Looking Up

Reaching for the sun!

Nail Care

I gave Jack 2.0 a mani-pedi the other day.

He settled right down one I got him on his back.

Find The Critter

Can you find the critter in the above picture?!

Focus and don't "hop" around...

A Flowering Plant in the Sunflower Family

Our lone Cosmos flower.

Decided to grow from seed in my raised garlic bed.  Certainly didn't take it long to grow and sprout.  Sticks out in the bed all by itself, eye catching!  The bees love it too, as it's always covered.

1st Tomato Canning Batch, Done!

JoAnne did her first tomato canning batch of the season - (12) quarts and (4) pints!  Much to her chagrin we have enough for another batch; a BIGGER batch too! 

Pool Season Has Come To A Close!

Closed our pool last weekend.  Summer if officially over.  Always a relief when this chore is completed and behind me.

Stingers!

Bees and flying insect, even ants luv our hydrangea paniculata phantom blooms!  They are oodles of blooms on two separate plants and they're always covered with insects

Paper Wasp -

Tree Wasp (maybe?) -

Tachinid fly -

Black-faced Hornet - 

Black-faced Hornet - 

Great Black Wasp (maybe?) -

These are just some of the examples of the visiting critters!

The Coleus

I'm a big fan of Coleus and plant some each year. The come in a wide array of colors and patterns, are super easy to grow and really add a pop, whether in pots and planters or planted straight in the ground.  They're also super easy to root additional plant by taking cuttings from.

Below are the Coleus we planted this year.  The pictures really don't do them justice -

One advantage of planting in pots is the ability to move them.  Very easy to add color to a space by moving a pot, works well.  These have been in various places in our front yard throughout the summer.

I'm Stuffed (Peppers)!

These softball sized California Wonder peppers of ours...

were stuffed and turned into these delicious stuffed peppers -

Several of our larger tomatoes, fresh from the garden were also stuffed -

And, then I was stuffed!!

I'm Not That Inept Rabbit!

Clearly Mr. McGregor was doing it all wrong!

This young lady was foiled by her love for fresh peaches, HAZA!

She's totally blind in her left eye -

That being said not too sure what to do with her.  Having a spare cage, I placed her there for now until I figure what to do.

I can tell you that Jack 2.0, our elderly mini log buck, was intrigued and welcoming, and very much enjoying the added company! 

She's doing fine and enjoying the pampering - fresh water, pellets, peaches, kale, carrots, etc.

Buuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

I noticed the above beehive (literally) of activity when helping my neighbor shuffle some trailers around his garage.  These are Yellow Jackets, rotten good-for-nothing, mean bees, that when riled swarm and attack!  

Good news is, and I can't explain how, but I noticed their comings and goings before anyone got into them or stung.  The bad news is that by the time I noticed them we were already committed and within three or four feet.

We didn't have too many options, as we needed to be in that area to push the larger trailer out, so we continued all the while keeping a eye on the activity.  A couple came too close and we swatted them down and stepped on them.  Bad idea I guess as one bee, and fortunately it was only one, decided stinging me on my face might chase us off, wrong.  Fortunate again that it was me that got stung and not one of the other two I was with, as they're allergic, so no telling what would have happened.

Even though stung and the bees more agitated we continued pushing and got the trailer out and a safe distance away.  Only one stung, 4 or 4 bees killed and our work complete!

Three cans of bee spray have been purchased, so I suspect these SOBees won't be a bother too much longer...

No More Dumping Allowed!

My new property line rock wall is almost complete.  The bigger, heaver rocks have already been moved and placed at the far end.  I don't have too many more bigger rock available, or ones that I want to dedicate to this project anyway.  I do still have plenty of basketball sized stones available and will use those to complete the last 6-8 remaining feet.

I've also edged and transplanted a number of plants too.  All are doing just fine and looking very nice.

My compost piles have also been emptied and relocated to the opposite corner of the property.

One project after another...

Cleaning Up My Act (Yard)

Before -

 After -

Going once?  Going twice? SOLD!

I hemmed and hawed over the last couple years about this old chain link kennel and what to do with it.  We bought it off Craig's List years ago in some town on the north shore like Reading or something silly. I don't believe we paid that much for it and certainly got our money out of it.  

In the past we've used it to house ducks and chickens and even rabbits, however, the latter tunneled  right out in short order.  In recent years it's been used for storage to hold miscellaneous outside items, e.g. tomato cages, metal tomato stakes, old cages and barrels.  All in all it was more of an eye sore than anything else.

So, I pulled the trigger, threw together an ad on letgo and I "let it go"!

Happy "Grub" Hunting!

Our tomato garden is getting tilled by a critter or two most nights these last couple of weeks.  It's a good thing bad thing really.  The bad things is it's an indication of grubs and some critter with a strong smell and sense knows they're there and digging for them.  The good news is the critter is getting to them and eating them (I hope).  So long as they stay digging in the garden I'm good with their efforts, however, it's when they move to the lawn that I take issue.  Again, the good things is they're eating the little buggers (pun intended) but not really at the expense of the damage they can do to a lawn...

Here are a couple examples of their handy work -

OH LOOK!  Look who likes freshly fallen peaches that just so happen to be tied to the paddle of the trap that you ventured into!  What a mess too.  Looks like a youngster and he gave 110% effort trying to get outta that trap.  The inside bottom of the trap was full of dirt, so much so that it was difficult to pick up -

I gave him the whatfor with strict instructions of what's acceptable and what is not if he wanted to continue dining in our yard, then flipped the trap locks and set him on his way...which as I suspected, was right under the neighbors shed -

Dahlia Blooming Time

Our first dahlias of the summer.

I planted five bulbs and unfortunately only three grew and of those only two are producing flowers.  The third plant is smaller, kinda stunted but otherwise looks fine.  Admittedly, they're not planted in the best location, not enough sun.  However, I really planted them where I had space.  Hoping for a great BIG snow storm this winter that will take out and down the darn boxelders trees, of my neighbors, that border the property.  They're so big now, they steal most of the afternoon sun on the backyard.  The pool is suffering, as are the raspberries.

Hoping more dahlias to come.

"A Popular Late-Season Variety With Tenderness And Flavor Worth Waiting For"...

I planted a package of Silver Queen corn back in early June.  Planted in two batches of 40 seeds, 2-weeks apart to spread the harvest. They've done surprisingly well, with the plants over 8 feet tall and with oodles of ears.

I'll be picking some today and will post some updated pics of what the eats look like - can't wait!

The added bonus to the delicious ears, is that we'll have plenty of fall Halloween and Thanksgiving corn stalk decorations for the front of the house.

DAM!  You are NOT gonna find better looking and tasting corn anywhere - full ears, kernels from top to bottom and not a single sign of pests (we don't use any chemicals in our gardens, NONE)!