Thursday, June 19, 2014

Excuse My French…

…but I’ve turned into a lazy little shit these days.

Maybe it’s the weather, but I tend to believe it’s my true nature showing through.  Give me essentially unlimited free time, and I will happy fill it with pointless, time-wasting distractions.  For quite a while, I kept myself busy with volunteering, twice-a-week delivery gigs with a local farm, meetings, gardening, errands, and of course lots of internet time.  All of this neatly kept me from serious job hunting.  “Hey, at least I’m bringing some money in,” I told myself as I cashed the small checks from my delivery job.

But, as I knew it would, that job has dried up, and the postponed guilt for wasting time is starting to sneak in.  Have I mentioned that job hunting is my least favorite activity in the world?  At least a visit to the dentist has a definite ending, and it doesn’t usually make you question your worth as a human being.  And, of course, you know where and when to do find your dentist, and you are (hopefully) not only expected, but welcomed.  Not like waving your virtual resume in a stranger’s face, saying “Could you please read this and appreciate how my odd job history has actually given me a unique set of skills I can use to help your business?  Hello?  Was my wording too passive?  Did I use the wrong salutation?  Or is it that my cover letter is trite and meaningless?  Did you even see my cover letter?  Hello?”

All of this is to say, I’ve really been enjoying my summer vacation a bit too much. And while I’ve spent most of today procrastinating on the activities I use to procrastinate with, I did get inspired this afternoon to take a few pictures.  For some reason, I was possessed with the urge to go outside in the ridiculous heat and humidity and wander around the garden in the hottest part of the day.  Surprisingly, it seems mostly unaffected by our weeks-long spell of 90+ degree weather.

Garden 06 (6)

I did water yesterday morning, and I mulched well this spring, so the soil is retaining moisture pretty well.  Still, you can see on the the left where I pulled out a broccoli plant, the top is pretty dry.  I think it may be time to put down the rest of the crushed-leaf mulch I saved from last fall.

I’ve still got plenty of radishes in the ground, but they get so spicy in this heat that I’m letting them flower to attract pollinators.  Besides, they’re quite pretty, in a messy sort of way.

Garden 06 (7b)

The plentiful pollinators wouldn’t hold still long enough to get a decent picture.

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This cute little visitor did, though!

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Honestly, I don’t worry too much about pollinators this time of year, because the rose of sharon tree next to the garden is abuzz with insects while it’s in bloom.  The dramatic hibiscus-like flowers draw me in, too.

Garden 06 (13)

Garden 06 (15)

 

There are other flowers that I find more passionately about, though…like this cheery little cucumber blossom.

Garden 06 (22)

 

The brown-eyed susans are rocking their annual extravaganza, though my sad little mortgage lifter tomato on the right is mostly stem and sterile flowers.

Garden 06 (19)

Not to fear, Miss Chef’s Cherokee purple is working on some pretty fruits…

Garden 06 (18)

 

…and the first Sungold cherry tomatoes may well find their way onto a salad tonight!

Garden 06 (3)

 

And, with that, it’s time to head inside, and let the plants do their whole baking-in-the-sun routine.  I’m gonna go suck in some air conditioning!

Garden 06 (1)

4 comments:

  1. Alison, good luck with your job hunting. While some people find it easy to "sell" themselves, I think that most of us find it hard and not pleasant. Hope you will find something in your compétences and that you will like. It is not fun to go to work in the mornings, backwards.

    Your garden is triving. I'm glad you told us the name of the flowering shrub near the garden; I was wondering what it was. Really beautiful...

    To cool you down a little bit, here it is about 20°C today and it was only 5°C during the night. I often sit on the porch to look at the sky and listen to "les bruits de la nuit" before going to bed and last nignt, I had to wrap myself in a blanket because it was too cold. But, I don't mind because summer is so short here.

    Have a nice weekend!

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  2. Yes, job hunting is awful. Let's hope it leads to a fulfilling job.
    Our pitiful tomatoes are about pea sized. It will be fun to see the Cherokee purple when it's mature.

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  3. It's looking good there in your garden. Job hunting is the stuff of nightmares. Good luck.

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  4. I hated the job hunting. I got lazier and lazier. I procrastinated a lot about everything. Eventually I became depressed. It's vicious. Hang in there!

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