For the seeds...

Photo 289 - July 8

I posted pictures of what the mice did in my shed over the winter. I have a plastic Rubbermaid shed for my gardening supplies, and they chewed a hole in the bottom so they could get at the bird seed, and proceeded to eat the majority of it, and deposit empty sunflower shells all over everywhere. So I thought I was smart by putting the sunflower seeds in a plastic tote - I figured that they would be safe in there. Well silly me for thinking that. I'm pretty sure that it was a squirrel or chipmunk that did this damage - I don't think the mice could take out quite that big of bites out of the plastic lid. I think a new tote is in order and it may be time to keep it in the garage. If that doesn't work I'm going to be out of ideas.

C'mon rain!

Photo 288 - July 7

We may not be getting any rain, but happily, my flowers are still blooming. These yellow pincushions have spread all over and are trying to cover up the sidewalk. I am going to have to figure out a way to restrain them a little bit. The only good thing I've come up with for the lack of rain is that I haven't cut the grass in weeks. The bad thing about this is that it's not very pleasant to walk on, either. So Mother Nature - any time you're ready!

Dill...plus another visit to Summerfest

Photo 287 - July 6

Everywhere I look, it seems that there are dill plants sprouting. First, it was just in my flower garden against the garage. Then I found it next to the garage while I was cutting grass. And now...well it's growing in the cracks in the driveway, and I'm not sure where I'll find it next. I wish it would just time its growing a little better so it was ready when the beans are ready to be canned.

Laura and I had planned a trip to Summerfest tonight to see Dennis DeYoung, who was once the lead singer in Styx. Laura (and all of the kids, for that matter) know Styx's music, since Dale and I have been playing it since before they were born. The concert was on the BMO Harris stage, where I had seen The Steve Miller Band on opening night, and we went and got some food and then wandered up to the stage. After we got there we were approached by a guy who asked us if we wanted to buy some tickets - Row Q - Section 1...right off of the stage - for $6.00. And that's a total price - not an each price. He told us they were definitely real - we could take them up and have them scanned by the floor monitors to make sure. So we figured what the heck - for $6.00 we'd take a chance. And this was our view. Very cool show - and lots of oldies. Wish you would have been here, Dale - you would have loved it.

Poor Grass

Photo 286 - July 5

This hot weather has been very cruel to the lawn. I figure that the grass will come back as soon as it decides to rain, but my flowers...well I have too much money invested in them to not do my best to keep them watered. So there are some green patches, where my watering the gardens overflows into the grass. We have a possibility of rain this weekend, so hopefully it will finally happen.

Happy 4th of July!

Photo 285 - July 4

Well I couldn't talk anybody into going to the parade with me this morning, but I did have company for the fireworks tonight. It was a very hot Independence Day - as you can see from the thermometer in my car. But the air conditioning at Mom's house was a welcome respite, and food and drinks were great. Kristin said I had to appear on my blog, since my outfit of the day matched my margarita so well. Right now I'm ready for a little break from the humidity - I don't function well on short nights of sleep.

Salsa beginnings

Photo 284 - July 3

Apparently my watering has been worth something, because I have little tomatoes and peppers growing - hopefully the beginnings of salsa for Dale. With the salsa peppers, jalapenos, habaneros and chili peppers, along with eight tomato plants, I'm hoping there's enough to make at least a couple quarts of salsa. Still no rain here...so I guess I keep watering to make sure they keep growing.

Return of the psychotic bluebird...

Photo 283 - July 2

It must have been a couple summers ago that we were visited by a crazy bluebird at work. It would spend all day dive bombing the window, like it was trying to get in, and left body marks and feather prints all over the windows. Today he came back for a visit. What I would have liked to capture was his standoff with the cardinal - both of them had their beaks open and were yelling. Kind of hard to be quick enough to capture that when you're working. Let's see if he decides to come back tomorrow.