Unnervingly Cold Spring, our Friend River, and an Awesome Fruit Haul

We got a nice handful of lilacs from our baby lilac tree this weekend. Here they are in an Ikebana arrangement under the Meal Gatha in our kitchen.

Everything seemed to be moving along toward summer until yesterday, when temperatures suddenly dropped into the 50s during the day and the winds picked up. Last night was freezing, and we woke up swaddled in the down comforter, nearly refusing to get out of bed.

Then this morning, I checked the pot of organic basil I bought last week. The overnight cold pretty much killed it. I almost cried. This is turning out to be a brutal spring, and it’s going to adversely affect our food production this year. Last year at this time, all our vegetable plants were in the garden and on their way. We planted everything on May 2 in 2015, and May continued to be a wonderfully warm, dry month. Today is windy and cool again. More rain is predicted this week.

In happier news, we got a nice handful of lilacs from our baby lilac tree this weekend (see photo above): I placed them in an Ikebana arrangement under our Meal Gatha. My husband and I also did a really nice fruit haul Sunday – mangoes, avocados, navel oranges, mandarin oranges, starfruit, apples, limes, lemons, and bananas. I bought a market watermelon that tastes like it’s from the market, blech. Can’t wait to be growing our own, but now I’m wondering if our growing season is going to be long enough this year for melon production.

Albertus spruce is not my favorite tree, but it does make a great topiary. My husband bought me a beautiful Albertus spruce topiary tree yesterday. The shape is called the ‘poodle topiary’ and as you may guess, is shaped of several ‘balls’ that have been neatly clipped. It will need some maintenance, but will be completely worth it. I just love how it looks.

We were going to buy two green (serrated) leaf, weeping Japanese maples for my birthday, but the plan changed when we contacted the tree farmer who cultivates them and leaned that they cost about 400 to 500 dollars each. As lovely as those trees would be in the Zen garden, those are outrageous prices that we just can’t afford. The topiary is a gorgeous consolation prize.

The greens beds are exploding, and there’s plenty of lettuce to share. Today’s lunch is a homemade hummus sandwich (with our garden parsley) on wheat pita with a fistful of our garden arugula. This crop of arugula is super spicy and crisp, and I love it.

Our friend River is getting sicker right now. His cancer has appeared in three lymph nodes in his lower back. I’m really depressed about this. River is the coolest dude you’d ever want to know. I talked with his wife yesterday, and she said he’s bummed, won’t eat, won’t see anyone, and won’t get out of bed. The new chemotherapy is treating his body harshly.

Tonight, my husband is going to bring River a cinnamon crumb cake I made last night. My husband asked me yesterday, “Why bring him food if he’s not eating?” Well, I said, his wife may be hungry, and it’s nice to just send some love River’s way. There’s nothing lonelier than illness. Please send River some healing, loving vibes. We love him, he’s an awesome spirit, and he is much needed on this Earth.

Live in peace.