A NEW GARDEN PATH, AND TASTING RED ELDERBERRIES

NEW WALK TO THE FRONT YARD GARDEN AND DECK...

...DITTO

RED ELDERBERRY FRUIT

Monday,  8:30 AM.  53 degrees F, wind NW, light.  The sky is mostly cloudy and overcast, the humidity has risen to 89% and it has been raining lightly, with about .05" of rain in the gage. The barometer is on the rise, now at 29.8".  The middle of the week should be nice.
   Buddy is doing well since his mishap but I have to spend a lot of time taking the "lampshade" on and off so he can eat and drink and go for necessary walks, and he seems to need a lot of attention. He is limping some but doesn't seem to be in any pain.  He probably will spend a few more nights in the bedroom and we will have to be careful not to trip over him in the dark.  A good, nurishing recipe for a dog that is under the weather, and needs to be encouraged to eat:  ground beef fried in the pan as you would for spaghetti meat sauce, but mixed (not too runny) with plain yogurt  rather than tomato sauce.
   Since I have been more or less grounded while Buddy is convalescing, I finished the informal walkway to the front garden and deck yesterday.  The brick had been sitting in place for weeks and impeding the mowing of the lawn, but they are now laid and I am pleased with their look and function. It doesn't look like much of a job, but I had to deal with tree roots and it was a lot of work.  It would have been easier to dig a shallow trench and make the pathway all brick but that was not the effect I wanted, as I did not want it to compete with the main  entrance to the house.  When laying brick pavers it is always best to dig deep enough to lay them on a bed of sand to make it easier to level them, and then sand should be worked into the spaces between the bricks to lock them in place.  To complete the setting I will next build a very simple decorative archway across the walk to designate the entrance to the garden, which has largely become a shady Rhododendron collection.
   The native northern red elderberry, Sambucus pubens, that marks the entrance to the herb garden is bearing quite a bit of fruit this year; clusters of tiny red berries.  I had promised at some point to consume some and report on their flavor (they are edible).  They are quite tasty, with a tart, lemony, rather refreshing flavor.  The tiny berries have a single seed, too small to extricate from the pulp, and these add a surprisingly pleasant crunch to the taste.  The berries are small and disappear from the bush rapidly so I doubt they are very useful for jams and jellies.  Eaten in season while hiking they would be a pleasant diversion.