Haven’t seen Nancy online today. Hope GDW is ok. He hasn’t been feeling well again.

OMG, lost my long post 4 hrs ago. HJ, I of course LOVE your dream. I love YOU!!!

I'm messed up today, tonight. We had THE best company who arrived yesterday at 6:30 pm, and we talked and visited nonstop between 6:30-midnight, and the 7 am to 11 when they left. My beloved husband's nephew and HIS son. They're from Garry's and mine hometown, Buffalo, Wyoming. Last month this nephew called us and said they'd be down to see us at about this time. (Garry lived across the street from me and three houses down when I was growing up and I had a huge crush on him all those years.) This nephew of Garry's lived 3 houses down from me and across the street from Garry. He was eight years younger than I was. But I knew him, his little sister, and baby brother.) This nephew, when GDW and I reconnected in August of 2014 and then got married 3 months later, and had his family for a party, this nephew told me that he used to have a crush on me (and he was 8 years younger!!!) Well. I guess you all will realize he endeared himself to me for the rest of my life! Funny thing is, I'm a liberal democrat; he's a right wing conservative republican. But THIS we have in common. First, he had a crush on me when we were kids. Second, we both had young sons who died. Third, we both claim to be Jesus followers. In the past four years since GDW and I got together, this nephew and I have struggled to find common bond, since we just sincerely liked each other. And I am thrilled to say, he is one of my favorite people in the world, and I know he loves me too. What an absolute gift. Love this guy with all my heart and know he loves me too.

But this visiting took us all into so many different venues/areas. It was kinda mind blowing, but good stuff. Nephew's son, a beautiful beautiful person with the biggest smile in the world, stage 3 cancer colon. So we discussed that for a long time. And I was so disinterested with the 3 guys' talk of guns and race cars. At one point I said, "Okay, can we talk about quilting now?" LOL

My new nephew confessing he'd had no idea how garlic was grown.

Nephew told us last month they had to see us because first he loved us, second he wanted to see our place, and third, he wanted to see Titan. And he and his son indeed showed up. (Nephew Dennis adores German shepherds and the pictures of Titan. They bonded immediately.)

More than a little bit off topic here. But have a whole bucket full of tomatoes I have to take care of tomorrow. We've had BLTs with Cherokee Carbons for 5 dinners out of the past week. Thankful that GDW loves them as much as me.

Melissa - the Wednesday market moved to Mitch Park. It’s held on the parking lot just east of the main entrance, basically where the parking was for ice skating this winter. There is also a market in the department of agriculture building’s parking lot on Tuesdays by the capitol. It starts a little later in the morning and goes past lunch, often having a food truck there during the lunch hour.

Kim, It sounds like you're having a wonderful time in Denton. I am so glad. It sounds like a lot of positive things are going on in your life right now. I'm doubly glad to hear that kind of news!

Rebecca, Well, isn't that just like a morning glory---to bloom while you're at work! At least it is blooming. Maybe moonflower vine would work for you. Have you ever grown it? They are daylength sensitive so don't start blooming until mid-summer or later, but bloom in the evenings and have a fabulous scent. Some years I mix together morning glories and moonflower vines so we have the morning glories in bloom in the mornings and moonflowers in bloom in the same area in the evenings.

Nancy, Your family visit sounds like it was just so lovely .

Hooray for the Cherokee Carbons and the BLTs. We actually are going to have BLTs for dinner tonight, probably using Cherokee Carbon and Big Brandy tomatoes, along with a mess of pink eye purple hull peas cooked the traditional southern way, and probably fresh peaches for dessert. This is only my second year to grow Cherokee Carbon but it has impressed me with its flavor, earliness and productivity each year so I'll probably grow it every year from here on out.

I do have a bucket of tomatoes to deal with today too. I wish I didn't have to process them, but even setting aside some for BLTs for tonight and setting aside more for hamburgers tomorrow, we still have too many to eat fresh and more coming into the house daily so I guess I'll freeze some for winter cooking.

Jennifer, I did just paint our old patio furniture which dates back to the early, early 2000s. That's why I was scrubbing it and washing it so well on Sunday. It had started out as a pale grayish mossy green when we bought it and had patterned floral cushions which had faded away to nothing. Really, though, I am impressed at how well the furniture has held up because I am pretty sure we bought it in 2002, so it lasted a long time with the original cushions. I painted the furniture a sort of hunter green---not deep, deep green but medium deep green---about the color of crinum lily leaves. I've got three coats of spray paint on all of it, with the last coat sprayed this morning. We bought solid-colored new cushions that are a lovely Spring leafy green at Lowe's over the weekend, so tomorrow morning before our family arrives, we'll put the furniture back in place and add the new cushions.

I never keep pots of flowers up around the house any more because the chickens will destroy them by digging in the soil-less mix, and the wild creatures will eat the plants. Usually all my container plants are in the garden and I have everything in big cattle feed tubs so those plants would be a nightmare to move up to the sitting area just for the holiday. I bought a flat of pink and white periwinkles in 4-packs at the store this weekend, and today I potted those up into 3-gallon green plastic flower pots that are a close match to the furniture cushions, so I got to squeeze in a little garden type activity as I prepare for tomorrow. Those flower pots are the ones I usually use in late winter/early spring to pot up tomatoes so that they keep growing until it is time to go into the ground. I have the container plantings in protective custody beside the patio under netting now and will move them to the sitting area tomorrow morning. I'm hoping the plants can survive in their pots near the house tomorrow and then I'll move them to the fenced garden on the 5th before I let the chickens out to free-range. We're not going to let the chickens out to free-range tomorrow, so all I have to do is get the plants through today/tonight under netting. I know the chickens are dying to get into those pots because they stood there and watched me fill up the pots will soil-less mix, add the plants and water them in. They were extremely interested in the process, but I know it is because they just want to dig through the pots and search for insects. It isn't because they were sitting there and thinking how pretty the flowers look.

Is anyone here running into chiggers or scorpions yet? One of the DFW TV stations had a news story about how the early heat has brought out the cicadas very early (as we discussed last week, I think) and also the chiggers and scorpions. They must have been talking only to people who live in the towns because if they'd been talking to folks who live out in the rural areas, they would have had to add snakes and ticks to the list. Probably large populations of crickets and grasshoppers too. Anyhow, in the DFW area, they said the chiggers are the worse they've been in almost three decades, which I think is a scary thought. So far we've largely avoided the chiggers here, haven't seen any scorpions but are inundated with cicadas. Hearing their ceaseless droning in the evenings and all night long makes it feel a lot later in the season than it actually is.

One of the more dangerous things about the cicadas is that copperheads love them, so that the copperheads often congregate beneath trees (especially white oaks) to look for them, and people and pets who are hanging out underneath those trees get bitten by the copperheads. Most of our worst snake encounters this year have been with copperheads (I don't know where the rattlesnakes are, and I don't care where they are as long as they are not here), and we've shot every single one we've encountered.

We had a string of grass fires stretched out over several miles in western Love County yesterday afternoon/evening that had the potential to get bad quickly, but the firefighters got there pretty quickly and knocked them down. A horse trailer blew out a couple of tires and the guy pulling it didn't know, so was driving on a flat and the wheel was throwing out sparks. I was sort of shocked the grass burned at all---they had 1.6" of rain out that way, but only the day before so grasses hadn't had time to green up very much I guess. Right after we ate dinner, we had a major medical call and Tim was gone for about an hour. I'm hoping that's it for this week and that it is quiet here, but that's probably wishful thinking.

The June water bill arrived yesterday (ugh) and it was almost $2 less than I had estimated it would be, so I was pleased that I hadn't used quite as much water as I thought I had. I guess that means that I can use an extra $2 of water to irrigate the garden in July. : ) Really, it would be nice if it would rain every week so I wouldn't have to water so much, but that's just not going to happen here.

Dawn

I have seriously considered planting cover crops and ignoring the garden until next year. But I'm thinking about starting Brussels sprouts right now, along with some of the zinnia seeds I've bought. `

I have so much trouble typing here lately.

I don't know if there are pests in the garden or not, I haven't really been out there. Waiting for DH to finish some things, so I can do what I need to do. I can't be out there when he's mowing. Those nasty machines make the dog insane. She barks at them and tries to bite them. So I must be inside with her. She would tear the house up if left inside by herself.

Dawn, I was so glad to hear you got rain. I'm sure it's not enough, but as you say, it will help with fireworks safety.

Sharon, I bought some tepary beans last year and never planted them. Please report back on them. Maybe I could try them in a bed where I was going to put cow peas. Hmmmm.

I've had a knee and both hips replaced. I agree with Ann, exercise first. The ideal exercise for me was a pool. It was the only place I could actually move comfortably. Our Y offers water aerobics. They also offer a class like Silver Sneakers. When I started that class, I was in a wheel chair. There is a lot of range of motion and strengthening moves. Jen, there are You Tube videos of Silver Sneakers and Tai Chi.

It's good to see you Kim. I'm glad you have gardens to visit.

XOXO everyone!

Y'all have to slow down I keep saying I'm going to wait to post until after I catch up but I can't seem to. I'm being rewarded for keeping to that vow to "put on my big girl pants" after letting myself get into such a funk. Just having the wherewithal to do that is pretty dang rewarding, and empathize with people who can't "just shake it off," but truly, I had a day full of good news yesterday. Things began turning around on Friday, but yesterday all the pieces seemed to fall into place. I told Bruce I was going to buy a lottery ticket but he said not to bother because I'd already tapped my good luck. LOL

I'll refrain from getting too off topic, but please feel free to celebrate on my behalf because things are falling into place for us. It will benefit DD far into the future and shouldn't take near the battle I expected to get there. Also Nancy, last week I had sent up a prayer and a wish that GDW and I would both have good luck with our doctors. Saw mine yesterday and was offered solutions I've been seeking for years. Literally years! His wife has the same condition as I so he was tremendously helpful and compassionate. Now it's up to GDW's doctor to keep up his half of this deal. :) Just over a week to go. I'll continue praying for him.

Garden related - found out the tree wasn't a lightning strike and it is salvageable. Turns out to be Southwest Injury, which is what I thought initially but second-guessed. The holes bored in it were a few mason bees (I have mason bees!) and won't continue damaging the tree. It's gotten large enough the bark/sap should close back around the exposed inner wood in a couple more years. The price is also very reasonable to take out the split trunk higher in the tree and clean up some overgrowth in it and a couple other trees. The guy we're consulting has a forestry degree from Oregon or Minnesota, worked as a forester and forest firefighter in that part of the country for most of his career before coming to Edmond to help salvage our little cross-timbers part of the state/country and then semi-retiring. I feel confident we're getting solid advice. And no commas in his prices - which I fully expected. Whoot! Also, because of his local conservation work, he has good recommendations on native tree species we can use to replace our Bradford Pears. DH was feeling rather redeemed when I got home last night.

Oh, did I tell you he bought a new car last week? I think he sensed that I was jokingly scheming to get the new car and hand down my car as his penance for the neonics. It's a 5-speed standard transmission - so I can't even drive it. SMH I did drive some standard H farm trucks and my mom's old clunker, also standard H, before I was "old enough" to drive, but let's be honest that was more than a couple years ago.

Oops - off topic. Knowing that the tree is staying helps me develop my plan of attack. I found a way to make my plan a little bit scaleable. I won't have as much full sun space as I'd like by next summer but I'll get there. With our layout, there just isn't a space for a traditional vegetable bed. The south wall of the house worked well because it was one of the few full sun places where I could put some long rows, so I'll have to get creative developing the new space. Meanwhile, since natives tend to take so long to establish, I'll winter sow in the south bed and the neonics should be dissipated by the time most begin blooming in a few years.

There's more going on in my garden but my break is over and I'm trying to avoid taking work home over the holiday so gotta get back at it. I'll be pretty swamped for a couple weeks, so don't worry if you don't hear much.

Amy, I've also thought of not planting anything else this year. I'm still trying to get the pathways built and there's only so many hours in the day. We are about to get real busy with Ethan's senior year. I'm afraid caring for additional plants will just cause frustration. Tell me more about cover crops. My beds aren't tilled. Can they just be left in place until planting time next year? Do I pull them like a weed or chop them of at soil level (since I'm not tilling them in)? The goal is to keep the grass and weeds out as much as possible while the beds are empty. Mulch works too, I guess.

Thinking about Garden 2019. (It's possible) I'll start very few tomato plants. There were too many this year. I only will want about 20 plants in total. If they fail, there won't be back-ups, but I'll just buy plants. Spring will be insane with senior banquets, graduation, prom, and the like.

Amy, what sort of device are you using to post here?

Nancy, congrats on your bucket of tomatoes. And it's so good that you had a nice visit with your new nephews.

Rebecca, sorry you missed your morning glory's bloom.

What can anyone tell me about Angel Trumpet? There is one in the bed with basil and LB petunias around the chicken pen. It came from SF. It's not growing. But not dying either. It's half shade/half sun.

Kim, what can you tell us about your 3 acres?

Megan, the picture of your red sunflower has gotten a lot of attention. Does it have a name other than red sunflower? A cardinal vine is planted next to it and that vine is trying to crawl all over it. It's on the west side of the chicken pen. The tarp was removed this morning, so hopefully those two plants will give enough shade. And the cardinal vine will have full access to the wire now that the tarp is removed.

I am already tired and hungry. It's not even noon. I weeded the bed were the cabbage resided. Maybe southern peas will go there. Found volunteer watermelon plants. They look healthy. The volunteer tomato in the watermelon bed appears to be a "sungold". Only it's not, right? It's something else. But it's fruit look like it will be a small cherry tomato.

Today, before leaving for work,Ethan brought in a thermos from his car. Hmmm...last time I put lunch in a thermos was...3 weeks ago? I carefully opened it and I am not lying or exaggerating, black smoke came out of it. I quickly shut it and took it outdoors. What?! Gross. Probably mold spores were released into my house. Black smoke?!

Dawn, I'm impressed with our lawn furniture too! It's held up amazingly well. My Mom gave both my sister and I a set of it in...1999? This thing has made it through 3 moves--probably more as it went to a storage unit between the sell of our last house and closing on this house. Tom inherited some 'antique' lawn chairs. They are really neat chairs. He had them powder coated repainted a chocolate brown. They look very nice, but...it was expensive. So, I'll just paint mine myself. Leaning towards white/cream...with some new navy blue print cushions. The set is on the patio. Tom's chairs are on his shop porch.

It's time to eat.

Oklahoma summers are brutal and any of you who have had your fill should just plant a cover crop or mulch the empty spaces and move on with your lives. All of us totally get it! It is hard enough to keep plants happy in an average garden year, and this year is not even close to average. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but last night or this morning, our local TV meteorologist said our current temperatures are running about 10 degrees above average, and it isn't like our average temperatures aren't wicked enough in the first place. That extra 10 degrees is hard on plants, people and animals.

Amy, I was afraid that Sasquatch (and babysitting grandchildren) was going to make gardening a real challenge for you this year.

When Jet was younger and more rowdy than he is now, he'd try to come through the dog yard fence to get the mower when Tim was mowing. Jet hated the mower. He spent all his time trying to reach through the fence to grab the lawn mower tires, but he couldn't because the openings in the dog yard fence were too small. Now, he barely even looks at it. I know he is in the very deep twilight of his life. He used to be hell on wheels. Now he is old and wobbly on all 4 legs.

Megan, I'm glad things are looking up and you're sounding so positive. I think you have done a very good job of staying positive and looking to move forward. Of course we will celebrate on your behalf and, when you're ready, go off topic and tell us what/why we're celebrating. We tend to stray off topic here at times because, as you've noticed, we've become a family of sorts and there's more to all our lives than gardening.

Jennifer, Not only are there only so many hours in the day, but all of them are hot hours! All of them. When you wake up and it is 80 degrees outdoors and the heat index is even higher, it leaves you wondering when we're going to start cooling down at night again. Probably not soon enough.

When it gets this hot, I switch to summer survival mode---going to the garden basically just long enough to harvest and to water the containers. It isn't just the heat either, although the heat is a major part of it. It also is the fact that the snakes become so much more of a problem as the weather heats up. Since we heated up two months early here, I feel like I've already slogged my way through a long hot summer, but really, calendar-wise, summer has barely begun. I cannot imagine another 6 or 8 weeks (or more) of this weather.

The bad thing about summer survival mode is that the weeds start taking over. However, it is too hot to weed and once it gets too snakey, it is too dangerous to weed, so I just have to pretend I don't see those weeds. I miss the old days when I was excited in July about the fall garden, and starting seeds for fall transplants and all, but our weather has progressively worsened over the last 10-15 years and it seems like summer gets hotter and stays hotter longer than it used to. I find that it is almost impossible to get a fall garden started in July or August when we are this hot and this dry. I also don't tolerate the heat as well as I once did, to there's also that.

Angel's Trumpets get larger and larger as the weather gets hotter and drier. They really are heat lovers. I imagine yours will do just fine. If you've been having lots of rain and lots of clouds, that likely is the problem. It seems like there's more sunshine and heat now and less rain, so your Angel's Trumpet likely will take off and do well. Mine are blooming but aren't large yet, probably because I really haven't been watering them and it surely has not been raining. They're looking happier already just because we got a little bit of rain.

It is too danged hot today. Too hot too early. The heat index numbers are awful. I'm glad, for the sake of everyone who has outdoor activities planned for tomorrow, that we are supposed to be a bit cooler tomorrow than today.

Dawn

Hotter here than in Afghanistan.

H/J, I plan to cut cover crops off at soil level, or slightly above, though not till I replant the beds. Putting Hairy vetch where Tomatoes will grow next year. It is supposed to improve their disease resistance. I have some sorghum, which will grow tall and make a lot of biomass for mulch or compost. I have a lot of cowpeas to plant, they don't need much attention. I bought Sunn hemp seeds, which have not impressed me, but that is a cover crop, too. I see where Ron mowed mine down today. Either he didn't like the looks or, more likely, he totally forgot they were there. They were SUPPOSED to choke out weeds in a future bed. They got about 4 inches high and quit. Maybe they needed more water. When it's cooler, I will plant cereal rye. It grew wonderfully last winter and was green all winter. I have to decide where to plant garlic. I plan to plant buckwheat and maybe oats there. It should winter kill. I will plant the garlic in it while it is still green, or, if we have an early freeze, where it has died. It will make a winter/spring mulch automatically.

I have a Lenovo tablet, with a "Hacker's Keyboard" I downloaded. It looks like a normal physical keyboard. I think it clashes with sites sometimes. But lately, when I try to highlight something here, it enlarges the page. Haven't figured that out.

I am still considering starting Brussels sprouts this week. If I could only get them to grow, Ron would not have to buy them at sprouts. That and kale and collards for fall.

Y'all's (is that how you spell Y'all's?) lawn furniture sounds so nice. Our chairs are fine, but the cushions are awful.

Megan, glad you're happier. Hope it all works out.

I have to go to Aldi's. Later.

Well, there are more buds on the MGs, so maybe I'll see them tomorrow morning. They don't bloom until late morning because that's when the sun starts to hit them. I have them and moonflowers planted together, climbing the front porch railing. Just like Dawn suggested, lol.

I'm still getting a half dozen tomatoes a week blushing, that I bring in to ripen. Think there may be a lull while the next set of fruits get big enough to turn, then whatever fruitset I got during the last cooler spell.

At least, the cukes and PEPH are starting to get moving, and the okra and squash. Peppers are poky still. Time to fertilize.

Should I deadhead strawflowers? They last forever, but my first blooms are starting to peter out. The pollenators love them. The Benary's giant zinnias are starting to bloom, last of all the zinnias. They are huge! Flowers as big as the palm of my hand. Yes, I think I will be buying more zinnia seeds.

I do need to start some fall seeds. Planning on using WS jugs set in foil pans of water so I can hopefully keep them moist enough to grow. It's just too danged hot to do anything.

HJ, here's that strip of ground I mentioned. It's 40 or so feet, probably more since I have a horrible sense of scale. Since we're on the main thoroughfare through the neighborhood I have to keep it looking nice. And with the dogs running the fence, it has to be dog proof and non toxic to them, plus withstand foot traffic from the people who aren't careful enough to stay on the sidewalk.

And I'm nit sure if I posted this yet or not, but this was the early stages of the front yard. Now tomatoes are covering the chainlink, squash is overtaking the world, and it's starting to look like a jungle. Tomorrow's plan is to clean it up, and possibly start the new bed. It'll go in front of this one, with about 3 or 4 feet between them so I can mow it easier. I've got 3 tomatoes in containers already, so I may cut back the ones currently growing to make it a little more presentable.

Thanks for posting that, Jen. It's not what I was thinking at all. I get it now and will try to think of possibilities there. It is exciting, isn't it? And I love that you have tomatoes and squash going crazy. That's a good thing.

Amy, thanks for explaining the cover crop thing yet again. I'm sorry I'm a slow learner. It's like with the SunGold tomato volunteers. that aren't SunGold. I'm slow at times.

Rebecca, enjoy your fall crops. I'm a little jealous but know better than to try that this year.

I was awakened at 7am by fireworks (huh?), so I got up and watered and fed things. (Flora and feline). We are (currently) forecasted to get down to around 90 this weekend, so I hit things with bloom booster. Then I came in and showered and sprayed myself with Benadryl spray. Supposed to be less humid this weekend too, so maybe I can get seeds started, and maybe we all can get caught up on things. If it actually happens the way it’s forecasted to.

There are are more blooms on the MG for today. I’m off work so I’ll get to see them. BC has a stunning fuschia one called Kurenai, which is what these are. The Otts haven’t started yet. There are actually about 5 different. packs in that space, since I had so much trouble starting them this year, so it’s a crapshoot as to what will bloom. The moonflowers are in there too. I’ll get a picture if I can today.

Have to go pick up my mom at the airport this morning, then we will look for barbecue. Then I’ll do laundry and clean up my mess of a kitchen. Exciting holiday, right?

Happy 4th of July, everyone. I guess we were feeling festive yesterday. Today, we'll just chill out here at home.

I have no real garden news; but need to get some tomatoes slow roasted for freezing; others just thrown in the freezer to accumulate til I can tomatoes. We visited friends half a mile down the road yesterday afternoon; they have tons of flowers and veggies, too. Sunday (Sat?) when we got a little less than .25" rain, they got over half an inch. They have a lot of shade in their yard, too, so the yards are similar. Notice we have far more insect damage than they do and for the most part they're flowering plants all look better. Also, my tomatoes and peppers are quite a bit ahead of theirs. Fascinating how much difference there can be just within a half mile.

Our peppers are producing well now and I think I'll make some salsa today or tomorrow.

We also went to town for prescription and found 3 enterprising teenagers selling fresh sweet corn. The kids were charming and assured us it was delicious--so I got a dozen years. (It WAS delicious.) Since no company for today, we'll have corn for the second day in a row and I'll freeze the rest of that.

It was a fun day yesterday. . . We're also in summer survival mood, so just kind of lollygagged all day, visiting the marina folks, our gardening friends.

Then GDW and I ended up binge-watching a good detective show.

We have a new visitor in the yard this morning. She thinks Titan is A-OK! And Tom and Jerry are fascinated by her. She's hardly taller than they are and probably doesn't weigh as much as they do.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw here next to the deck first thing this morning. GDW realized she was here when Titan came in last night. He didn't want to come in, and after he did, Garry heard a kind of chortlin/chattering yippiness. Not very loud. He said it KINDA sounded like a dog. He didn't investigate. But she chattered/yipped a little this morning when Titan wanted to go into the house, and GDW realized that's what he heard last night. Of course I had to feed her a scrumptious breakfast. She's still here. . . we'll see what happens. But what an excellent treat. I've never seen a fox up close before. And do any of you know how often foxes with the different colors, like this, for example, show up? Amy and Larry think she's domesticated or a pet? We're not so sure. She's pretty skittish with us.

She doesn't look like a regular fox, Nancy. She's gray but she almost looks part fennec fox. Dog's and foxes can't interbreed. Maybe it's just a cool looking dog? I want to cuddle it.

Look up Marble Fox, Nancy. If that's what she is, she is probably someones pet.

HJ, yes, her coloring would definitely be the marble (marble is still a red fox, however.) And if she's someone's pet, bad on them. They are not a good "pet." If she wants to stay here outside for a while, she's more than welcome. But she might be on her way in a day or so, who knows.

She is super cute. I understand why people want to make pets of animals that shouldn't be pets....but it's really a bad idea all around. (Coming from the girl who has a 15+ year old red slider turtle and pet chickens).

I have to water today. The hoses are wrapped up so tidily for company tonight. Oh well. The plants are thirsty.

In good news, the Armenian cucumbers have lots of baby fruit. I guess they've enjoyed the hot days. I'm SO excited about this. It's good when something actually looks nice in the garden. LOL Especially when it's been so hot. Even the southern peas are rough. However, they are putting out new leaves so maybe they'll outgrow the insect damage.

Tomatoes are turning red.

Dolly and Stormy are in the pen of the old coop now. I'm a little nervous because a snake can get into that pen. I won't leave them there overnight. I would like the other hens to get used to Stormy. The only one who is being odd about her is Blossom. She keeps puffing up and trying to bump Dolly through the pen. And Dolly does it back. It's so weird. Anytime that there is drama, Ida and Peggy show up and "take care of it". They pecked at Blossom almost like telling her to settle down and stop. Interestingly enough, LuLu stood just behind them. (LuLu would be head girl if the oldest hens weren't.) And Marjorie, the third older hen, stood next to LuLu. Stella the 4th old girl has always marched to the beat of her own drum and was off doing her own thing. Watching chickens is very interesting.

Mayzie--one of the youngest--is on the nesting box right now. I'm pretty sure she and Polly both are laying already at 19 weeks. Blossom is not. It will be a miracle if Blossom figures it out. Her face and beak are crooked...I wonder if something else is wrong with her too. Maybe her brain is crooked. She's a beautiful hen--white with black trim.

Anyway...I could talk about the chickens all day, but will stop. The waterhose needs to be moved to another soaker hose.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!! Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday. We aren’t doing much honestly with the heat. I was going to grill out but it’s just too dang hot.

Dawn, speaking of morning glories, I have been doing the exact same thing and they are still popping up!! Maybe I need a morning glory garden spot that JUST has different varieties of morning glories.

Madabttomatoes, thank you!! I have been really questioning every little thing about having and not having this surgery. Like, I don’t understand how removing most of my meniscus will help. I mean, it’s there for a reason, right?! I am at the point where it’s just constant pain and any walking during the day really wreaks havoc later and leaves me limping more. I’m going to start doing the exercises you mentioned. I do work out but I’m not consistent. I had started working out on my elliptical again, but it’s just too much pressure on my knee. At what point do you consider having knee replacement? That scares me even saying it.

HJ, I have a torn meniscus and a cyst that resulted from the tear. I think it’s probably been torn for years but it’s gotten so bad I finally went in. I knew I would probably have to have surgery, but was putting it off as long as possible. I can’t straighten it, can’t bend it too much, can’t put too much weight on it, feels like it twists and sticks and pops. I want to enjoy my summer with Mayah (my 12 yo daughter) so I’m going to endure the pain till about September. Hopefully I can hang on that long.

I want to grow garlic!! I have tried before but just haven’t had the right soil for it to
thrive. And onions! If there is anything I want to grow continuously that we eat quite a bit of is garlic and onions. Oh, and sweet potatoes. I buy at least 2 or 3 bags a week!!

Megan!! Thank you so much! I will be headed to Mitch Park next Wednesday for sure. I NEED some homegrown veggies!!!!

I am hoping that my zinnia seed will somehow either sprout and bloom before it freezes or they will overwinter for next year. I am thinking about starting some hibiscus also. I have red hardy hibiscus and I just love them so much!!

Nancy!!! She is so cute!!! Mayah keeps saying she wants a fox as a pet!!

I have this fox dilemma, like I had the little old skinny starved bulldog dilemma last year. After spending a lot of time researching foxes today (which was not on my agenda,) I have learned so much about foxes. LOL The little one stayed here all day, and I stayed outside on the deck all day, well, I'll admit it, for her, and GDW also was out a lot. She is enchanting but I do not want a fox for a "pet." And after researching, find marble foxes are bred that way, and not to be found in nature. So almost certainly she is someone's "pet." I have NO desire to have a fox as a pet, but know her chances of survival in nature are limited. So I posted a message to Wagoner rescue. Perhaps, giving the benefit of a doubt, maybe someone who really WAS invested into the time and care it takes to take care of an undomesticated animal misses her. Meanwhile, also found a good rescue organization, through Wagoner Rescue, which would mean getting her into a pen and transporting her to Claremore. But if that's what we have to do, we'll get 'er done. After feeding her all day off and on, she freaked out at the catfood and jumped into my lap wanting more. LOL. She weighs maybe 5 lbs and is more tail than body. Cutest little thing I've ever seen. We will insist anyone wanting to claim her provide proof of ownership. That is, IF she is still here tomorrow.

What a huge gardening side trip!

I took care of tomatoes today. Yay, me. Not a hard job. Slow roasted Sungolds and some Heidis, then froze. Froze two gallon bags of Heidis and New Girls (who in my mind are not all that new! LOL) Best to y'all!!

Seems like every time I get caught up reading, I don't have time to post!

Other than keeping the garden picked I can't seem to find the time to finish off a few things that need to be done before going on vacation.

All but 4 or 5 of the copras have been pulled and are drying. I started digging garlic, finally. Hoping to get it all out and dealt with soon.

More leaf legged demons have gone on the meet their maker and it looks like I'm on the verge of being inundated as soon as we leave. I'll have plenty of help keeping things picked, but no one has time to deal with pests the way I do and I won't ask them too.

We went car shopping for the wife yesterday. Normally that's one of the things I hate, but I guess with being able to pre-shop online made it way more bearable! Knowing what she wanted and who had it within the price range we were looking for sped the process up by hours if not days. Yep, momma got a new ride! Now she wants a new RV! Even with me pushing back and pointing out it would be smarter to get by with the current one, I'm afraid I'm going to be RV shopping before our camping trip.

The state tournament starts today in Sallisaw and the grandson's team plays the first game at 12:30. Guess I'll pick garden for a bit this morning before we pack and make a flying run to eastern Oklahoma! Who knows when I'll get back and get to do some real work and get more weeding done?

Amy, It doesn't surprise me as much as it should that Afghanistan was hotter than we were at that point in time. We've run about 10 degrees above average for so many weeks now that I've forgotten what average summer heat feels like,

I have found that lots of summer cover crops that do well in other parts of the USA just don't perform nearly as well in our heat as they perform in cooler parts of the country. Perhaps our recurring droughts play into that as well.

Rebecca, When I grow strawflowers and other similar types of everlastings, I do deadhead them in order to keep new flowers coming.

Rebecca, I'm surprised you're hearing fireworks in town as much as you are. We hear them out here in the country for endless weeks on end. You'd think it ends after the holiday but, nope, everyone runs to the fireworks' stands after-the-fourth clearance sales and buys more to bring home and fire off until those new ones run out. Chris was excited yesterday that he found some big fireworks on sale on the fourth itself, so he ended up buying more and more and more. He and Jana were setting off fireworks until well after 11 p.m. A lot of the time was spent unwrapping them, discarding the packaging in the trash, lining them up to organize them and then setting them off. They plan to be better organized next year and have all of the prep work done before dark so that they can shoot off fireworks more efficiently and finish earlier (I hope). It was fun, but I was ready for it to be over with.

My garden is dry and I guess I'll water today. The rain we got the other day didn't have as much of a positive impact as I'd hoped, and the soil is drying out very quickly.

Jennifer, I like our chickens, but don't name them and don't get overly invested in what they are doing. They have their own pecking order and own ways of maintaining law and order among themselves. It doesn't pay off to get too invested in them since the predators get them constantly. We are having such a high level of predation that I don't think we'll have many, if any, chickens left by the end of the summer. Something got my favorite little black banty rooster a couple of weeks ago and it gets old. It wasn't a really isolated incident either---it happens constantly. Even though we've been here 20 years, our predator problem seems like it is getting worse every year, instead of better. It could be that as more people move to the country and clear cut their woodlands to build their homes (I'd never clear cut a woodland with trees that are decades old but plenty of people do it....and then plant a tiny handful of replacement trees that are 1/20th the size of the trees that were clear cut), the predators are being driven more deeply into areas like ours that still have lots of woodland and plenty of cover.

If I keep the poultry put up so it cannot free range, then the birds are miserable because they are accustomed to free ranging. If I let them free range, they get eaten. A chicken tractor won't work because of the sloping, uneven nature of our property. If something wipes out these chickens, we may take off a year or two from having chickens to see if the predators will move on. Or, if we get replacement chickens, they'll never, ever, ever be allowed to free-range (which is sad) because if all they've ever known is life in a chicken coop and a fenced, roofed chicken run, they won't know what they're missing and won't beg constantly to be allowed out to free-range. Between the snakes and the many predators (coyotes, bobcats, foxes, coons, ring-tailed cats, hawks, kites, owls, weasels, skunks, snakes, neighborhood dogs, etc.), it is just impossible here to keep chickens safe and alive any more. I hate that because they are such good eaters of insects and really do keep the yard, and sometimes the garden (when they can be trusted inside of it) pretty much insect-free.

Nancy, I think foxes are cute, but want them nowhere near our animals because of the diseases they carry. I'm pretty sure they carry tularemia. Hopefully whoever has made a pet out of the one visiting you at least has it current on whatever shots they can give them. Just the fact that they carry canine distemper is enough to make me want to ensure they don't hang around here. Our dogs get all their shots, but I've never felt like those vaccinations are 100% foolproof either.

Bruce, That's the summertime dilemma, isn't it? Having time to garden and having time to have a regular life too.

The leaf-footed bugs and stink bugs are so hard on the tomatoes this year that it is about to the point where the fruit is not going to be worth harvesting because of the dozens of cloudy spots per fruit. Mine are starting to look like the ones Carolyn Flanagan Gordon posted a couple of weeks ago that were her dad's tomatoes just covered in cloudy spot---really no clear healthy spots left on the fruit. I was horrified when she posted the photos of his, and she is just a few miles from me, so I assume he is as well.....and now mine are starting to look like his. I love tomatoes, but I don't like them so much once they reach that point. I guess soon I'll be through harvesting all the fruit that has set in this heat, and then it will be a moot point after that.

We had fires the last couple of days---not real huge ones but enough of them to be annoying because, you know, firefighters want to spend their summer time, especially holidays, with their families too instead of being out fighting fires.....

Anyhow, the one that is relevant to you was yesterday morning around 3:30 a.m. It appeared as if several people in RVs were camping in someone's back yard....perhaps in town for the Fourth. During the night a large RV (Tim estimated it at 30-40' long) caught fire. The occupants escaped from the burning RV safely, but the RV was a total loss---already fully engulfed before firefighters arrived. Tim was out at that fire a couple of hours. They did keep the fire from spreading to other nearby RVs but it was too soon to save it. Tim said it wasn't brand-new but neither was it extremely old or anything, and the owners had only recently purchased it. I am surprised at how many RV fires we have every year, and a few of them always are RVs driving down the road. Usually the drivers have no idea their RV is on fire until another driver catches up with them, gets their attention and tells them that they are on fire. When one catches fire, they burn so rapidly that it is rare to be able to save one. What generally happens is the driver pulls over, gets everyone out, and calls 9-1-1. By the time the call is dispatched and firefighters are en route, the burning RV has caught the roadside grasses on fire.....and everything just goes downhill from there.

We had a really good July 4th. We had the girls all afternoon (Chris had just worked a 24-hr shift and was exhausted and needed a nap, and their mother was at work) and I sat and watched them while they played in the pool for two straight hours (they were wrinkly by the time they got tired of the pool) while Tim grilled ribs, chicken, hot dogs and hamburgers. We ate when the girls got hungry, and then when Chris and Jana made it to the house later in the evening, we already had a pinon pine fire going in the fire pit and little girls very eager to roast marshmallows. It wasn't even dark yet. The girls had done a lot of their poppers and snappers, and Chris helped them set off some minor fireworks like, well heck, I don't know, snakes and things, that are fairly easy and not too loud. After Chris and Jana ate, they set off about a million fireworks while Tim kept leaving to go to grass fires set off by other people's fireworks. It was fun, and some of the artillery shells they saved for the end of the night were huge and beautiful, but I was glad when it was over. After we cleaned up all the debris and they left, I still could hear fireworks going off in our neighborhood until 2 or 3 a.m. (ours were done a little after 11 p.m.). I didn't sleep much and am tired today, but need to at least water the garden---especially the containers and the fall tomatoes. Other than that, I'll take it easy today as Lillie is coming over to spend the afternoon/night and tomorrow. I believe she expects a lot of pool time, another fire in the fire pit tonight (it is nice for atmosphere, but who needs more heat?), etc.---sort of a repeat of yesterday, but without fireworks. Well, she has a substantial number of sparklers left that we told her she could finish tonight.

My favorite fire work, for ease of use and spectacular display as well as being very cost-effective, was the lady bugs. We thought they sounded mild and, therefore, appropriate for little girls. Tim and I bought a whopping 2 packs (it actually was buy 1 get 1 free) and each package had only 2 lady bugs. They were one of our favorites of the night and put on a great show zooming up high into the sky and putting on a pretty light show. They were better than a lot of more costly fireworks. Next year we'll buy the girls a bunch of ladybugs. How appropriate is it that this gardener's favorite fire works are called lady bugs?

North Texas is hotter and drier than we are, and several counties suddenly issued emergency declarations on Tuesday so they could circumvent burn ban laws that do not include banning fireworks. (Texas law is peculiar in this way.) I don't know if it helped---they had and continue to have some big raging fires. I think that the rain we had here recently helped us a little, but it didn't stop us from having fires. Our rain probably was too little too late and fell too close to the holiday for the grasses to green up appreciably. The worst fires in our county the last couple of days are in western and northern parts of the county that have had significantly more rain than us, which seems odd.

I'd love to spend all of today in my garden, but it just isn't going to happen.

Dawn

HJ - the sunflower is "Red Sun" LOL. They got creative with that name, ha. It is supposed to be OP but if you don't get seeds, I got it from Bean Acre Seeds online. They're in Atlanta, and IMHO plants from their seeds perform better in our weather than seeds I've gotten from seed-saving farms in the mid-west.

Yesterday was a nice day for us as it seems everyone else. However, being in Edmond, I didn't have to deal with fireworks late into the evening. We heard a few through the day and into the evening but not enough to keep us from sleep. We had our first BLTs from the first Cherokee Purples of the year. It put on about 6 tomatoes before temps were too hot for fruit set and apparently all at once because all have ripened in the last week. I'm now in a lull while I wait for fruit on other plants to continue maturing. I did get a bit of tomato pruning done. If they're not going to fruit, no reason to keep them overgrown and scraggly. Some will come out and some will be nursed through fall. I don't know that I'll grow pastes this fall like I originally thought of due to all the other things that have happened in my yard the last few weeks.

Yesterday, we had lots of time at the HOA pool but left shortly after a snow cone truck arrived. It was nice that the HOA treated everyone to snow cones, but it drew the masses and the pool was just too crowded for my liking. More like being at the public pool than a small neighborhood pool. Of course, lots of people brought their guests who were over for the holiday. Last night, we watched the Edmond fireworks display from the Lowes parking lot and I liked the new location this year, though we ended up in the debris drop, so I was sitting with my rain umbrella over my head. I could still see the fireworks ahead of us but it kept the soot and debris out of my eyes. I did have to do an eye wash this morning though because they were still irritated. During the fireworks show, there was a pretty large, smoldering piece of debris that landed in front of us, barely avoiding landing on a stack of paletted mulch. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if that had landed on the mulch and gone unnoticed.

Hubs sat in the yard and chatted yesterday while I did some watering and weeding and we came up with a game plan for the trees. We will be removing 2 bradfords since we can keep the maple. We'll replace the 2 with one, but haven't settled on a what yet. This does help provide a temporary full sun spot for some vegetable gardening while whatever tree we plant gets established and by then I should have new beds in good planting condition. Funny how things work out. And no matter how many times I witness everything working out for the best, I still over-react when things aren't going to my original, well-thought plan! I'll never learn myself but the experience makes me a great armchair quarterback.

Melissa - I tried an elliptical a couple of times, but that caused some of the worst pain ever in my knees. I hope the exercises help strengthen your knees. My first knee surgery was for a torn meniscus. You have to rethink what you do and how you do it. As for deciding on a replacement, my gait had changed so much that my opposite hip was starting to hurt and that was it - bonus for me, all the strange arthritis stuff I was having (Mayo couldn't figure it out) disappeared with the bad joint. I still have a twinge here and there, but most people that have been and are active do.

I never really introduced myself on here, and won't bore everyone, but have noticed how many are in the Edmond area, as am I (NE). I've about 9.5 acres with half of that treed. I've noticed with all the building and razing of old growth trees (thank Mr. Mayor and the oh so wise city government) that I am seeing more of some things (fox) and less of others (deer). It makes me very sad, but I I have hope that when they finish the stuff they're doing to my east in XX years, maybe some of it will come back.

Taking a quick break then headed out to swim for a bit with Mayah. I had a nice chat with my neighbor who I have learned likes gardening too. She is more about flowers, shrubs, and all the landscaping bit but that's ok because I like that along with veggie gardening. So, we talked about different things that we are going to plant here and there. She offered me any seeds from anything she might have, lol. How nice, right?! I love collecting and growing seeds!! She lit a fire in me because then after a quick cool off inside I went back out and weeded the front bed a bit. I still have quite a bit to go, but I'll do small sections. Trying to go easy on the knee and not overdo it too. Although the heat is just horrendous, weeding is so relaxing and peaceful sometimes. At least for me it is. Other than hearing, "i'm bored" in my ear at times from Mayah lol.

Megan, I wanted to go to Edmond's show last night but decided not to. I was just too hot and tired to mess with it. Besides, our neighborhood had a show of it's own. I swear these people in the thousands. Makes it to where we don't buy any and just watch what they put off. I can't imagine the debris falling on my head though. Hopefully your eyes have improved by now. It sounds painful and irritating.

madabttomatoes, very nice to meet you!! We seem to be close in distance. You said you are in NE Edmond? I am just N of Edmond off of Seward. It's technically Guthrie, but it's really right in between Edmond and Guthrie. Close enough so it's not a long drive, but far enough out so we are out of city limits.

Nancy, any update on the fox? Has anyone claimed it? Or has Titan claimed her already?! heehee

Hope everyone is staying cool & hydrated.

Melissa, I actually enjoy weeding too....except digging Bermuda grass. As long as I have shade, I can sit for hours and weed. It's so satisfying. In fact, I might go out in a bit and start in on the pathways again. Specifically around the strawberry bed. It's horrible around there. The runners are leaving the bed and rooting into the paths. Plus I've noticed new berries. It really must be cleaned up soon.

Anyway, I sure hope you can make it to September too.

Madabttomatoes...we need a shorter name for you. Mad? Mat? After reading your posts and Melissa's posts it got me thinking...I wonder if my legs being out-of-shape and having really tight hamstrings have caused my sore knees.

Congrats on the new car, Bruce. Car shopping is awful. Glad it was easier than normal for you.

Dawn, I'm sorry about your chickens. That would be so upsetting. I was fully prepared to have found a loss yesterday. After glancing out the window, I saw what appeared to be one of my chickens sitting just on the neighbor's side of the property. So, on went the shoes...and then it dawned on me--the hens are all huddled in their pen. Weird. As, I walked towards the escapee...it flew off. It was not a chicken! It was a large hawk. Obviously my eyes aren't the best. And I saw something that appeared to be chicken legs sticking up in the air...and began to prepare myself...quickly trying to see which hen was lost. But it was just some sort of weed/grass that looked like chicken legs from a distance.

I didn't know you had a pool, Dawn!

The plan is to go to bed early tonight. I ate junk yesterday and feel like crap. We really need to pick up the property--our boys' firework trash, along with the stuff from the neighbors that landed on our property. It's a party out here on the 4th. Hundreds of people go to our neighbors' house. They had a live band this year. A cowboy gun fight show--another neighbor does those at their party. And $1000's worth of fireworks. BUT, it's not just them...it's several other neighbors too. You don't even know where to look. Belmar is to our west and their show is always good too. I think Toby Keith is involved in it. It's almost like they wait for our neighbor to finish his show before they start theirs. It's such a competition. Haha. Going to work this morning was rough. We did get to meet Mason's new (boy?) friend. He is interested in gardening and brought me his first cucumber and some of his peppers, which I thought was sweet. Nancy, this is the boy from Wagoner.

Nancy, any news on the little fox?

So what do you do when it's 90+ degrees and humid as the tropics? Put in a new garden, of course! Yesterday I dug out the edging and today after work I started on weeding. I plan on planting something to help improve the soil, but first I have lots of crabgrass to pull.

That's so exciting, Jen! Is crabgrass difficult to pull like Bermuda?

In my soil, you don't pull crabgrass---you have to dig it out. I hate crabgrass. Good luck getting rid of it Jen.

Jennifer, Oh I need to explain the pool. It isn't a big pool (had one in Fort Worth and loved it but they are a ton of work so we opted to not have a big pool here). It is just a wading pool we bought for Aurora and Lillie to play in when they are here. It is about 7' wide and 12' long and about 18" deep, although if you fill it up to the proper fill line, I think the water is only about 15" deep. It doesn't sound like it would keep a 9 year old as entertained as it would a smaller child, but both of them will stay in it until you drag them out. I'd like to have a bigger one that is deeper next year, but we're trying to take into account the fact that both a 10 year old and a 4 year old will be sharing it next summer, so we don't want it so deep that the 4 year old doesn't feel comfortable in it. We'll see. I guess we don't have to decide on the next pool size until next summer, or at least late Spring. They have a family membership at the Y in the town where they live, and the girls both have taken swimming lessons this summer and have fallen in love with swimming, so next year's pool may be bigger and deeper than I originally thought. Right now, though, they are content to splash and play and 'dive' for pool toys made to be retrieved (albeit the toys are meant to be retrieved from deeper water than what we have now). So, that's the pool, with lawn furniture surrounding it, and a fire pit about 10' away, and flowers in pots. It is in a shady area so we spent the whole afternoon out there yesterday and likely will do the same tomorrow. If it were a bigger pool, they'd likely have adults in there with them instead of us just sitting poolside and watching them.

Regarding the hawk story. I once saw a dead "chicken" I thought was a buff orpington lying on its back dead, feet sticking up in the air, with a rattlesnake entwined around it. I had come home from a fire, and this chicken/rattlesnake combination was outside the dog yard fence but literally right up against the fence, so I was in an instant panic that the snake would get my dogs---I had just let them out to go into their dog yard to pee when I got home. You know, you cannot take your eyes off a snake to go elsewhere and grab a gun because it will leave and wont be there when you get back, so I called someone. When the neighbor/firefighter I'd just seen at our fire arrived at our house with his gun, I had hustled the dogs past the snake and into the house and was standing there and watching the snake and chicken like a hawk, albeit in the shade, in the fading light of a cloudy late winter or very early Spring day. He looked at it, walked closer and said something like you said it was a copperhead, I think it is a rattlesnake and I told him "I know, I was so flustered that I couldn't tell for sure....later on I heard it rattle when you were on your way here". He told me to back up as he was going to shoot it....so I got the heck out of the way. He shot it and went to pick it up to dispose of it (wearing leather gloves and using a rake or shovel or whatever tool I had fetched for him). My buff orpington chicken was not dead, because it was a red-tailed hawk! The hawk had swooped down to get the rattlesnake. The rattlesnake apparently struck the hawk and killed it, but because the hawk apparently had grabbed the snake in its talons first, the snake was a prisoner of the dead hawk. After my friend shot it, it was the dead prisoner of a dead hawk. Because of the weird way the hawk was twisted, we could see only its belly feathers and the snake sort of wrapped around it/hidden beneath it, so we didn't know the snake was trapped and couldn't see the hawk's talons until my friend picked up the hawk. My friend had a lot of fun with that, but agreed that he thought it was a chicken too until he got very close to it. Then we had a good laugh. He disposed of the combination of snake/hawk and after he left, I rounded up the chickens, including the buff orpingtons, and put them up for the night.

On another occasion, the guineas were free-ranging and Tim saw a hawk swoop down to get one. He ran right at the hawk, which by then had the guinea in its grasp. The hawk sort of froze and stared at this crazy man running at him or her and Tim got to the birds, grabbed the chicken and pulled it away from the hawk after a sort of crazy tug of war. The guinea was fine, losing only a few feathers during the tussle, and the hawk took off flying. I was in awe of the fact that Tim ran right at that hawk and took back the guinea.

Every day around here it is either a circus or a zoo and you never know what sort of day it is going to be.

I think your neighborhood has more Fourth of July activity than I could handle. I kind of like it being all remote and sort of quiet out here, with just a bunch of families doing their own thing. There is one large family reunion nearby with a large fireworks show, but it isn't a loud or rowdy gathering and their show isn't much larger than any other family's fireworks. If anyone here wants to see a big fireworks show, they can go to the casino in Thackerville or the Lake Murray fireworks show in Ardmore. The folks that stay home, by and large, want a quieter family celebration with maybe a small handful of friends.

Melissa, I enjoy weeding until we get too hot and too snakey, which we are now. Since it would be tremendously painful and expensive to be treated for a venomous snake bite, once we reach a certain point (and we are about there now), I don't weed because in my densely planted garden out here in the sticks, I cannot see what is in there underneath the plants. I'm okay with that. I try to have the garden very well weeded and very well mulched when we reach that point so that it still remains somewhat under control. Until we hit the snakey point of no return, I do like weeding.

I think there was more I wanted to say, but I only got about 3 hours of sleep last night and I am dead, dead, dead tired. I need sleep and I need it now.

Dawn

Chiggers are here. My ankles are raw.

Sorry, Rebecca. Ouch.

Dawn, sure hope you get some good rest tonight. Too bad there's not a video of Tim rescuing guinea. He would be a YouTube sensation. My first clue should have been the hens all huddled in the pen. They only really do that when they are scared by a hawk.

Chicken cuteness today. Dolly was dust batheing ( Is that a word?) and Stormy was trying to do exactly as her Mommy. I've never seen a baby chick take a dust bath.

So...are we getting rain tomorrow or not...that is the question in my mind right now.

Oh, and Dawn, it is a bit much--July 4th out here. It's fun until 10 or 11. We ride over to the neighbors like a bunch of hillbillies in the back of a truck. You can walk, of course, but we like to sit in the bed of the truck. My grandparents always had a house at Lake Texoma. (Speaking of hillbillies.) We would cram into the back of trucks and drive to wherever we were going. Can you imagine people doing that now-a-days? Is it even legal?

Texoma. It's been years since I've been... I want to go to Willis Bridge, Juniper Point and Cedar Bayou. Maybe we'll plan a day trip there this summer.

Rats, just lost my post, but may be for the best. I was whining about the heat beating me up Did bring a bucket load of tomatoes in today--that was my longest time out in the yard. Heidi--you didn't steer me wrong, Dawn! And many others, too, and peppers.

Lawn needs mowing. . . whatever.

I admit, the heat has me beat. Don't care what is going on out there. Grumpy that tithonia isn't blooming, nor heavenly blue MGs, nor moon flower vines. Yes, flowers out and about but all I see are the failures--and there are many.

Trying to get my mom's Medicaid stuff done, GDW's ongoing health issues,

And now this fox thing. I was so hoping she'd be gone today, Not, She's precious. But I want her gone, as does GDW. I posted it on Wagoner rescue but no response.

I went on a rant on FB tonight about genetic mutations in animals to make money. SO bad.

Nancy, Whine about the heat all you want. I know that I do. Of course, whining doesn't change the weather but I'm hoping it at least serves as some sort of stress relief for us when we vent our frustrations with the weather.

Heidi is an awesome producer! Of course, I would expect a variety from Africa to do well here. I wish we had more African varieties. (There are some others, but they are harder to find than Heidi was.)

When I look at my garden, I too seem to focus in on the failures which I know is not a good thing and I really am trying to stop doing that. I find that I really have to work hard to push the failures out of my mind and to focus instead on the many successes, and it is silly that it is such a struggle because one reason I plant so many different varieties of everything is that I know that some things will do better in some years and other things will do better in other years, so by planting so many different varieties, I am just hedging my bets. I still find myself unrealistically expecting everything to do great every year even when I know this is an unreasonable expectation.

There's also days when I look at all the grasshoppers and crickets in the garden and wonder why in the world I work so hard to create a beautiful, bountiful garden when I know they're going to just destroy it anyway.

I don't blame you for wanting the fox gone. We have a Havahart live animal trap so we can trap and relocate unwanted wildlife. You know that I'll feed almost any hungry wild animal that shows up here in times of drought, but there's a limit to that charity too. No one wants wild animals hanging around that carry diseases or that prey on their pets. I have a friend who feeds coyotes, and that is something I'd never ever do.....our tolerance has its limits.

Jennifer, It sounds like fun, but I think I'd be like you and would have had my fill of it after a while.

Speaking of hillbillies......oh, that has me rolling on the floor. When we first were looking for land, we met some lovely, kind, wonderful people (and we actually are friends with them to this day and love them all so much) who lived adjacent to a piece of property we were contemplating buying. As it turned out, almost all if not all of that land was in the flood plain, so we didn't choose it and I'm glad about that but, had we chosen it, we would have had awesome neighbors. (Luckily, here where we live we also have awesome neighbors we adore.) But, that day when we met them, one of them introduced himself and I guess his name went in one ear and out the other, and then I found myself struggling to keep a straight face as he pointed to surrounding homes and said something like this...."that over there, those are hicks, and that house on the hill---they're hicks, and over here are some hicks, and over there too.....we're all hicks". I was a city girl and I couldn't believe this country guy was calling all his neighbors hicks. Even though he was incredibly nice, I was appalled that he referred to them that way. We traipsed around the land with the real estate agent, and then we drove back to Texas. I said something to Tim on the way home about that guy calling all his neighbors the hicks, and he looked at me funny and said "That was Alan Hicks, and all those people living around him are Hicks. That's his extended family. That's their name." I laughed until I cried because it just struck me as so funny at that point in time. Yes, it is their name and they are great people, and they are not country hicks or rubes or rednecks or hillbillies, but if they were, I'd love them all the same. We have met some hillbillies here, though, and some of them are out and out scary. The first time I saw someone stop and pick up a roadkill rattlesnake (he asked me if he could have it because it was in the road in front of our house.....and I said 'take it'. Apparently it is poor form to take someone else's roadkill that might have just ventured off their property and gotten run over) to take home to cook, I was horrified by the thought of such a thing. Another person picking up a dead possum in the road told me once "well, you cannot waste free meat". Most people here are not like that at all, but there's a few......

Dust bathing is a word, and our chickens do it all the time. I believe it helps them to keep themselves mite-free. I think it is cute to watch, and I also laugh at their awkward positions at times when they are lying in the dust, wings stretched out as if sunbathing. Using the sunbathing follows a good round of dust bathing.

I don't believe piling into the back of a truck is legal anywhere nowadays as far as driving on a public road but occasionally I see people do it. If you're going any long distance on the road, it probably is dangerous but to just go from one house to another one a short distance up the road.....it doesn't seem too dangerous. We always did stuff like that when I was a kid too, but times were different back then.

Rebecca, Yes, the blaster chiggers are here. Usually I get into them in late May, so it is somewhat of a badge of honor that this year I remained chigger-free until at least late June. When I came in from wading through deep flower beds, after deadheading and weeding them for ages last week, I realized I had done so without spraying myself with an insect repellent. Normally, I would have sprayed my shoes, socks, pant legs and ankles with Deep Woods OFF or something, but I forgot to. So, I hopped in the shower and scrubbed until my skin was almost raw, figuring if I rubbed and scrubbed hard enough, I'd get rid of them. I think I got most all of them off of me but missed a few. I have been trying so very hard to not scratch them because I know that makes it so much worse, and have been fairly successful. I hope your poor raw ankles heal quickly.

I have to add that I am not like Tim and Chris. They can get a billion chigger bites and simply refuse to scratch them, period. I just am not like that. When my chigger bites itch, I tend to scratch and scratch and scratch until the area is raw and bleeding. I wish I could be more like them and resist the urge to scratch, but I find that very difficult to do. This year I've been pretty successful at not scratching, but not 100%.

Well, today is a grandkid day with lots of pool fun and such, and I hope it isn't going to be too hot, but I bet it will be. Thank goodness for the shade of the trees we planted as tiny saplings 18-20 years ago. Without that shade, I don't think we'd venture outdoors today.

Have a good day everybody.

Dawn

Well we have a couple nights ahead of us with possible lows in the 50's. Was hoping to push the plants with some fertilizer to get lots of blooms going, but that won't be happening, cuz I'm out of fertilizer!!! I guess they're on their own for a few days. I have some 13-13-13 but afraid it's a bit high on the nitrogen for tomatoes. It's dry, dry, dry, here. Dug up some new ground to plant beets/carrots, and it's pretty much dust as far as I can dig :( I'm not used to dry conditions! As far as temps, our average high for July is 89 F here, and we've been steadily in 90+ temps so it's 5-10 degrees above average. Usually we hover right around 90 degrees until the middle of the month, and it stays briefly that hot until about mid to late August when it begins cooling considerably.

Nancy, congratulations on the buckets of tomatoes! I'm not sure if I'll be picking buckets after a particular coon, but sure am enjoying them at lunch every day. I've got a lot of green fruit though, so I may be picking buckets if they start coming in soon!! One can hope.

Here's some interesting finds: my Brussel sprouts are seeming to be very Heat tolerant. They're loving it! I have yet to see them wilt at all, even though it got up to 97 yesterday. Cabbages are coming out of transplant shock and doing the same, growing a lot. Trying to steadily reduce the amount I water. Cabbage seems to still need once a day, but Brussel sprouts are coping with twice a week now. Broccoli seems to do well too. Now cauliflower? What a wimp! Out of 40 some plants, well over half have shriveled up and died.

Interestingly, bush beans this year (and for others locally here), are just shriveling up and dying as well. Climbing beans are loving it. Isn't that odd?

I have some plant ID questions, but first...

HJ - tightness in your hips can cause knee pain, particularly on the outer knee. This is the IT Band issue that I've been fighting since April. IT Band connects the hip to knee and further down the leg, and irritation is often overuse or a sudden ramp up in exercise. The only way to undo it once it's irritated is to slow down but add conditioning that will lengthen that tendon. It's further irritated by "pushing through" so if it is IT band, when it bothers you back off, even if you're like me and that makes you feel like a quitter.

Dawn - when the itching gets so bad you have to do something try rubbing an ice pack on it. A friend's husband was extremely ill a couple years back - all major organs on the verge of completely shutting down - but a side effect of his treatment was itchiness and rash. Of course, in the shape he was in they couldn't chance an infection from the scratching, so at the doctor's recommendation, she would sit there rubbing frozen gel packs all over him. Obviously, chigger bites are a far cry from organ failure, but if it worked for his itching, surely it would work for bug bites.

My ID questions - I went wildflower seed scavaging and came up with a few that stumped me and I'm trying to confirm IDs on some grasses that are trying to confuse me.

First up is what looks like Black-eyed Susan but was very small, at least 1/2 the size of what I'm used to seeing, but definitely had a coneflower/rudbeckia type head in the middle, not the columnal head like clasping coneflower. However, it was close to the size of clasping coneflower.

I also spotted what looked like a mimosa/sensitive plant but it had a yellow flower? Don't be confused by the grass leaves growing up through it, you can see the mimosa-like foliage and berry at the top of the photo.

Grasses - I have lots of pics and I numbered and lettered to keep them straight. Bluestem pics are lettered, while indiangrass are numbered.

I have a big bluestem that I'm afraid is an Old World (invasive) Bluestem but struggling to find clear information on how to distinguish Old World from Big Bluestem without a bloom.

The other one puzzling me is what is supposed to be indiangrass. It has pronounced ligules like indiangrass, but the lowest parts of the stem are a purplish-blue and it's hairy which is usually a characteristic of bluestems.

Crabgrass is a pain to pull. Basically it creates a big knot of roots, then the grass grows out from that. It's almost impenetrable to get a shovel in the middle, so I have to dig up clumps, break those up and finesse the roots out. It takes forever, but when I'm done the area will be nicely "tilled".

I've been out in the cruel summer the last 2 days. And it is cruel. Aldi's had a "cooling gel mat" for dogs that my beagle is enjoying. I don't know if Honey would lay on one or not, but I'm afraid she'd eat it. It is in the house. I don't know if it would help outside or not.

I planted okra and cowpeas in the now vacant potato bed. Cucumbers in between the peppers in the onion bed. Different varieties of cowpeas in the other beds. The Haricots Rouge Burkina du Faso cow peas volunteered where grown last year, along with some tomatoes and basil. I'm letting that bed do it's thing, though I will probably put a cow panel over it to support both peas and tomatoes.

There is a bunch of cow peas volunteering in the corner of a tomato bed. I thought they were the long beans I grew there last year. Maybe they're Penny Riles from across the path. The tomatoes need shade. Trying to figure out how to accomplish that. One bed has cosmos trying to take over. That bed is Heidis and smaller varieties. I THINK the cosmos (and asparagus to the west) are shading them.

I still have to replant the bed DH mowed, I'm thinking sorghum and Iron and Clay cowpeas together. I also have a variety called Hardee that is meant as a cover crop. May need both.

Jacob, I can't grow cauliflower. I don't really like it (DH does), so I don't try too hard. I'm envious of your Brussels sprouts.

Well poot, I haven't posted since Tuesday?! We had the older grandson Wed all day. He had just come back from the lake and was kind of tired. Took a long nap so he could stay up for fireworks. We sat in the driveway. Fireworks all around from the neighbors. I was about to decide we couldn't see them from there when Owasso FINALLY started their show. Straight shot down our street. I was ready for it to be over. The 5 year old had been as patient as he could, but he got bored.

Thurs I started planting (okra and cukes) I have new chigger bites. Sigh. I'm losing a lot of tomatoes to fruit worm and or bird pecks, and BER.

Rebecca, you must have kids in your neighborhood who couldn't wait for fire crackers. I was surprised there weren't more here. Lots of after dark stuff, but not the usual constant bangs all day.

So, tell me, the cloudy spots on tomatoes from stink bugs, I would cut them off if eating fresh, but would it matter to toss them in the tomato machine? Is it....some gross bug baby, or just the chigger of tomatoes?

Woo hoo Bruce! New car!

Jen, it is too hot to dig up crabgrass!!! Take care of yourself.

Have a nice weekend! Have to get all the cattle panel arches installed.

Nancy, I thought of you last night while working on a diagram of my south garden and trying to figure out what I’ll do with it now. You wanted a garden “designer, well this is cheaper... I took pictures of the garden at a couple different angles and traced it. It’s hard to trace from the photo, so trace it once and keep that as the master. Then create your diagrams by tracing the master. It goes much faster.

Here’s the one I’m working on as an example. It’s a work in progress so more plants will be drawn in later, but it gives you an idea.

Haha, Megan, too late for a designer in terms of beds. They're a done deal, No, I just need someone to come and put all the plants and flowers where they should be. LOL Mass plantings is what I figured out this summer. Keep all the echinacea, for example, together; same with bee balm, zinnias, and so forth. The beds need some coherency!!! And right now they ain't got none. I actually did what you did, but in a much sloppier and less precise manner, which is how I do most things. LOL I prefer to call it flexible. , , ,

Jacob, I cannot believe your night time temps--you must have read it wrong. Have you had your eyes tested lately? haha

Yes, a real bucket of nice juicy tomatoes. I can hardly believe it myself. Thanks to the folks here! And Dawn!!! And speaking of bucket(s) of tomatoes, those need to be dealt with tomorrow, the fully ripe ones. I may throw some of the ripe ones in the freezer, and make salsa with some of the rest, as there are several peppers from yesterday. Rats! Went to town today and didn't buy onions. (I was a little short-sighted in yanking all the onions, chopping and freezing, but am not really sorry.) Well, I can just make myself drive in tomorrow, too. THAT'LL teach me to make better lists.

HJ, still have our fox problem. I am a little annoyed with these precious animals showing up at our house. The starving bulldog last year, now THIS little pest, this little adorable fox, mutated to be a pet. How very wrong. But what a blessed gift it has been, to get to know about what and who a fox is. Amazing amazing creatures. Very much like a cross between a feral cat and a dog. They leap like cats. She loves Titan and is modeling her behavior after his. She shadows him. He chases the deer when they get to close, she's hot on his heels. So funny. She is the CUTEST most adorable little thing. AND wonderful news tonight. Wild Heart wild animal shelter in Claremore, answered my email to them, saying they'd absolutely take her, and if they found the perfect family better than them, they'd get her there. My heart is full. Meanwhile, just gave the little critter a rough tough petting from her head to her toes. She's got fleas, and now worms. She couldn't get enough petting and rubbing.

I've been totally preoccupied with trying to get my 96-yr-old Mom's Medicaid application filled out. Panicked, pretty much, by the paperwork. I used to excel in paperwork. . . . GONE, GONE. . . I just want to mow the lawn and garden and paint or quilt! (I've also been very cranky about this paperwork. )

Amy, as you know that I've told you, it's chigger heaven here, too. Why I always wear jeans and socks with the shoes, no matter how hot it is. Spray down with Deet on the socks, shoes and pants.

Jennifer, for the crabgrass--do you have a Hori hori knife? If not, GET one! LOL

Dawn, your hillbilly story was my heartiest laugh of the day!! So FUNNY!! And what a blessing you've been to me. And so are the rest of you. Thank you.

Hi all, I haven’t posted much because there’s not much going on in my garden. Just tomatoes from one tomato plant (Arkansas Traveller), garlic, onions and herbs.

We are out here at Oologah lake fishing. Well, DH and his cousin are. I am just enjoying the sunrise while catching up on all your posts.

Dawn, I always picture you as a Disney princess whenever you tell us about the wild animals you fed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I am so far behind that I'm never going to catch up. It is hard to find computer time with a grandchild in the house.

Jennifer, Tim's hawk/guinea rescue probably occurred before YouTube even existed. It was quite a while back. Regardless, he and I are so old school that we pretty much use our phones just as phones. We just aren't the type to whip them out and take photos or videos. It isn't a habit to us to do that and it isn't routine, and we don't even think about doing it.

Jacob, I cannot even imagine temperatures in the 50s at night. That sounds heavenly and it will be months before it happens down here again. We had a lot of pop-up thunderstorms roll thru last night. At our house we barely got any rain, but got cooler nighttime temperatures from the rain-cooled air---a cool 70 degrees overnight low this morning and that felt heavenly compared to our usual 77-80 degree low temperature.

Sometimes brassicas do odd things. We had some Piricicaba broccoli survive the horrendous heat (highs up to 115 degrees at our house and over 100 degrees most days all summer long) and lack of rainfall (a total of less than 11" from Jan-mid-August 2011) during the drought of 2011 even though I stopped watering the garden for pretty much all of July and half of August. We were at fires day and night---up to 5 fires in one day, and also some fires that burned for 3 to 5 days each, and I abandoned my garden for a very long time. In late autumn, I ventured in there to pick Seminole pumpkins, which had survived the heat and drought, and found the Piricicaba was producing heads. It was crazy. Native cacti died. Native wildflowers died. Native grasses died. Native trees (including the normally very resilient oak trees) died. A random broccoli variety in an unwatered garden? Survived. The other crazy thing was that even after I stopped watering, some tomato plants set fruit in 100-115 degree weather. The reason? My only explanation is that our relative humidity was very, very low, often in the low single digits, and some tomatoes will set fruit in high heat/low humidity but won't set fruit in high heat/high humidity.

Pole beans often survive the heat here, growing well but not blooming, and go on to produce in the fall once temperatures cure. Bush beans are less resilient and the heat and pests seem to get them. So, I plant accordingly---plant those bush beans early, harvest until the heat stops them from producing and then yank them out. By then, the grasshoppers are devouring the foliage and the spider mites are all over them. The pole beans I just leave alone and ignore unless they become sick or pesty, in which case I yank them out and replace them with new ones for fall. So, this year my bush beans are long gone, but we froze a lot of beans from them, and my pole beans haven't produced a thing yet. They are still alive but grasshoppers are all over them. The lima beans have not one single leaf that isn't full of holes like Swiss Cheese, but are producing beans finally after stalling for a long time. In our heat down here, the usual production sequence is bush snap beans, Lima beans, southern peas (all summer long) and then pole beans (in the autumn) and another round of snap beans in the autumn. So, this year, that is how it has gone except the Lima beans stalled and the first variety of southern peas beat them to production, but now that variety of southern peas is fading fast (they only produce for a few weeks) and the Lima beans are coming on strong. This year's strange weather has caused lots of strange stuff like that down here. March and May were both extraordinary in how hot they were so early, but periods of cold in April complicated things. It has been so weird that I'm just glad my garden is producing a harvest.

Amy, The cloudy spot can be ignored and the tomatoes can be used however you choose, including running them through the tomato machine. When the stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs insert their sucking mouth parts into the tomatoes, they inject an enzyme that helps break down the fruit juices so they can ingest them. That enzyme causes the little spots on the fruit and some people feel it adds a sourness to the fruit. It is not noticeable to me if there's just a couple of spots, but if there's 50 or 60 or 80 spots on one fruit, I cannot bear to look at those and toss them on the compost pile. Once stink bug and leaf-footed bug damage on tomatoes reach that level, I might as well pull my plants and toss them because the fruit isn't going to be harvested and eaten, and we are almost to that point now. It works out okay. I harvest all the remaining usable fruit, pull and toss the plants, and then the stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs have nothing much to eat----so they go away. Then I plant fall tomato plants and start all over. Usually the stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs are gone or almost nonexistent by the time the fall tomato plants are producing. I remember a decade or further back that some of the Texas gardeners on GW on the Tomato Forum would talk about how stink bugs and leaf footed bugs decimated their fruit and that they were done harvesting by May because of the heavy damage....and I couldn't even imagine it. Now, they have gotten just about as bad here even though we're a lot further north, but I usually can harvest at least well into July. This year the stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs are the worst they've ever been. I know I was seeing stink bugs in April while we still were having those really cold nights.

Megan, I'll look at your photos later. I've got to wake up the kid in a minute and get her ready to go to a United Way thing in Ardmore. We're going to meet our son and her mom there for lunch and whatever else is going on at the BBQ bash in downtown today.

Nancy, I am glad you found a home for the fox.

Eileen, One reason we moved to such a remote area (we still had dirt roads when we moved here 20 years ago, and no TV reception, no internet except via satellite and no cell phone reception) was that we wanted to live surrounded by wildlife. We got a little more wildlife than we bargained for, I think, and you cannot just sit back and watch them starve in drought summers (or, at least, I cannot) so we started feeding them. Now, it is just a part of who we are and what we do. The deer understand it very well. I've been slicing up extra zucchini and squash for them when I have extra ones (usually it is the big ones that have escaped detection until they are gigantic) and I put those out with the deer corn. The deer get used to them quickly, and sulk on the days when there's no squash or zucchini. It is funny. They stand and stare at me and the deer corn as if to say "where's our squash?" They eat and leave, and then keep coming back all day, checking to see if there's squash. Sometimes, after I've harvested a gigantic zucchini and sliced it up for them, they almost meet me at the deer corn when I bring it out to them....so I think they stand in the woods and watch me come from the garden to the house and are just waiting for that extra food. We are going to have unhappy deer when/if the SVBs finally kill the squash and zucchini plants. I've done nothing special to protect the plants this year, and yet the SVBs haven't gotten them yet, which is odd. Still, it surely will happen soon, so the deer had better be enjoying their extra food rations while we still are getting them.

Occasionally the deer become too friendly and start walking towards me to meet me when I am carrying out food for them. I have to stop and get a dog and bring it with me to force the deer back over the fence and away from the feeding area. The dog doesn't have to do anything---just the sight of it sends them back over the fence and into the adjacent woodland. I never, ever lose sight of the fact that the deer are not Bambi and it is never safe to let them get too close. Never, ever, ever. We've had people here in our county let deer get too close, and then the deer attacked them and hurt them and sheriff's deputies had to go shoot the deer to get them to leave the victims of their attack alone. So, we're friendly with them, but not too friendly---a safe distance has to be maintained.

I also let bunnies live in my garden if they venture into it or are born inside it, and feed them in the same places at night so that they often let me get within 2 or 3 feet of them while I'm putting out food for them. Like the deer they often are waiting for me to bring out the food in the morning. I'm not sure if I have them trained to sit and wait for the food or if they have me trained to bring them food, but either way we always have a good population of cottontails, at least until the coyote population surges upward and the bunnies all get eaten. You cannot get too attached to your wildlife for that reason.

Dawn

I went from 4 tomatoes (6 plants) to 2 tomatoes to just one - it has now succumbed because of a microscopic bite, so no tomatoes for me again. I broke down and went to the farmers' market this morning and bought two "ugly" tomatoes. I'll put that with some tatsoi from my garden, some bacon and mayo and have a BLT on the wonderful bread I bought from Big Sky Bakery this morning - the BEST.
Yay for my continual lessons in the world (as I know it) being pretty much out of my control. It's ok. :-)

Sharon

Need bug help...

And wilted morning glories...

I thought I had lost all my seeds when the freezer went out. But look what I found while cleaning the sweet potatoes. I expect to have plants from these volunteers next year. It has been a year or two that I had Armenian cucumbers in this spot.

WOW. Parents were viewing a property in southern MO, and about 2 minutes later my dad got a text message from the realtors asking if he wanted more info on it!! LOL bloodthirsty vultures!!

Hazel - you can call me mad if you would like - I've been called worse - lol. I was being a bit obsessive about my tomatoes and garden in general and a friend kept telling me I was mad, crazy, etc. I guess I didn't really think it through when I signed up here.

Hi All.

I will catch up tomorrow. We've had a busy day and went to (finally) see Solo tonight.

The new kitty is here. Hiding under our bed first...and while at the movie moved to under Ethan's bed. Poor thing. I want to drag her out and cuddle her, but am letting her decide when.

Jennifer, The kitty will be fine. She just has to adjust and then she'll come out and start sitting on everyone's laps and she'll be playing and happy to be there in no time at all.

Madabouttomatoes, Your name fits in perfectly here because a lot of us are mad about tomatoes.

Jacob, Yep! That phrase applies to all salesmen, and I hate, hate, hate salesmen of all kinds.

Larry, Hooray for the Armenian cukes. I love surprises like that!

Rebecca, That looks like one of the good guys---a predatory fly that feeds on pest insects. It is hard to tell without a good look at its face, but it probably is something in the robber fly family (also known sometimes as assassin flies). Maybe a southern robber fly or one of its relatives. The only bad thing about them is that sometimes they prey on bees, but they also prey on tons of bad guys.

Sharon, I am so sorry about your tomatoes. I can just imagine your frustration. I hope your ugly tomatoes make you some wonderful BLTs. You're right---there is so much in our gardens that we cannot control, although it takes some people a whole lifetime to learn that and to accept it. I find gardening is less stressful when I accept the reality that I cannot control every thing that happens in the garden.

Well, we've been playing every day of the Fourth of July week, and now it is over and time to return to reality. So, we are leaving shortly to go buy groceries, run errands, etc.

Later, I'll try to remember to come back and share our funny weather forecast from the other night. It just popped into my head, and I still laugh when I think of it.

Dawn

I know we've moved to a new week's post, but was catching up here and saw no one offered suggestions on Rebecca's bugs. I believe the black one is a soldier fly and the butterfly is marked like a Grey Hairstreak, but it looks white in the picture? The ones I see in my yard are dark grey, but this one looks white or pale grey. I assume they could come in any shade of grey though. Speaking of the Grey Hairstreak, I'm in trouble with LO because she managed twice yesterday to catch one in her butterfly net but I managed to let them escape - not on purpose either. D'oh.