Impatience

I knew better, of course, but I had to go check to see if the onions were peeking up through the mulch today. It will be at least two weeks before they get big enough to cut; and we may get a frost by then. But that's OK, they'll be back in the spring. They're not up yet. A watched onion never sprouts, I guess!

Almost time to cut the sunflower heads for the seeds. Once dried, I'll save the largest head for seeds for next year, and shell and use the rest for bread additions, even nuts in cookies and on top of casseroles. It's the simple things we like. Like the bookcase Mike built this week, of old discarded boards that were on a shelf in the barn, the boards that perfectly match the rustic and rough grey wood of the walls of the family room; it looks like it has always been there.

I can't dig the horseradish until the first killing frost. That great big patch out there is calling me like a siren, though. There are so many things I want to try with it; not just making my own sauce (I do love the extra bite of horseradish on my rare meat), but seeing if I can make the sinus cures and muscle rub with it as well. Fascinating stuff, horseradish. Who knew? I've never grown it before; the clay soil in SC just wasn't conducive to it. But here in the sand it grows wildly, even almost joyfully, springing up thickly, its wide leaves waving and rustling in the wind.

But something I've never read about and am thinking about - you know, you can make capascin oil, from ground dried hot peppers mixed with vegie oil and water, to keep animals and bugs off of plants; it is a natural insecticide and deer don't like it either. But I'm wondering if the flavenoids in the horseradish root will do the same? I've made up my mind to experiment with it. The gophers don't seem to like the roots much, they avoid the patch; and although the grasshoppers and cabbage moths seem to like the leaves, they don't seem to handicap the plants any. Still, it is worth a shot - use what you have.

Working on cutting up old clothes for a quilt pattern right now. So many of this size, so many of that size. I made quilts when I was a young mother the first time, so long ago that it has taken a while to come back to me - but it has. Why cut up perfectly good material into tiny squares or strips and resew it? Because, out of something old and faded or outgrown, or otherwise useless, I can make something warm and pretty and uniquely - me.

For some reason Lake has been spending a lot of time in the corral; she seems to like our company more and more. When I took a break, I went out and brushed her again today. When I am old and decrepit, and can't do anything but wander around and eat, I hope someone feeds me Oreos and brushes my knots out too. Her constant presence of course has increased my supply of readily-available horse poop; it's time to rake out the barns and corral again, add it to the compost pile. I dug into it yesterday to dump in some potato peels and egg shells, and the still-green-but-dying petunias from the pots; everything was turning black and really working. No poop smell, just dirt and rot. Can't wait until the leaves start falling - more mulch for the pile! Scraping it off, digging more in, digging it down deep then repiling it, is keeping it warm and active. Temps are in the 80's all this week, with 50's at night; good for rot.

I just love how things can be recycled over and over; green to poop to green again, seeds to flowers to more seeds and more food, maybe even horseradish to help things grow. Old clothes instead of being sold for a quarter or thrown away, turned into something useful again. Watching and waiting for the natural cycle of growth and death and rebirth is so like the advancing season of fall, when things start to slow a little and one can think about the changes, plan for them.

I am learning patience again.