Here we, I think, go round the mulberry bush. This thing has been growing obdurately out of my backyard forsythias for some years now, and I've kept cutting it back, because trash tree --- but I've suddenly realized what it is. There's a mulberry tree growing along the greenway and bearing fruit right now, which people stop to pick and eat as they pass, and after looking hard at it yesterday, I came home and looked hard at this volunteer. Then I googled some leaf identification. In future I will not be cutting it back. I think I have others growing around the yard, which makes me think I might try to dig them up and plant them alongside this one, at the perimeter of the kitchen garden.
We have said perimeter marked out with string, as you see:
The plan this summer is to fence the two remaining unfenced sides and add a gate --- really just because I wanted a little enclosed garden with a gate, and not for any practical reason. Now that I think of it, there is a lot that's practical about a fence: I want to move my grapevine before it gets any more established and grow it against the far side where the forsythias are, for example, and just mow over the place where right now it's fallen off its trellis and gotten lost among terrible weeds. If I'm going to grow and maintain anything, it's got to be right in front of me, where I can keep an eye on it. I can set tomato containers against some parts of the fence, too. Yesterday it came to me that I could transplant my currently-potted blueberries along the outside perimeter, and continue planting blueberries until there's a whole hedge of them to conceal the chain link. Then I really would have a secret garden. My vision is that the whole thing will be enclosed and tidy, with many things growing via an efficient use of space. The more hard structure I have, the easier it is to use the space efficiently.
But anyway, I can have mulberries along that far end. That would be pretty cool.
Wearing today, pre-walk:
Wool& Sierra dress + EVA Birkenstocks. It's not too massively hot today, and I want to persist in wearing Sierra unless I really just can't stand the weight. On our walk, in lovely 70-ish weather, she was perfect. I added a hat for the sun:
Liking that pink hat as an outfit element more than I did. The color is pretty with gray.
I plan to wash my hair in just a while, but this will be my outfit for the day: easy and comfortable. So far I have written to two potential endorsers/blurb writers for the novel, knocking out a major piece of procrastination. I still have one more to write, and then that at least will be accomplished. I plan today to send back my copy-edit notes, too, so that all that is put to bed before we leave town. I meant to do it yesterday, but found myself writing a couple more hermit sonnets instead. I realized that I'd blipped over Ascension and Pentecost in the liturgical calendar of his year, so wanted to try to revive the whole feel of those poems to add in the feasts. The Pentecost sonnet came first and I'm happy with it. The Ascension one not so much yet, but it is good exercise.
LATER: I have written the last request note for an endorsement, the scary one! My other two endorsers have said yes, so if this person says no, it will be okay (and honestly, she's nice and lovely and wonderful, but of the three I know her the least and sense that she'd be the most likely to say no).
I also must remember that I said yes to endorsing another friend's book --- I had a moment of panic when I woke up this morning, thinking I'd said I'd do this for somebody, but not remembering who, or if I'd dreamed it. I did figure it out, and I can read her book at the beach and write something, which will be easy because I like her work so much.
LATER STILL: My third potential endorser has graciously said yes! That's one little largely-unnecessary stressfest over with, anyway.