Well, it's been an eventful couple of weeks!
I'm done harvesting blueberries, so I opened up the enclosure to the birds so that the remaining berries won't go to waste. I picked enough rhubarb yesterday to make a rhubarb crisp for dessert last night - it is doing extremely well in its new area! L planted some sunflowers, which were striking even as buds.
The deer have become extremely bold as of last year. So far this summer, they have eaten off my mint and potted sweet potato vine, which is RIGHT BESIDE THE FRONT DOOR!! They are also munching on my weeping cherries and hydrangea bush, as well as the balloon flowers and gladiolus in my flower bed. JP and I made use of an old VCR tape to put up some moving hindrances, which isn't especially attractive. My flower bed is not especially attractive anymore either, especially since the deer ate off most of the gladiolus buds. I thought it was working to keep the deer out for about a week, until I saw that they have further decimated my hydrangea. There have been a set of twin fawns sleeping out in the yard for the past couple of weeks as well. HUMPH. I purchased hunting licenses for all 3 of us on Monday...revenge will be MINE!
I spent some time recently taking care of indoor plants as well. I had several that needed re-potting, as did my mother. She also lost her spider plant while she was in the hospital as I didn't think about watering her plants, neither did my dad. L had a lovely spider baby that I potted for her in a little pot that J made. Isn't it sweet?
L recently spent a few days at the beach with some friends. As she was packing to leave, she discovered that the case of the accordion that my mother gifted to her last summer, was moldy, and had transferred to the fabric covered trunk that she used at college. We ended up throwing away the case, since it was moldy inside and out, but I cleaned up the accordion. I had to bleach the heck out of the trunk before it stopped smelling musty, but despite leaving the accordion opened up out in the sun for several days, I was unable to rid it of the musty odor. After a couple of YouTube videos, I figured out how to take the instrument apart. I also found a tip that suggested using carpet cleaning foam on the bellows to help take away musty odors. What do you know? It really worked! I would say that it is about 85% improved. Thanks, reddit folks!
This morning, I went out to tackle the chicken yard, which had waist high weeds growing in it. I weed eated everything down, then took the electric fence down section by section to mow underneath it. (I LOVE my little battery powered weed eater - it is so light and easy to use! I also put these on it instead of string so that it is able to cut small bushes as well.) After that was finished, I put up some more fencing to create a small outside run for my pullets and cockerels. They seemed to enjoy scratching around out there for the few minutes that I watched them.
Whew! It's a hot one today, and after all of that weed eating, I regret not having the pool opened for a luxurious soak. C'est la vie.
Even though I won't be floating in the pool, I will do a thorough tick check and get a shower. Both JP and I have seen so many cases of Lyme Disease this summer. The ticks that carry the offending bacteria are so teeny, that you have to do an extremely careful check to even see them.
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| I picked these off me last summer... |
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| This classic "bull's eye" rash was on a patient last week |
In other good news, JP will be starting a new job in Nov, close to home - no more driving 45 minutes one way to work!
In other bad news, L had a minor accident in the Subaru the other day. She is fine, but the car is totaled, I fear.
