“Field Maple” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Gold Leaves” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Grass and Clover” – Paul Militaru Photography
“In Depth Study of Mushrooms” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Spine and Leaves” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Thistles” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Two Shades of Rusty” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Warm Colors at the End of the Fall” – Paul Militaru Photography
“What’s Left – Thorns” – Paul Militaru Photography
“A Place of Meditation” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Fog in the Mountains” – Paul Militaru Photography
“In the Mountains Relax and Rest” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Lights and Shadows” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Path” – Paul Militaru Photography
Hannah Kirk via Morning Coffee With Abba Ltd
We took Amber, our 93 pound lab ‘puppy’ with us in the truck as we did our errands yesterday.
Amber
She goes nuts when she hears the words, ‘go,’ or ‘car’, so she followed us out and jumped up into the back seat of the truck as soon as we opened the door for her. She doesn’t care where we’re going, she just wants to go with us.
We were almost home when FOUR does ran across the road in front of the truck. Three went across in a small parade and then one was hesitant. She followed soon after. We’ve passed deer beside the road before, but Amber didn’t notice them because they didn’t move. This time she got all excited, wanting to go out and play with them. She didn’t bark to scare them.
The deer got safely across the road and we continued on to our driveway, feeling lucky to have shared such a beautiful sight!
Filed under Amazing Animals, Mother Nature
“Autumn Sonnet” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” ~ Stanley Horowitz
“Leaves Dried Between Lights and Shadows” – Paul Militaru Photography
“The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” ~ Henry Beston
“November” – Paul Militaru Photography
“No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds – November!” – Thomas Hood
“Red and Rusty” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Fiery colors begin their yearly conquest of the hills, propelled by the autumn winds. Fall is the artist.” ~ Takayuki Ikkaku
“Red Branches” – Paul Militaru Photography
“A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least, but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.” ~ Hal Borland
“Red Leaves 1” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower” ~ Albert Camus
“Rusty Leaves” – Paul Militaru Photography
“For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.” ~Edwin Way Teale
Filed under Favorite Quotes, Mother Nature, Paul Militaru Photography, Seasons
It’s a good thing that I took pics of the remaining flowers and shared them with you because we had a cold snap last night and all is gone now. These were the black elephant ear and impatiens.
Not sure yet about the roses. We may have Indian Summer here and may still get some blooms, but the impatiens are definitely gone.
The tomato plants are also gone.
I lucked out, mostly, in the greenhouse. I lost all the tomato sucker plants, but the lettuce and celery plants are still with us. My husband agreed that we could bring whatever was still alive in the greenhouse inside. I set up a card table in the dining area and used the wheelbarrow to bring all the plants in. I cleaned up the greenhouse and it will be quiet out there until I start thinking about starting seeds and plants out there to hopefully get a jump on my spring square foot garden.
Our weather forecast is for cold waves and lower temperatures, some down near, or to, freezing starting Friday, so I went around the yard taking pics of what will probably be our last blooms of the season. I’m sad because the rose buds I took pics of yesterday may not have time to bloom.
I love impatiens, and they really seem to like it on the north side of our house. I’m especially pleased that they like sun, too, so we can plant them in several places around the yard.
My friend, Kay, gave me this black elephant ear plant for my birthday this year. I just love it, and it seems to like it beside the front door. It’s also a bit protected from the wind we get up here on top of our ridge line.
I made my husband come outside to see his clematis. He thought they were finished for the year several weeks ago. He was really happy to see this!
A last bloom on a second clematis plant.
Wave petunias
And more wave petunias. By Friday or so, all of these will probably be gone. We sure enjoyed the nice display.
Filed under Favorite Things, Gardening, Mother Nature
Today when I went out to the greenhouse, I got everything watered and then concentrated on cleaning things up a bit. One thing led to another and the time flew. I spent over an hour puttering around.
It’s amazing how much there is to do out there! The 6mm black stuff we spread on the floor is deteriorating quickly because of sun and water. I’ve been moving old welcome mats out there to cover up the tears as much as possible to prevent me inadvertently catching a toe and tearing it more. There was a bunch of SAND in there, though. How does that happen? Anyway I swept up a BUNCH of ‘stuff’ from the floor and spread out the mats again. I neatened up the supplies and then brought a large trash can full of trash to the garage. I took the 2-gallon spray container of EIGHT out to spray ants INSIDE my greenhouse. I hosed them down well, and then hit other areas between the greenhouse and the house on the way back.
I’ve had to get rid of tomato suckers that didn’t make it, but a surprising number are still alive! I have four celery plants that seem to be doing well, and the iceberg head lettuce is looking good. I haven’t started harvesting yet, but will soon.
We supposed to get rain tonight and all day tomorrow with cooler temperatures, so I wanted to get the greenhouse in reasonable shape before we get it. The way the wind is blowing, with dark clouds above, we may get it before this evening.
I hope you’re getting to enjoy the weather, too.
Filed under Gardening, greenhouse, Mother Nature, Starting - Growing in a Greenhouse
Philly Voice
The above picture is a gross exaggeration of our situation in Arkansas this morning, but I found it, loved it, and wanted to share it. :0)
We’ve gone from having to wear a sweat band while working outside to having to wear a light jacket or sweatshirt outside in the space of a day or two. I have to tell you, I’ve been more than ready and am embracing the change. It DOES take a bit of switching of gears, though, and I’ll start that today.
I’ve been running the exhaust fan and a second fan in my greenhouse, plus propping the door open to keep the plants I’ve started from boiling in their pots. I haven’t been out there to check on things this morning, but, depending on what the thermometer in there says, I’ll probably shut off the second fan and shut the door. I’ll also accelerate trying to find tomato suckers to plant – if it’ll stop raining long enough. I want to start a BUNCH, since I’m new to this and tend to make lots of mistakes.
We haven’t started our get-ready-for-winter list around here, since we were sweating and using the a/c only a couple of days ago, so I’ll watch for forecasts and decide if we need to accelerate THAT, as well.
My spirits are soaring. I get a lot more energetic when the weather is cool. I’m raring to go!
Filed under Arkansas, Greenwood, Mother Nature
Pexels
We had a challenging, but good day yesterday.
Our driveway detector was our alarm clock yesterday morning, telling us we were not alone. We had signed up for a CenturyLink/DirecTV bundle the day before, and it was the DirecTV installation guy. Soon after he left, the CenturyLink guy came and installed a new router/modem. We spent the rest of the day hooking up our stuff to the router/modem and then trying to figure out how to get the DirecTV system going and customized to us.
Just after we finished the preliminary basics for DirecTV we had a brief, but pretty fierce storm. The sky had gone night black and the winds picked up really suddenly, making our tree tops dance energetically. We had a heavy rain, and then the sky lightened and we saw a really beautiful rainbow! I didn’t get a picture of it, but I called my husband to come see so he wouldn’t miss it. It was one of the prettiest I’ve seen.
Today we’ll spend doing two things primarily: Brunch Bunch and then calling or getting online to cancel all the stuff we don’t need anymore because of the new bundle. We’ll be getting faster Internet at half the price we’ve been paying, and the price will stay the same until we cancel. I was really missing not being able to record TV that was not on our over-the-air channels, so I’m happy that we can now record anything on the channels we get, and several at once. The price for the TV package we’re getting is half as much as we paid DirecTV when we had them before. Hooray!
Life is filled with good things – being able to take advantage of good deals, and being treated to a gorgeous sight by Mother Nature!
Filed under Changes, Good Thoughts, Mother Nature
“Flowers” – Paul Militaru Photography
“In Bloom” – Paul Militaru Photography
“Purple” – Paul Militaru Photography
Filed under Mother Nature, Paul Militaru Photography
pinterest.com
Things are getting a bit soggy out here and we’re loving it. We don’t have to worry about one of the bad things that can happen to people – flooding – because we’re on top of a ridge line. Happily, too, the rain is JUST rain – not severe weather – just beautiful, soaking rain we really need.
My husband is a bit teed off, though. The lack of rain was bringing out his favorite kind of grass – “brown and crunchy,” and the grass will revive now and shoot up when the sun comes out tomorrow, as will the weeds I’ve been trying to get out of the flower planters.
When things have had a chance to dry out tomorrow, I’ll go out in my new “armor.” – jeans, long socks, my husband’s long-sleeved shirt, and a hat – trying NOT to get stung again by whatever red wasps are around. I’ll spray the bug killer first. The swelling from the recent sting is mostly gone now. Only a bit of itchiness remains. The bruise on the back of my hand – obtained when I threw my hands out, bashing one against a palette of bricks trying to get the wasp off, is now just a conversation starter with people who haven’t seen it at its finest – really black and swollen.
Living outside the city limits is wonderful for so many reasons. We’re close enough to town that we can ride in and get things several times a day, if needed, but far enough away – and up on top of the ridge line – so we have privacy. We aren’t in a ‘neighborhood’ where the tallness of the grass is an issue. We had room up here to build the shop my husband and I love so much. We had room to put up his ham radio tower. And room to build my greenhouse. We can pretend we own all we can see as we look out from our back yard, watching the seasons change amid the ridge lines. (We can see two others.) I could go on and on.
One of the bad things is that it’s not as civilized as it would be if we were living in town. We pay for a company to come quarterly and spray for everything – including stray elephants – inside and out. They came about a month ago when I was stung by a scorpion in our bed. I was freaked out for a long time about that. We HAVE scorpions, and other critters I don’t like around here, but usually they stay outside. You have to pay attention, though, and you can’t walk around barefooted without tempting the fates. Most of the critters around here don’t leap at you, so I can handle that.
Last night we were getting ready for bed. I was washing my face when a scorpion walked up out of the sink drain into my sink! I screeched for my husband to come with the forceps we keep around for such things. He took it and flushed it. I was still freaked, though, so went back downstairs for a while. Today I’ll clean upstairs and then bring the bug spray and spray all around our room, the guest room, the art room, the hallway, and the two bathrooms. Then I’ll be able to fully relax again. The company is scheduled to come quarterly. That’s expensive enough without having to call them in-between.
Today will be a nice ‘inside day’ – as we used to call it when I taught elementary school. If I get antsy, I’ll go outside and play in the glorious rain!
Filed under Mother Nature
tailandfur.com
We finally enjoyed a beautiful rain this morning!
It was overcast when we awoke, and the sky continued to darken as we ate breakfast. By the time we were in the office, it was like night! Of COURSE the doggies wanted to go out. As we did that, we decided that maybe we ought to pay attention and close the garage door for what was coming. It was MUCH cooler, so we opened the front and back doors and went out on the porch to welcome the storm.
We ended up with the doggies out there with us, watching the clouds move past us from west to east, erasing the one band of lighter sky as we watched. Then wave after wave of hard rain followed. It was coming straight down, so we didn’t get wet. Amber played with my husband, trying to drop a really heavy toy on his socked toes in his sandals, then switching to a basketball, then back to the heavy toy over and over. Every once in a while, if lightning flashed or thunder rolled, she would look out the screen, wag her tail, and then continue the joy of her play.
We sat out there about 15 minutes or so. It was WONDERFUL. The weather people say that it should clear sometime this afternoon and then we could get more this evening. HOOORAAAAAAY!
Filed under Mother Nature
I walked around the yard this morning, taking pictures of what is surviving in our awful heat here in Arkansas. We usually have weather like this in AUGUST – not from May through now – in un-ending record heat. Even with daily irrigation some of the plants are simply giving up. The trees are shedding their leaves in an effort to sustain life. As I look at these, I see all the weeds and pruning that are needed – when “I” can survive long enough to work longer outside….
Wave Petunias
“When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.” – Georgia O’Keeffe
Wisteria
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” – Gerard De Nerval
Phlox
Phlox and Elephant Ear
“Earth is a flower and it’s pollinating.” – Neil Young
Lily
“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.” ~Chinese Proverb
Mandevilla
“Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.” ~The Koran
Hydrangea
Impatiens
“Just imagine becoming the way you used to be as a very young child, before you understood the meaning of any word, before opinions took over your mind. The real you is loving, joyful, and free. The real you is just like a flower, just like the wind, just like the ocean, just like the sun.” – Miguel Angel Ruiz
Salvia
“Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.” ~Lydia M. Child
Rio Samba Roses
“Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.” ~Jim Carrey
Filed under Favorite Quotes, Gardening, Mother Nature
Kathleen Helsel – quotesgram.com
Actual temperature here is 106. Heat index says 111. I say, “UGH.”
Filed under Mother Nature
Our actual temperature is forecast for 102 this afternoon. (Heat index will be “105-110+”. ) In the southwest, the denizens say things like, “But it’s a DRY heat” – as if you don’t fry in that. In Arkansas, right now it’s NOT a dry heat, and it’s pretty awful. Even with our irrigation system, flowers and the remaining tomato plants are just barely hanging on.
I cleaned out my square foot garden last week, and am now spraying weed killer on the floor of the garden under the chest-high raised wooden boxes of our garden, as well as around the perimeter of the garden, around the trash cans of the components of Mel’s Mix (the alternative to native soil), etc.
I’m getting good exercise from weed whacking and cleaning up our concrete areas with a leaf blower, toting a 2 gallon container of weed or bug spray, and trying to weed my flower planters without croaking in the heat.
I’ve given up trying to work outside ‘in the morning’ or ‘in the evening’ like sane people do. Something seems to always come up, making it impossible, so I divide my day into
I used to be like the picture above, loving to bake in the heat of the summer, preferably beside a swimming pool, but not a necessary thing. Now I barely step outside and I’m wet from head to toe and avoiding the heat as much as I’m able. I love working in my garden and with my flowers, but NOT when I’m frying like an egg.
“What a man needs in gardening is a cast-iron back, with a hinge in it. ” ~ Charles Dudley Warner
my-little-poppies.com
I waited, hoping for a chance to go out and celebrate some much-needed rain. I finally gave up, read awhile, got sleepy and took a nap in my chair. When I joined my husband in our office later, the window was wet! My husband said, “You missed a nice rain.” :0(
In the evening, when we went bowling with friends, they were envious because they didn’t get any rain at all, and live only on the other side of town from us. It was so humid last night it was like wading in pea soup. The bowling alley was nice and cool with a/c and fans. We walked outside to be enveloped by a blanket of suffocating air again. We were wet by the time we arrived at our truck. Thankfully, we either celebrate or console our bowling efforts with a scoop of Braum’s ice cream afterwards. I got the best flavor: chocolate, of course – (my Nutrisystem FLEX snack for the week!)
Filed under DIET!, Friendship, Mother Nature, quality of life
99.9 KTCS via Cindy Basnett Thurman
(We are in Greenwood, just SE of Fort Smith)
Filed under Funny Signs - Humor, Mother Nature
Patsy Saudeda – quotesgram.com
The heat index is 105 degrees right now. Not fit for man nor beast.
Thankfully, my husband mowed the yard last night right before dark, so the Lewises are lookin’ pretty good (for the Lewises). One of the many reasons we don’t live in the city limits is that we didn’t care for trimming our lawn to a required height and in the proper frequency, agonizing over brown spots, moles, voles, or other ‘ole’s, etc. We usually mow once a week, weather permitting, and my husband is delighted when we get to the stage in the summer where we aren’t getting any rain to keep the grass growing before our eyes. “Brown and crunchy’ is his favorite grass.
I never got back outside yesterday after gathering tomatoes and getting into the hostile ant pile. My ankle is FINALLY only a bit puffy today. The swelling is such that you can actually SEE the bites/stings rather than my ankle being one pink puffy area all the way around. I’m planning to try to get the garden cleared tonight, but I’ll mix up more EIGHT to spray all the plants, all the raised bed planters, and the ground around them before I try to start clearing things out right before dark this evening.
I’m going to pull out all the plants, including the onions. I’ll put the onions on a screen we have on the side of a trailer so that they can start drying. They’ll need to do that for several days and then I can store them in mesh bags in the pantry. I’m hoping we got a good crop this year. Last year we had home-grown sweet onions throughout the winter and into the start of April!
If you’re having similar weather, don’t forget to take frequent breaks and drink lots and lots of water.
Filed under Arkansas, Gardening, Greenwood, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
These aren’t perfect, but they’re delicious! I harvested one small one the other day, got two of these last night, and two more just a few minutes ago. I can’t wait to slice one up and bite it!
One of our tomato planters isn’t doing well. The plants have blossom end rot. Though I’ve treated them with bone meal and Blossom End Rot spray, I’m not sure I can solve the problem. The nook planter in the spot behind our house and next to our screened porch is doing much better. We have lots of green tomatoes that I’m hoping will ripen.
This has been a hard year for gardens here in Arkansas. I was comparing notes with my friend, ‘gardening expert’ Kay, at Breakfast Bunch this morning. She says her garden is basically a bust this year, too. We had a cool, wet spring followed abruptly by August temperatures and strong sun starting in May. This has pretty much done everything in. I still have some cantaloupe plants that are healthy with lots of blossoms, but no actual melons yet. I also have onions, and I may start to harvest them soon. Other than that, a few radishes and the one good planter of tomatoes.
I may just cut my losses and clean most everything up soon.
We continued the clean up after the dismantling of the hummingbird bird bath when we got home today. The good hose is now on the holder. The ratty hose is in the burn barrel. The potting soil is in the large, low, round planter and saucer, ready for me to get out there and plant the Impatiens we found at Wal-Mart. They’re a little bit worse for wear, but then, so are we! :0) I’ll take pics when they’re planted.
I don’t plan to do a lot more outside today unless things cool off a lot. I’m still stiff and sore from cutting down and hauling tree parts yesterday.
The ‘inside list’ is off the page, so I’ll tackle it this afternoon.
Have a great day!
newhairstylesformen2014.com
My husband and I are insane. It’s 92 degrees, strong sun, heat index of 101 so far. And what have we been doing? Mowing and weed whacking! I KNOW!
I did take a sweatband and hat to my husband as he rolled by on the mower. (He said he had leveled the new blades and wanted to see how he did). Since he was mowing, I felt I HAD to be doing something to help, so I got out the weed whacker and the bug spray.
I handled a couple of new ant hills. We have these little tiny black fire ants this year for the first time. They’re ferocious, mean-tempered, and don’t want to share even if it IS supposedly your land, planter, or garden. I found out the hard way that I seem to be allergic to them. I don’t do anything really dramatic, but I DO blow up like a toad and the bites take forever to go down, quit hurting and itching, and finally go away. I hosed them down, smiling as chaos ensued in the ant hill. :0)
I weed whacked all around the front, all around the back, and MOST of the side before pooping out. I changed the battery on the wireless weed whacker without help, PLUS was able to pull out another length of the cord when needed, also by myself. :0)
Now we’re wringing wet, pooped, and drinking water like mad, getting ready to take a break for lunch.
I’m not sure if I’ll do another session today or not, but I feel that we made good progress today on something that is NEVER completely done.
Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank
The heat index today is 103, and might get to 105. The only thing that really bothers me – having the luxury of staying inside in the a/c when the weather is this hot – is that this is happening in JUNE, not mid-July or August, when it usually does. Makes me really wonder what it’ll be in our usual HOT months.
We have already switched to summer mode around here, where we’re inside during the day, if possible, and then dash out at about 7 pm and do as much in the yard as we can, leaving more for the next evening.
Last night I weed-whacked the front yard while my husband mowed in the back. He ordered new blades for the mower, and they came today. He put them on in the shop this afternoon, after having the a/c on out there for about an hour, then came back in to cool off. I’m not sure if he’ll mow the front yard tonight, but I’m going to see if I can finish the basic weed whacking. Amber doesn’t care that the water in her kiddie pool is yucky after the storms, but I do! I’m going to see if I can get that cleaned out and refilled, too.
As we age, my husband and I have noticed that we’re ‘comfortable’ in a MUCH narrower range of temperatures. I used to love to sunbathe when I was a teenager. I really loved the heat, baking until I could throw myself into a pool, then baking again. I would have loved to live near the beach, so I could play with some sandpipers a bit, too. Now I walk from the house to the car in the garage and I’m already too hot. I can work outside now only if I wear a sweatband. I quietly picture myself as looking if I’m on a tennis court, dressed and ready for the first volley, even though I KNOW I’m an actually an old broad trying to last an hour while weed-whacking. Last night I came in, practically gasping for breath after working an hour, going straight for a bottle of water and a towel. I saw myself in a mirror and laughed aloud when I saw what I looked like. I looked a bit more human after a nice shower and clean clothes :0). I think our range of ‘comfortable’ temperatures now is about 20 degrees before we’re too hot or too cold.
I’ve told you we live on top of a ridge line in Greenwood, Arkansas. When we found our land and built our home over 30 years ago, we had the construction people use dynamite to blow up the back yard while they were already blasting for our septic system, etc. We (mainly me) dreamed of having a swimming pool. My husband wanted one with a diving board. I taught swimming each summer from the time I was 14 until after I was in college. I dreamed of being able to dump myself in our pool just before bed at night, swimming my heart out until I was relaxed and exhausted. We ran out of money before we could build the pool, so it remained only a dream. Now – if I win the lottery, or the Publisher’s Clearing House, I would still like to build a pool in the back yard, along with a really great-looking young pool boy to keep it perfect at all times…
In the meantime, I’ll delight in working in my garden and my flower planters in the hour before dark, trying to figure out the best way to use my new greenhouse to best effect. (It’s over 120 degrees in there now, even with the exhaust fan going.)
Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds
I got up this morning planning to spend much of the day outside working in the yard in short sessions, getting a bunch of good stuff done. Have I done that? NOOOOOOO!
The heat index at 8 a.m. was already 101, deflating my energy and plans like a popped balloon.
We went to town, taking Amber in the back seat of the truck. She was in Heaven – her head out the windows, going from one side of the truck to the other, her lips blowing in the wind. My husband and I got the mail and then mailed a book we sold and headed for home.
By the time we got our stuff out of the truck and had given Amber a chance to take care of business, we were sweating heavily, even in the ‘shade’ of the garage.
We’re still planning to work in the yard today, but will wait until 7:30 or 8:00 this evening. My husband will mow and I’ll weed whack. If we don’t finish before it gets too dark to see, we’ll quit and do more tomorrow.
No intelligent person (particularly geezers, such as we) are out in this heat unless they have no choice.
Filed under Mother Nature
otthrive.com
This morning about 1:30 a.m. we had flickering power and a new thunderstorm. I stayed awake long enough to make a trip to the bathroom and then turn on our fan again before sleeping through the rest of it.
It was raining (still – again?) when we got up and had breakfast. Both doggies have been out and are back in – TWICE – both wet and happy from playing out in it. The cats are staying firmly in their cube beds on top of the woodpile in the garage, shaking their paws at even the THOUGHT of getting wet. The fish in the aquarium are unimpressed and bewildered by all the hubbub.
We usually shop for groceries on Sunday mornings, but we’ll hold off, not wanting our groceries to get any more wet than necessary. I’ve been on the front and back porches, though, a couple of times, enjoying the cool and the wet, the rumbling of the thunder, the blowing of branches, and the glorious smell of the rain.
Once this is over, we’re back into the oven that is Arkansas this year, so I’m soaking up all I can get.
Ahhhhhhhh!
Filed under Arkansas, Greenwood, Mother Nature
historythatsfake.blogspot.com
The weather alert thingie in our bedroom woke me up early this morning – about 2:45 a.m. – flashing red. I got up to see what it was warning us about. A severe thunderstorm. That started about 3 a m. There was an impressive amount of thunder and lightning, along with a good amount of rain – just perfect for feeling grateful we had a roof over our head, a strong house, and good windows – and then turning over and happily going back to sleep.
It was still raining, or raining again – though without all the fanfare, when we got up for breakfast. The dogs didn’t seem to mind going out to take care of business, but they were barking at the door only moments later. The wind was whipping trees around, so I closed the garage door for at least the morning.
We’re due for severe weather – rain, gusty winds, hail, possible tornadoes, possible flooding, and flying hair balls – this afternoon and evening, so the whole day will be interesting.
Both doggies have been out again and are happily playing. The cats are curled up in their ‘cube’ beds on top of the woodpile in the garage. The fish are happily swimming in their still-clean water. The people are happy they don’t have to go do a bunch of errands today. We might drive down quickly and get the mail at the bottom of the driveway, but today will be a nice inside day for us.
Hold onto your hats if you’re in our area today. If you aren’t, I hope you’re enjoying the weather where you are.
Filed under Mother Nature
“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” — James Dent
forums.spacebattles.com
“The perfect summer day is with friends & flip flops.” – unknown
“Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.” ~Sam Keen
pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com
“Dirty hands, iced tea, garden fragrances thick in the air and a blanket of color before me,
who could ask for more?” – Bev Adams
Filed under Favorite Quotes, holidays, Mother Nature
We are FINALLY enjoying some much-needed rain this morning! Ahhhhhhhhh!
We’ve been having August-like heat with heat indices over 100 for a month or more now. Usually we move into this gradually, so it’s been a bit of a shock, particularly when we’re trying to get out to do gardening and yard work. Today is an ‘inside day,’ as we used to call it a gazillion years ago when I taught, and I’m DELIGHTED! I hope your day is wonderful, too.
Filed under Mother Nature
Iron Man Robot
Our wind and rain yesterday evening was impressive – hard rain and gusty winds. My husband waited out the storm in the shop. Our electricity flickered twice, but came on again quickly enough that our generator wasn’t triggered.
When the rain finally let up, my husband used the opportunity to burn all the trash that had been piling up in the shop, able to finally burn it safely.
When we drove down the driveway to go to town this morning, our robot beside the driveway (over 6 feet tall, weighing 250 pounds) was leaning into the trees. When this happened the last time, he went completely off the driveway and was head down halfway down the slope of the yard. We had to use a winch and my husband’s smarts to laboriously get him into position again. At that time, we arranged for a SECOND length of chain to be attached to his neck. The original went around his neck and was around the iron gateway post you see behind him. The second one is around his neck and goes around the tree down the driveway in front of him. The two together kept him mostly upright, just leaning into the trees. We were able to easily bring him to an upright position again. It’s an impressive wind, though, that blows him over!
No other consequences from the storm, thank goodness. Everything got a really good amount of water. All the plants are saying, “Ahhhh!” as we walk around the yard.
Since it’s still a bit cooler, I’m going to use the opportunity to try to get our trio of brick flower planters that run between our front yard and our driveway under better control. I’m hoping not to get bitten and/or stung, having sprayed everything with a good bug spray last week called, “EIGHT,” that’s supposed to kill the bugs, but not harm the plants, our animals, or us.
Have a fun day!
Filed under Arkansas, Greenwood, Mother Nature
KFSM 5 News, Fort Smith AR
Mother Nature seems to think that this is July or August. I know that “I” get confused from time to time, but usually Mother Nature has her act together.
We had a nice storm early this morning that cooled everything down, but it’s already soaring again. We gave up early, closing doors and windows and turning on the A/C. I hate to think what our electricity bill will be this month.
I told you that I was stung by a scorpion for the first time in my life a couple of nights ago – in our bed! – on the 2nd floor of the house! SHRIEK! I’m much better now. Antihistamine and ice got most of the pain and swelling to recede, though I had a couple of days of skin sensitivity, as if I had been burned. You can still see a small red place on my arm – the only remnant, other than my memories. I stripped the bed and washed everything, vacuumed the bedroom and sprayed all around, but I have to admit I’m still gun-shy.
Each year we have what we call, “Year of the ____” This year it seems to be ticks. We’ve used our normal flea and tick stuff we get from our vet. We have now added flea collars to our two dogs and two cats. (So far, the fish don’t seem to need any help. :0) ) We do a tick check on the animals every day and on US each night.
I called our pest control folks, asking if we could be scheduled as soon as possible for spraying. When she asked what the problem was, and I told her about the scorpion, and that I wanted them to spray for everything, including elephants, inside and out. She said a man would call us back, and he did within 10 minutes, saying he was on his way to our house for us to sign a new quarterly contract. While he was here, he called the office and scheduled a tech to come spray everything tomorrow morning! You really can’t ask for better service than this. If YOU live in the Fort Smith, AR area, call Tri-Hill Pest Control Incorporated
(479) 782-2847.
Mother Nature may be confused, causing our weather to be wonky and causing bad bugs to be quite prolific already, but I feel we are in really good hands with our pest control people.
Filed under Challenges, Mother Nature
gettyimages.ae
I started mowing the lawn yesterday, in a rush because we were going to have thunderstorms in the afternoon. My husband came out and took over when I had finished about half of the yard. I drank some water and then went out to run the leaf blower to clean up the front porch, sidewalks front and back and the garage pad of all the grass and dirt.
We both came in breathing pretty heavily and drank water again and rested.
Can you hear Mother Nature giggling? She has a cruel sense of humor sometimes. I think she loves seeing us rush around and then NOT send the rain…
We’ve spent almost all day outside. The weather is truly glorious – sunny and a pretty warm 91 degrees. The temperature surge was a bit unexpected, but we rested a lot and drank lots of water.
First, we did errands – and even there nature was all around us. ‘
As we started backed up off the driveway pad and started to go down the driveway, we saw TWO road runners running away, toward the garden. They both stopped when they heard us – tails up and as still as statues – then their heads and tails went down simultaneously and then headed away from us, streaking across the yard.
About half way to town we get to pass several neighbors who have horses. I always wave to them. Amber, our 93 pound yellow lab “puppy” was in the back seat of the car, taking a great interest in all the sights, sounds, and smells along the way.
On the way back, we saw
It was hot by the time we got home, so I got the baby pool from the back porch, squirted the dust off, and then started filling it. Amber was immediately by my side looking really interested. Last year was the first time she saw the pool, and she would tentatively get in, dance around a bit and then jump out.
I was only able to get this picture, but she actually laid down a few times, looking blissfully happy, drinking some as she enjoyed the feeling of being wet and cooled off. We’ll need to figure out how we’ll handle this if she totally immerses herself each time we let her out…
Filed under Amazing Animals, Mother Nature
We hurried to mow the grass and blow the debris off the sidewalks and driveway pad, just in case the rains would come swooping in. Tonight we’re supposed to have a chance of rain, but the day has been gorgeous. I took a break and took some pics to share with you. My husband loves clematis, and we’ve been trying to get the vines to grow up over the deck. Failing that, and finally admitting defeat, we planted some in plastic barrel halves on the east side of our property between the house and the greenhouse.
For a very short time each year my camellias bloom. Usually they are immediately beaten down by a rain storm, showering petals everywhere and giving up for another year. Right now they’re blooming, so fingers are crossed they last for more than a day or so.
Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature
creativeartworksblog 