Friday, December 19, 2003
TENDING THE GARDEN
The day started with one of those achingly beautiful pink and purple sunrises we get this time of year--the angle of the sun or something. After the gym (legs) and breakfast I did the six-week fertilizing of roses and other flowery areas. Stuff will go dormant soon as the sun reaches its lowest point, so the food is really for their wake up time.
The roses are doing really well, so I may not winter-prune them back this year. I did a pretty good job in September when the summer ended (remove the dead branches, lop off any that cross over the wrong way and cut back to the height you want them to grow from). We do not do a severe prune here; although, every few years, it is a good idea to do so; gives them a fresh start and some incentive to build strong stems. Roses here will get leggy with all the sun if you let them spread too long.
The citrus are ready to come off now. We have been using grapefruit since November but it has been a bit sour until the last week or so. We will take fruit off until May or June when most of the remains will be stripped to make room for blossoms. Lemons are still plentiful. The limes are done. Both lemon and lime are potted so two crops a year are possible.
Tangerines are ready now and will make nice Christmas presents for people. The crop is less this year, I think, because they need to cross pollinate and there are not enough neighbors around--the tree has to depend on the wind to get fertile!
The only plants ailing are the winter flowers we put in a month ago (pansies and impatiens plus some other things that are mystery guests). It has been too cool for them and the carob tree is shading a bit more than usual. I skipped a pruning of the big tree and now will pay the price. Too much shade on the garden. Consequences in all actions!
TODAY'S FILM: RISKY BUSINESS (1983)
This is one of the last films with Cruise before he became a STAR and subsequently an INSTITUTION and, hence, almost unwatchable. He is impossibly young--17 in the role, 21 in real life. He is very good; and the air-guitar-in-underwear scene lasts for a lot less time than we remembered. You can see why he got the next picture.
It is one of the NYTimes 1000 Best/20thC. John walked out after the first third. You have to suspend your disbelief to hang. I managed all the way to the end.
Rebecca De Mornay is great and the young and very thin Joe Pantoliano (right-not thin) begins his career as a hovering menace.
I gave it a 3 on the Netflix scale (1-5).
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