Cleaning Up & Visiting Friends

Had some nice weather so I decided to run by Home Depot and get some plants to draw pollinators for the yard.

We got out in the yard today to do some clean up too.  I trimmed up my little Loquate tree.  The Loquate (Eriobotrya Japonica, is a fruit tree in the family Rosaceae, indigenous to central China (Chongqing and Hubei province).  It is sometimes known as the Japanese medlar, Japanese plum & Chinese plum.  In China it is called "pipa". (wikipedia)

Loquate

 We worked on cleaning up Krysta's square foot garden also.  Even though it is late she planted butter beans, squash, cantaloupe, jubilee watermelon, tomatos and okra.  She added some Salvia purple rain and a couple other flowers to bring in some pollinators.
The little lights on the corners are solar and change colors at night.  She made a sign and will be putting it up later.

"Krysta's Krops"

We put some plants by the porch also.  These were transplanted into larger puts and the pots buried in the ground.  We then mulched around it.  Hopefully we can move them when we build our house.

Foxglove - Salvia purple rain - Squash - Unknown plant

More mulch less grass.

 Our neighbors father put up a dirt berm by our trees and flooded our yard.  The fruit trees seemed to have survived it.  I added some soil to them and mulched around them with pine needles we got for free.  The pear tree has it's first and only fruit on it.  I cannot bring myself to take it off.  I have kept the fruit off the others so they could focus their energy on their root system.

After a little work ing the yard we went for a drive.

On the way we came across this tree in a vacant lot at the corner of Perrin Drive and 18th Avenue South.  Evidently Krysta felt it was begging to be climbed.  I pulled over and told her to go.

Summing it up.

Foothold left by an old limb.

                                      

                                                   Success!

Climbing Higher.

Relaxing

Nice view.  Now how do I get down?

After Krysta conquered the tree we stopped by my friend home in North Myrtle Beach so I could introduce my family to them.  Loren & Marilyn Collins are an extremely nice couple.  I met them when I saw Loren working in his garden.  I stopped to talk and that was that.  Marilyn brought Loren & I a healthy smoothie she made.  It was loaded with natural healthy ingredients and hit the spot in the hot sun.
They invited us in and we sat in their sunroom for a while talking about all sorts of things.  Loren is an accomplished businessman with a hankering for farming.  He was a lifeguard for thirteen years when he was younger.  Marilyn is educated in classic medicine but has determined that natural and more non-invasive treatments go further in curing ailments than traditional medicine which just seeks to treat the symptoms.  Their daughter and two grand daughters were there and we had an enjoyable discussion.  It was nice to see the birds playing in the front yard by their bird feeder as we talked.
Marilyn and Loren were kind enough to give us a bag of Swiss Chard they had grown and harvested from their garden.
There is a small strawberry patch which Loren said his grandkids enjoy picking from.  I bet they make some good smoothies.
loren has a stack of rocks at the corner of his garden.  He said it is there to make people ask what it is.  He told me that there are twelve stones which represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel as told in the Bible. I find that nice and think it is important that we remember to thank God for what our gardens provide wether it be food or friends it brings by.
I look forward to many more conversations.

Loren & Marilyn

Strawberries

Tomatos

Chard, beans, squash, corn Grapes, Cucumbers, onions, peppers and flowers.

Twelve stones representing the Twelve Tribes of Israel.

Peppers

Grapes growing good.


It was a nice day getting outside and making friends.  I look forward to meeting new people and discovering new things in the future.  It is important to me that we slow down and enjoy life, friends and the things around us that most fly by each day.  You must enjoy you blessing from God as they come instead of hoping one day you will be able to take enjoyment in something you have earned.   You never know what the future will hold.