Thank the Lord for the much needed rain at the end of June as the plants, flowers, grass & wildlife really needed it! I remember as a little girl my Mémère (French for grandmother) praying to God for rain for the farmers, us....and teaching me to do the same. If it means less hand watering, you know I am praying. The rain barrels were dry! Some of the grass has been burnt by the grueling sun/heat & lack of water. Hoping for recovery.

John Paul & I moved onto the vast rectory yard with its own 5 garden areas. Clean-up and upkeep (maintenance) is truly the name of the game. Putting in an extra day this week made the difference.

Trimming grass where we could until equipment failed us, on to weeding, raking, intercepting nasty bittersweet, maple & other tree saplings early on, realigning brick and stone borders and trimming ivy, privet & azalea bushes. Phew!

Our 60 little spruces that were donated 2 years ago by Judy Ware’s neighbor and planted as borders in the rectory yard and some alongside the church on the Story St side by Mark Louf are doing well. We should have seen more growth, we will need fertilizer to improve their health/growth.

Our various Hosta, ALL donated by parishioners from their gardens over the years are growing strong & huge! We have a colossal slug (having a slugfest) to prove it. In fact we split some to plant along the barren side of the rectory foundation. They look marvelous, soil is depleted here due to leaking wooden gutters on rectory. We will need to use our compost and add garden soil. It is not as easy to split/transplant Hosta now as in the spring or fall, but we do it when the 2 of us are able.

We also transplanted a beautiful blue hydrangea from behind the rectory garage to the garden behind the fence for better enjoyment from the deck. We are using what God has provided to us to enhance OUR church property while using OUR time and God given talents at no cost to the parish.

Margaret Mary Singleton volunteered to deadhead the rhododendrons (on all sides of the church )of their browning “spent” flowers. It truly makes a difference. So if you see a nice woman in our bushes, please thank Margaret Mary for her service.

I gave John Paul the week of the 4th of July off from volunteerism in appreciation of his additional work and Independence of our country. God Bless America....Land that I Love! May God’s guiding hand help us through this pandemic and many crises through His commandment of LOVE One Another as I have loved you.

 

Thank You for your prayers and support as we are officially in the dog days of Summer,

Alma Pelletier & John Paul Bossé