lost and found

First it was dry. Then it rained a lot. A whole lot. Things grew.

Food plants almost disappeared.

Yesterday I spent half an hour with a hoe, chopping weeds while managing not to kill any broccoli or peppers.

I found it!

I cut half a cup of broccoli. (There's a little more waiting.) July 28th is a ridiculous date for a first harvest of broccoli.
There are two peppers: one small, that I hope will grow a bit more, and one tiny. Not much of a harvest for the amount of work I put into it.

another favorite flower

I love orange.

I first saw butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) cultivated in a garden when I lived in North Carolina. I tried to grow it there without success. I tried to grow it when I moved back to Kentucky.

Then I started building this house, and after the ground was disturbed (and the grass not cut monthly) for the first time in years, the next summer it was everywhere. Now that I'm living here, though, it's much rarer. There's a lot of milkweed, but very little of its classy relative.

Since it's growing a good distance from the house I brought this one in to look at up close for several days. So far it's the only one. The milkweed does not last at all when you cut it.

loose cow day

On my morning commute there's a stretch where I'm always alert for stray cows. The fences don't look any worse than anywhere else; the cows in that area must be extra stubborn, or extra adventurous.

This morning, I saw a woman in barn boots cross the road ahead of me, and only then did I spot that one of the cows in the herd was on the outside of the fence. Then I realized that the outside one was a bull. He was touching noses with a cow inside the fence, whose calf was beside her, creating a pretty family portrait. No, I did not make myself late for work taking a picture, or even offering a length of rope to the woman, who was empty-handed. One of these years I must get a video-camera mounted, police-style, in the car so it's handy for these occasions.

enough for pie

A week after my first blackberry picking handful, I went back wearing long sleeves, long pants, and knee high boots. I returned with three cups of berries.

This is what it looked like a few hours later.

A week after that I went back and picked all I could find, and now I have two pies' worth in the freezer.

This year's growth is prolific. Next year should be a good one, weather permitting. Last year, there weren't as many berries, and the ones I tasted were so bitter I didn't pick any more. The different combination of heat and rain this year must have made the difference.

disturbing the neighbors

When I found the hammock hooks and finally got the hammock up eighteen months after moving, I discovered what had moved into the outdoor electric outlet on the balcony.

The wasps who live above the laundry room door don't seem bothered by my coming and going to hang laundry out and bring it back in, but these were not happy to have neighbors. Perhaps it was because they were still in the process of building, because later on my lying in the hammock seemed acceptable.

Here one of the unhappy occupants is exiting to come complain about me.

Sunday morning coffee in the hammock

I had no idea I would write 200 blog posts. When I started it, I only wanted to be able to comment on some blogs that don't allow anonymous commenting. I didn't really mean to use it for anything else. Therefore, I had no Goals, no Obligation to Post Something, no pressure. And the words (and pictures) just keep coming. I intend to keep posting when I feel like it (or when I actually have a stable internet connection so I can!)

my favorite shirt

I used to wear this shirt every Independence Day (as well as a lot of other days.) I don't wear it much now since it's getting too old and fragile, but I decided to wear it today since I'm not doing anything vigorous, and not going out in the sun much to fade it still more.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

It's not red, white, and blue, but it's the most patriotic shirt I own.