And life goes on.

My time for the last few weeks has been spent in the garden, working on the “forever puzzle” and getting a flagpole base ready in front of the house.

As far as the garden goes, I planted peas and pole beans this week from sets I started a few weeks ago. This week the “birdhouse” gourd sets will go in the ground. I don’t know if it will be warm enough here for them to mature but will see. The seeds came from a friend and all that I started germinated.

Craig had a friend give him a tomato plant which I put in a 5 gallon wicking tub. It is an heirloom “Black Krim” tomato. I hope it puts out fruit. The inside is black when ripe.

I haven’t had as much luck with my “pickle” cucumber seeds from last year although 3 of the 4 did sprout. I may start a few more seeds to prolong the season.

I also started a few different lettuce seeds of which about half sprouted. That will extend the season for lettuce.

In the raised garden bed I started beets, cilantro, and dill. All of those are sprouted.

Yesterday I bought a few marigold plants to put around the garden to deter pests. I wish they deterred gophers as well. So far I have caught 2 in the trap. They can really do some damage. My raised bed has hardware cloth under it so I am not too worried about gophers getting into it.

Lettuce ready to pick this week.

Tomatoes starting to blossom.

Zucchini really growing fast.

The flagpole project is ongoing as I need to pick up some bags of cement for the base. The flagpole was a”freebie” from a friend. It is an aluminum pole about 20 feet tall and comes in sections. We decided to put it in the flower bed in front of the house as it is the only visible place the flag would be seen from the street.

The puzzle actually has some progress this week. It is down to the really hard stuff now as most of it is black pieces. One at a time!

Still practicing “social distancing”.

Actually we have stayed at home for the most part, with a few exceptions. I did make a trip to Home Depot and a couple of trips to Costco in the last few weeks. Both trips were made with masks on. Today, Clyda and I went out for vegetable plants for the garden. I got most of what I wanted but could use a few more Anaheim Chili plants. I may find some later.

I had picked up a bunch of motorcycle pallets from a local shop. These are really heavy frames which I cut up for campfire wood. It took both Craig and I to load them on my pickup. Some of the frames make nice garden fences so I built several to complete the fence around my garden patch. These actually are temporary fence pieces to keep Craig’s dog Sky out until the plants become big enough that she won’t bother them. Without the fence her curiosity lets her tramp all over my beds. I also have enough wood for a couple of years of campfires. All of these pallets used twist nails which I pulled using a variety of tools. It is a lot of work but it can be done with patience and muscle.

I am still working on my 1000 piece puzzle which is slowwwwly taking shape. When I opened the box there was a note inside which said “You have bought a seriously hard puzzle-and we’re so thankful you did. We think you will love it”. Well, I don’t know about loving it but it surly is a challenge. This has been more than a month to get it to this point. Perseverance!

I have been getting the garden ready to plant and that included making 3 “wicking tubs” for my tomatoes. Google it to see more. Craig and I cut 2 plastic barrels in half to make the tubs. The barrels had been stored behind our garden shed for years. Originally they were to be used to store rain water for watering potted plants. We used things we had on hand to do the tubs. Things like 5 inch drain pipe in the bottom and weed cloth to keep dirt out of the drain pipes. Really, Google it!

A few weeks ago I planted seeds of those plants I want in my garden. Most have sprouted and will be ready to plant in a week or so. I actually used seeds left over from last year and so far almost all have sprouted.

The Angel Trumpet Plant on our side patio is in full bloom again. It has a very sweet smell every evening.

I will cut this short and get it posted.