

There aren't any telephone listings for female plumbers but by this time I was prepared to find out if one was in training and wait for her to graduate.

Well, #3 arrived not having been told what his predecessor had said and gave what just might be the correct diagnosis; the pipes under my lovely ceramic tile floor are not sloping properly, in fact they run straight across instad of sloping down at a progressive angle.

You know what that means don't you? Sure you do, they had to chop up part of my lovely floor.

Actually, #4 and #5 were called in to do that.



My timing was out to lunch and my daughter had been cajoled (she says coerced) into painting the living/dining room so everything was already in chaos.



But progress is a- happening. The pipes are re-jigged, the trench is packed in with dirt and gravel and I matched the bathroom floor tiles so they will soon be restored.

In the other room the painting is done,the pictures re-hung and yes, it is a deep royal purple. So sue me.



What is absolutely clear to me is that I can't afford any more down-sizing.