You gotta get up early in the morning...

Cockle doodle dooo... to find me another lover...

PAUSE Rick James in my head

Isn't it I gotta get up early in the morning? And there are no Cocks here (wink wink)

to capture this...

What a capture.

Pause (Rick James song in my head)

Rewind...

So, on Summer's eve dawn....Somer's eve (as my Scandanavian friends would say), I woke up around 4:30 in the early morning hour. The bird song lured me downstairs. Smokey was stretched out on the oriental and I gave him a quick tummy rub before he could swipe me away. Into the kitchen, check time, grab phone and start documenting the bird song. I ventured out into herb garden because shooting through a screen F's everything up even though I was concentrating on sound. At that time in the morning here at the Caryl Farm, you can feel the cool dew mixing with the aroma of scarlet Passion flowers and milkweeds. And with the heat upon us, I welcomed the cold shiver that ran over my olive skin.

CRASH - as in through a wooded area crash sound through leaves and trees.

Shit, I am in my underwear - boobs hanging out - do I take one step back into the safety of the screen door or stick with what I think is crashing through the woods.

I stuck with it.

Three fawns came through the woods. I couldn't get the god damn phone recording fast enough because I was worried someone was going to see me in my underwear and after I adjusted to the thought that it really didn't matter....

I tried ever so hard to be as quiet as possible.

Smokey was watching through the screen kitchen window perch. I was caught boobs hanging out in my underwear red handed with phone in hand.

I was the deer in the headlight and I thought it could have been worse like my birthday suit.

CUE Laughter

My cover was blown.

Even the great owl witnessing the event couldn't shield me from the fawns. Watch it again. Listen to the hoof stamping, as little ol' me, boobs hanging out in my underwear was a threat to those playful fawns. I've never heard that sound they make but WOW... I didn't care anymore.

WHAT A CAPTURE

So, my original blog post today was going to be

WATER IS LIFE

Excuse me while I make a cuppa coffee with my boiled water and get that darn Rick James song out of my head.

There's something mesmerizing about watering a garden. For me, it's meditational, ritualistic full of purpose because the end product means growth.

I am so proud of my herb / veg garden. I massage it with water in the morning and evening. Andonis, my Greek neighbor really taught me about watering. When I lived in Greece and many moons before when I watched him old school create the ditches around his beautiful garden on the back terraces. You hear the sound of earth moving with a shovel/ hoe garden implement and then the trickle of water going down hill forced by gravity on the terraced back yard. Water in Greece is contained in big cisterns. The cisterns are either filled when it rains or by natural springs. Here at the Caryl house, I have got my trusty hose.

Water is Life

I know I have done my job when I see the first squash flower blossom.

CAN YOU HEAR MY EXCITEMENT.... that is a squash flower blossom. Remember back in late March, when I got all in your face about a garden because at that time pandemic was just reaching full blown crazy. That little flower came from a seed. A seed I germinated and grew.

YES

The Greeks make la loudia (la looooodia). Plural for flower in Greek. (Note to self need to get Greek translation on here). Greek squash flowers are one of the most magnificent dishes you will ever taste. My second mother, Nietse makes some of the best. The flower blooms are filled with a combination of rice, herbs, feta or magithra then boiled in a beautiful flower juice. Sometimes you'll find a combination of cheese inside and fried. They are delish and time consuming to make but such a delicacy and a signal that summer has arrived. Flowers are picked in the wee early morn when they are open.

Water is Life

Above is a propagated borage herb. This little plant decided to grow outside of the box. I look at this back herb garden as a huge Petri dish. So happy she grew because last year the borage was overtaken by what I thought was a disease of some sort from a big web of caterpillar. On later reflection, I think the monarchs were making their nest. I pulled the whole plant out so as to not ruin the rest of the garden. I came to regret that decision as I saw a couple of monarch butterflies making their way towards the milkweeds.

From my friend, Jan Van Lent's flowering Lesvos book he describes "Borage officianalis' - "Common borage, also known as a Starflower or Cool-tankard- has large star-shaped flowers which are pink at first but then soon turn blue. This herb has for ages been cultivated as a garden plant for it's ornamental value, health benefits, medicinal effects and as a source of nectar for bees. It has a particularly good reputation for its beneficial affect on the mind, being used to dispel melancholy and induce euphoria. The leaves are edible and the plant is grown in gardens for that purpose in some parts of Europe. The plant is commercially cultivated for "borage seed oil" extracted from its seeds. Maybe 'borage' derives from the Celtic name 'borrach' which mean "courage" or in Welsh "herb of gladness". See Facebook page Flowering Lesvos."

Doc George (Ben Caryl's son) must have used this herb in his recipes. Back in early 1800s that is what the Doctor called his herb mixtures - recipes. He used these to heal those with ailments.

Water is Life

Water is Life

Scarlet Passion flower is life.

Back to reality and what's going on in bucolic small town Dover.

I follow Zoe Moon astrology and every Thursday she does a blog about the upcoming week. Well last week amongst a lot of astrological shifting and the shit show that's going on she commented that we would all encounter some type of water issues.

I follow Town politics as well as the Health Board for numerous reasons especially now in the time of covid. Dover has 18 cases by the way . Last week, I received many alerts.

After doing normal testing, three wells in Dover had E. coli found in them.

BOIL water alert - Boil water alert.

LITERAL SHIT SHOW...

Back in the day, Dover's water was owned by the Fryers. Fast forward to the water supply was bought by Colonial Water out of Connecticut. On top of the health pandemic now we have a water situation.

Fortunately, I am on the Chickering well which apparently wasn't impacted. I did some investigative digging, really just fired off a messenger to Bobby, who works for the Town and has the latest intel. Bobby and I went to elementary school together so I've known him for over 50 years. Boy, now I feel really old. Any hoo, he was able to give me critical information about the water situation.

What I found quite interesting about the water situation (another crisis on top of a crisis) was the amount of anger of some of the Towns folk. I do understand because water is life. I belong to Next Door Neighbor and I just basically said, not all wells were impacted. Why don't the neighbors who have water help the neighbors who don't. It's quite simple and neighborly. And it's called community. Something that I think got lost in America.

I'll fill some jugs from the Chickering well. Apparently, Ch. 5 was here and Ch. 25 because in Colonial's attempt to make it right they brought up a water truck so that people could fill some jugs. However, MA Public Health when they asked where the water came from Colonial couldn't tell them where it came from.

Stalled out frustration ~ hot days - Summer is upon us

Water is life

It's sorted now but boy some folk were pissed. I got a history lesson from Bob. I'll report more after I go to the transfer station tomorrow.

Water is life

WATER IS LIFE

Woo HOO...I took my first swim at Duxbury Beach. Well, it was more like take the core temperature down, take my mask off, stroll to the water with sand in feet and frolic in that salty Atlantic sea water. Let the salt water, vitamin D and sun sink into my olive skin.

Life's a beach or is that bitch!

Water is life

Happy Summer Solstice!