Pandemic: stuck in Sonoma, twiddling (green) thumbs

Cynthia warned me that testing was very spotty, but I still thought I could get to CA and back to the boat before things got serious. I chose... poorly: the counties near Sonoma issued stay-at-home orders a week after I got here.... and, so, I am staying here a bit longer. Besides, I've still been waiting on the go-ahead to repair my rudder from the insurance company. In the meantime I've been here with my folks, all of us feeling a bit of cabin fever despite the nice weather and wonderful location.

So, what to do here? Various projects, including “top-working” the orange tree, grafting different varieties onto it in place of the existing “meh” naval oranges. We ordered five different varieties from the state citrus grafting supply, they arrived as green sticks in well-labelled plastic bags a few days later, and we then spent a few hours working on the orange.

step 1: cut the branch, split open the bark and gently peel it back

 Step 2: insert the carefully cut short stick of buds under the bark

 Step 3: wrap the graft in rubber bands to hold the live surfaces together and wrap it all in parafilm to prevent drying out. Label the branch (blood orange, here)

 Step 4: shade the grafts from the harsh sun for a few weeks, until the graft heals together

 Step 5: take a photo of the very odd-looking tree!

I love grafting, the surgical splicing of one tree variety onto another, aligning the growing layers (cambium) so they tie together, watching the buds swell and sprout, seeing the new flowers and fruit over the years. Delightful.

Mostly I've grafted apples and plums and this is my first time for citrus.

Now we wait... and hope that the grafts survive and grow nicely rather than drying and dying. So far it has been about three weeks and, while everything seems alive, nothing has shown signs of growth. Fingers crossed!



I've also been working on mastering and improving an old family favorite, molasses cookies. So far I've eliminated the need to refrigerate the dough and roll it in sugar. This means I can go from ingredients to ingesting in a half hour! 

Perhaps, I will soon head to MI to see Cynthia, although taking two or three extra flights scares me quite a lot in this time of coronavirus. Perhaps, now that we have the insurance go-ahead on the rudder, I can head back there to finish the repairs and sail the boat away, staying aboard on anchor in FL or NC.... although cases look like they are blowing up in FL and the boat yard launch facilities have closed down. Interesting times...

I MISS being afloat. I dream about diving into the clear water...