Edgar's in Love

Things are going well. The Hood Canal Bridge is once again open, we again have internet access at home, and the gardens are thriving. Oh, and yes, Edgar has fallen in love.


The Hood Canal Bridge was closed for five weeks so it made for a very long trip over to Edgar's Acres from Bellevue. Five hours to be exact, versus the usual 2 to 2.5 hours it usually takes. Early in May David and I, along with Susan, made the 5 hour drive over and 5 hour drive back for a long weekend so we could tend to the garden. We did a lot of weeding, and planting, and eating, and visiting, and of course, Susan and I did a lot of knitting. The weather was beautiful and the temperature perfect for gardening.


We harvested our first vegetables that weekend. We picked spinach, lettuce and radishes, all to be enjoyed back in Bellevue for a couple of weeks.

David was making great progress in knocking down the dandelions when he came across a bird's nest, which stopped him in his tracks. He was immediately banned from that section of the garden so Mrs. Junco would calm down and tend to her eggs. David put some straw down in front of the nest to give it more protection (and to make up for tearing down part of Mrs. Junco's nesting area).

By early May, we had planted ...

Onions (Walla Walla Sweets, Red Torpedos, Red Burgermeister, Yellow Cobras, and Leeks), lettuce, spinach, parsnips and radishes the weekend of March 20th at Edgar's Acres.

Shelling peas and Snap peas the weekend of March 27th in Bellevue.

Lettuce plants on April 5th at Edgar's Acres, and then Red potatoes, Russett potatoes, and early White potatoes; Broccoli plants, Brussel Sprout plants, Cabbage plants, and a new Artichoke plant the weekend of April 10th. The weekend of April 17th we planted Blackeye Peas, Beets, Carrots, and flowers.

On May 2nd we planted one Zuchini plant, a Cherry tomato plant, and parsley in Bellevue.

Then on the weekend of May 8th, besides weeding, we planted Acorn squash plants, Tomato plants, Red cabbage plants, Oregano and Parsley plants at Edgar's Acres.


By the time we left for Bellevue on May 10th, the garden looked wonderful.

Then David and I started the cleanup of the whole yard in Bellevue. We had to do something outside because we had great weather. We also wanted the yard to look nice when Frank and Rachel came up for the weekend.


We had a great visit and a fun barbeque. Rachel's friend Anna joined us, and both of these young ladies were astounded by the sight of men cleaning up a kitchen after dinner. Rachel and Anna, here is proof positive for you. Men can and do clean kitchens.

If they want dinner, they can clean up afterwards.


Memorial Day was beautiful in Bellevue, no rain, no wind, warm and sunny. The first time in 22 years. All of the flowers and shrubs were in full bloom, and we continue to have so many happy bees visiting our gardens.

The honey bees love the chive flowers. The holly tree, and the thyme have been totally covered with happy and content bees.

The bees are now visiting our pea patch and they have gone a good job of pollinating, because we have lots of pea pods growing.


John came up for the weekend after Memorial Day and we had a great visit with him as well. Always one for adventure, we cooked a beer can chicken on the grill. It was very tasty, albeit, looked a bit weird before it went on the grill.

Last Thursday, good news!!!!! The Hood Canal Bridge opened a week early, which meant David and I just had a two hour drive on Friday to Edgar's Acres. Our garden had been without tender loving care for four weeks, and we had a healthy crop of weeds. Fortunately, the weeding was pretty easy. We spent about 4-6 hours each day working in the garden (we always stop at 4:00). We are proud of what we got done, and the garden is so beautiful.
But what about Edgar? Well, Saturday night we were sitting on the deck after dinner when Edgar heard something in the back of the yard.
It was lighter than this picture shows because the flash went off on the camera. Edgar, Louie and Johnny went flying out to the back fence and Edgar starts running back and forth barking a fun bark. We assumed he was playing with our neighbor's dog when I noticed the tail of the "dog" was short. Our neighbor's dog has a long tail. I also noticed the tail was very distinctive, black with a white trim, and wagging and standing straight up. Then I noticed the "dog" was very tall, and had huge ears. What on earth was back there. Then it dawned on me. The deer Leslie has been gently removing from her yard for two weeks was in the yard directly behind us, playing with Edgar.


Meet Darla Deer (we had to name her). Leslie took this picture a couple of weeks ago, and the pictures I took Saturday night didn't come out very well.

Isn't she pretty. Leslie had called the local Fish and Wildlife Department and they said that since this is an adult deer, they wouldn't come get her. They told Leslie the best deterrent she could get to keep the deer out of the area is a dog. Well, they haven't met Edgar.


Edgar and Darla played chase, back and forth with the fence between them, for an hour. Johnny was following Edgar having no idea what it was all about because he was too short to see over the tall grass in the neighbor's yard.


The next morning Edgar got up and went to the back of the fence looking for Darla, but she had moved on. I heard from Leslie today that Darla was napping in her yard, so she's going to let her know Edgar will be back on Friday for the weekend.


You just never know.


TTFN


Sue