Saturday, June 4, 2016

june is the cruelest month! ( sorry to rip you off T. S.)

before we get to june...let's backtrack a little. it never fails - the first 3 weeks of may go something like this 3 sunny days, 1 rainy day, 1 sunny day, 2 foggy days, 1 sunny day...rinse...repeat. but then the last 5-7 days of may are gorgeous and sunny with light mist in the morning and then beautiful sunshine for the whole rest of the day and the sun doesn't go down until almost 9pm! you get tricked - you know better but you get tricked into thinking it's summer....like july-august-september kind of summer because our true summer doesn't start until mid-july and runs almost right through to end september.


see what i mean? look how bright and beautiful the last few days of may had been. and check out the beautiful red and gold finches in the apple trees!


yes the last week in may gets us all excited, even though we know better, but can't help ourselves. we get a bunch of stuff transplanted and planted. we make our first round of comfrey water to feed the plants. jambaloney almost pukes when he takes the lid off - it's pretty foul smelling stuff - but i love the smell of it - i know how many nutrients it contains for the plants! (i also love the smell of the compost bucket and it's poor jambaloney that has to drag it to the compost gagging and choking the whole way - bahahahah!!!)


P your comfrey slips are ready and will be mailed on monday. W i will save your slips until you give me the ok. email response coming.

check this out - a tiny baby pepper! in cape breton! in may!!!! amazing!


another beautiful end of may day and more birds in the trees. they entrance us and we lose hours sitting out front or out back watching them. we also got our wild duck back. he's been back a few times but each time alone. i want him to bring his mate!


jam had finished transplanting all of the chamomile - we weeded the bed but left the volunteer comfrey as who can ever have too much comfrey?


we mulched the bed with our own mulch. oh to go back in time, 6 yrs ago, and have spent the money on a mulcher/chipper. jam got ours on half price. but honestly - if you are only starting out in your garden, farm, raised bed - whatever - invest in a chipper! it will help keep moisture in, keeps the weeds down and after harvest can be tilled into your soil to decompose over the winter and add nutrients to your soil.

i mulched all of our overwintered peppers.


i also mulched all of our tomatoes.


hey - wanna know what a couple of 1 and a half pounders look like?


these babies start coming in from may until august. they are caught by our friends in fourchu and fourchu lobster are known to be the best in the world! i know it may seem that we eat a lot of lobster - but we do - it's seasonal, it's local, it's the healthiest lobster in the world and - remember guys - i don't have any teeth!!! i can eat lobster and i don't have to blitzkrieg it into mush which is really starting to get old. i can actually chew the lobster because the meat is so tender.

there's always gonna be a pick of sushi in my posts. i love sushi! and it's another thing i can eat!


here is the car that the dealership gave to jambaloney. it's a ford focus. jam says it's a nice little car but we are happy to have truckdura back in the driveway.


a beautiful sunset on one of the last evening's in may.


here's my new swing/gazebo with a net.


it's a place to go to escape black flies. i also always had a swing for the past 15 yrs. we got it at the first place we lived in, took it to the second place and then to our first-owned home back in the city. i loved that swing and it looked so perfect in the little park in our yard there. the kids who bought the place wanted the swing so we left it for them. and for 6 years i have not had a swing. i love it!


i wanted a green or brown gazebo/swing thing but they only came in red. that's ok because jambaloney is going to build me a proper cedar swing next year and this can go out front with all of the other stuff in the front yard that is red. it will fit right in.

sorry kids...more lobster. this is a 2 pounder and he was delicious! does anyone else drink the lobster juice from the knuckles, claws, tail and insides before they start breaking up the shells to dig out the meat? i suck every last piece of the lobster water before i crack anything. jambaloney does a little but he doesn't really care for it. so yummeh!


the salad greens are from our garden and i made a puree of mango, peach, mandarine, ginger, lime, and our own fresh mint. it was delicious!

and of course - lobster pasta. i would normally NEVER serve lobster pasta with macaroni but macaroni is easier for me to eat with no teeth.


jambaloney's is on the left - he made a super spicy sauce with our home-canned tomatoes, turmeric and our home-made hot sauce. i made mine with olive oil, butter, garlic, home-canned tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, cayenne and feta with olives. i wouldn't touch jambaloney's with a pole - just smelling it cooking had my eyes and nose running!

well...back to the last few days of may. much was accomplished and days and evenings were enjoyed - minus the black flies. but, as happens every year, we run around basking in the beauty of several, wonderful summer days, high-fiving ourselves, thinking we'll be swimming in the ocean tomorrow because it's summer.

no - between that last week of beautiful-trick-you-into-thinking-it's-summer...and ACTUAL summer comes june. and june is usually pretty bleck. so far this is a good representation of june.


june IS the cruelest month!

(anybody remember the song from, i think Sesame Street, that goes:

oh the moon in june is a big baloon
it makes you swoon, it makes you croon
it's heaven....being on the moon.
non, non.....la lune.

i think of that song and sing it to myself everytime i say or hear the word june.)

june is not all bad....we'll have some nice days, some crappy cold days like they are calling for, for the rest of the week. but it's not summer. so we have to wait. sigh.

28 comments:

  1. S'funny - we also got another load of mulch last Thursday when we went to town. Great minds think alike ;)

    Love your swing - and the colour :D

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    1. Dani - glad to hear you got some mulch! is it expensive and how much do you get? that swing is pretty awesome - not as awesome as my cedar swing back in the city but it is a nice swing and the price was right. when it goes to the front yard next year it will really fit in because everything in the front yard is red. xoxo

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  2. I not only don't have a swing for the first time in all my years as a home owner, i don't even have a porch :(. But that set up of yours might work on my patio! :)

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    1. jewlz - i've been dying without my swing...and we don't even have a single tree on our property to hang an old tire even. so i am happy to have my swing. i hope you get a swing soon...it's so relaxing to take breaks during the day, and especially in the evening to have a swing. xoxo

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  3. somehow I need to write a sonnet about Lobster envy....
    ;0

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    1. oh Fiona - you absolutely must write a lobster sonnet - bahahhahha! xoxox

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  4. June around here is a major transition month. May comes in nice but then turns into the daily monsoon rains that slowly start to peter out in June. By Mid June we get those fast super storms and then the HEAT arrives. A wet, humid, take your breath away heat.

    July is when we start drying out.

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    1. ya - june here is pretty gray and rainy and foggy and misty. we don't get our proper summer heat until july. the good thing tho is that we don't have to water in june. and ugh - wet, humid and hot - i experienced that in maryland one summer. i thought i would die! xoxox

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  5. Today it was 116 degrees Fahrenheit here in Laughlin. The water in the bird bath evaporated! No flies, they couldn't stand the heat. I will go outside in another couple of hours and water the plants in the dark.Did I mention Blazing hot full blast sunshine! Now I can start working on my tan! ha ha ha ha

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    1. Rat - i don't know how you handle that kind of heat. i love hot summer days but my idea of hot is 77F and that is always with the fresh ocean breeze blowing so feels more like 68-70F. that's my idea of a wonderful summer day. and ya - with your weather - 20 mins in the sun and you'd be burned to a crispy nice brown - bahahahah! xoxox

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  6. Replies
    1. thanks Gorges. with the extra bit of money from jambaloney working we were able to save for it. i love it! xoxox

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  7. Sweet Kymber,

    June can be a hard month for many. June starts with slowing the flow of constant rain here. It starts to heat up with high humidity levels.

    Like you and Jam, Bulldog Man and I love to sit out and watch the birds coming in and eating seed. It's very relaxing to sit and watching them play and eat.

    I love your covered swing, this allows you to enjoy the outside and totally avoid those pain in the butt black flies.

    Keep up the wonderful work on your garden beds with the wood chips. I have to agree with you, one must have a wood chipper if you live on a homestead or farm. Wood chips in the garden is an amazing source to help with moisture and bugs.

    Your lobsters are beautiful, and I know it's delicious. Having this fresh source of shell fish or even just fish is something we all crave or desire to have at our figure tips. Time for us to find property where there's a nice water source to fish for food.

    Y'all enjoy your weekend, don't get too much sun. Sending hugs and love your way.
    Sandy

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    1. Sweet Sandy - june kinda' sucks around here. only because back in the city we would have 2 days of autumn, 4 months of winter, 2 days of spring, and then summer started in may. we just have to change our expectations but every year we get tricked - bahahahah! ya we love watching the birds and noting the ones who stay all year, and those that return. the swing is helping with providing a place to go and not get eaten alive! that wood chipper sure is a keeper and we have so much dead wood on our land that we will never run out of mulch! and hey Sandy - we'd take you guys anytime, give you a chunk of land and jam would even take you guys to all of his secret fishing places. the lobster is divine and at this time of the year it comes off the boats and straight into the cooker. we have a friend at Lobsters R Us and he cooks them to perfection on site. jam gets 4-6 each time he goes in to work - we either eat them all at once or process some for the freezer. jam just went out this eve and in 45 mins he got the allowed limit of 5 trout. he or i will have a pic up soon. no worries about us getting too much sun - we haven't seen the sun in over a week - bahahahah! sending hugs and love back to you, always! xoxoxox

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  8. Good advice about the chipper! Just today we were badly wishing for one. With all our trees plus doing our own firewood and now our own lumber, we have tons of branches to chip! We finally rented one, but really want one of our own. It would get a lot of use. If only we can find the right one at the right price.

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    1. oh Leigh - if you were closer we would lend you ours. you wouldn't even believe how much mulch you can make with dead wood that's just laying around. wait it out and wait for a deal. jambaloney kept his eyes peeled for one for about 6 months and then it went on for half price and he grabbed it. i hope that you guys find one for a reasonable price. the only other advice is to make sure you get one with adequate horsepower tho. xoxox

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  9. I've been wanting a chipper, but wondering if it was a wise investment. Now I'm thinking it's worth it. Of course, I could spend the money on lobsters instead, haha! They cost about as much here, ha. Here's wishing for clear and black fly free days ahead for you both!

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    1. 1st Man - i highly recommend one. oh, if only someone had told us to get one 6 yrs ago and told us of all of the benefits - we would have gotten one. and yes, i imagine wood chippers are about the same price as lobster down there - bahahahahah! black-fly free days don't start until early august and by then we are dealing with mosquitoes and deer flies. ya just can't win! xoxox

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  10. we got a big chipper last year, its been great, love the Lobsters, Martin has just started a diving course and hopes when he is here full time next year to go diving for shell fish, It has been a very hot week here and we need rain badly now :-)

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    1. Dawn - so glad that you got one and have good results with it. i can't wait to hear about Martin's diving course and see what kind of shellfish he can go and find. when we were kids we would have snorkels and masks and pick up the lobsters along the reef. i am doing a raindance for you this eve when we go out to the hottub - i hope it works! xoxox

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  11. Replies
    1. karl - this is the freshest, most juicy lobster known to mankind. and yes, yum! i will check your blog as it looks like you might be posting again. xoxo

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  12. I like your swing. We have a big wooden one, but it's hard for me to use since we have so many dogs that want to swing with me.

    What kind of duck is your visitor? We get Teal (blue wing, I think) and Wood Ducks at our pond.

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    1. Kelly - i feel your pain. everytime we go out to get on the swing - no go - 2 big fat cats sitting on the swing yawning and swinging. usually the only ducks we see on our land are called american black ducks. and we don't see many. there are just too many uninhabited places on our island with tons of rivers, streams and lakes - they tend to stay away from people. your ducks that visit sound lovely. xoxo

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  13. I see you have the Original RED LOBSTER. Its getting hard to stop by and not leave hungry.

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    1. Rob - you got it buddy - we ARE the original Red Lobster. got your email. cute pic of Sammy. gonna check your blog to see if you have been posting. nothing showing up in my blogroll but my blogroll has been wonky lately as have several others. xoxoxo

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  14. Oy! I want those lobsters! I like the idea of a screened in glider - I am a black fly magnet, too, and it makes life outdoors a living hell. It's so easy to get over-excited about spring after waiting so long, and then have your pins knocked out from under you just when you think it's safe. Won't be long, sweetie!

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    1. Susan - come on over and i'll stuff you full of lobster. big ones too! it sounds like you and me are both black fly magnets - it sucks! and yes - every year we think it's summer and it's not. it's june. sucky old june. i shouldn't complain...june is so moist and foggy and misty and rainy - it keeps all of the garden watered. but man - i just want to get there and suntan and swim. it's coming i know. thanks hon. xoxoxo

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