Jennifer, I am so happy to see the bird numbers building back. For so long, we feared the bluebirds never would return. Most of the other songbirds rebuilt their population in just a couple of years though. Your yellow birds might be goldfinches. They feed on plant seeds, especially echinacea and sunflowers.

When our cats get after birds, I spray them with the water hose. They mostly leave the birds alone now because none of them like being sprayed with water.

I think that August usually feels better because the dewpoints are lower and the air is dryer, so even if we have hotter temperatures in August than July, we often have low heat index values. That is how this summer has been so far.

Yes, in 2011, the first sign of a break in the weather hit around August 11th or 12th here. It wasn't so much a break in the temperatures overall, but we received rain on August 11th, and that was our first rain since June, when we had a whopping 1.20" for the whole month of June, followed by no rain at all in July or the first 10 days of August. I remember when it started raining. We were returning from a horrific grass fire and the clouds that had been building up all day began to drop a few raindrops, but then unfortunately, the lightning accompanying the rain started multiple wildfires within the next 30 minutes, so it wasn't really a break for us after all except the temperatures dropped below 100 a couple of hours earlier than usual that day. That day was the first break in the endless heat and drought since June so it did give us hope that the heat and drought wouldn't last forever. We ended up hitting 100 degrees or higher on 29 days in August, to go with all 31 days of July and 10 days in June. We didn't have a lot of 100s in September--maybe 5 or 6, but we were over 95 on quite a few more. I think October is when the temperatures finally improved significantly, as did the rainfall. That was the year many native plants, including native oak trees and prickly pear cacti, died. I'll never forget 2011, nor the fact that we had drought again in 2012, 2013 and 2014---just not as bad of a drought as we had in 2011. At our place, we ended the year with almost 24" of rain compared to average annual rainfall of 39". About 14" of that rain had fallen by the end of August (most of it in April and May), and the rest came in the fall and early winter.

One of the toughest things about 2011 was that the temperatures (at least here in our county) started hitting the 90s in early April and we had temps in the mid-90s by Easter, which was discouraging for people who were still trying to get their tomato plants in the ground while temperatures already were hot enough to impede pollination. We'd had so much hot, dry windy weather in Spring that a lot of people sort of postponed planting, waiting for better weather that never came, so when they finally put their tomato plants in the ground, it was too late and too hot. At least at our house we did get tomatoes that year because I had gotten some of the plants in the ground early. Gardens didn't produce much that year.

I was just reading a Motley Fool article yesterday about Home Depot and Lowe's and how hard their year has been---demand for everything involved in home improvement has soared and supplies have been down, partly due to supply chain issues, partly due to the lumber shortage resulting from Covid-19 related shutdowns in the logging and wood milling industries back in the springtime. Both stores can sell pretty much anything they get in stock---the issue is getting the products to the stores to begin with. Their sales and profits are up, but the available supply of products, as you and I both are seeing this summer, is limited...and you have to wait for stuff to arrive and hope nobody else beats you to those products once they do arrive. I know people who've been trying to buy appliances but can't get them---the stores aren't allowed to sell the floor models of appliances even if those are the only ones they have because upper management at the national level doesn't want the display floors bare. So, you go in there and see all the appliances and think you can buy them, but then they have nothing in stock except display models they can't sell.

I am sure you're remembering 2008 when the economy crashed largely due to what? Was it manipulation of the financial markets and the housing financing industry? I think that is what it was. The supply chain was working just fine for most things, but suddenly everyone was having trouble paying for stuff---it was the financial markets that crashed, not the supply chain, so goods were not short in supply but just drastically more expensive all of a sudden.

Nancy, I haven't looked at last week's thread and seen the Cowboy Candy recipe (a name we normal people are not supposed to use for this product because it is a trademarked name owned by a family canning company that has been known to sue others for using their copyrighted name) but believe it is the same as that for candied jalapenos. It is my favorite way to preserve jalapenos, but I also freeze many dozens of them every year, already blanched, cut in half and with the seeds scooped out so I can make us cheese-stuffed bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers year-round. Some years I have dried gazillions of peppers too, made pepper relish (both sweet and hot types) and made lots of pepper jelly. I don't make tomato jam. We have mostly given up jams and jellies because of their high sugar content, so when I make pepper jelly it generally is made to be given away as gifts. Most of our tomatoes end up in salsa or as canned whole or diced tomatoes or as sauce.

The heat was brutal yesterday, and I guess that continues all week. Some folks may get rain that brings a break in the heat, but that rain and that break in the heat never seem to make it this far south. Have I mentioned 10,000 times already that the August weather makes this my least favorite month? The heat even got Tim yesterday---he just kept saying "it is so hot" and sighing. He didn't even attempt to mow the grass, which is fine, because without rainfall it isn't growing enough to need to be mowed. The ground is dry and cracking.....which would be comical were it not so sad, and had we not spent most of October through April under water. It is crazy how clay goes from being waterlogged to being dry like concrete, and I'd still rather have clay than sand.

Have a good day everyone and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Dawn

Larry! That is crazy and scary about your neighbor! He had laid on the ground overnight with a broken hip?! Something caused you to go check on him. I'm so glad you did. I know you were concerned that you almost ran over him, but you would not have...because something divine was telling you to check on him...and stopped you before that happened. I hope he'll be okay. Keep us posted.

I'm responding from last week's thread on this week's thread.

Yes, the butternut. It didn't do very well. We have a few small fruit--maybe 10. I left them on the vine for as long as I could, but at some point the vines just died. Most had cured somewhat. It's all in a large basket on top of Josi's crate right now. I'm not sure what killed the vines. Maybe a combo of lack of rain and squash bugs. Also, the garden is a new garden and the soil barely amended at all. I suspect that winter squash is a heavy feeder. We'll use what we have...it combined with the PDCN squash and my Seminoles from last year will keep us in winter squash throughout the year. If necessary we can can it or freeze it for the following year because I'm not growing any squash next year. None. IF HU grows some in Okmulgee, we'll have some.

It's been the longest day of my life (yes, I'm dramatic), so I'm heading to bed in a minute.

The news just showed a good chance of rain, but I don't believe them.

It would be nice to sleep during a mild thunderstorm. Doesn't that sound nice?

We so seldom have a mild thunderstorm that isn't shaking the windows and rattling the china though :) I think I would prefer steady mid-level rain w/o thunderboomers. Actually I need some rain, maybe this morning coming up?

Maybe the storms out west will stay together long enough.

Well...I think we got rain. And a good rain at that. I think. I slept hard. However, the rain gauge read almost an inch, but I'm suspicious of that. I hope it was an inch. Regardless I will not have to water today. Blessing for sure.

I hope everyone else got some rain if you wanted it.

I've wandered around in a daze all morning. Trying to figure out how my life is going to look over the next few months is confusing....and of course it's all subject to change because of a stupid virus. As I was in a daze, a load of laundry was started, animals were fed and watered--so I've not been completely unproductive.

It is one of those days that I won't have large stretches of time to do stuff. E and I are still sharing a car, but his should be ready to go tomorrow. So...I will drive him to work, come home for a couple of hours, go pick up a rooster, deliver rooster to From Seed to Spoon, pick E up from work and try to make it back to the house for Zoom Pilates. I really need a day at home. That will not happen this week.

Larry, any news on your neighbor?

HU, I think we have enough carrots. They're starting to get soft, but seem okay really. There's maybe 20. And some good sized ones.

Okay...Job #1 emails are starting to come in. I'll look at those and then go check the garden. With boots because it's muddy. Yay! Yay for rain in August.

Good day, Friends!

Jennifer, all my squash and pumpkin are planted in new ground, my cantaloupes are also. I have gotten two cantaloupe since I put the low hot wire up around part of the garden, I never fence anything in 100%. I always leave a way to get in the garden without opening a gate. The day may come when the critters figure that out and go in and out the same way I do. I dread that day because I hate fences and gates.

My garden looks very bad, it is in need of water. I am still harvesting, but giving most everything away. My daughter and granddaughters are taking a lot of what I am growing. I am hoping the gardening bug will bite them. I had them to order more seeds , and they came in yesterday, I have some ground ready to plant, but it is so hot and dry and I just don't feel like doing much. I got so hot a few days ago that I felt like I might pass out and fall off the tractor. I was doing some dangerous work in a steep and deep bar ditch. I just called it quits and went to the house.

I need to string more wire today because the deer are now getting into my PEPH. The deer have not respected the boundaries at all. The other critters are letting the deer set the example.

I did a head count a couple of days ago and it looks like I have about 18 old timey cornfield pumpkin, 40 butternut, and 15 or 20 Seminole. None of the pumpkins I planted on July will produce, they have been eaten back too many times. My neighbor and I are talking about planting something Wed. I am not sure what, it seems too hot to fool with anything.

I am so glad he is helping me. He is about the same age as my oldest son, who lives across the highway from me, and has not spoken to me in 6 years.

Amy, I am still trying to think of a way to use the Egyptian spinach. The way that stuff grows it is a shame not to find a use for it. I can reach over 7', but I cant reach the top of the spinach. I am thinking it may taste good in cornbread, Madge puts regular spinach in cornbread and I love it.

Dawn, I think of you a lot, every time I run my hand down into my garden jungle, I can't keep from thinking of you and your snakes. This pandemic has caused me to plant a lot more, and a lot thicker.

Jennifer, all my life I have wondered " what am I her for". I was not supposed to live at birth. I was born at my grandmothers house, I was too early, my nose was mash flat to one side of my face. The doctor pull my nose back into somewhat proper location, and told dad and my grandmother to give me enough paregoric to keep me quiet till I died, which should happen before morning. Back then most people in the country had a milk cow. My grand mothers cow had just had a calf and granny went out and milked some colostrum from her cow and fed my with an eye dropper. I was still alive 3 days later and mom and dad took me to town to see the doctor. The doctor pulled off the tape that was holding my nose in place. My nose is still crooked, but one side works very well. I try to never pass up a chance to help someone, thinking, " could this be why God saved my life as a baby". I still dont know, but I want to help whenever I can.

Jennifer, Now maybe the beans will start sprouting up.

20 carrots should be enough for the soup if you don't need them for anything else.

HU

Jennifer, my neighbor will have surgery today. There will be more than normal risk, he has lost down to 96 pounds and has a lot of other problems also. The doctor and nurses have been very nice to me and are keeping me updated. I called my neighbor's brother in Texas and I think the family will be working with me also, all seem to be happy I am helping him, but he is very frail. I have another neighbor that is needing help, but I think my neighbor that lives near my wildlife garden is going to help with him, we have some building to be done at his house, but the hot weather is holding us back. You would think that as you get older that you would be getting caught up on your projects, but it seem just opposite with me, I get farther behind every day.

I have somehow missed posts, both last week and this. Houzz notifications don't seem to be working. On top of that, the new tablet deletes what I've written if I minimize the window. I'm always doing that! I Google something or find something in Evernote to add. I have no idea if it is chrome or the tablet.

Larry I am so sorry to hear about your neighbor. It is one of my nightmares to fall and no one around to help.

Egyptian spinach is so nutritious we should figure out how to eat it if only for that. It certainly grows like gangbusters here with virtually no insect problems. It is slimy like okra when cooked. I think a few leaves added to a soup would thickened it without being slimy. You could put it in a smoothie. You can dry it and drink it as herbal tea. I think I stir fried it. I'm going to link some of the traditional recipes for it.

https://norecipes.com/molokhia-recipe

https://myhalalkitchen.com/molokhia/

http://howtoexpo.com/recipes/best-molokhia-recipe-jute-plant

Cooking it in corn bread sounds like an excellent idea. And maybe H/J's stuffed shells recipe would mask the texture. Anything is better with cream cheese!

No rain again. :(

Some young men came around Sunday afternoon and wanted to mow our yard. Ron thought if you're willing to be out in this heat to mow I'll help you out. 3 guys, 2 lawnmowers and a weed eater, my gosh it was quick! No one cussed because the mower died and wouldn't start. No one cussed because the weed eater wouldn't feed or ran out of string. Much different than when Ron mows, ha ha ha. He has however apparently fixed the carburetor on daughter's mower, so he can give it back to her and get his back.

Nancy I'm glad you like roasted okra. I roast asparagus, too. I wish I'd seen your headphone post before I wasted money on a Bluetooth pair that gives Ron an echo. He has radio headphones so he can listen to the radio and I don't have to.

I don't think I posted about our adventures in Wi-Fi. We've been having internet trouble. I called the company to complain and she said we could trade out our modem. Well fine, but it didn't solve the Wi-Fi issues I was having with my tablets. So I ordered a new router (who knew the 2 were different?) I was able to hook it up for Wi-Fi myself, but I couldn't figure out how to connect it to the desktop. I knew Ron wouldn't appreciate not having internet. So called on children for help. I am fortunate to have one that does hardware and one who specializes in software and one who does networks. So #2 son, the hardware person, comes over and helps me get the desk top going. He plugged in an external hard drive that was behind the computer. It hadn't been connected. Sometime between when he left and when Ron came home from work Windows tried to update. Apparently the external drive confused the update and it failed. The screen froze and we couldn't get it to change. So #2 came over the next evening and tried to figure it out. He worked on it for quite some time. He had the boys with him. They got tired and cranky. He called #1 son, software person. He came over. #2 son's wife came and got the boys. At this point the 3 year old was having a melt down. The noise left. My sons worked together until #1 was up to speed, so #2 left. #1 had to return home for CDs, then continued. Ron came home. Ron went to bed. I fell asleep I the chair. Went to bed at 2. #1 was here till 4:30 am. (He works nights, not as bad as it seems) In the end my son used DOS in the repair. If you're pretty old you might remember dial up and DOS. It was quite a circus. Computer works and Ron was proud he reset the clock all by himself.

Ron's 35 year anniversary with American was the 5th. The kids brought him a cake Sunday since the company is no longer celebrating such things.

There hasn't been much gardening. I didn't feel well when it was cool and I hate heat. It's all I can do to water.

Have a good week.

Jennifer, Did the rain find you? I love sleeping with rain pouring down outside, but its been a long time for us since we had that. Often we get the thunder and lightning without rain which is bad because it often comes with lightning-started grassfires from dry lightning strikes, and sleeping to the boom of thunder without rain just isn't the same thing.

I ponder how the virus restricts our activities and movements when it and flu season sync up together. I'd like to have a good idea what to expect. I suspect we'll just stay home more? You know, like we all did the first month or so of the shutdown. I'll been trying to steadily stock up on supplies each week and get my holiday shopping done so if the flu/Covid-19, together or separately, hit hard in the fall around the time that flu season usually starts, then maybe we'll be prepared for anything that happens and it will be easy to just stay home. Last year, just with normal flu and a severe stomach virus making the rounds around Dec-Feb, our local stores were perpetually out of cleaning wipes, Lysol, flu medicine, thermometers, rubbing alcohol, etc. before Covid-19 even hit the USA and many schools cancelled classes for days on end so they could do a deep cleaning to try to break the cycle of recurring illnesses, so what will the stores be like if we have the usual winter illnesses plus Covid-19 on top of that? How often will schools have to shut down and revert to distance learning? There's so many unknowns.

What I miss most is being able to go to Fort Worth to see my family, but there's such a tremendous number of cases down there that we just dare not go. We've missed birthday gatherings and a wedding we really wanted to attend, but I'm not sorry because we are still healthy. Every single time I go down there and am around my family, I come home carrying germs that make me sick, so I know to avoid going down there in a pandemic. Here locally I've missed funerals. It can't be helped. Large gatherings are just a no-go for us. Tim is at enough risk on a daily basis at work, so about the only thing we do on the weekend is go to the grocery story, the feed store, the drug store if needed, and the home improvement store if needed. We are in and out of each as quickly as possible, preferably early in the day before they get too busy. I miss going to restaurants and I miss spending a lot of time at nurseries, the playground with the grandkids, and the movie theater. I miss seeing friends. I miss going to fires. It is what it is, and we'll all get through it, but I think we really cannot expect life to get back to normal too soon. Or, maybe there will be some sort of new normal that we cannot envision yet if the virus sticks around and recycles over and over again. I think I'll remember 2020 as the year I just stayed home....and cooked a whole lot more than usual too.

Larry, I'm glad you felt the heat getting to you and called it quits and went indoors. I used to ignore the heat and try to push through it, but I am (I hope) a little older and wiser now and when the heat starts affecting me, I drop everything and go indoors.

I've been watering, but am not sure I can water enough to make up for the absence of rainfall. We're awfully dry because all those recurring storms that have been moving across the state regularly never make it this far south.

For as long as I've known you, you've always helped everybody, and I think that is your purpose in life---to be a helper who is a bright, shining light and who gives people love, assistance and encouragement. I think back to all the gardens you used to plant for everyone in addition to your own. You've been spreading love and sunshine forever.

Amy, That is one of my nightmares too, so I try to remember to always carry my cell phone with me when I go outdoors just in case. Of course, my luck, I'll fall indoors and the cell phone will be in another room or something.

That sounds like quite a computer adventure. I'm glad your boys were able to get it working, and that Ron was able to reset the clock.

Tell Ron congrats on 35 years! I just hate that the company no longer celebrates those things, but know from some of the things Tim says (he has a huge number of contacts at AA) that American is struggling with the virus in so many ways and it really is a fight for financial survival. If the virus hangs around for months or years and impedes air travel as much as it has so far this year, I think the airline industry will shrink down monumentally.

August is not a month for doing much hands-on gardening. I had to learn to accept that years ago, so I always plan some sort of home improvement project for the August-September time frame to keep myself occupied indoors. I don't like it, but I feel like if all I do is water and harvest, then we're having a pretty good August because at least the harvesting continues.

It is so hot today. We are 1 degree away from having our hottest day of the year, and I think it will happen. However, we are nowhere near our highest heat index of the year, for which I am grateful.

I need a nap. I think hot summer days are perfect for naps, but it is really hard for me to fall asleep in the daytime....I'd do it if I could though. Why not sleep through the hottest part of the day? Usually, we have our hottest weather of the year at our house in the first two weeks of August, and that seems to be happening now, so for as weird as the year has been, some things are feeling sort of normal, and the heat is one of them.

Several schools in southcentral and far southeastern OK that reopened last week are closed again because somebody tested positive for the virus. I'm afraid small town schools have a false sense of security and think they will be safer than big city schools, but that is not what we're seeing happen here. The schools that are shut down only made it through a couple of days of classes. Going back to school seems like a disaster waiting to happen. I don't even understand how they can stay open, which makes me wonder what that means for our communities, our families, all the school employees and especially the kids. Our older granddaughter will be doing distance learning through a STEAM academy online and the youngest will be doing kindergarten in-school. The little one is so excited she can't wait---she misses all her pre-K friends so much. Jana starts her senior year of nursing school quite soon and is excited and ready to get it done, but the school is sort of struggling with how to protect the students while they are doing their clinicals. I think they just have to push through and do them one way or another----we cannot slow down our medical schools and nursing schools and put them on pause when every person who graduates from those programs is so desperately needed during a pandemic.Life goes on....maybe not as normally as usual, but it goes on and we all have to go on with it in some shape, form or fashion.

Have a good day everyone.

Dawn

Larry, that is nearly unimaginable! That was a big scare for both of you, no doubt. I've been thinking of him all day and praying for him--but thank God for YOU! That was also a great story about your birth, too. Well, I'm sure a lot of people are glad you survived!

This is the third time I've begun a post today. Sigh. My issue is with using two different computers, Amy. What a hassle you have had ! I'm glad you have computer help on board! My in-town computer tech folks fixed my desktop right up. $70. I thought that was reasonable.

Tell Ron happy anniversary. That's quite an achievement.

I was just wishing today that WE had a. young person around who would help mow our lawn. I got it mostly done, however, thought it looked iffy a few times. GDW mowed the section by the shop. The front lawn didn't really need it; and I got the driveway area and back yard done. My hair was drenched by the time I finished--and it began raining just as I was finishing! Good timing. We had picked more summer squash, tomatoes, and a couple melons.

dbarron, I was thinking of you earlier today. I saw the path of the rain, and looked like NW Arkansas was going to get a hefty amount. Did any of it find you? We didn't get much, 1/4". But we've had plenty of rain the past week. Good stuff.

We did our pick-up of groceries at Walmart later and then stopped at Lincoln. We took half a dozen squash in for whoever wanted it, and picked a few green beans, a nice batch of okra, several bell peppers, and a few tomatoes. We just left it all sitting on the table, since we knew Suzanne, John, and a few others will be there this evening. I was delighted to see several butterflies.

It was a great day! I love it when I actually accomplish anything.

I’ve read all the posts and will be back in the morning to respond.

but here is why I will not grow squash next year. It’s not just me being overly dramatic. Haha.

.

Jennifer, when I get squash bugs like that I use a 1 liter pump-up sprayer, Solo #418 that I use in the house for ants, I also will use it on the squash bugs. The small sprayer atomizes very well, almost like a fog. I just pull back the leaf and spray a puff on the bugs. I wait till late in the day when the blooms are closed and not a lot of pollenateors around. I dont like using something like that, but I am not coordinated well enough to get the bugs by hand. I have some damage on my butternut now, but have not use any spray yet. I still have some spray from last year in my 1 liter sprayer, but if I had bug like that, you can bet that tomorrow afternoon I would be using it.

Okay...backreading even though I read it all yesterday.

Amy, I used the Malabar spinach in the stuffed shells last week. I think it was really good. HU was here for dinner that night and he can confirm that or not. haha. But, I'm not sure if the Egyptian is similar to Malabar. ?

Sorry about your wifi issues. And sorry Ron's company no longer recognizes employee anniversaries. Glad your kids got him a cake to celebrate.

We did get rain, Dawn. A nice inch according to my rain gauge. I slept hard and didn't even realize we had gotten any until I went outside.

It's gonna be interesting to see what the flu and strep throat, etc. do this year. One of our students parents were saying that two of their relatives had Flu B somewhat recently. Does that sound right? And another student's mom was wondering about how the masks and social distancing will have affected our immune systems--if it weakened them or not and will it make the flu and other things so much worse? BUT if masks are so effective...and we all have to wear them everywhere now, how will we even get sick?

Nancy, I'm glad you had a great day!

Larry, I've actually used Sevin a bit this year...I've only used it two other times before this year, but even keeping those vines powdered, etc, wasn't enough to save the plants. Maybe Sevin isn't that effective? The smell reminds me of the old fashioned flea powder my parents used on our pets when I was little.

I guess I should look into keeping something around like you mentioned for extreme cases.

I think there was more that I wanted to comment on, but emails are starting to roll in and I need to deal with those things before we finally go pick up Ethan's car.

Oh, I delivered the rooster and will come back with a pic. Three of Dale and Carrie's kids are in the pic. It's on my phone and I'm on my laptop.

brb

I think the Egyptian spinach would have to be cooked some before it went in the shells. It's a tougher leaf than either regular spinach or Malabar.

It rained south of me, it rained east of me, I believe it rained north and west of me. Not here. Ron said it rained at the airport, which is about 10 miles southwest of us. It WAS lovely out. The breeze was rain cooled, clouds blocked the sun.

I'm thinking if I grew squash I would have to spray squash bugs. I'm not coordinated enough either Larry, and I know the heat would do me in. The alternative would be hand pollinating under bug netting.

Ron weeded and pulled plants that were shading tomato tomato roots. Chop and drop is foreign to him still. We're debating whether to plant lettuce or mulch. Problem is, it's the west side of a north south bed...in August. However, next week is supposed to be cooler than normal. Does that mean 95 instead of 100? IDK. Maybe I could do the burlap thing. Alternatively we cut back the cowpeas and use them for mulch. I don't know how long it would take for them to dry down to nothing. Think it's too hot to plant bush beans there?

I talked to my dad on the echo yesterday. I had none of the issues I had had when the Wi-Fi was bad. He has been able to talk to his sister a couple of times. I think he likes it. But son changed the computer password here so that was a problem this morning. Fortunately he was still awake and could help.

Dawn, I bought that tactical vest so I could carry my phone with me outside and never think to use it. When Ron retires he should not be gone so long and I will feel a little better. But like you, my phone is not always on me in the house.

The company gave Ron a pin and a certificate, but they aren't doing elaborate parties like they used to. They can't afford to do much of anything.

Well TTFN.

Blankety blank! I just lost my post again. I shouldn't be trying to type out here on the deck. The keys tend to be sticky and easy to hit the wrong key. But I keep jumping up to look at butterflies. Don't want to miss anything. I'm seeing more and more now. Always love it when I spot one I haven't seen here before. The hummingbird population has grown, too--not the crowds that used to be here (according to Garry) but busy enough that Garry's filling the feeders every other day now.

I decided I had to have the Egyptian spinach, Amy, so ordered it (Molokhia), regular spinach, and lettuce from Kitazawa. By the way, cilantro has not frozen here, and I've picked it all through the winter. In fact I'm just planting new stuff (for the school. Don't know how it will do there--nothing ventured, nothing gained. Maybe my raised beds are a microclimate. Where are you located, Lynn? I'm about 30 miles east of Broken Arrow. You say the Egyptian spinach is tougher-leafed--too tough to put in salad?

Cute picture, HJ! Bet the girls were thrilled. Wondering if the squash bugs bother the c moschata varieties. . . Dawn? So far our summer squash has thrived for two years. The year before I planted it, I planted zucchini and butternut squash. The SVBs found the zucchini in short order. The butternut squash plant grew like crazy with no problems. But GDW doesn't like the winter squash much, so I probably won't grow any again.

I had totally missed Dawn's post earlier. Dawn, Garry and I are pretty much staying away from people and events, too. We do go to Lincoln and often John and Suzanne stop by or one of the volunteer families--but that's outside where it's easy to distance. And we DID end up at the marina last week because of the dead boat. (I admit it was fun seeing the folks there--I think there were 8 of them there.). But by and large, we're just staying home. We go to town to get groceries from the pick-up lane; and we go to Lowe's if we have to (like once a month). We've been to Chile's a couple times, but not lately. The last time we WERE there, we watched the server prepare our booth. I was so impressed by how thoroughly they clean! He wiped down every square inch with his cleaning wipes. If I saw other businesses doing that, I'd sure appreciate them more.

I may have to just sit out here all day today. It's not nearly has brutal as it was the past few days. Later!

Squash bugs do bother Moschata types, Nancy. The squash in the picture is a c moschata. The Seminole outgrew the damage last year IF I even had squash bugs....I don't know. I didn't see them. There could be a couple of reasons. 1. I didn't grow any squash 2 years prior. 2. I let the Seminole sprawl so it rooted along the vine.

I'm so over squash bugs right now. But, y'all know that.

Amy, the stuffed shells recipe does call for blanching your greens, so I did. BUT, maybe the Egyptian spinach would need a little more? I've used regular spinach and kale in the recipe too. OOO....a few pieces of arugula would kick it up a notch. Must try that.

Something small is after my melons. It's not coyotes. It's very small whatever it is. The coyotes were really close to our neighborhood last night....maybe IN our neighborhood, but not at our house that I could see.

I'm going to stay indoors and do a few things including exercise and then head out when the sun drops a bit. I might clean out the lettuce bed.

We went to 3 stores this afternoon before finding seed starter mix. I would like to start lettuce and kale seed tonight, but it might wait until tomorrow. I wish I had more of the little pellet things. I really like them. I'll use little paper dixie cups instead, I guess.

Oh...I know people aren't being as 'Earth friendly" right now because of Covid. So much trash caused by that virus. BUT, I did buy some of the bar shampoo some of you were talking about when we had the other thread about being earth friendly. Honestly, I don't like the bar shampoo. It's possible I should try another formula....maybe one for oily hair. This one doesn't clean my hair very well. I can't get many suds at all. I'll continue to use it because I bought it, but will probably switch back and forth between regular shampoo and the bar. I had trained my hair to be less oily and only needed to wash it twice a week. But with the bar shampoo, I need to wash it daily.

I have a question for you older than me. Was shampoo always in a plastic bottle? I was trying to remember back....and can only remember plastic.

My first memory of shampoo it was in a plastic tube, Prell. LOL H/J, THAT took me back.

There were 2 swallowtail cats on my fennel tonight. Hope there's enough to support them. Ron won't like sharing parsley.

It's been a couple of years since I grew Egyptian spinach, but I think, raw, it was...grassy tasting, not really salad material. It also makes seed pods. I've wondered if you could pick them like okra. I've found no suggestion anyone ate the pods or seeds. Now Bon was the one growing it when I first started and I think she would eat it raw, so one of those subjective things?

I have to start by whining about the weather. Our forecast maximum heat index said we could expect heat index values as high as 109. They were so wrong. Our heat index peaked at 116 late this afternoon, and you sure could feel it. Tim just left the house to take Jesse for a walk now that the Heat Index has cooled down to 100 degrees. I told him he missed all the bad heat while he was at work today. I cooked dinner at noon before it got too insanely hot---I think the HX was only 104 or 105 at that point. Tonight we just reheated our food for dinner in the microwave so we wouldn't have to heat up the west-facing kitchen by using the stove. I had watered extra early this morning and glad I got it done before we got very hot.

If you weren't watching the heat index values in your area today, here's the map that shows the Max recorded at each Mesonet station:

Max Heat Index Values today

Amy, I remember Prell in the tube too. I haven't thought of that in so many years. There also was a yellow one in a tube. I think it was from White Rain. And I remember Breck shampoo and the famous Breck girls of the 1960s...or it could have been the 1970s. I remember a whole lot more from the 1970s when I was older, like Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific and Herbal Essence.

Jennifer, I think some of the high dollar shampoos came in glass bottles at some point, maybe the 1960s but possibly earlier. My grandfather collected all sorts of glass bottles in the 1960s and 1970s and some of those glass bottles likely were older than I think they were.

I'm not overly fond of bar shampoo or any shampoo that doesn't suds up well. I hope we don't start getting Covid-19 supply chain shampoo issues. And, all kidding aside, from research I'm doing, it appears many of the containers used in America normally are made in China and shipped here, so we shouldn't be surprised when we see the containers we're used to seeing changing because it might be that manufacturers cannot get their cans, bottles, bags, pouches or whatever in the same color, shape and style they've always used. We're already seeing Dr. Peppers in plastic bottles on store shelves here instead of in cans, supposedly related to a shortage of aluminum. This sort of thing just makes me wonder what next.

I have seen squash bugs on C. moschata types of squash before, but not every year and nowhere near as many as I see on C. pepos and C. maximas , so I am grateful for that. I get over them pretty quickly every year and when there start to be more than I can deal with, I pull the squash plants and move on. I've decided life is too short to be overly obsessed by those squash bugs.

Nancy, Your proximity to the lake could mean you're in a warmer microclimate, or it might just be that we haven't had a really cold winter since you've been here. Our winters seem warmer every year. There have been years we have dropped as low as 1 degree at our house, which is stunning when you think about how far south we are, and there have been years we barely get down into the 20s at all. We have had winter days in the 90s and winter days with highs in the 20s. About the only consistent thing about our winter weather is its very lack of consistency. We stayed below freezing 24/7 for 5 days in a row once, and then when it warmed up, it didn't warm up a little---it zoomed up into the 70s within 24 hours. Our winter weather is just completely nuts. I remember a lot of snowy days our first 4-6 years here, and very, very few since then. I liked it better when winter was cold and snowy and it felt like winter for more than 3 days.

Jennifer, Most years the flu actually hits in North America first in the springtime, but only in very limited amounts, so it wouldn't surprise me that someone you know has Type B Flu. We just don't pay any attention to it until it becomes widespread in autumn or winter My friend Joyce and I both caught the flu in August about 5 or 6 years ago and it was horrible. It lasted forever, and looking back, I think I probably had pneumonia as well because I had a horrible cough that lasted forever. I know that Joyce had pneumonia along with the flu, or immediately afterwards, because she went to the doctor. Her pneumonia had damaged her lungs so badly that she lost so much lung function she had to be on oxygen forever after. It was horrible for her. You hear about that sort of lung damage occurring as a complication of flu or pneumonia, but never think it will happen to someone you know. She wasn't a smoker either, although her husband had been. We both had the flu at the exact same time but hadn't seen each other in several weeks so caught it separately. I know I caught it from Chris, who caught it at work.

I believe the masks are mostly effective in keeping our own germs contained so we don't make other people sick, especially the cloth and surgical masks. They supposedly also protect us somewhat from other people's germs, but the research on that part of it is very conflicting. Tim, Chris, Jana and I all have N-95s and some P-100s that we have had for years and they would be more effective, but we are saving them for whenever something happens---like if one of us or one of the girls catch it and the rest of us need to take care of them. Tim and I have one cloth mask that has a P-95 filter sewn into it that some local folks made and gave to all the members of the VFDs and I've worn that a couple of times. It is washable, but the filter cannot be washed indefinitely so I've been saving it for when things get really bad, if they do.

I think we'll all learn together if wearing masks helps protect us from catching colds and the flu or not. I've read that they do, and I've read that they don't. (sigh) So much conflicting research and it really is hard to know what to believe. I've decided to think positive and believe that they help us all and to wear one cheerfully as required since it seems wrong to not wear them when "they" are telling us that they are needed. However, I truly hate wearing them. They make me feel claustrophobic so I find I limit my time spent in stores and such to as brief of a period as possible so I can get out of the store, get into the vehicle and take off the mask. These masks probably are saving us a fortune because I spend so much less time than usual shopping, and I'm sure Tim just loves that.

That is such a cute photo of the girls!

Oh, and immune systems. Again, with Covid-19 conflicting info. Normally for most things like colds, strep and flu, we want the strongest immune system possible to help us fight them, but with Covid-19, it often is the younger folks with stronger immune systems who develop such a strong immune system response that it turns into septic shock or sepsis, which can be deadly. So, with Covid-19 do we actually want to have a stronger immune system, or a weaker one? Who the heck even knows?

I will say that when our next door neighbor was battling cancer this spring/early summer, he had to wear a mask all the time. All the time. No exceptions, and it was to protect him from Covid-19, and likely everything else since chemo wipes out your immune system. I have seen people in stores wearing masks long before this year who looked frail and weak like they likely also were on chemo, so maybe that is a thing they do nowadays whenever anyone is undergoing chemotherapy.

Oh, and the squash bugs in your photos. The terrible, hideous squash bugs. Looking at those photos makes me want to not grow squash next year and those aren't even my plants! I truly hate squash bugs with a passion. They just make my skin crawl.

Amy, For us I think they are saying 88 for a high one day next week, so y'all might be even cooler. All the rain and cool weather has been missing us, so we'll be thrilled to have a day with a high of 88 degrees. Tomorrow we're expecting 101 or 102 and I don't even want to think of what the heat index might do.

I know that some of the 'older' people here (meaning they are, at least, older than you and Ron and Tim and I) have those medical alert things that you wear around your neck like a necklace that sends an alert when you fall, or that you can use to call for help. I hear the paramedics going out on calls originating from those all the time and am sure they have saved the lives of people who live alone out in the country or who are alone a lot while other family members are gone all day. I just keep thinking they are for people who are at least 10 years older than we are, and I hope Tim and I will have the good sense to recognize that we need those whenever the time comes. Really, I shouldn't even associate them with aging in my mind because they would be great for anyone with any medical or mobility issue.

Good friends of ours have a teenager who runs track. He is a great kid and they are simply wonderful people whom we love so much. He and they have been on my mind all day ever since I learned earlier today that he was diagnosed with a tumor in his knee. He had experienced knee pain recently and they assumed it was his iliotibial band since that is a common runner's issue, only his knee pain didn't get better with rest. Our biggest hope, of course, is that it is a misdiagnosis because that's always what you hope to find out with a scare like this--that it is just a terrible mistake. They were going to the orthopedic surgeon for an MRI late this afternoon, so we're awaiting further information and hoping for it to be good news in some shape, form or fashion. Honestly, in our neighborhood, 2020 seems like it has been just as cruel to people we know as 2019 was, and I didn't think such a thing was possible.

Is it too early to start looking ahead to 2021 and hoping we have a very different year in so many ways?

Dawn

Please whine about the heat, Dawn. I know I did this afternoon. Although this morning was absolutely lovely. I think our heat index was 106...maybe 104. I can't remember now. It was HOT. Probably one of the hottest days this year. Yuck And we weren't even at 116!

I'm dreading tomorrow. Because of the heat. And it's the first day back at school. Our little private school follows Moore. This is about to get interesting for sure.

I know a few young people who have had C 19 and their situations were either very mild (like the sniffles) or similar to the flu, which sucks for sure. But they're all fine. My friend who works on the Covid floor at a local hospital says it's mostly younger/middle aged people on the floor. But, they are almost all diabetics who don't manage their diabetes. Sad, though Very sad.

I guess we will see what happens. I will say that if this suddenly disappears after the election, I will be...emotional. Grateful for the magic, but angry because of the lives "it" has ruined. And I'm not talking in a health way.

But, if this is not political, then it will continue on until a vaccine. But...nevermind.

I'm sorry to hear about your young friend, Dawn. It brings back some bad memories of another teen whose cancer started in the knee. But hopefully your friend's tumor isn't cancer.

Wow. I'm negative right now. I blame the heat! So, I will be saying good night!

I just want to know when those blackeyed peas and greens we ate at New Years will start to kick in.

Not much to say here. Gave the tomatoes their last dose of bloom booster for the season, to hopefully trigger more fruit to set next week. Brought in a bunch of tomatoes with lots of bug damage. Started a tub of romaine lettuce mix. Thinking about beans, carrots, beets, and spinach.

Rebecca, we can only hope for next year, I fear.

I have good news, my scarlet runner beans have finally set a few pods so I can expand my seed bank for next year (didn't think they'd set any).
I thought I'd share the carnivorous tray photos since they've advanced into full growth. I have a topdown and a side view. There are three pitcher plants (Sarracenia hybrids), 2 venus fly traps (one being a cluster and one being an almost microscopic tissue culture with deep purple coloration, I hope it survives and is big enough to see next year), and at least 5 clustered sundews. There's a yellow flowering weed that came with the newest pitcher plant, I suspect it won't overwinter, so I haven't eliminated it.
Not visible at all are some very tiny creeping carnivorous plants that also came with the pitcher, they occassionally throw tiny pansy like flowers, but the foliage is essentially creeping like a moss.
Also one of my pingiculas(butterwort) are flowering, so I took a photo...it's really more purple than pink...

I woke in the night to thunder. Lots of thunder. Dogs didn't like it. And Buddy did his gate trick so he could get to the bathroom. The other 2 showed up in my room which is not allowed. So I got up and checked the radar. The old beagle thought she had to go out in the middle of the down pour. The cat was not pleased about the dog in the bathroom, where he ate her food. We had .8 inch by 8:30 am. I think it's done now unless it turns around and comes back.

I think I will go sprinkle lettuce seeds in the tomato bed while it's wet.

Dbarron, I love your carnivorous plants!

Some of you near me certainly got rain. It was over Larry when I got up. Sorry Dawn, I don't think it came near you.

I am getting rain now. It was raining slow and easy when I got up, and has not stopped. We have a nice slow rain a couple of days ago, we are fine for water now and have had very little run-off.

Jennifer, I lost 2 or 3 moschata pumpkin plants to vine bores this year, and that may be a problem I am having with my butternut now. I even lost a Seminole to a vine bore. My old timey cornfield pumpkins are looking good, but I have seen a few squash bugs on them. I am so slow that I dont often catch the bug and kill it. If I bend over I need a third leg to make me more sturdy, which is most often a good sturdy hoe.

I need to go to Ft. Smith to sign some papers for my neighbor. I think I will take Madge to the mall, we dont often do something like this, but I think Madge is getting cabin fever.

I am so ready for this Covid thing to be gone. I need to get things repaired, I need to go get parts, I need for the weather to be cool enough to work on some projects.

Jennifer, I am back to whine some more about the heat. I was trying to think positive and believe it couldn't possibly be as bad as yesterday's heat index of 116. Maybe I could wish it away....so here we sit near peak heating and it is 102 degrees with a heat index of 114. What in the world did southcentral OK do to earn these horrible heat index numbers? We aren't even getting the rain, but we're getting the dewpoints that bring everyone else rain, and those dewpoints give us horrible heat index values. On the other hand, since the house is a bit toasty today (not the AC's fault---it is working fine but an air conditioner can only cool a house so much on a hot day), the yeast rolls I'm making for dinner are rising really quickly this afternoon. I just got a fire notification on my phone that isn't about a fire at all---it is about a big herd of cows being out on a highway and Dispatch was asking if any of us know who owns them. I don't know who the owner is, and I can't see where the cows are, but I bet they broke out of their pasture to go search for more shade. Can there be any doubt about that? Or water. Maybe they need more water. Maybe their water is in the sun and is hot.

I hope the first day of school, and those that follow it, go well. Our kids in town went back to school today too. I saw a photo of a teacher meeting from the other day....saw no masking, no social distancing, etc. and just shook my head. It is like they aren't even trying.

Our doctor said his patients who haven't survived it all have had underlying conditions, so I find that somewhat comforting. He also said that people who come to him the minute they suspect they have it fare better in the long run than those who put off seeking treatment.

Our teenaged friend started his senior year today and I ponder where all the years have gone so quickly. His mom seems pretty calm, so I'm thinking the doctor didn't say anything to set her off in a worrying way. She's already lost one child, and that was rough enough. I'd hate to see anything really bad happen with this kid. The tumor, and the fact he kept running on it (he's a cross country runner) means he won't be running for a while---his bone is fractured from the combination of the tumor and running. They won't have MRI results for a while---you know how slow that process can go, and it probably is very slow here in an area with few hospitals, and small hospitals at that, where MRI machines are not common and stay busy. So, as long as she's calm, I'm calm and just praying for her family that they'll get the best possible results back from the tests.

I don't believe this whole Covid-19 thing was launched to get Donald Trump since it is in all countries worldwide, but I think plenty of people have politicized it from various points of the political spectrum and I don't appreciate that from any of them. It would have been great if everyone just could have united and focused on battling the pandemic without involving politics. I know....I'm a dreamer.

Rebecca, I'm thinking that not enough people ate their greens and black eyed peas. We need to eat twice as many next New Year's Eve/New Year's Day and as often after that as we can because it is going to take a lot of luck to get this country back on track.

It looks like your part of the state will be getting some nice, cooler weather next week, if not earlier, that will help get fall plantings off to a good start. Originally they showed us cooling off significantly next week, but they've been backing off from that and raising our forecast highs for next week so I'm worried we won't cool off much down here.

dbarron, I love your tubs of carnivorous plants. They remind me of driving through portions of east Texas where you see large stands of them.

Amy, I'm glad you got rain and it is too bad the dogs get so riled up by it. Jersey, who is 13, always thinks she must go out in the rain and it drives me crazy at night because when she is not out in the rain, she is whimpering and wanting to hide in the closet. How she can hate the thunder but want to go out into the rain just baffles me.

Rain didn't come near us. Same old, same old thing. We really don't have any sort of a good chance for rain for some time. Even if they pop in with a 10% or 20% chance, the rain never finds us. I think they just throw that little chance in there to give people hope.

Larry, I hope y'all had a nice trip to Ft. Smith. Cabin fever is very real! I feel like I fight it every single day.

I hate that SVBs are getting your squash plants. They almost never get my C. moschatas. One year I thought they had because the plants wilted and went all pathetic overnight, but I found no signs of SVBs at all, so think it probably was bacterial wilt.

I'm ready for Covid-10 to be gone too. I want life to return to normal, or whatever normal will be like going forward. I don't think it is gone though. I bet we have another resurgence in the fall/winter if not sooner. At most of the schools in small towns around us for several counties around, even if they've only been at school for a week or so, Covid popped up already and they've had to at least quarantine some classes, if not the whole school. One school had it hit the lunchroom ladies, so they had to close down school as all the lunchroom personnel were quarantined. It is nuts and I find it hard to imagine what it feels like to be the teachers and school administrators stuck in the middle of all this.

We all long for something that feels normal, but 2020 is anything but normal. Doesn't it make everyone wonder what September, October, November and December will bring? What else could happen? Maybe we don't even want to know.

Dawn

I wrote A great post. Where oh where has my post gone.

I dunno, but surely you've learned to compose in a word processor and paste here, right ? :)

Jennifer, I went and read the latest flu surveillance reports for Australia, and their flu rates are at a very low rate this summer...just a flatline compared to their flu cases back in the spring. Since you had mentioned a couple of times that you wondered if measures taken to control the spread of Covid-19 would slow the spread of the flu, I thought I'd mention this here for you. Of course, this is assuming people here keep wearing masks, washing their hands, social distancing and avoiding large crowds.

Kim, I hate when that happens. I have occasionally, though not often, had a post disappear into limbo for a couple of hours and then just pop up here. Usually, though, when they are gone, they're gone.

dbarron, I don't compose in a word processing program either. I just type it directly here. If I lose it, I lose it, but that doesn't happen often.

There really is no gardening news to report. All I do is harvest and water. It is hot and dry, hot and dry, hot and dry. Oh, and supposed to be pretty windy today so the plants will feel like they are being hit by a blast furnace.

I'm about to go out and water the garden shortly. Just a couple more days of babying it and we'll be through the worst of this heat wave, and can look forward next week to highs only in the 90s. The hummingbirds remain incredibly active, and most other insects except for bees, butterflies and moths seem to be hiding from the heat, not that I'm complaining. Ants...we do have ants everywhere, but that it typical of this year. What we're not seeing a lot of? Voles. Usually I see some of them, see their vole runs, etc. and they seen non-existent this year. Maybe the flooding-wet winter was hard on them. With the absence of voles, we're seeing fewer snakes. There still are snakes, but I'm only seeing about 20% of what I usually see at this time of the year, and I'm not complaining about that. I also have to remind myself that with venomous snakes it only takes one so I need to remain careful and cautious.

Maybe I'll cut an armload of zinnias while I am out there this morning, bring them in and fill up a large vase so we can have flowers indoors. I put a new tablecloth on the dining table yesterday and it freaked out the cats. White background with large exotic fruits and leaves on it. They were trying to walk only on the fruit and leaves as if they were islands, avoiding stepping into the white area as if stepping into it would mean they were falling off into the ocean or something. It was as funny as could be and I have no idea why they reacted this way.

August weather always makes me feel like I am a genius, lol, for growing so many heat-loving flowers (zinnias, cosmos, portulaca, salvias of all kinds, celosias, and several varieties of hardy hibiscus) because the flowers just keep blooming in the ridiculous heat. I'm not a genius, but I've learned to plant heat lovers if we want blooms in the summer, and a person doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to learn to do that in our climate. Some of my daylilies have been fooled by the weather fluctuations and the ones that bloom in early to mid-summer which already had stopped blooming several weeks ago now are forming new blooms. The later-season ones just finished blooming so it is too early to see if they will put on some sort of new bloom cycle. None of the varieties I grow are rebloomers but this year they are doing it anyway.

Have a good day everybody.

Dawn

dbarron

i am on an iPhone

Heavy Hitter is branching out very well. Thirty plants gives me much more okra than I need, but no trouble in giving it away.

Jennifer, my Butternut plants are dying also. I have approx 50 butternut fruit from 7 plants, and I am not sure what to do with them now. I have only grown them one time before. I am having trouble with this picture. I may have to post one picture at a time. But in case this picture post, you can see the cantaloupe vines just past the butternut, next will be apptox 40 sweet potato plants, then very tird tomatos, next is heavy hitter okra. It does not look like the picture will post, I will try again.

I am trying on my tablet now, I just can't get things to work. Well it finally showed up on my screen.

This is my wind blown north garden,, this is not the picture I wanted to show,it does not show the damage well, but I am afraid to try to pick another picture, because I would not be able to see it either.

I will try to bore you with more pictures.

We had storm this morning. I had a rough night and took a pain pill about 2 AM, and slept through the storm. I went out to check for damage and took my tablet with me. I did notice damage other than 2 limbs down at the old house. I will cut and burn them when it is cooler.

I checked the wildlife garden while I was out. This is my largest moon and stars melon.

That’s what I was saying.

i am thinking of y’all praying for you during tough times. Larry I can’t imagine how shook up you were. So thankful you were there.

i rad talks posts every day but this phone doesn’t allow me to connect sometimes.

George or anyone Who might have some of the okra from Glen. Mine is literally 4” - 6” tall and putting on blooms. Some even have okra forming. Is this normal?

i have not grown a ton of okra but I haven’t seen this before.

I think it is about ripe.

I planted extra tomatoes in the wildlife garden, no soil worked and almost no care, but they look pretty good.

I have soil ready for fall garden, just as soon as I can ship the deer to Oklahoma.

The deer have pick all the PEPH in the wildlife garden.

My old timey cornfield pumpkins are okay, but all but 2 of the giant sunflowers blew down.

All the stuff in the wildlife garden grew almost wild. The deer did come out at night and tend the garden often, but I only saw one deer one time. My neighbor says he sees them often.

Kim, I have never had okra bloom that short. I think my started blooming too soon. It hurts my back to bend over to pick anything, so I just leave the low pods to go to seed. Some of my okra is over 6' tall now, I try to hold off the feed and water to keep it short, but I have pretty good soil and some of the stuff gets bigger than I want it to anyway. I do not have that problem in the wildlife garden because I have not been working on it very long, but compost and mulch can sure kick a garden into high gear.

I am growing three different okra this year. The Panama okra is isolated at my house to keep the seed true. Then I have a red type and a green type at my daughters. They are growing normal but this one at home is special

Kim, I grew some small okra one time, Little Lucy, I think was the name of it, it stayed small and pretty. I think it was some shade of red. I only grew it one year, it was pretty but too short. I grew it more as a flower.

Dawn, armloads of zinnias sound so nice!

Thanks for the update about the flu in Australia. But really, most churches are online, most stores require masks, there are no large group activities like movies or sporting events. Of course day cares and school for young children is without masks. I can't even begin to imagine teaching a kindergartener how to read in a mask. We ordered the ones with the "window", it quickly gets fogged up and with sweat droplets. Little kids MUST see your mouth when learning phonics and we must be able to see theirs. But, extra precautions are in place. And these extra precautions are stressful. In fact, a coworker posted something around 4 am. Another coworker commented on it and I "liked" it. At work today she said, "why were y'all up at 4 am?" For the same reason you are, Sister! The stress of all of this makes it difficult to sleep. And for my friend who has MS, honestly I'm more worried how all the extra work and stress are affecting her than the stupid virus.

Kids are already behind since March. Maybe that doesn't matter. It is hard to see the regression, though.

It's hard to see the apathy in college students. They're not around professors, teachers, peers, and advisors to keep that excitement and ambition lit. Even my own college kid is considering not returning. And he has an amazing scholarship. It's just so...blah now. All online for most very young adults is not the same as all online for adults with families, etc.

It's depressing and uninspiring.

So, whether there is a "conspiracy" to dumb down our youth or not...it's happening, I'm afraid.

It's hard to be 18 and stay in your house or only with a mask to go to the store....and only "talk" to people on your computer/phone. Yes, that sounds delightful for older people like me....but think back to when you were 18. Would you be happy to stay inside all day and night long? For months? You might say, "yeah...I would love that". But I doubt you would have loved it at 18. I'm a super introvert and am ready to leave any event early, but even I would have had issues with only staying in my room for months at a time.

I just hope everyone can bounce back when that life saving vaccine is finally made and distributed.

Larry, I'm always confused. When you say your plants and garden look bad...but then your pictures show a different thing. Your garden looks amazing. I would be thrilled if my garden looked so good. Your butternut is wonderful and your Moon and Stars melon looks just as it should. Mine does not. You are a great gardener.

Okay. I've rambled on. I'm so annoyed with life now-a-days and how it's screwing up SO much.

On a happy note. HU and I made more bread and butter jalapenos tonight. And started some lettuce, kale and arugula. I'm hoping to plant them out in a month or so.

The fall beans have sprouted and the cucumbers too.

I grew Little Lucy for several years and liked it. It was short, but I'm pretty short too and I had it in raised beds, so picking it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately Little Lucy was one of the thousands of varieties that disappeared in a very short time a few years back when a few big multinational seed companies bought up a ton of little seed companies and dumped all their varieties. I liked mixing Little Lucy in with flowers---no one even realized I had an edible plant growing them with the flowers that surrounded it.

Larry, It looks like you had quite a storm. I'm sorry about the damage, but you know, the deer can eat the plants lying on the ground as well as any left standing. You know how deer are.....big eating machines.

Kim, How old are the okra plants? Are they new plants for fall or spring plants that got stunted and never gained much height? I have had okra bloom at 1-2' in height, but not at only a few inches tall. That seems odd. Maybe the plants are stressed.

It is still hot here. We're hanging on and hoping for relief. I know it surely must have been just as hot or hotter down in Denton today, Kim. The temperature at our house hit 106, the heat index was 113, and the swimming pool water, even in afternoon shade, was a toasty 101 degrees around 6 pm. Tonight on the 10 p.m. news, the local TV met said we'd awaken to 90-100% relative humidity in the morning. That is not what we needed to hear. Since it doesn't cool off much at night, I guess we'll wake up to hot, steamy weather tomorrow morning.

I watered the containers early this morning and that was it. It was too hot and too steamy even to harvest. Maybe on Monday when the weather cools off more, if it does.

Dawn

I enjoyed watering at 5:15 am, while it was still dark and a slight cool breeze wafted around. I look forward to lower temperatures (and I hope for lower humidity).

I mowed the lawn yesterday. I did not get started until the lawn was in the shade, the mountain west of me, along with the trees gives me late evening shade. I mowed till around 9 PM. The mower has lights on it, but they are very low, plus not very bright, but fine for mowing in normal conditions. I quite when I got down to mowing along the electrical cords, air hose, and water hoses. I leave then out all the time when I use them often. The grass conceals them, and I dont want to chance cutting them with the mower.

I have been keeping the grass higher this year trying to choke out the burrs.

I have been trying to do more work at night because it is cooler. I am just not man enough to handle the heat like I use to. Madge does not like me being out at night. She like to be able to sorta keep an eye on me. She does not say a lot about me mowing because she can her the mower running, and it has safety switched on it to cut it off if I fall out of the seat. I have to carry my phone with me so she can call me if I am working out away from the house, which she does often, telling me it is time for bed, meaning she is ready to go to bed, and is uneasy if I am not in the house. I always try to comply with her wishes because she is only thinking of me. I could fall, or have a heart attack just as easy in the house, but still, I want her to be at ease.

My cow peas are through and need to be cut down or pulled, this will give me room to have lettuce and other fall crops close to the house. I plan on planting more in the wildlife garden. I am hoping that some of my growing food will rub off on the kids and grand kids. I expect some will, but not a lot. When I was in my 20's, I had a lot of things I had rather be doing that I thought was more fun than being in the garden.

The deer, or something, have eaten my pumpkins back so many times that I wont have pumpkins by Halloween. I was hoping that the little girls that were helping me plant them would have some pumpkins to sell, but they lost interest very quickly, I think the main thing they were interested in was driving grand pa's utv. The Old Timey Cornfield pumpkin should make some mature pumpkins, they have been planted longer than the Halloween pumpkins. We timed the Halloween pumpkins to mature early to mid Oct. We did not allow deer recovery time. I got a hand full of PEPH peas from the wildlife garden, the deer had picked them pretty clean. I hope to have a better set-up next year. I am hoping to have a lot of hot wires running through and around the area that I want to grow food. I dont think it will be as easy as in the past, I think that the deer will just figure out that all they have to do is jump the wire. When that happened a few years ago, I just ran extra

wires, so they would jump one, only to land on another one. It has also worked well when I string a hot wire along the rows where they will get their head in the wire when they try to eat the produce.

I am so tired of this heat. At this time I cant complain about the lack of water, we have had good rain for the past week, or more.

My neighbor that broke his hip is in the rehab hosp, and I suppose he is doing well, I cant go see him, but he calls when he needs something and I take it and drop it off.. My other neighbor is needing help also, but I am not able to do some of the things he needs done, plus he has a son about 10 miles away that is in much better shape than I am. I hate not to help, but the thing he needed done would have to be done by a younger man anyway.

I had better get up and get some of my projects done, I dont have a Handy Man to help me.

I thought I was on week three when I posted this, maybe I am still asleep.

Actually me too, Larry. I thought I was the first poster on this week's thread. Maybe I was asleep too?

It's been that kind of week--confusion from the heat and covid. Where am I? What thread am I posting on? Which week is it? I'm hopeful for a cool down just like everyone else. Sure would like some rain too.

:D