Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The New Project

In late summer portions of the sunny utility meadow tower over my head. There is always something to do in there. And see.



Ligularia dentata 'Othello' lives down in the meadow. I killed a store bought one of these. It would be nice if more of those seeds it produces made keiki.



I am still growing the finest pint sized cantaloupe east of the Mississippi. I was hoping our hot summer would do the trick and make them balloon to normal size. Maybe the soil is missing a vital minor element. I don't know what their problem is.



But maybe, in the exact same section of soil, there is looking to be a chance of growing a normal sized small yellow fleshed watermelon. If my other melon should remain miniature there will need to be some research done. I do know that the soil in the roadside vegetable garden annex at this end was not quite as good. It may take a few years of decomposing wood chips to make things right.



But I wandered down there to contemplate the new project. The resident gardeners have the planting of the new chimney garden under control. My job is to provide another dramatic focal point.



I want to try and make something with these. They are 3 foot long threaded steel rods that weigh about 20 pounds each. I have 8 of them. They must be some alien alloy because neither 1 inch or 1 1/4 inch galvanized couplings would thread on to them. One coupling was too big, the other too small. I want to join them together in some form, give them a cement boot and plant them near the chimney.

Like we don't have enough for the rubberneckers to contemplate now as they whiz by.



Crawford is no help with such projects. His project is always the single minded small varmint control. If the varmints get too big, he runs inside.



That other project I have going moves incrementally along.



But by now it should be painfully clear that the duration of my life will be on ongoing series of projects. It is good to slip in a more creative one now and again.

6 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Yes, it feels great to be creative. To finish a project is also very satisfying. It is fun to see all the color and texture on the mountain. I can't seem to grow Othello. I wonder if it is because of the heat and humidity. I don't water much either. I know you don't water much either but it must be cooler up in those mountains. Other than that I don't know what to think.

Frances said...

Hmm, Christopher, I wonder what those alien rods were for if they are not standard sizes. Your plan for them sounds exciting and the chimney is full of potential. Crawford is doing what is should be doing. Life is a series of projects, creative and otherwise. I would say yours are heavy on the creative.
Frances

Lola said...

I really like the idea of a special garden about the chimney. I have no idea what the rods are but I'm sure you will make something beautiful of them.
Oh that Crawford is something else. Like the boys here, they tend to ignore what is being said to them. Or what they are supposed to do.
It's nice to have creative ideas & through those some dreams come forth.

Siria said...

Hi Christopher!
Your gardens are looking so lush and beautiful! That new garden by the old chimney will be a fun new project ~ I love that old chimney! Those rods are really a mystery. I wonder what they were? I do like that old iron pot in the back of your truck too. Where is that going?

Betty Cloer Wallace said...

Still loving your photos and looking forward to whatever you do at the old chimney.

Don't know what the rods are.

Did you ever identify the snake? It's hard to see the shape of its head and tail, but it looks too dark to be a copperhead. For comparison, Gulahiyi has some good copperhead photos on his site recently (two blogs ago): http://gulahiyi.blogspot.com/

Christopher C. NC said...

Lisa I think my store bought 'Othello' rotted because its feet were too wet and that is what I thought it wanted.

Frances my best guess about these metal rods is that they were some part of heavy machinery. What kind of machinery is another question. Yes I do have lots of creative projects. I just must be wearing out on the tiling. So close.

Lola I am a very bad influence on the resident gardeners. I think they are much more prone to expansion now.

Siria that old iron pot is an odd hibachi type grill. It will find a home in my garden or the basememt patio.

Hi Betty. I saw those copperheads at Gulahiyi. I am fairly certain the snake I saw was a common rat snake, Elaphe obsoleta. The fact that is was high up in a shrub was a clue.