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| Summer heat = Dried up patches of lawn and hoses snaking all around. |
We knew it would happen. It always has. Summer arrived and today feels like a sauna. So far we have not had horrible humidity, but now it's getting there. Earlier we have had a few days in the 90's and then some relief - at least with highs only in the low 80's, but for the next 10 days it is forecast to stay hot and humid. Blah.
We have had some nasty summer storms - yes, worse than usual. The result of the May 29 hail storm is that we got a new roof! And then when I went to dust off the cars after the roofers left, I found a HUGE dent in the middle of my Honda's roof! Insurance has paid for the roof (except for the difference in $ for the upgraded shingles) so we got lucky on that.
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| A crane to lift the shingles - |
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| And they didn't ruin my new flower border! |
DH and I are trying to remember... but we don't think we have EVER had a claim against our homeowner's insurance in the 40 years we have owned homes! And then after THAT storm, we've had another with winds strong enough to classify as a Derecho - and there went the fence!
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| This North section is the neighbo's |
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| This 3 sections on the South are ours.. |
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| The Inspector checking out MY work! |
We are still in the midst of damage control, getting quotes and scheduling work to be done. What a way to spend the summer! My worry on the fence is - will it hold through winter if we only get these sections repaired? Other sections are weak and I don't want to have to be out there fixing fence when it is freezing cold and snowy!
I don't think I will ever have all of my garden IN this year, but then I'm not really supposed to. I should be able to still plant things like green beans and peas, but it is too hot. I'd like to transplant some volunteer flowers, but I think it is too hot for that, as well. I finally got some Verbeena to pop up! Of course it is in a walk-thru path so I can't strim out the weeds without cutting it all off, too. Sigh. I wouldn't really care but I do want things to look nice for the Masters in the Garden event that I signed us up for. And I got the shade cloth up over the tomatoes, thanks to DS the Elder.
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| Dainty purple Verbeena, brightening up the veggies. |
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| Shade cloths |
I think I've also solved the mystery of what is eating the cabbages! I caught Archie in the brassica bed and thought HE was the one eating off the cabbages, but then he was scampering around like the little Hunter that he is, and realized he was chasing mice (or voles, I didn't look that closely). He's caught two and is still avidly hunting.
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| cabbage damage |
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| Archie the Hunter |
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| This time I think he's chasing a grasshopper... |
Thankfully, we are finally getting a good harvest! On July 5th the blackcaps (black raspberries) were ripening! I think I was able to pick about a quart the first serious picking session, and since then we have had more continue to ripen. The kids came over to pick and make dessert for dinner one day. Of course I forgot to take my phone out to snap a photo, and of course more went into mouths than the basket, but here is a sampling:
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| Making dessert pizza with blackcaps and strawberries |
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| All done, want a bite? |
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| After dinner there was some ball playing... |
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And why, when those beans have sat in the kitchen ALL WINTER
are they fascinated with shellling them NOW?
And they want me to make Baked Beans, because that's what you do... |
Now, what else have we been doing in the past couple of weeks?
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| DS the Elder replaced the last light fixture in our stash. |
That's all for now!
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