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Usually I'm impatient for fall, but this year I'm happy to have some summer left. Back in April, we asked ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu what his recuperation goal was and he said, "To sit on the back porch on my birthday drinking tangerine juice with friends." Mom even made a gaudy poster of it to hang in his room at the acute care facility. That didn't happen; it was more than two months before he was able to sit outside at all and another six weeks before he could sit outside on his own porch. (By then he'd swapped out mango-orange for tangerine juice and we still haven't had any friends over.)
He's become so much more sensitive to cold since his dramatic weight loss that what's comfortable outdoor temperature to most people isn't to him. He seems happiest close to 30°C. Below 25°C, his tolerance seems to max out at about 30 minutes--and that's even with him being bundled in a terrycloth robe. So if missing out on crisp clear mornings for a couple weeks more is the price I pay for the Old Man being able to sit outside for a while before the long cold winter, so be it.
I am getting impatient about preparing the garden for next year, though. It's been too hot and dry lately to consider doing much transplanting, so everything which hasn't made it into the ground yet is still on hold. That includes the bulbs I got or dug up (and hopefully didn't ruin trying to dry out and store), which can't be planted until nighttime temps drop below 10°C, the price prairie plants and such that a neighbour shared with me, and whatever miscellaneous purchases I've made.
The other factor is waiting formonshu's input. He's got definite ideas about the front garden and, with Scooter gone, we have a rare opportunity to do exactly what we want. I'm hoping to drag him out there to make some decisions so I can begin planning the work. (He'd like me to move around several sizable shrubs, so this isn't a small job.) At least he was able to give me feedback on the smoketree which licenced me to hack the hell out of it. It's been growing out more than up lately and something needed to be done. I've taken off a dozen branches and will have to remove more in order to shape it properly.
For the time being, I've abandoned both the hellstrip and our garden plot, which is now a solid mass of oregano and lemon balm outside of the chives along the front fence. The autumn blooming clematis is also well out of control, but I want to wait until it's totally spent before hacking it back. I was very pleased the GWO got to enjoy it in full bloom at least for a few days, especially after missing out on everything else.
monshu what his recuperation goal was and he said, "To sit on the back porch on my birthday drinking tangerine juice with friends." Mom even made a gaudy poster of it to hang in his room at the acute care facility. That didn't happen; it was more than two months before he was able to sit outside at all and another six weeks before he could sit outside on his own porch. (By then he'd swapped out mango-orange for tangerine juice and we still haven't had any friends over.)He's become so much more sensitive to cold since his dramatic weight loss that what's comfortable outdoor temperature to most people isn't to him. He seems happiest close to 30°C. Below 25°C, his tolerance seems to max out at about 30 minutes--and that's even with him being bundled in a terrycloth robe. So if missing out on crisp clear mornings for a couple weeks more is the price I pay for the Old Man being able to sit outside for a while before the long cold winter, so be it.
I am getting impatient about preparing the garden for next year, though. It's been too hot and dry lately to consider doing much transplanting, so everything which hasn't made it into the ground yet is still on hold. That includes the bulbs I got or dug up (and hopefully didn't ruin trying to dry out and store), which can't be planted until nighttime temps drop below 10°C, the price prairie plants and such that a neighbour shared with me, and whatever miscellaneous purchases I've made.
The other factor is waiting for
monshu's input. He's got definite ideas about the front garden and, with Scooter gone, we have a rare opportunity to do exactly what we want. I'm hoping to drag him out there to make some decisions so I can begin planning the work. (He'd like me to move around several sizable shrubs, so this isn't a small job.) At least he was able to give me feedback on the smoketree which licenced me to hack the hell out of it. It's been growing out more than up lately and something needed to be done. I've taken off a dozen branches and will have to remove more in order to shape it properly.For the time being, I've abandoned both the hellstrip and our garden plot, which is now a solid mass of oregano and lemon balm outside of the chives along the front fence. The autumn blooming clematis is also well out of control, but I want to wait until it's totally spent before hacking it back. I was very pleased the GWO got to enjoy it in full bloom at least for a few days, especially after missing out on everything else.