Garden update--photos

Here are some recent photos of the garden, which is always a work in progress that incorporates new ideas and new additions to the garden family.......

Wisteria growing on the fence

Wisteria flower in bloom--a heavenly fragrance

The new addition to the garden family--a cherry tree

The forsythia bush blooming happily

The magnolia tree also blooming 

How the garden looks behind the greenhouse and the adjoining fence

Another forsythia bush planted between the birdbath and the cherry tree

the part of my garden facing my neighbor's garden--separated from mine by a large trellis

facing the greenhouse

pumpkin and zucchini beds covered by fiber cloth 

Garden update--May 2022

We've had some strange weather since spring began. A couple of weeks in March were actually quite mild and I got an early start in the garden. That was a good thing because I had to dig up a rose bush that had died. I cut it down last autumn with the intention of digging up the entire plant in March, right after the ground had thawed. That turned out to be a good idea, because the earth was actually quite muddy and it was easy to dig down with a shovel to find the roots. However, it was no easy task getting the roots up; the bush has been there for many years, apparently, and the roots had spread out widely. My husband got a hold of a crowbar and he got up most of the roots for me. But we couldn't get them all up. Luckily, the bush is dead so it won't be growing underground and sprouting up new stems here and there as it had been doing the past several years. None of those new stems survived for very long. The bush itself had become infested with aphids over the past several years, and even though I kept the infestation in check, I think it weakened and sensitized the plant for other types of attack, such as from parasitic mushrooms that appeared during the autumn, at which point I knew it was 'game over'. 

April was another month with two weeks of warm temperatures followed by cold temperatures, but not freezing. I started most of the plants I wanted to plant outdoors as seeds in the greenhouse, and I planted the seed potatoes outdoors since it takes at least a month for them to begin to germinate. I also planted the gladiola corms outdoors at the same time, since it takes a month for them to begin to germinate. Pumpkins, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, and string beans (from seeds) were on the planting list this year. All of them grew well from seeds in the greenhouse and are now planted outdoors except for the tomatoes which need a bit more time in the greenhouse so that they can grow taller. The giant-type sunflowers, pot marigolds, rose mallows, and cornflowers that I also started from seeds are now planted outdoors as well. 

May has been mild for the most part, with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees during the day and 50 degrees at night. But it has been a very dry month with very little rain, so that Oslo is experiencing a drought (not entirely due to lack of rainfall, but still). But luckily there is rain in the forecast for the next two weeks, so the garden should benefit from the predicted rainfall. 

I bought two new lavender plants to replace two that had died, and got some new perennials from my garden neighbor Urzsula. She has given me a plant called 'brennende kjærlighet' (translated to burning love in English). It is also called the Maltese-cross, scarlet lychnis or Jerusalem cross in English. It produces big red balls of flowers, so it should be a nice addition to my garden. I also received a yellow iris from her and some large yellow loosestrife which is beautiful when it flowers. Other new additions to the garden are 'jordskokk' bulbs planted near the fence; they are called Jerusalem artichokes in English, but taste nothing like artichokes. I got about three pounds of them from another garden neighbor, Embla, and I planted some and made soup with the rest. The soup was excellent so I will definitely make it again. Jordskokk look like this (image from Jordskokk | Bama):

You peel them as you would potatoes and then boil them until they become soft enough to mash. If you are making soup you can use an immersion blender to puree them in the pot. Here is a good recipe for jordskokk soup if you are interested. 

Jerusalem artichoke soup with bacon  (Kremet jordskokksuppe med sprø bacon | Oppskrift | Meny.no)

Needed (for 3 people)

• 525 g Jerusalem artichokes
• 3 dl chicken broth
• 3 dl whipping cream (or heavy cream)
• 75 g dry salted bacon
• 0.75 tablespoons butter
• 0.75 tart apple
• 1.5 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• pepper
• salt

1. Peel the vegetables and cut them into cubes. Put them in a saucepan and cover with broth and cream. Cook until they are tender.
2. Cut the bacon and apple into cubes. Fry the bacon cubes in butter until golden. Put the apple cubes in the pan and remove the pan from the heat. Add parsley.
3. Blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve the soup in deep bowls and top with bacon and apple mixture.

The jordskokk flowers above ground are yellow, grow profusely and quite high; they also have a tendency to spread out, so keeping them in check is part of gardening work. Here is how they look when the flowers are blooming (image from Sunchokes - Bi-O) 

My wisteria plant is doing very well. I planted it two years ago along the fence and it has taken off and actually has quite a lot of gorgeous, spicy-scented flowers this year. I love wisteria, but from what I've read online about it, it is another plant that must be 'held in check', otherwise it will spread out and just keep expanding. The magnolia tree has also bloomed again, and this year I bought a cherry tree and planted it in the spot where the rose bush was. It too has settled in to its new home and has in fact bloomed, although I don't think we'll get cherries (the tart kind) this year. We'll see. I was happy to see that the two forsythia bushes that I planted along the fence also bloomed; forsythia is another favorite plant of mine--lovely cheery yellow flowers in the spring. I also planted a new lilac bush near the cherry tree. I'm guessing that in a few years I'll have to transplant it as it grows and expands, but for now it's happy where it is. 

It's nice to be part of a community allotment garden. I enjoy talking to my garden neighbors, but more importantly, we share plants and seeds with each other and water each other's gardens when one of us is on vacation. The neighborliness and generosity are worth gold. 

In my next post I'll include some recent photos that I've taken of the garden. 

An endless source of amusement

Oslo has become a city of dog owners. Whenever I am out walking, there are always people out walking their dogs. It has become a common sight. We have pooper-scooper laws, thank God, and most dog owners abide by them. I watch the dogs with their owners sometimes; the owners carry treats when they are training them, and it's funny to watch how the dogs respond to training. I also smile or laugh when I see dogs tugging at their leashes, barking at their owners to throw the ball or stick at hand, or trying to retrieve a ball that has floated out onto the small waterways with small falls that run down from Kiellands plass. You can see dogs of all kinds--dachshunds, chihuahuas, Russian wolfhounds, whippets, Welsh corgis, Jack Russell terriers, small and large poodles, bulldogs, German shepherds--the list is long. I like all the breeds but my preference runs to dachshunds, Russian wolfhounds and Jack Russell terriers. Even though most people in Oslo live in apartments, they still own dogs so it must be working out, living together in close quarters with their dogs. I'm on the fence about getting a dog; they are more work than cats because you need to walk them and keep them active. Cats are more solitary and will activate themselves, although if you invest the time, they can almost behave like dogs when it comes to retrieving and playing with toys. Our cat loved to run after catnip drops that we skidded along the floor to her; she played with them (and olives) before eating them. She also loved to chase my husband around the apartment; she would 'get her fur up' so to speak and then find him in the living room so that he could chase her. It was very funny to watch them play together. 

I notice all animal, bird, and insect life now. When I am in the garden, I watch the birds fly to and fro between the different trees and bushes. They enjoy taking full baths in the birdbath, and then they find a patch of dry sandy earth to roll around in. I wonder why this sequence is not reversed, first a sand bath and then a water bath. There are a lot of sparrows in the garden, and they chatter among themselves, sometimes quarreling, other times happily chirping to each other. The garden is a haven for them as well as for magpies, crows, brown and black thrushes, wagtails, and ring-necked doves. The latter have increased in number during the past few years in Oslo. Sometimes local cats wander through the garden; they are often hounded out of the garden by the crows and magpies. But they still come back from time to time. One of the cats, the one who has taken a nap in my greenhouse, likes to drink water from the birdbath; the water can be dirty or clean, it doesn't seem to matter to him. Likewise for the honeybees, who don't seem to mind at all that the water is dirty. Nature. It will leave you in awe, and it will also make you laugh out loud. I'm grateful that I have the time now during the day to appreciate all of it. 

A friendly visitor to the garden

There are cats that roam the neighborhood near the allotment garden, and every now and then they make their way into the garden to wander around. Last summer my garden was graced by a visit from one such cat, a black and white cat that is very friendly and docile. He found a cozy place on the floor of my greenhouse and promptly went to sleep for half an hour or so. After his nap he stretched and then moseyed on his way to visit someone else's garden.

The other day the same cat returned to the garden and found his way into my greenhouse. At this time of year the greenhouse is quite a nice place to be, cozy and warm. He jumped up onto one of the metal benches, made himself comfortable, and went to sleep for a half hour. Like last summer, I was able to snap a few photos of him. He is an affectionate and nice cat; he lets himself be petted and does not go after the birds in the garden (he is well-fed at home). Quite the opposite; it is the birds, mostly magpies and crows, that have harassed him to the point where he is forced to leave the garden. I have seen it happen once. They grab at his tail; when they did this last summer he did not fight back, rather choosing to leave the premises. 

I look forward to his visits. I am a cat lover, having had several cats up through the years. Becoming friends with this cat has made me want another cat, so we'll see what time brings. In any case, I hope he'll be a frequent visitor during the summer months. 

I Worried, a poem by Mary Oliver

I Worried

by Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers

flow in the right direction, will the earth turn

as it was taught, and if not how shall

I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,

can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows

can do it and I am, well,

hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,

am I going to get rheumatism,

lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

And gave it up. And took my old body

and went out into the morning,

and sang.

Spot on

Par for the course for Wiley Miller and Non Sequitur to be spot on. Today's comic strip.......

My device by Michael Leunig

Sums up my thoughts and feelings about being disconnected from the world of cell phones and computers (at least for a few hours) when I am lucky enough to spend time outdoors or in my garden. The cartoon is called My device and was drawn by Michael Leunig. 

My blog posts about My Brilliant Friend

For those of you who are just now discovering the HBO series My Brilliant Friend, I can say that you are in for a real treat. I've watched all three seasons to date; the fourth season has been announced and production is underway, with new actresses to play the parts of Elena and Lila. I'm very much looking forward to the new season. The series is directed by Saverio Costanzo, Alice Rohrwacher, and Daniele Luchetti. And if you want to start with the books by Elena Ferrante on which the series is based, you can find them on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Here are two posts I wrote in 2019 and 2020 about the books and the series respectively; I'm posting them again today: 

A New Yorker in Oslo: Elena Ferrante's brilliant Neapolitan quadrilogy (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com)

A New Yorker in Oslo: My Brilliant Friend is a brilliant HBO series (paulamdeangelis.blogspot.com)

What is there to miss?

There is nothing that I miss about the work world I left behind. There are however several people who seem to be 'waiting' for me to say that I miss working and miss my former workplace. Every time I'm together with them they ask me if I miss working. The answer is always no. I reassure them that I made the right decision since they seem to be worried that I made the wrong decision. They seem to think that they know me better than I know myself. I tell them that wild horses could not drag me back to what was. I've learned (finally) to let go and to live in the present. My workplace belongs to the past. I don't worry about the past and I cannot predict nor do anything about the future, so the best place to live is in the present. I jokingly say that I retired to spend more time in my garden. But it's really the truth. My garden is my happy place. 

I was speaking with one former colleague yesterday since we still socialize from time to time. She had just gotten off the phone with another former colleague who updated her on all the doings at my former workplace. Summa summarum--nothing has changed. Nothing will change. The big egos are still running the show, rude as ever to the researchers they deem worthless (those who don't drag in a ton of money). Rude also to the clinicians who are doing research (or trying to) in addition to their clinical duties. What is there to miss about this type of workplace? Egotistical arrogant superficial uninteresting people (the majority of whom are men). They think they are going to live forever and carry on as though they will. And they can do so for my sake. I don't care a whit about them. 

I also grew weary of the bureaucratic systems that were built up around the practice of science. There are forms to fill out and online systems to learn at every turn. Work life in the public healthcare system is simply about having your every move tracked by one or another system. As my husband says, they exist because there is no longer any trust between employers and employees. He's right. I suppose there are any number of employees who are scoundrels, who cheat the system if they can get away with it, who abuse it and thereby abuse fellow colleagues (in my experience it has been top leadership that has abused the system but that is another story). So the systems grew out of that mistrust. However, the systems now exist by and for themselves. It is very important as a researcher to know how the accounting and ordering departments work in detail, something that has never particularly interested me. I grew up professionally at a time when these departments were support systems for us. Now they dominate the work lives of most researchers, who already use a large amount of time reporting to the granting agencies that give them money to do research. Updating the latter is important, I grant that, but it is not necessary to update them several times a year. Once a year is enough. 

Many pathologists with whom I used to work are leaving the public healthcare system for private labs. I can totally understand this. I wish I had left the public healthcare system years ago. Thankfully there are more private research labs to choose among at present, so that younger researchers don't have to tolerate what we older researchers had to tolerate. The private labs are efficient; they don't waste time on endless meetings and they let their employees do their jobs. A friend of mine, who is now retired, put it this way; he said that all he wanted to do was go to work and do the job he was paid to do. But he couldn't, because he had a boss who insisted that he go to useless meetings and learn administrative systems for which he had little use. What is the point of all of this? He told me that this emphasis on administrative systems is now called New Office Management. Whoopee. I suppose it replaces New Public Management? Who the heck knows, and who the heck cares?

Life has different stages, different chapters. Best to start a new chapter when you have the health and presence of mind to do so. Best to start anew with a sense of anticipation, of fun, of adventure. So no, I don't regret retiring. I transitioned into a new life, one that I'm grateful for and one that makes me happy. If other people don't accept that, that's their problem, not mine. 

Movements through the Landscape

Movements through the Landscape: De Angelis, Paula Mary: 9798437622254: Amazon.com: Books

The need for peace

This is so true. The 'tired' that requires peace is the type of tiredness that I experienced on a daily basis for the past decade, before I retired. Weariness of soul is another way of describing the tiredness. There is no such thing as peace in modern workplaces, no such thing as respect or understanding for those who enjoy working alone and for those who tend toward introversion. No, you must be on all the time, available all the time, willing to attend pointless meetings ad nauseam and willing to be a team player. If you don't like any of these, you won't thrive. There is no longer any support for differences between people; we must all be the same, like the same things, feel the same way, and agree on specific issues even when we don't agree. Honesty is not valued; conformity is. Leaders don't want to hear the truth, they just want you to agree with what they want and decide. Many modern workplaces are just unhealthy places to be, causing anxiety, distress and negativity. They wear you down. 

In 2016 I was blessed with a considerably-sized garden plot in a local allotment garden. It has given me peace and the chance to reflect on different things while I do the work that the garden requires. There is nothing else like it for the chance to know happiness and true peace. 

Happy Easter

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Easter!

The World I Live In by Mary Oliver

A beautiful poem by Mary Oliver......

I have refused to live

locked in the orderly house of

     reasons and proofs.

The world I live in and believe in

is wider than that. And anyway,

     what’s wrong with Maybe?

You wouldn’t believe what once or

twice I have seen. I’ll just

     tell you this:

only if there are angels in your head will you

     ever, possibly, see one.

Blooming in the absence of competition

“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.”

– Zen Shin

I like this thought. If we all could just bloom and shine according to our individual talents and God-given potential rather than compete in a destructive way, the world would be a better place. However, having said that, I have witnessed competition in the plant world. Two geranium plants in one pot will eventually lead to one of them thriving and the other dying; one outcompetes the other for survival given limited resources. So the natural world is not free from competition for survival. However, plants seem to have adapted to a system of peaceful coexistence much better than we humans, for the most part. 

If you can't say something nice

My mother used to tell us children 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all'. It wasn't her expression, it's apparently an Aesop quote that found its way into the general vernacular many years ago. But it's as relevant now as it was all those years ago in ancient Greece. I was reminded of this quote when I heard about Chris Rock's diss of Jada Pinkett Smith's appearance at the recent Oscar's celebration. Neither she nor her husband Will Smith (who reacted badly) need my defense and this post is not about them or what happened. It is about what one has the right to say and not to say publicly. My take on it is this. You do not have the right as a comedian to joke about anyone else's appearance, be they women or men. You do not comment on their height, weight, attractiveness, baldness, facial characteristics, way of speaking, etc. You just do not do this. We learned this as children and we learned it early on. We did not do this at home, in school, or when out in public. If some few children did this, they were punished. As we got older (pre-teenagers) it suddenly became alright in different peer groups to comment on people's looks or intelligence and to sometimes mob them for it. It's hard to stop that in schools as we all know, even though it causes a lot of pain for the victims of such abuse. It comes down to how you were raised; if you were raised by parents who had empathy for others, you learned empathy at home. You understood that this person was poor or elderly, in difficult life circumstances, another sick, another a widow or widower, another the victim of spousal abuse, and so forth. As a child, you learned to have compassion for others. This was how we were raised, and how my closest and dearest friends were raised. Sarcasm was not often employed in the way we communicated with each other. We could criticize the behavior of others, yes, but we did not resort to calling others ugly, stupid, fat ass, or any other derogatory comments that are often bandied about in today's world. 

If you as a comedian want to comment or be self-deprecating about your own height, weight, attractiveness, baldness, facial characteristics, way of speaking, etc, feel free. We can choose to listen to you and laugh (or not). The point is that we can choose. Many male and female comedians made the rounds on the television circuit doing just that--Rodney Dangerfield, Don Rickles, and Phyllis Diller come to mind. Were they funny? Sometimes. But one could get tired of it. They joked about their wives and husbands too, but it was clear that they had the permission to do so. It wasn't just sprung on an unsuspecting audience. 

It is the same in our personal lives. Many people find it very uncomfortable to sit in the presence of couples whose only form of communication is to belittle their significant other via so-called humor. It's not humor, it's passive-aggressive behavior and it's unkind. It's hurtful. In some cases it's abusive. It's also extremely dishonest. If you cannot be honest with your partner about something that is bothering you, then that is your problem. And rest assured it is a problem. Having dealt with a passive-aggressive workplace for many years, I can attest to how destructive such behavior actually is; bosses who 'joked' at the expense of their employees, who were unkind via their so-called humor. None of it was funny. In group situations it was mortifying, since some bosses had their particular favorites whom they enjoyed hacking at. Those of us who defended the recipients of such behavior against the bosses also came in for our share of harassment. I have few good memories of most of the leaders I encountered in my former workplace. Most were men, some few were women; women could often be as unkind as the men were, just so that's clear. 

There are kind ways to criticize others, there are kind ways to instruct others. None of them involve publicly disparaging people or publicly making fun of them. The few times I had to criticize one or two employees who worked for me, I called them into my office for a private chat. No one else knew about what I wanted to say. The discussion was between me and the other person. I could say that I didn't like their behavior or attitude toward others in the research group; I could encourage them to alter the way they behaved. If they didn't do that, the consequence was that we ended our professional association. I was not unkind, just firm. They understood that and also understood that I was not out to get them. And in both cases they altered their behavior for the better. 

We come back to the idea of being nice. It does not mean being weak. It does not mean that others have the right to walk all over nice people. Nice is not the same as 'woke', although if we've come to the point in society where wokeness is the only thing that forces people to examine their unkind and unjust behavior, then it serves a purpose. I believe that one should 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. That's the Golden Rule and I think society should remember it. And those who think they're cool by being mean, try keeping your mouths shut. 'Silence is golden'.