Spring in Portland – Page 3

Lots to See in the Neighborhood

Dear Liza,

Spring weather is here! The flowers are popping, birds are singing, and the days alternate between sun and showers.

On a walk through the neighborhood to Collage Art Supplies, we saw our first tulips, hanging out with their friends hyacinths and daffodils

Down in SE Division Street, the employees of our favorite vintage shop, Artifact, are protesting unfair promotion practices and pay. We waved in support of the protesters and will shop elsewhere until the management figures out how to treat its staff better.

Grandpa Nelson was very patient while I picked out my birthday presents, two jars of Mod Podge, two pencil sharpeners and some Liquitex acrylics, which will fill in some gaps in my art cupboard. Then we walked to The Daily Dose coffee shop for a pick-me-up. Nicole Little’s art on their walls was intricate and colorful, showing real skill with a bandsaw and showing the peace sign from my childhood.

Heading back home, we ran into a free roaming duck and chicken, wandering up 32nd Street.

And just to put the SPRING stamp on the day, we saw our first tulip tree blooming! This variety of Magnolia, which popular here in Portland, is not as bulky as those I knew in Salinas. I like them so much better!

Have a great day!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Spring Confetti

Dear Liza,

In between the rains, we had one spectacular, sunny day. The trees looked like they were dressed up for a party because of their bright colors.

Pink cherry blossoms, yellow forsythia, and white plums are not just blooming above, but dropping lovely confetti on the sidewalks.

And knowing that the storms we have coming are going to blow these petals all away make us love them even more.

They say “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.” Right now, we seem to be going back and forth between lions and lambs about every three days.

Happy Spring!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Changeable Spring Weather

Dear Liza,

I have been writing about the weather but every time I write about it, it changes!

Last week, I wrote a nice blog about how blindingly clear and freezing cold it was. Then the weather changed. It was rainy and chilly. So now I will just tell the truth.

The weather in Portland is currently… well, changeable.

When we headed out for the zoo, it was pretty and clear. We visited the eagle under grey clouds and the lions under real rain.

On the way home there was grey clouds ahead of the bus and at the same moment, beautiful sunlit clouds behind us. These three photos were taken within three hours of each other!
It never gets boring, anyway.

Love,

Grandma Judy

And the Planting Madness Begins…

Dear Liza,

On Monday, our weather is predicted to get above, and stay above, freezing. That means it’s time to start planting!

First, I watered the peat pots from Portland Nursery and planted zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds. They are sitting in the sunniest window in the house and should be ready to transplant in a few weeks.

I went up to the Blair Community Garden and worked on the soil a bit, breaking up the clumps. This will be an ongoing project as the soil dries out enough to crumble.

Then, using what I learned last summer, I laid out the hardscaping for my vegetable garden. Tomatoes, pumpkin and squash will be on the side that gets the most sun, and the lettuces, radishes and carrots will be in the partly shady bit.

Pumpkins and zucchini will be planted by the ladder for support off the ground, and the cucumbers can use the slanted trellis. Tomatoes will have five cages to climb up.

The next day, I did my ’service’ hours, weeding, then laying burlap and bark mulch down on the pathways. This keeps them from getting muddy and makes everything look fresh.

This is going to be a busy summer… once it starts.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Everything’s Waking Up!

Dear Liza,

I don’t have anything planted in my garden yet, but a whole lot of plants are awake and blooming in the neighborhood.

Jonquils, sometimes called daffodils, are very showy.

There are tall ones over a foot high, who sort of look down on the other plants, and tiny little ones that bloom on stalks about three inches long.

And the deep purple of the crocuses is a nice contrast to the bright velvet green of the moss.

A few streets away, I found quince trees blooming in incredible combinations of colors. One of the ladies said I could come back in the fall and help her pick them. I’ve never made quince jam, but I’m willing to learn.

Happy Spring!

Love,

Grandma Judy

First Day Back in the Garden

Dear Liza,

This past sunny, warm week was so wonderful, I got to get out to the Blair Community Garden.

I pulled up the over-wintering burlap, borrowed the pitchfork from the tool shed, and turned over the heavy, wet soil in my ten by ten foot plot.

I think I heard some earthworms grumbling that it seemed early.

I was happy with my newly-turned soil, and the lavender and catmint seem to have wintered well. I will come back next week and give them a trim.

Once I had woken up my own space, I went to find Ruth, the manager of the garden, and see what I could to to help the rest of the garden. It is a community garden, after all, and all the members of its community help make it the wonderful place it is.

She assigned me the delightful task of ‘waking up’ one of the side beds. This involved light raking (which I do with my hands to avoid breaking tiny new shoots) and pulling off the mulch that has protected the soil and roots during the winter.

This was the best part of the day. Feeling the damp, chilly soil between my fingers and discovering the new plants there was absolutely life-affirming. I felt like Mary Lennox in the Secret Garden, healing the earth as I healed myself. And when I got to repair the edging of the bed with Ruth’s nifty battery powered drill, that was the icing in the cake.

Of course, the next day I woke up, with a sore back, to rain. But the world keeps turning and I have plenty of aspirin, and spring will come.

Looking forward to more garden adventures!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Sweet Spring Sunshine

DearLiza,

We have enjoyed a whole week of pleasant sunshine and temperatures in the 50s, so we have been doing lots of walking.

Little lavender crocuses are sprouting all over, making light purple carpets under the still-bare trees. Standing in the sun feels so good, I see why they are coming up!

Down at Moore Coffee, we enjoyed watching this sophisticated pooch wait for a treat at the bar. Grandpa Nelson found a comfy spot by the fire ring, since it is still chilly in the shade.

And at Sunnyside School, we visited the chickens. Clever girls that they are, they got up on their coop to find some sun.

I hope your spring is coming along nicely.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Quality Time with Momma

Dear Liza,

Your great grandma Billie, my Momma, would have been 100 years old yesterday. She passed away just the month before you were born, so you two never got to know each other. She would have liked you!

She loved two things above all: Her family and her garden. I think she saw all of us as her garden, actually, nourishing and us encouraging us to become our best. Here is a picture of her in her garden.

Wednesday, to celebrate what would have been her 100th birthday, I got on a bus for the first time in a year and a half, and went to The Grotto. The proper name for it is The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother.

The Grotto is a beautiful church, sanctuary, and garden in Northeast Portland. It is most famous for its Christmas concert, but the holiday crowds are huge, so I don’t go then. I like it better when it is just me and the birds.

I bought a token for the elevator that takes you from the lower garden, where the Grotto, church, and gift shop is, and rode the hundred feet up to the upper garden, where it is nothing but lovely.

St. Francis of Assisi, Momma’s favorite catholic

The path that leads around the top passes a meditation chapel, and small shrines to Our Lady, who is Mary, the mother of Jesus. There are statues of Saint Francis of Assisi and St. Jude of Thaddeus. But mostly, there are gardens.

Pines and maples soar up to the sky, azaleas and rhododendrons bloom pink and purple, waterfalls bubble, and birds sing. It the best place I know for walking and thinking peaceful, happy thoughts.

I spent hours in the upper garden. I walked the labyrinth, did a watercolor, and wrote about a momma. I wrote about how her love wasn’t the sort that smothered us or hid us from the world, but let us know that we could go out into the world and be safe. It was a love that got better and stronger as we got older and had some of our prickly edges knocked off.

When I took the elevator back down to earth, and was leaving the Grotto, I found a fellow’s wallet in the middle of the street. Once I got home, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get it back to him. With no home address or phone number, it will be a challenge, and I’m still working on it. But it’s what Momma would do.

Love,

Grandma Judy

False Summer into False Fall

Dear Liza,

Our summer-like heat has given way to cool, cloudy drizzle. This is a well-known pattern here in Portland. People ask, “Which false summer are we on now?” Or “Is it real summer yet?”

All this on-again-off-again heat and wet is fine, as long as you can adapt to it. Don’t put your boots away yet. Keep the umbrella handy. Keep the watering can by the door.

When it started to rain the other day after a hot, dry week, the wave of that smell we call “rain” was overwhelming. It made me part of the rain and the earth and the plants.

It felt like such an important thing, I came home certain that there must be a specific word for it. And there is! The word is PETRICHOR. (Say PET-Ri-Kor). The word was invented in 1964 by Australian scientists to describe the smell of earth, moisture, and plant oils being released into the air.

Our current cool spell is predicted to last for another week, giving all the gardens a chance to slow their growth a bit. The roses will stay fresh and the lettuce won’t bolt.

At least until real Summer comes along !

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Lovely Saturday

Dear Liza,

After a week of really warm weather, last Saturday was actually a little chilly. I worked in the garden a bit, planting seeds for some replacement radishes and six sunflowers. I have lost all the cucumber seedlings to some tiny slugs that eat the stems, but I have replacements growing in the sunny window and will buy some organic “Sluggo” repellent next time I am at the nursery.

My carrots are getting taller, and the zucchini plants are spreading out. While I was sitting in the garden, the sky got grey, the wind started to blow, and I got drizzled on for a while.

The smell of fresh rain in a garden is one of the best smells in the world, and I sat there, very happy, thinking how blessed I am.

Once I had the seeds in and watered, I cut some of the lovely lettuce to have later. Then I went home for lunch, which was leftover pulled pork sandwiches from The Portland Ciderhouse. Yum!

After some quiet time of reading, art and French lessons, Grandpa Nelson headed out for a walk, and I joined him! The clouds had mostly blown away but it was still cool. We walked the mile south to Division Street, to Salt and Straw Ice Cream. I ordered a flavor I didn’t even know existed, Pear and Blue Cheese. I know it sounds weird, but the sweetness of the pears and vanilla ice cream made a nice balance with the strong flavor of the blue cheese, and it was wonderful.

We sat by the sidewalk and watched dozens of other folks walking down the street to get their ice cream. There were more people than I’ve seen in one place for over a year. It was delightful, bright, and very human. Folks wore masks when they got into the crowd, which let everyone feel safe.

We headed for home up 32nd Street, which is lined with lovely old houses and beautiful gardens. The azaleas are fading but the roses are really coming into their own.

We spent the rest of the day reading, doing crosswords, and watching the Giants beat the Chicago Cubs. A very pleasant day, all around.

Love,

Grandma Judy