House Arrest

My Sweet Ginny Girl is like a deer, always in motion.  

To see her gliding, bouncy step is mesmerizing.  It's like she's walking on air.  Her speed is something else.  Somewhere in that Heinz 57 mix is a little bit of greyhound.

About 6 weeks ago she pulled up lame on her right rear leg.  She's been lame from time to time before after heavy exercise but she's always pulled through.  This time though it's been pretty persistent.  Enough so that I took her to the Vet who talked about knee injuries and gave me some doggie NSAIDs.

After 3 rounds of NSAIDs Ginny's no better so the Vet is now talking surgery.

Now to be honest with you, I was a very bad Mom.  While she was on the meds you wouldn't know anything was wrong with her.  And that was my big mistake.  I didn't rest the joint and of course the meds were taking care of the pain so she ran and played as usual.  I didn't restrict her OR decrease her usual exercise routine.  She seemed fine, so I was fine.  Bad move.


This past Saturday I inquired about the type of surgery the vet was recommending.  Ligament/knee surgeries are one of the most common canine surgeries performed.  Anterior Cruciate Ligament or ACL procedures can vary in cost from Conventional (which was what OUR Vet quoted us at $1450) to the latest and greatest Tibial Plateau Leveling or TPLO ($2700 and up).

I spent most of this weekend researching the web and also doing a gut-check on myself.

I think I'm like a lot of people who not only want to do what's right for their pet, but also take opinions at face value.  If that's what the Vet says to do than it must be the right thing to do.   After all, He/She has the degree and I don't.

So after talking with the Vet tech on the phone Monday, I went ahead and signed up for blood work Tuesday with surgery on Wednesday.  I continued to research and came across an interesting web site.  Dog Ligament Injury 
discusses all aspects of this injury but offers up something more.  No surgery.

The Conservative Method this site promotes simply says to restrict your dog's activities for an extended period of time (up to 1 year) in order to allow the joint to develop enough scar tissue to support itself again.


What I didn't know (and what wasn't explained to me) is that this surgery is not a cure.  It provides a temporary "support" until the more permanent scar tissue develops around the artificial support implanted.  Dogs that have this problem often need both legs done.  Why?  Because the other leg, which has been supporting the lame one, also goes bad.  Geez.

OK...So here's the question.  Since I'm going to have scar tissue either way, with or without surgery, why am I putting my dog through the risks of surgery, not to mention paying out big bucks in order to do it?  

She'll be restricted for 4-6 weeks post-operatively too.  Why not TRY the enforced restrictions NOW and utilize surgery only as a last resort? 

SM and I read the website and talked it over.  It just makes sense.  We agreed to try the Conservative Method first.  So I called and canceled the surgery and Ginny is now under "House Arrest".  No more jumping, running, limited walking (potty breaks only) and lots of down time for the next 8 weeks.  Wish us luck! 


Max, the website author, puts it best...(Thank You, Max for offering us a common sense alternative!)

The following was written in May 2007, five years after Tigger's injury:

 --- It is five years since Tigger ruptured ligaments in both rear legs. His injury was severe. His non-surgical recovery was very successful. Since his recovery he has had no trouble with his stifles(knees).  He has led a very active life, both before his injury and after his recovery.  Big dogs like Tigger age more quickly than smaller dogs, and he is showing his age now at 12.  He has slowed down and is no longer a frisky young fellow, but the joints that were badly injured and recovered without surgery are still fine.  Looking back I am glad that I rejected TPLO surgery for Tigger.  It was difficult to decide to go against the surgeons' advice then. They presented themselves as so certain that surgery was absolutely necessary. Time has proven that Tigger did not need TPLO or any other surgery.  I know now that surgeons commonly misrepresent the facts about TPLO in order to sell people on this very profitable procedure.  Many dogs who are subjected to TPLOs would recover from their injuries without surgery just as Tigger did if they were given a chance to do so.   I am confident that the best way to approach a dog's ligament injury is to first try the non-surgical approach. Improvement over the first 8 weeks will indicate that the dog can probably successfully recover without surgery.  Agreeing to immediate surgery puts the dog at risk for various complications and imperfect results which could be avoided with a non-surgical recovery. While surgery is sometimes necessary, I believe that surgeries are recommended and done much more often than they should be.

  

Chicken Bone to the Head

The cicada's have come and gone.  We have a new invasion this weekend.

NASCAR fans.

I'm not into NASCAR.  But I live in NASCAR land.  This is an event to be respected. But if you can't respect it, you can at least avoid it.  I try really hard to stay off the roads during this weekend.  But not my Baby.

SM loves and I mean LOVES people watching during these weekends.  

It's just a coincidence that my home is 5 miles away from Mecca.  The "holy Land" of NASCAR. 

And SM is drawn to this seething mass of humanity like a mosquito is to a bug zapper.  So when he asked me to go to Walmart with him this morning I thought it would make a good blog post.  So I grabbed the camera and tagged along.  

Now, what is all this "chicken bone to the head" stuff about?  

Thirteen years ago when we moved here SM and I went to several races.  (Yeah, I can be a team player from time to time.)  Back then, you were allowed to bring in your own food and drinks.  I don't know if you still can or not. 

Anyway, the big joke was that fans would bring in buckets of Bojangles fried chicken and coolers full of beer.  If you sat in the cheap seats, (down front) you could expect to get smacked with a "chicken bone to the head" from the fans behind you when an unpopular driver would zoom by.

I never got "smacked" but I did get covered in black flecks of tire/race track goo.  Not to mention lost my ability to hear much of anything for hours afterwards, even protected with ear plugs.  Hot, sweaty, stinky, loud...Oh yeah this was right up my alley.  NOT.

So here's to you NASCAR fans out there.  Sorry I couldn't cut it.  But SM hopes to be there tonight.  He'll head out like he does every year and "scalp" a ticket.  He's such a party animal!

"You be sure and take a shower before you climb into bead, now!" I holler.

Serendipity

I came home tonight to a filthy house, a lame dog (that will likely need knee surgery) and a hankering for a glass of wine, a good book and a warm breezy evening sitting outside in the shade of the big maple.

Instead, I got on the phone to call the Vet and refilled an RX for Rimadyl (doggie NSAID).  Drove to said Vet in a "frog choker" (heavy, heavy thunderstorm), shelled out my $22 dollars and asked the Vet to call me Monday to discuss surgery. 

Once I got back to the house, SM pulled in beat down from another day trying to earn a buck.  "What's for supper?"  He asked.

"How about Pizza?"  Since I'm gluten free I stopped making my own bread and pizza dough.  Pillsbury to the rescue.  While I'm fixing dinner, I'm filling SM in on the likely game plan for Ginny's patella surgery.  (Hell, I can't afford $66 dollars a month so that she can be pain free.  She's only 6 years old.  I'm a wimp when my pups are sick or hurting.  SM agrees.)

Then suddenly he brightens up. 

"Have I got a surprise for you.  And it didn't cost me anything!!!" 

"Oh yeah?"  I asked stirring the mushrooms that were frying up.

"Yeah...A (customer) and I were talking about canning...(How did that conversation start?)...and he told me I was welcome to take 5 boxes of jars that his Mom used to can with out of his basement.  Free!"

"Free?!?" I squeaked.

"Yep...come and see!"  

So I went out into the garage while SM dodged the raindrops and brought in the booty.

Nice old jars.

Kerr...

Ball...

And Golden Harvest.  All quart jars.  60+.  I'll just have to buy the lids. 

Score! 

SM gets BIG bonus points for this!  Gotta love that man!  (I think he was just as excited as I was.  He says it took him back to his childhood seeing all those old jars.)

Ooops!  I forgot about the mushrooms frying on the stove!  I ran back inside.  Slightly crispy but just fine.  I threw the pizza on the stone, grabbed a glass of wine and watched the downpour.

So Ginny's not limping now and the mushrooms didn't catch fire.  The house is still filthy, but I don't care cause I've had more than one glass of wine.  I've got a husband praising me that it was the best pizza he's ever eaten and a pile of jars in the garage waiting for me to fill them.


Life is good.

Blogger Issue

I can't comment on your blogs.  It started last night but it was late so I went to bed.  This morning I tried again.  Nothing.

So I did a Blogger Help Search of current issues.  Here's the scoop.

We're investigating an issue which is preventing login and comment posting for some users, and hope to have a fix released shortly.

Thanks for your patience in the meantime. — latest update on Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Just thought ya'll might like to know.

Wordless Wednesday - Box Elder Bugs

Put A Lid On It

I ran over to Walmart Monday morning to get some CWF (Clear Wood Finish) to apply to the back deck to help protect it from our intense sun.  (SM had borrowed our neighbors power washer this weekend and had cleaned the deck for me already.)

As I was buzzing through the aisles I saw a stack of boxes on the end of an aisle with a sign that said Canning Jars $7 a dozen - You pick the size.  I stopped dead in my tracks and thought.  "Why not?"



Back in the day...ages ago it seems, my parents canned.  I remember helping can tomatoes and peaches and pears.  I don't think we ever made jelly.  I'm pretty sure someone in the house made a killer bread and butter pickle.  Everything was canned using a water bath.  A few years later we got a huge upright frost free freezer and that was the end of canning at our house.

I've mentioned before that food texture is a "To each their own kinda thing." 

I'm not shy about freezing foods but I don't care for the texture of frozen peaches and pears.  Applesauce is good either way and I truly can't image preserving tomatoes any other way than in a jar.

So I loaded 3 quart boxes into my cart, spun over and picked up a water bath canner, (lifter "thingy", funnel and magnet included) and eyeballed the food processors.

SM has wanted to get me a food processor for awhile.  I just think that they're a pain in the butt.  Maybe I'd think differently if I had one but that's a mighty expensive "If".

What I think I'd like is a Food Mill.  It's seems right up my alley but again I've no experience with a food mill either.  It just seems "right" to me. 

I've also read on a blog (somewhere) about using a  Food Steamer/Juicer to help condense the water out of tomatoes for a denser sauce.

I've read blogs on slow oven roasting and crock-pot sauces too.

So I'd like to throw this out there.  Canning is on my "2011 To Do List".  I'm going to start simple this year.  Water Bath only.  Maybe next year I'll venture into pressure canning land. 

What utensils, tips, tricks would you teach a newbie like me?

Peaches, pears, and tomatoes (maybe applesauce, not sure)  That's it.  That's all.  Everything else goes in the freezer.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Want to hear our cicada's?  It sounds like a spaceship is hovering out in the distance.  Beautiful, but weird. 

Here's a YouTube link Sound of 2011 Cicada's and a Fox News clip about them Fox News Cicada Clip

SM says I'm fascinated by them.  He's right.  I really am.

Stand outside and they'll land on you.  Really beautiful bugs.  And I'm not into bugs.  Too bad they'll only live for about a month.

My problem is that Casey is loving them.  I can't walk her in the mornings without her vacuuming them up.  Yuck.  They're all over the roads and sidewalks. 

Talk about Crunch and Munch.

I could save on kibble...hmmm.  Maybe I should harvest some cicada's.

(Bleah...)

No Snow Anywhere

I took some time Sunday morning and really went through the second bed of peas carefully. 

I feel somewhat vindicated.  There's not a snow pea anywhere.  What I thought might be snow peas was actually immature pods.

I thought that I had planted the Green Arrows and Wando's in this bed.  I had even noted it on the map in my garden book.  Looks like I was right.

The peas that have matured are everything I could hope for.  Much larger pods filled with much larger peas.  Sweet too.

There's a lot of peas that need to mature yet in this bed.  Unfortunately, this coming week we'll have highs in the mid 90's.  Nothing kills a pea faster than than heat.  I picked these varieties because they are more heat tolerant than others and supposedly suited for the mid-Atlantic.

I think if I could just get through this week of high temperatures, I might just get a bumper pea crop.  I was skunked last year on shelling peas due to the heat.  But I had a great snow pea harvest last year.

So what happened to my snow peas?  Did they cross pollinate somehow?  Do peas do that?  Or maybe I really did get a miss labeled batch.

All I know is that these peas are way more impressive than the other bed.  Those plants were small and dying back.  The peas were edible but small and the pods thin skinned.  Perhaps I had mutant peas.

Regardless...Won't ya'll be happy when I finally stop talking about peas?

Next up...I'm sure to wax poetic on my zucchini crop.

(snore) 

What's In Your Shed?

Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me,  I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. 

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an "L" on her forehead. - "All Star" by Smash Mouth

Whenever I do something stupid, this lyric pops into my head.  I think it's a brilliant phrase.

You see...I do stupid things all the time.  Most of the time nobody notices, just me.  The only witness.  I can keep it hush, hush.... "shhhh." (grin)

Two weekends ago, SM and I did the big "direct sow" thing in the garden.  The last thing going into the ground was the watermelon, muskmelon and pumpkins.  I wanted lots of room for them to grow. 

SM said "Only do a few for now.  It's still early and we can stagger the plantings."

"Sounds good to me!"  I replied exhausted.  It had been a full day outside and I was stinky, sweaty and ready for a hot shower and a glass of wine.

The next day, I washed the clothes that we had worn while gardening and when I went to throw them in the dryer I saw seeds everywhere.

"Oh, crap!"  I had stuffed the melon and pumpkin seeds in my pants pocket after I'd sowed them.  And had forgot all about them.  I love these pants because they're heavy duty and have pockets everywhere.  I just didn't even notice the packets though.

I thought about going ahead and planting them but SM didn't want too many melons and pumpkins anyway so I ended up tossing them.

Loser.

I spent some time yesterday shelling peas out of the one bed.  I'm going to start harvesting the other bed today.  I've been putting it off because I think, maybe....I'm not sure...but I think I did something stupid with the other pea bed.

I thought I'd planted Green Arrow and Wando shelling peas in the same bed.  I thought I'd planted my snow peas in a separate bed.

A few weeks ago I started picking snow peas.  Most of them were flat but some of them were just a little fatter.  (*Believe it or not, when shelling peas are immature, they look alot like a snow peas.) 

Anyway, I had picked a bunch and steamed them up.  Yummy.

The next night I picked a bit further down from where I had the night before.  This batch was tough and stringy.  We both spit them out.

I suspected I'd screwed up but didn't want to admit it.  I blamed the seed company of course.  (evil grin)

Well, it's been a week and you can tell that I've got a mix of shell and snow peas all through that one bed.  Nice fat peas that will be easy to seperate from the snow peas. 

The snow peas should have been picked a few weeks ago while they were still young and tender.  These might be too tough to eat.  We'll see.



Not a total loss by any means, it's just a pain in butt trying to judge which one is which.  I'd rather have to wait and loose the Snow peas but gain the shelling peas than keep spitting out the tough inedible pods.

Maybe next year I'll try sugar peas.

White Noise

For the past ten years or so I've slept with a sound machine.  I'm a pretty light sleeper so any noise that isn't our usual household noise would wake me up.  Before our great new neighbors moved in, we had a family with teenagers and friends that would come in with their bikes and cars and music.  Dogs barking, people talking.  They tried to be respectful but still...I'm in bed by 10 and when you're young, that's when the party gets started.

So I tried a noise machine and now I can't live without it.  I even take it with us when we go on vacations.  Puts me out like a light and even SM doesn't seem to mind it.  I like the white noise setting.  The ocean makes me want to pee and the heatbeat makes me feel like I'm in a really bad horror movie.

We have some new neighbors moving in this year.  They stop by every 10years or so and hang out with us during with summer months. 

Cicadas.



I actually LOVE the sound of cicadas.  If the South has a song, it's the song of the cicada.

SM has heard them around for the past few weeks as he travels around the state for his work.  I heard them this past week as I took Scooter to the Vets for his dental cleaning.  I would drive past a stand of woods and hear the "wave" of sound.  Pretty loud actually.

Last night I came home from work and there it was.  That lovely roar of white noise.  The cicada's are starting to drift into our neigborhood slowly.  SM said he had a cicada on the lawnmower with him as he cut the yard yesterday.

Beady red eyes he says.



I expect the dogs will have some fun chasing them down.  And trying to eat them too.  Scooter is a bit of a "garbage gut" and will crunch away on any bug he can find.  Casey is still enough of a pup that the rattle and vibration will have her pouncing on them in the yard.



So go ahead and "holla" at me!

Garden Update and Attack of the Ninja Slugs

I've never grown my own potatoes before so I've been watching their progress with interest.  They look quite beautiful with their blossoms.
  

Can you plant potatoes mid summer for a fall crop?

The squash and corn patch look like they'll have some competition with the Bermuda grass.  I knew this would be a tough area to control this year.  We'll see what happens.  Bermuda grass is so invasive!

Our first zucchini blossoms of the year. 

There's NO stopping the zucchini.  It's the one crop I'm guaranteed to get year after year.  Too bad zucchini doesn't taste like chocolate...I'd be a real happy girl with that crop.

And the slugs.  We never see the little bastards, but I know they're out there.  My beans are getting decimated again, just like last year.

I would love to hear some feedback from you all on how to play the "keep away from my plants" game with the slugs.  I know I've made a desirable area for them with the cardboard "weed block" that we're using.  Can't be helped.  The grass will take over if I pull the cardboard.  SM calls them "ninja slugs."

I've noticed that they only seem interested in the beans and squash (family).  They're not eating anything else.  SM went out and bought some slug bait yesterday so we need to get that out.  Does it work for anybody? 

Absorbed

I been gone for the past few days.  Mentally that is.  Gone into the land of a "good book."  Sorry about that. 

SM says I can completely tune out the world when I'm reading.  And when I get my hands on a good book, it's even worse.  My nose is in to it 24-7.  Except for sleeping and work...And if I didn't have to do those things, I wouldn't.  

I visit a site from time to time and find some really good books.  Here's the link to Read Free Books Online  This site has a lot of "pain in the butt" pop-ups, and "skip this ad" stuff.  Sometimes you click on the cover and get an ad and sometimes you don't.  Be persistant.  Try the covers or the links and eventually you'll get there.  Once you're in the books the ads stop, just keep in mind that if you leave the site you'll have to jump through all those hoops again AND click through the whole book again to get where you last stopped.  I solved this by adding the page where I stopped for the night to "My Favorite Places".

I saw that The Hunger Games was listed as a popular book this week.  I had heard of The Hunger Games and wasn't sure it was my cup of tea.  Boy, did I suck that one down.  The I also read Chasing Fire and Mockingjay (books 2 and 3 of the trilogy.)  I just finished last night. 

Very good.  I wouldn't call them the best books I've ever read but certainly absorbing. 

So unless I find another good book to read, I'll be back with the real world for now.

Hope I didn't miss anything...I know SM has felt neglected.  (grin)

Harvesting Peas

After chores, around lunchtime, SM and I spent about an hour shelling some of the English Peas.  We talked about growing up in Ohio with gardens.  Fond memories of sitting around kitchen tables shelling peas. 

"These seem smaller to me but then again I was a kid, so maybe everything seemed bigger then."  SM recalls.

"They seem smaller to me too.  Probably the variety (Wando and Green Arrow).  I remember spending summers with my Grandma and Grandpa in upstate New York." I said.  "I would pull the peas and dig new potatoes from out of their garden and Grandma would make a soup with peas, chunks of potatoes, milk, butter and salt and pepper.  I remember asking for seconds it was so good.  I couldn't get enough of that simple soup."

"What are you going to do with these?"  SM asks.

"I think I'll freeze this batch.  It's going to be cool enough this week that we can take our time harvesting the rest.  About how far into the bed are we?"  I ask.

"About half."  SM replies.

I told him to go ahead and pull the plants up and we would strip them as we went along.  There are no new blooms anywhere on the plants...some even look like they're yellowing/drying up.  I don't want to wait too long and have tough, dried out peas.  My window is very short for any kind of pea. 

I blanched them for 90 seconds and then cooled them off in ice water.
  

"Look what an 1 1/2 hours of shelling peas gives you."  I tossed the 2 quart bags at SM.

"I can buy a bag of frozen peas at the store for about a $1."  SM says.

"But they don't taste like this!"  I respond.

"Summer fresh in the middle of winter!"

The Box In My Head

Does anybody truly enjoy weeding?  Raise your hand!

Ummm...Not me.


I was thinking about how I put problems into boxes (compartmentalize) in my mind while I was weeding.  (Hence this post.)


You see, I hate weeding.  Did you hear that!  HATE IT!

It's just tedious.  You're bent upside down feeling like your head will pop off, showing your butt to the world.  My back hurts, my knees ache.  I could be doing SO many other things, but "Nooo" I am driven to do this one stupid, thankless task....aargh! 


Told ya I hated it.


With our recent on and off showers and cloudy weather, I've taken the past few days to try and combat the Springtime assault of weeds in every part of my yard.

The garden is not on my list.  Not yet.  Part of the joy of raised beds is that there is very little weeding needed.  Our "landing strips" however are a soon to be wasteland of bermuda grass.  Trouble is, I need the beans and corn and squash seeds that have just sprouted to get a wee bit bigger before I start yanking.

No...I've actually been bent over pulling weeds out from of all the landscaped beds.  Trees and shrubbery that hold no purpose in my life other than "curb appeal."  

Freakin curb appeal!

"OK girl...Deep breaths.  You can do this.  Just one bed at a time.  Yeah, that's it...Slow and steady wins the race."

And then you'll be done!

Only to start it all over again in a few weeks.

Freakin weeds.

The Couch That Casey Ate

I've had dogs most of my life. 

I've also heard the horror stories and seen the pictures and video's of dogs who've eaten their way through their owners house.  Carpeting, pillows, sofas...nothing is off limits while they are in their puppy years. 

I never had a problem with it...until Casey.  (Must be a terrier thing.) 


(*Our neighborhood had it's annual Garage Sale this morning.)

My sweet angel...

This is the dog,
that ate the couch,
that sat in our yard,
that everyone laughed at,
that is now in the garage,
cause nobody wants it...(even for free)...

Except the cat.

This is the room, 
that will sit empty, 
except for some cushions,
while someone in our house goes into detox.

Fortunately, it was an old, busted down couch.  So don't feel too bad for me.  I've been wanting it replaced for sometime now.  Hopefully, by this fall, Casey will have forgotten all about the biggest chew toy a pup ever had.

Hopefully...

The News I Like The Best

(**Huh...I did have this blog posted Thursday before the big Blogger meltdown of the past 2 days.  But now it's "gone baby, gone".  I can't find it at all.  So lets see if I can remember how it went.**)

Most of you who read our blog know that SM and I suspended our Direct TV account last month.  We've both been noticing how relaxed and mellow we are now that we don't have the TV on when we're home.  SM and I are news piggies.  We love to see and discuss local and world events. 

Now that we're not plugged in 24-7, we have to make an effort to obtain our news via online sources.  To be perfectly honest, I just don't care what's going on in the world that much anymore.  All I can really control is what's happening in my backyard. 

Of course I want to know about the earthquake in Japan and the southern twisters.  I just don't need every minute detail examined 6 ways to Sunday.  Information overload.

SM and I cancelled our "big city" newspaper a few year ago too.  We'd noticed that "If it was news to them it was old news to us."  Maybe print just couldn't keep up with the internet but it was just silly paying ever increasing prices for a paper that was becoming redundant.

So these days, this is how I like my news best.

Thanks to my good friend Susan who keeps me supplied with her old papers.  Hopefully, they'll help keep the weeds down.

Wordless Wednesday - Egg Shells

Peas and Lettuce

Some of the shelling peas are almost ready.  Getting fatter...

A few more days, I think.

The snow peas are also coming along.  I picked some last night and steamed them with butter, salt and pepper.  Yum.

And the lettuce..."My God, the lettuce!!!!!  Oodles and oodles of lettuce!  I'm eating it 2-3 times a day.  I still can't get SM to eat a salad for breakfast though...

Free To Good Home

Sometimes...you can't even give it away.

I started way too many tomatoes this year.  I assumed that I'd have a few that just wouldn't germinate.  Ha!  Everyone pulled through beautifully.  But I knew going in that I'd need to give some of the plants away.

My good neighbor right beside me took two.  I gave her a Brandywine and a Matt's Wild Cherry.  I approached 3 other neighbors.  Nope, not interested.  Another neighbor, a retired couple who garden, gently turned me down as they had just planted 40 tomato's themselves.  (I've got them beat by 5.... grin)

So I put them out by the mailbox last night.  One lady took two as I was putting them out. I saw another car slow and a gal picked one up. 

This morning there were 3 left.  I went ahead and found a spot for them in my garden.  They will probably be the BEST of the batch, just wait and see! 

Step Lively

Our steps off the back porch have been needing to be replaced.  SM thought today was a good day to do it. 

I, on the other hand, think today is good day to sit on my butt with a good book and take a load off my tired feet.

(It's kinda nice watching someone else work.)  

Taps

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the skies
All is well, safely rest;
God is nigh.

The summer garden is in.  Tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, summer and winter squashes, watermelon, musk melon and pumpkins. 

And now for a good nights sleep.

The Most Productive

I am loving my "Gardening With The Moon' Calendar.  This weekend the moon is in Cancer.  According to my calendar Cancer is:

Very fruitful and the most productive sign.  Irrigate.  Plant all seeds.  Never dig potatoes at this time.  Plant hay, grain and cereals.  Plant vegetables which yield above ground.  Plant flowers for abundance.  Good for budding, transplanting and grafting.  Plant potatoes, carrots, etc.  Prune plants and trees.

(Yes, oh wise one.  I will do as you command!)

Fortunately our weather is agreeing with the moon and I feel confident that the time is right for transplanting the tomatoes and peppers.  I'll also direct sow the majority of my seeds this weekend.

SM points out the corn is "popping" in the fields locally.  Most of it is likely field corn instead of sweet, but it looks like our evening temperatures are going to stay in the 60's from here on out so I think I'll go ahead and get that in the ground.

When the peas and carrots are finished, likely by the end of May, I'll plant those beds up with my "staggered" plantings.  More beans and squashes.

So a busy day ahead for all of us (weather permitting!).

Just as soon as I get back from post-ops, I'll be on my knees and with my fingers in the dirt.

YeeHa!

To Kill A Mockingbird

It's 4am. 

You'd think I'd be in peaceful slumber like the rest of the world.  

Nope.  Instead I've been tossing and turning most of the night trying NOT to fixate on the demented mockingbird that has been singing EVERY NIGHT, all night long, for the past month.  



For those who aren't familiar with "Mimus Polyglottos", they offer up natures "Top 40" in bird songs.  

Per Wiki - "They are best known for the habit of mimicking the songs of other birds and the sounds of insects and amphibians often loudly and in rapid succession."
 
They mimic everything and it's truly beautiful music...just not in the middle of the night.

When this bird stared singing, I blamed it on the brilliant full moon that we'd had and hoped that it would eventually move on. 

Hasn't happened.  His territory must be somewhere in the vicinity of my backyard.  Not always in my big holly bush.  But that's where he's at right now.  I'm assuming it's a male in search of a female.  THAT hasn't happened yet either.  What girl in her right mind wants to listen to his big mouth all night long?




I'm about to go Gregory Peck on his ass.

Wordless Wednesday - Where's Waldo?

Knock Me Out

My knockout roses are already blooming...

And the Indian Hawthorn is also showing it's colors.

Times like this I wish I didn't have to work, but I've enjoyed a fantastic week off.  Got a lot done, and I'm already looking forward to the weekend.

Off to work, now...

Last Of The Honey-Do

Today SM and I finished up the last on my "Honey-Do" list.  We now have a trellis for both of the grapes.

Reliance seedless (table) grape and the Muscadine.  

It didn't take too long to complete the trellis's.  SM wanted to do something more fancy like an arbor but I just wanted it to be simple and functional.  We drove in 6ft posts and ran galvanized wire between them.  Simple.

SM says he's actually excited about the grapes.  I think he's caught the bug now.

Too bad he can't get excited about chicken's....