Oregano A Go-Go

Sunday evening, last day of May. A male cardinal and a gray catbird are having a sing-off in the back of the yard. (Earlier this week I heard a brand-new, very distinctive bird: Swainson’s thrush.) It’s 71 degrees and the sun has just slipped below the skyline to my right, at 8:30 pm. Someone (maybe my daughter, maybe my neighbor) is playing “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles. A few minutes ago there was a mysterious loud boom, as there is from time to time around here. The air is perfectly cool, and the scent of the honeysuckles has been strong for days now, especially at night. A few yards over, out of my sight, one of the young children that lives there is sobbing. There seem to be at least two kids who just moved in there, and when they are playing, their conversations remind me of young N and F.

I’m feeling at peace after a somewhat harrowing week. I was off Monday and Friday, but it was as if I had to pack five days of work into three. On top of that, I had some hormone-induced insomnia and restless legs. But feeling much better now and had a really nice past few days. Feeling very lucky at this moment indeed — that it is spring once again, and I get to garden again and be outside, and to cook for my family, as I did today, in an unhurried fashion. And to see so many friends and family as I did this weekend (more on that below).

Monday and Friday were great days off, and I got a lot done. On Monday, I transplanted one Ideal Market green bean, one Big Rainbow tomato (heirloom) and one Hot Cherry pepper (heirloom) to their final spots. The tomato was from the swap and the pepper from T’s GF. I also planted the green bell pepper from the swap and another hot cherry pepper in the big bed with the onions. And one more hot cherry pepper along the side of the house.

On Wednesday night I transplanted the coleus (swap) to a hanging basket out front and pulled up most of the bolted cilantro. Just now, I transplanted another Ideal Market bean as well as a tomato seed sprout (Amish paste), and potted on the coral honeysuckle. I also deeply watered everything and gave most plants a neem oil treatment.

All week I’ve been picking strawberries here and there.

Friday was mostly spent getting ready for my parents’ 50th anniversary party on Saturday. I had to pull together the seating list and table numbers/centerpieces.

The list was easy enough — I had already decided the seating, so I just printed the list on my home printer and found a picture frame stashed away that was the right size.

For the centerpieces, I drove to Michaels and got silver table numbers (forgetting that 50 is the golden anniversary, whoops) on sticks. Later, I bought flowers from Trader Joe’s and placed everything together in jars taken from my collection: old honey jars and Bonne Maman jars, mostly, plus my one crystal vase. Some oregano from the garden added a bit of interest.

There were six tables, and the flowers and numbers cost $32, so that’s a little over $5 a centerpiece. I will get flowers from Trader Joe’s every time! We got some fun random food as well.

Anyhoo, the party went well except for the part where I almost murdered my immediate family in the morning because they weren’t ready on time. Once we finally got there, all was well and it was great to see so many family members and old friends in a happy context (not a funeral).

This morning I got to have coffee and catch up with one of my dear friends. Life had been getting in the way!

After that I was mostly outside, weed whacking and transplanting. I dug up still more oregano, put it in a pot and gave it to my mom. Oregano continues to pop up all over the place, and in some spots it is very tall. I guess the harsh winter was good for it, somehow? I just don’t remember oregano spreading like this before. I need to get some of it out of the strawberry patch and one of the big round planters.

Meals this week:

Monday: rigatoni Bolognese (gravy from the freezer) and cheesy garlic bread (rolls from the freezer).

Tuesday: grilled chicken, scalloped potatoes and corn (Tom cooked).

Wednesday: scrounge: Ellio’s pizza

Thursday: Stella Pizza and garden salad

Friday: Trader Joe’s cacio e pepe gnocchi and baby carrots

Saturday: basically ate at the party, in the afternoon.

Thursday night, I made meat gravy that went right in the freezer, two meals’ worth. Now I’m finally down to just two containers of frozen pureed tomatoes in the freezer, and some bags of frozen whole tomatoes.

Today: Sauteed chicken, corn on the cob, and garden salad with hard boiled egg, avocado, and lemon sage vinaigrette. YUM. I had four more ripe avocados left after that, so I mixed two with some of the dressing and will have avocado toast tomorrow. The other two I mixed with lime juice and I’ll try to make guacamole tomorrow

Monday and Tuesday lunch: leftover Oasis food. Wednesday: bought. Thursday: leftover scalloped potatoes.

I sat down on Saturday and tried to think of more major expenses that will be coming up for the rest of the year. I know I listed some in my last post. I remembered behind-the-wheel driving lessons for N ($600, says Tom), and the balance due on F’s leadership camp ($350?). Plus all the kids’ birthdays are yet to come. I pushed Rocco’s vet appointment out to the end of June. I’m sure some other expenses will come along, as they always do!