Sunday, May 22, 2011

A May Day in the Life

Breakfast yesterday for our guests was organic fruit salad, organic yogurt, organic granola, and organic blueberry muffins. After their breakfast, I wrote a blog about the artist who created the Preservation Hall doors for posting tomorrow, which took about an hour, and admired the wisteria, cascading over the cottage roof. Then Sven and I went to the transfer station, ie. dump, to check out the Eco-Fair. I was especially interested by "the proper mercury disposal stand," where I learned about mercury in old thermostats. Then I watched a demonstration of how to make compost, something I have done for many years. We stopped to visit with Derek Diedricksen, whose getaway shack drew a number of curious Wellfleetians. In the second photo at the top of this post, Derek chats with Sven, Todd Schwebel, and daughter Freya. (Check out Derek's amazing Humble House, Simple Shacks, a book which was recently picked up by a clever publisher and will soon be available on Amazon.) On the way home, we stopped at PB Boulangerie Bistro for bread. I treated myself to a quiche and bought Sven his favorite, a "pain aux raisins." Once back at the house, I realized the week had passed so fast, what with all the Preservation Hall activities, that I forgot to order more Peace Coffee. May is the month for stocking up on amenities. I did the sheets and the soaps, etc. but must now order food stuffs. (Here's a photo of our happy Green Room guests, on their second visit to Chez Sven.) There never seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done in May. One of my main spring activities is gardening. The sun came out from behind a cloud as I sprayed on organic tick repellant and, armed with clippers, went into the yard to cut back the holly bush. While this does not sound like a complicated task, that bush was planted by my parents in memory of a friend and has grown wild for, say, 40 years? One flowerbed had not yet been edged, so I did that shoveling work and transplanted allyssum. The garden is scented with lilac and lily of the valley at this time of the year and birds are busy building nests and singing about it, so work outside is definitely more pleasant than making beds or cleaning. Sven and I drove to the dump with the holly branches two more times. Finally, we turned the outdoor shower back on. There has not been much sun in May, but the warmer temperatures tell us summer is indeed on the way. On the last ride down Route 6, we could see gray clouds on the horizon, evidence of mist at the ocean. Before dinner, I photographed this early bird in the poppy bed. In checking email, I was happy to learn Wellfleet Oysterfest was featured today in Parade Magazine, quite a coup for the local Cape Cod community. We had planned to attend Kevin Rice's Prez. Hall Follies, the final free event of opening week at Preservation Hall, but I was simply too tired. That's what hard labor in the garden will do to a 64-year-old! Without further ado, I crawled into bed at 8 p.m. and immediately fell asleep ...