Sunday, July 31, 2011

#@!*%$*###@! Beaver

Quick post, no pictures.
So I'm going out the back door yesterday and glance at my tomato plants and to my surprise I see a beaver casually munching away on my plants! Call the wife to come out and take a look and sure enough, he was either dumb or hungry as he switch position to another plant so as not to strain himself too much. Well he finally saw us and the whirl of a flower pot past his head as he ran for the pond was enough. I could figure out what has been getting my plants. I still think birds are having their way too but now a beaver? Beaver repellent anyone?

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Summertime Countdown

We, time for the summertime countdown. As they say, time flies when you're having fun. I wouldn't say too much fun with temperatures at 100 and heat indexes of 110. Hopefully this means the summer countdown is coming soon! Not soon enough.
Well, I have ripped out all of the green beans and planted my sad Roma transplants. As of today I think they will make it but only time will tell. I also threw in a couple more summer squash plants and pepper plants. The green peppers aren't doing that well this year for some reason. Neither are the cucumbers. I also got some more of those in the ground. Also put a few bush in the buckets too.

Here's the new squash plants where the lettuce. Hopefully I won't put them to an early grave.


The tomato plants continue to grow. The Roma plants continue to produce but I've been too lazy to get them canned. Tomorrow night I will try. And we've finally gotten some good Big Boy tomatoes and some cherry tomatoes as well.


The heat has been doing the damage to my flowers. It's hard to stay on track of the watering and such when you're gone for some time. I think that I will rip most of them out and try for some fall flowers. I did get some good pictures of some though.



Now, I am definitely not in charge of the meteorology patterns that circumnavigate our little speck in the universe, but if I were, there would be more rain pouring down on the land we call home. It's getting to the point where we would welcome a tropical depression that would sit over our roof for three to four days. Oh, and we've been on a Northern Exposure marathon. Almost makes the residency in that state look appealing. Quirky characters is what I think appeals the most to me.

WOF of the Week. Well, to say that our couch was old and deplorable is an understatement. So off to the furniture store we go, sitting on everything there. After a while the thought came to me that all of the customers looked like school children on the playground, all of us moving from one piece of furniture to the next, sitting down and standing up. Site to behold I'm sure. So the wife and I cart the old one to the dump after bringing the new one home. It is the color of WOF fur and she appears to like it well enough.

That is not a setup. She was laying like that. And another purchase may be the Thundershirt! Thought it was a joke but they actually sell them. She freaks during storms so this would be a good way to get her off of us. 

Have a good week folks and until next time, unless I melt first.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Birthdays, Driving, and Views Abound

With the oldest boy away at boot camp and the youngest boy at the grandparents the wife and I decided that it may be a good time to visit the youngest boy and our families over the 4th of July weekend. So then there is the drive up to WV. In my younger days this drive wouldn't bother me too much but lately....... I find the thought of extended travel in a vehicle daunting. We left after I got off from work on Friday, at noon, and listened to the book-on-CD of The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I asked the wife, "This was a book, wasn't it?" So that was replayed all weekend, mostly by myself. Duh! Oh well, we've all been there.
Wished the Dad a happy, belated birthday. another year and I hope there's a lot more to come. Being born at the depression was hardship on his family and he has great stories to tell about it. On a side note, I picked up some pictures of his family from his mother's side and plan on going through them for the Ancestry information I've been working on for a while.
Wish the good ole USA a happy birthday too! We may have our problems but people are still trying to get here!
On our way back down south, the Wife and I made a stop at Mt. Airy, NC and the Farmer's Produce store and picked up some fresh veggies. But before there we snapped a picture of the WV state capital building. It isn't the best but what we could do from the car. To my knowledge, it is the only state capital with a gold dome.

Back to the market, it is located in 'Tourist Trap Row' on route 52. I picked out some German Johnsons and a jar of Squash relish and the Wife got peaches and something else. And no I don't pay that close attention.
Then it was on to Pilot Mountain.


The top photo is of Pilot Mountain and the lower photo is of the landscape at the bottom of the valley, looking west I believe. It was still hot at the top of it!

The Roma's are starting to turn so Maybe next weekend we'll be doing some canning, then the new transplants will go in. Also starting some more squash as I managed to overwater them and kill them off. Ahhhh! Never learn. 

WOF of the Week.
So I come cruising in from the garage and look at what I see.
Can't sleep like a common dog. Puts her head on the pillow! She has been acting up lately, probably because we haven't been paying close attention to her. She stayed home this past weekend and she was really needy last night. She even got to sleep with the Wife. 

Until next time.