Ka-ka-ka-BOOM!

A couple of weeks ago, in and amonst the days of unbearable heat and humidity, we had a thunder storm. And, during that thunder storm, I heard the loudest, and  most earth-shattering clap of thunder I have ever heard. (But, apparently, I am the only one who heard it because no one else who lives even remotely close seems to recall the loudness.) The entire house shook! Really. (Why is there never anyone around when I need confirmation?)


Even though no one else was around to experience this, I do have proof that it was earth-shattering, or, at the very least, glass-shattering.


I'll have to do a little re-creating here, but bear with me. I had a glass with an asparagus plant sitting on a ledge in the enclosed porch area. It looked something like this:

The glass is fairly sturdy, and the ledge is not very high. 


The next day, (the storm was at night, and it was dark outside), this is what I found:

 This was the biggest piece. It's not a great photo, but you can kinda see how the glass shattered inside itself.

In my re-creation, I really wanted to knock the glass onto the floor, just to see what would happen, but I didn't want to risk losing another glass. They have broken before, but never shattered quite like this!

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One little, two little, three little kitties...

For some reason, this house has become a magnet for stray cats. We don't live in the country, or near a farm. We live in town. 

Last year, our first stray appeared. 




I love cats, and would much rather have a cat than a dog. Hubby believes that all animals belong outside, so I try not to get attached to animals because I know they will not become inside pets.




But, guess who is the first one to start feeding the strays. Yep. Hubby. 


I just called it, "Kitty" (see how creative I am?), but Amazing Daughter decided it needed a much better name. So, she came up with "Sal". We agreed that Sal was a good name, because it would work for a male or female. 


Sal came around every morning, for several months. But, then winter came, and she stopped coming around. I decided that Sal was a "she" with no confirmation. 

This summer, a new stray appeared. A black and white, which was promptly named, Sachajahwea. I don't know if that's the proper spelling, but I'm too lazy to look it up, so we'll just say that it is. We later shortened her name to Sahshe. I have also determined her to be a girl, without confirmation. Shashe has a little limp, but she never lets me get closer than 10 feet

Soon, Shashe started bringing a friend. Her friend is all black, except for a tiny white patch on his neck. Yes, I have determined that he is a he without any confirmation. He is very spooky looking, so we call him "Spooky-Dude" with a hat tip to Glenn Beck's nickname for George Soros.

Spooky-Dude is even more skittish than Shashe. One step toward him, and he has high-tailed it down into the woods.

Now, it's really saying something to say that he "high-tails" anywhere, because, he has no tail.

 

Spooky-Dude lived up to his name. Either that, or I was going crazy. Spooky-Dude would appear, tail-less. Only a little stub. But, then, another time, he had half of a tail. This little stunt of his was not good for my self-esteem. I already feel like I'm on the fast track to "Forgetful-ville", not to mention, "Crazyland."  I would ask Hubby and Amazing Daughter, "Didn't Spooky-Dude have half of a tail the last time? Now, all he has is a stub." Being the wonderful people that they are, they did nothing - NOTHING - to calm my fears of becoming Crazy Woman. 


"What are you talking about?" they said, mockingly. 


"I'm SURE he had more of a tail the last time." 


This scenerio continued for several weeks. Was I going crazy? I feared I was.


But, then, one morning, the answer to my fears appeared.

(The photo isn't that good because I had to take it through the screened window - I didn't want to risk them running away before I had proof!!)

What are the odds???? Two black cats with the same white spot, and no tails?? Boy, did I breathe a sigh of relief when I saw them both together!
For the record, Spooky-Dude is in the front, with a two-inch "tail", and Spooky-Stub is in the back.


We also had another black and white animal appear, but it wasn't a cat. I had opened the garage door, intending to feed the misfit strays, but got distracted. 
A few minutes later when I returned to feed the critters, Hubby accidently hit the panic button for the car, and the horn started blaring. Out of the garage ran a skunk!!!! Whew! Was that ever a close call!!!

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I'm hot!

Is it hot enough for ya? It's been plenty hot for me. I've been getting up early to do some yard work, hoping to beat the heat. It hasn't been much cooler in the morning. Now, I'm gonna make some suntea - it should only take about 30 seconds - then hunker down in an air conditioned room.


Here is a much shorter video than the one I posted the other day. Hope you enjoy it.



Or, maybe you would prefer this one!




Stay cool!

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We're off to see the Wizard

How much do you know about our money system?  Do you even care how it works? Who is in charge of printing our money? Is it possible to print off enough money to pay off our national debt?  Who was the only President in U.S. history to pay off the national debt, and how did he do it?
Should we go back to the gold standard? Why in the world did President Obama give so much of our tax-payer money to bail out the banks have been deemed "too big to fail"?  Should we let them fail, and why? Where did we get the term "greenbacks"? Who was William Jennings Bryan and would we have been better off if he had been elected instead of William McKinley? Can the problem of poverty ever be solved?  What does North Dakota and Iceland have in common? Which king of England allowed the people to pay off debts using sticks? Yes, I said sticks. And, what in the world does "The Wizard of Oz" have to do with any of this?


I just watched this full length film which I received as an email.  It is fascinating and interesting. I strongly believe that every American should see this. Not only every American, but every person. (If I say "world-wide" will you think I'm crazy?) 


It will take up almost two hours of your time. But, I am pretty sure you will be amazed if you take the time to watch it. I hope you do.

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I'm thinking, I'm thinking...

I've been told that it's so important to have a good first sentence. I'm trying really hard to think up something great. But, nothing is coming to my poor, tired brain.


I've been having some "Sweetie Pie time" aka "granddaughter time" the past two weeks, so I've been somewhat distracted and have not done much blogging. I'm still recovering from the whirlwind we call "Sweetie Pie". As you may be able to imagine, my house was in total disarray after two weeks. Monday I worked my tail to the bone, cleaning the inside of the house. The car received its semi-annual washing in the morning, which would explain the rain in the evening. 


Tomorrow I have to start working on the outside. The vegetable garden is going crazy with weeds, and the other garden areas need some attention as well. Hopefully, the big rain storm that just blew through will be taking some of the heat and humidity with it, and I won't melt while working in the garden. 


I thought I would share some photos of my garden. This is how my garden looked a month ago. My garden does not look like this now. 

This is how my garden looks today. Some things are growing and some are dying off, like the onions and garlic. (It's ok. They are supposed to.) However, do you see that big, tall patch of stuff? I've been told that it's artichokes. (But, I'm not totally convinced.) It just gets taller and taller with no artichokes in sight. (My Brussels Sprouts seem to be pulling the same stunt. The stuff grows beautifully, but no sprouts.) I suppose I could take the time to "google" it, but then I would get distracted, and never make it back to finish my blog. 

Here's another view (before) of potatoes, beans, beets, and tomatoes interspersed through out. My SIL gave me a flat of 56 tomato plants. I've got tomatoes EVERYWHERE!

Today - Looks like a lotta work!

Tomaotes on the steps

My sproutless Brussels

Dying tomatoes on the left, lettuce patch on the right

Artichoke Imposter

And now, here's a little walk through the flowers. I don't have any tulips, but you might still have to tip-toe. (heehee - I crack myself up sometimes.)

Mr. Frog just makes me smile.

A month ago

Today - see what I mean about tip-toeing?

 

Blazing Star

There are about seven more trees that look similar to this one -
all needing attention (sigh) 

Day Lilies

Daisies

Purple Cone Flower

Queen Anne's Lace

Ground Sedum - (If you know the actual name for this, please let me know!)

Yarrow

Hosta

Giant Hosta

As you can see, I have a lot of work to do. If you don't hear from me for a while, send out the search team. I might be lost in the weeds!

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My avocado

I love avocados. I love guacamole. But, it's very disappointing that avocados can be a bit expensive. I don't get to eat them as much as I'd like, which would be everyday, if I could.

So, I came up with a perfectly logical solution. I decided to grow my own avocado tree. From a seed that came out of a previously eaten avocado. 

I didn't let the fact that I live in Ohio (long, cold winters, snow, ice) deter me.

Last year, I took my little seed, stuck some toothpicks in it, and stuck it in some water. These are all very techinical terms, so try to follow, okay? I also stuck a piece of charcoal in the water, to sweeten it up. Apparently, they like sweet water. Can't blame them.

Then, I waited. And watched. And waited. At first, nothing happened. But, then I noticed that the seed was spliting. And, if you look very closely, in the center, something is growing. Oh happy day!

The roots were growing, too.

As it grew stem and leaves,Hubby kept telling me, "You'd better get it in some dirt." I kept saying, "I think it's ok in the water."  (But, I did a little research on the internet, just in case. Turns out, he was right. Again.)


I found a big pot, filled it with potting soil, and plopped (new term) it in its new home. I think it liked being in soil, because it continued growing very nicely.

But, now the next step makes me very nervous. When the plant gets to about 12 inches tall, I'm supposed to pinch off the top, down to about six or eight inches.


As you can see, my plant is now at 12 inches.

Now, if you look closely at the next photo, you will see that at six to eight inches, there are no leaves! I would only have a stem! This is the very worst part of gardening! I hate HATE to thin out and pinch off! I don't know if I can do it! What if the leaves don't grow back! But, the purpose of pinching off is so that the base will grow rounder. I know it needs to be done, but, but, arrrrggggggg - I can't do it! 

I'll get Hubby to do the dirty work. Then, if it dies, I can blame him. It goes without saying that if it flourishes, it will  be due to my fantastic gardening skills!

So, I mentioned to Hubby that the avocado needed trimmed. Maybe "decapitated" is a better term. He simply said, "Get me the scissors, and show me where to cut." I was hyperventalating as the deed was done!

 Only one snip was needed! Oh boy. Look at my new avocado plant.

 I decided to try to sprout roots off the top, (just in case), but they just got droopier and droopier.

Now, I have to wait and see if I've  Hubby has killed my plant, or if it will live.
If it lives,I only have to wait about six more years to see if I get an avocado out of it! I will keep you posted on the progress.

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