Posts from the ‘Yard and Garden’ category

Tidbits

All of these photos are from Sunday.

We had some sun breaks.

…cool sun breaks.

My favorite kind!

Auggie on the hunt.

Serious business.

Grasshopper??? or whatever the things are that are around now…

But today, Monday, Auggie got a bird…a baby bird. And he brought it into the house. It was still alive.

The house rules regarding hunting are:
Eat what you kill, i.e. no trophy hunting
Anything brought into the house must be COMPLETELY dead.

Auggie and I had words.

It remains to be seen how effective those words were.

There has been some ongoing discussion.

Back to Sunday.

Pretty.

Lupins!!

Tidbits.

Sunday.

Pretty Days

The lilacs are blooming…

Very pretty and fragrant…

The yard is green, the sky is blue and the sun has been shining quite a lot, especially for early June.

The yellow jackets are tolerable – we can sit outside most evenings and not be bothered.

Auggie has discovered the fun of hiding and playing in the tall grass at the edge of the yard by Beardog Hill.

Pretty Days.

Week wrap up

The yellow jackets…

I keep emptying…

And refreshing the traps.

Although, today, Friday…a warm (72F) and sunny day…the activity seemed not quite as hectic around the house. Good news ??? I don’t know. It may mean that remaining queens are nesting.

A worry for another day.

Tuesday morning, it looked like the above.

Bear, Auggie and I have been enjoying quiet mornings as I had info that this was to come to an end.

Someone(s) purchased one of the lots on the loop. The build area was surveyed and marked last Fall. I hoped against hope that I was wrong.

But not.

Water well drilling equipment moved onto the property mid-morning Tuesday.

RATS!

We will focus on this and think on what we shall do.

The little green mowing machine

The mower arrived Friday.

Saturday…grumbling a little, I opened the box.

Might as well charge the batteries.

And roll the thing out of the box.

I took the manual in the house.

It looks like a toy.

Much of it is plastic.

It reminds me of those kid toys with the “popcorn” top.

BUT…this lever…ONE lever that moves the mowing deck from low to high. I messed with that. SO much fun and so easy compared to my gas mower with spring loaded thingies on EACH wheel. They were difficult to adjust. They made me say bad words. Not this lever – EASY! Partly because of all of that plastic toy-like structure. The mower is very light.

And it has a push button start. No full arm pull.

So, maybe I will never LOVE mowing but I might dislike it a bit less.

I went out late morning today. Both batteries were fully charged. I thought I’d test the starting.

It started.

With a push of the button. (***there are safety features which include a key and a sequence with a bailer bar)

So.

I had my mowing boots on.

For safety.

I decided to at least take a pass at the high grass and see how she did.

Yes, I’m sure it is a she.

And then I decided to just mow the section where the garden used to be. It is the only part of the yard where the grass grows fairly well as it gets sun and is a bit removed from so many trees.

She mows well and quietly and no vibration. My hands did not fall “asleep” and my elbow was not irritated.

I think the little green mowing machine and I might get along.

Out and about this morning

The herbies don’t look to be coming back.

This weekend I may get some starter herbs and get things going on the front porch. It might freeze again and it might snow again but all should be well on the front porch with a helper cover up for a hard freeze warning.

The lilacs…

Mini wood violets…

And the lupins are coming on!!

The rhubarb is close – I might get enough for my favorite rhubarb chutney this weekend. Vidalia onions are in the market and a caramelized onion pizza with a bit of rhubarb chutney just might be on the Memorial weekend menu :) !

Lily of the valley are close to blooming also.

The boys. The wet grass. The TALL wet grass…

Several weeks ago, I was looking at the mower and thinking about how I would start it and not tweak my arm (the right arm with the tennis elbow). My arm is doing much better and I don’t want to set things back. As it happened, Amazon had a lightning deal on a battery mower. No pulling to start it – you push a button.

I didn’t buy on the lightning deal, but it got me thinking and I did some research on the battery mowers. I was in Home Depot looking at them and there was a man looking at the same gas mower I have. I didn’t spend much time thinking…I asked him if he was interested in a 7 years old version. We agreed on price. He picked up the mower that afternoon.

So, I’ve been holding on hoping for another lightning deal. And then last week the vet visits with Bear. I used my mower money for the vet. Oh, darn. I think we’ll enjoy the tall grass!

***In case I’ve never mentioned…I really DISLIKE mowing…I mean really. And I probably only have to mow 8-12 times before things get dry enough that the grass doesn’t need mowing. Mowing wimp – that’s what I am!

Sunday catch up

Sunday morning sunshine on the front porch…

Waning gibbous hanging over the yard…

Auggie being Auggie!!

At least he can get down by himself now.

What??

The live mint being LIVE. The thing is growing and looking for light and smelling wonderful and it is just a joy to see in the window. I crush a few leaves in my mid-morning tea and have a recipe for a mint pea spread that I will make soon. It seems to be sending new shoots so hopefully, I can harvest and grow and etc.

The Bear boy.

See that pink (shaved) belly ? All is well, but we had 2 vet appointments this week which is why the dearth of blog posts…and you, know the work to pay the bills thing also.

On Wednesday – which was also the 3 year anniversary of the day Bear came to me – we went for some vaccinations and I had some questions about some things I’d noticed recently. We ended up doing a Senior Package: full blood work, other fluid/solid testing, EKG even. The clinic has a new package which makes it reasonable to do EVERYTHING. Bottom line there were 2 blood thingies that were 10X normal and kind of sort of explained what I’d noticed.

We went back on Friday for an Ultrasound which turned up a fairly benign condition, treatable with medication and Bear was noticeably better within 24 hours. We are on the med for 3 weeks and then a blood recheck. Dr. Clark AND 2 vet techs including dear friend Janine – allowed me to be there for the ultrasound. It was good to be with Bear who had to be on his back in a cradle contraption, held by the techs and me…have his belly shaved, the cold gel and then 1/2 hour of the ultrasound gadget going to and fro. He did wonderfully. It was nice that I could be there as Dr. Clark was highlighting things, notating, telling us what he was seeing…to me an ultrasound just looks like the ocean…as in “IN” the ocean. Anyway, it was a relief that it seems minor and also that Bear is feeling better so soon.

And at least his stomach is cool. He is doing the major shedding routine that northern breed dogs do this time of year. That coat that is good to -25 is thinning out for the summer.