My timer is on 13 minutes today from whatever I was timing previously. Let's see where my stream of consciousness takes me for the next 13 minutes.
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| Not from my yard but from our early morning walk in Frederick last week. The coneflowers in our yard are being eaten by some hungry insects as soon as they bloom. |
It's a quiet Sunday morning. Ward is still sleeping, and I miss having fussy cats yelling about their breakfast being late - no matter what time it is. A peek out the window reveals puddles in the driveway. Glorious puddles! We finally had real rain last night - over an inch. Hurray! The thunder started to rumble at bedtime, but I didn't mind because along with it came a real downpour. With the heat and no rain, we've been watering, trying to help the plants cope. For the first time ever, we emptied our entire rain barrel. Now, they have gotten the deep drink they deserve.
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| Also, from our walk. Our Black-eyed Susans haven't bloomed yet. |
More storms are predicted for the afternoon. I think it will be a good day to focus on things inside. We've been using early mornings to work in the yard. We're making good progress on the two-page list we have. Trees have been trimmed, flowers planted, beds edged, bushes trimmed, beds mulched, and plants watered. Despite attention, some plants, including the grass, look pretty stressed from the heat. The heat has turned much of it brown, and the twice-a-week mowing has turned into no mowing. That's one reason we have had time for some of the other yard chores. I have a feeling that last night's rain will change that.
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| Another picture from our walk. |
In the garden, I have pulled the broccoli and peas. Ward built a nice frame around the broccoli to keep the cabbage butterflies out. Didn't work. They found their way in anyway. Luckily, we got good heads off the plants before the caterpillars started feasting. The side shoots were not so lucky. Oh, well. It was getting too hot for the broccoli anyway.
I also pulled the pea vines. We got a good crop of peas this year with a couple of meals, and I froze some. We have small zucchini forming and many green tomatoes. And true to form, the deer found the tomatoes and carefully pruned the top 1/3 of all the plants. If that's all they do, that's okay. I'm willing to share. Like I have a choice. :)
Well, there goes my timer.
Until next time...
