Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to talk about inexplicable things. You may remember me from such posts as “Sad Little Mysteries”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
We were taking a break from work.
A number of inexplicable things happened today. I wasn’t able to arrive at a real solution to any of them, and so I’ll just leave them unresolved.
The first thing that happened today was that the guy I live with was just sitting at the kitchen table when a yellowjacket flew in and stung him on his ring finger. (The traditional ring finger, not the finger he wears his wedding ring on now.)
The last time he was stung on the finger his hand swelled up like a balloon, but that didn’t happen this time. Maybe he wasn’t as stung as before.
The second thing, and this was pretty weird even to me, happened out in “the enclosure”.
The guy I live with expressed his disappointment at the “lack of blueness” to the Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’.
Maybe it will get bluer next year.
The reason he went into “the enclosure” was to pull out a bunch of hops, and also vinca, which has taken over three-quarters of the garden.
He pulled the hops off Acer monspessulanum, a plant which came from seed collected in northern Greece. He got it at a nursery some years ago.
And then, he walked into a hole in the ground.
The guy I live with isn’t as steady on his feet as he was before the cancer treatment a few years ago, and so I was afraid he’d fall on his face. His phone is in his pocket so getting it out and calling for help would be hard for me to do.
It was this:
You can see, besides way too much vinca, a big gap on the right of this firepit. His wife built this, and he didn’t remember this gap being there.
He thought about this for quite a while. Obviously the pit is square (his wife was a perfectionist), and the metal grate is immoveable, so the gap must have been there all along, and he just didn’t look at it all that much, because sometimes he feels unsettled being in this little garden his wife made.
But it was very weird.
Another inexplicable thing, as the guy I live with mentioned it the last post, was the death of the silverberry, Elaeagnus commutata.
Here it is, a long time ago, before the house was painted.
The leaves and flowers.
Hopefully the new plants won’t die inexplicably.
The last thing was the most inexplicable to me. If you’ve been reading the blog for any length of time, you’ll know I get to listen to all kinds of opera, orchestral music, chamber music, and so forth.
Today, as we took our fifth or sixth break from working outside, the guy I live with finally played a new CD of Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé which had been sitting on the kitchen table, along with a couple of other new CDs, for well over a month.
I was wondering when he would get around to this, but I also knew he was suffering from “post-birthday depression”, something that’s affected him ever since his wife died. He gets very down after a birthday.
The music was nice, but then, what to my wondering ears happened, but some totally different music started playing on the hi-fi in the kitchen.
He said this was something called “Jefferson Airplane”. He was afraid this music would make him miss his wife terribly, and it did, but he said it was okay.
We listened to three whole albums, and I have to say, I liked it. Inexplicably, maybe, but I liked it. I dug it, as they used to say. Maybe they still do.
So that was our day, filled with inexplicable things.
I’ll leave you with a picture of me “digging The Airplane”.
Unilt next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
That is pretty cool; I mean about the music.
I sort of wonder about silverberry. I know that some species die suddenly like that. Ceanothus, flannel bush and Western redbud perform so splendidly for many years, and then finish very suddenly, and can die within a season. Even those that deteriorate relatively slowly will die within two or three years. Photinia and toyon do it also, but more randomly, since they can do it while quite young, or while rather old. I think that for photinia and toyon, it is more of a disease, rather than a naturally short lifespan, like for the others.
The guy I live with says the Forest Service weboage says the silverberry is “long lived”. Unlike Holodiscus dumosus, which has a lifespan of about thirty years, an in fact that’s about how long the one here lived. (He planted another one.)
Maybe the silverberry got sprayed by something.
Yes, life can bring along many inexplicable things! That’s the way it goes.
The guy I live with says not even to bother trying to figure these things out.
I guess the firepit has been covered with vinca for so long he forgot what it looked like.
It never hurts to switch up the music. Here’s to tunes that bring smiles and happy memories.
The guy I live with was surprised that I thought the music was okay.
I’ve already learned about “hard-panning”, the old way of recording instruments so that they appear just in the left or right channels. The guy I live with says that’s annoying.
““lack of blueness” to the Echinops ritro ‘Veitch’s Blue’”
There is an entire chapter in https://theexperimentpublishing.com/catalogs/fall-2022/blue/ about the color blue in plants. We grew Echinops bannaticus ‘Taplow Blue’ in the CT garden and it was a similar silvery blue to your “Veitches Blue”.
Yes, this ‘Veitch’s Blue’ looks very similar to the ‘Taplow Blue’ that’s been in the garden forever.
Mee-yow Mani you are REELLY groovin to THE Airplane mee frend!!! Rite on!!!
An you nose; efurry thing you shared ISS Inn-x-plicabell fore sure!
That grate set-up with Guy allmost doin a face plant iss supurr weerd…..
It’ss all weerd!
Thanz fore tellin us what that green ground plant iss called….our nayburr has it inn her garden an it tooked over an wee did not nose what it was called….
Rock on Mani an Guy….ROCK on!
~~~head rubss~~~BellaDharma~~~ an 🙂 BellaSita Mum
Lots of weird things.
Today it was something called “Talking Heads”. Very different. But eventually the guy I live with said the music was evoking too much non-musical stuff, the way that sort of music does, and he switched to “the usual fare”.
It was super gloomy all day today. Sprinkled a little. The guy I live with sowed some seeds.
Oh mee nsoe “Talkin Headss”!!! They have THE kewlest uneek mewsick fore sure Mani!!!
Wee had rain on an off all last nite an it iss gloomy an gray today! Glad Guy has dewnn sum seedss! wee hope they grow up strong an guud!
Rained last night here, too. The sun is out now.
The guy I live with said Fear of Music is his favorite Talking Heads album.
Lots of interesting but inexplicable things happening around the old homestead. Funny how they all seem to happen at the same time. I hope the Eleagnus survive for you because nothing beats their scent in the Spring. The highlight of that season for me. Jefferson Airplane all the way. Way better than Jefferson Starship.
The guy I live with said he hopes the silverberries survive. Not much reason to expect they won’t, except if he forgets to water them after they’re planted. That does happen here, a lot, even with flags to mark newly-planted plants.
He also said his wife liked Starship better, but she was six years younger, and maybe that made a difference.
BellaSita meowd shee likess “SPEAKING INN TONGUESS” album best!….
Her FAVE songss are “Burnin Down THE House” an “Take Mee To THE River” which are not on that album, mew mew mew…
Wee got rain overnite an then gloomy an gray til now 5 Pee Em an iss rainin again Mani!!! An hue-mid! UCKY!
The guy I live with says that’s a good album too.
No rain here, though. Maybe this evening.
Did youss’ get any rain there Mani? It rained most of THE nite heer. Our stray cat Luna nevurr showed up fore suppurr….
Iss kewl Guy an BellaSita like same mewsick!
It didn’t rain here today, but we weren’t really expecting any.
It stopped heer an iss sunny once again. Luna had 2 suppurrss last nite 😉
I like the idea of two suppers. We have zero chance of rain today. That’s okay.
Mee two. Xcept mee not eat alot. Wee put out 2 helpinss inn case Luna has not had enuff to eat durin THE day.. Or if 3 A-M THE other stray cat needss snax Mani!