June in Ohio & Gratitude

It may be June in Ohio but it certainly feels like August! Thank the goddess for the cooling rain this afternoon. Coop got the pepper plants in the ground just in the nick of time! If he’d have listened to me they wouldn’t have been planted. as I was going to wait until this evening. Fortunately he followed his intuition!

My green beans are up and growing like weeds! The tomato plants look to be doing well despite most of them being smallish. I’m sure they will do just fine and give me lots of juicy red fruits later this summer. Last night we enjoyed our first salad of the season made with fresh young romaine and radishes from our garden. The homemade croutons were great in it, too!

Yesterday my niece Jenni and I went to Quailcrest Farms not too far from here near Wooster, Ohio to do some herb shopping. I came home with a few and today added Melissa (lemon balm), Greek oregano, pineapple sage and Cuban basil to my little herb bed. This fall when the pre-existing garlic is harvested, we will double the size of the herb bed and I’ll replant garlic after it’s all cleaned out and turned under. I also came home with a small sized black eyed susan to plant, something I’ve always wanted and don’t know why I never grew them before.

Nearing home on our return yesterday we passed by an Amish farm and produce stand with fresh picked strawberries for sale. I prompted my niece to turn around and go back, which she did. When we got back another customer had just stopped and was purchasing all the berries left. As we were parked across the road, I hollered as to whether there were any left. The Amish lady shook her head no and asked how many I wanted. I said I’d like 5-6 quart but would take less, four, three, even one or two if she had ‘em. The lady purchasing the berries said she could spare four quart so I accepted those four and paid for them with much appreciation and many than yous. The baskets which cost $1.50 each were full to the brim with luscious bright red homegrown berries. Minutes later at home, I was rinsing a few off and popping them in my mouth to savor their goodness. So much better than those big hard ones shipped in! Maybe next year we’ll get a patch started again ourselves. When Jenni left my house she was armed with a bag of spinach and romaine plus a few tomato and pepper plants for her to plant in her own little garden. Oh, and a quart of fresh strawberries, too!

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As I stood at the kitchen sink washing dishes this afternoon I again was overcome with a sense of gratitude and wonder. In a million years I never would have dreamed I’d be back in this old farm house I have loved so well for so many years. To be here now fills me with happiness and wonder.

For those unaware, we moved in originally in 1984 and then had to leave in 1993 due to circumstances beyond our control. Time passed, things changed and all circumstances came together serendipitously for us to be given the opportunity to return. My love for this home and this land never wavered and many times through the years I would think about this place and reminisce. I always said if I could return to any place I wanted to live, this was the place. I do, with utmost humbleness, realize how very fortunate I am. I do not ask for a fancy home, a fine car or more money than I can spend. Instead I choose simplicity, a country life surrounded by trees, quiet (and as my granddaddy would say), the wild things, a garden and at the kitchen sink a window with a view. The universe has seen fit to give me my hearts desire and for this I am grateful each and every day.