Monday, October 29, 2007

Drought Buster

Well, not much happened last week, except nearly six inches of rain in my rain bucket. That's pretty cool, in and of itself. And it was slow and steady stretched out over several days, so it soaked in. The airports got a lot less, but then they always seem to get less.

With the rain came cooler temperatures. Much cooler temperatures. It seemed to go right past lightweight jackets to winter jackets. Brrr. Today has been declared the first official frost in my yard. The grass wasn't exactly white, but everything else was. Plus, the temperatures were bound to dip further after I left. That's good enough for me.

Now, I just need the sun to help dry up the compost so I can plant my peonies!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Compost Sifting

Last night our boss had us out to an all you can eat meat buffet as a gesture of how much he appreciates the hard work we've been doing. The up shot of all of that, is that I found myself in the garden this morning trying to work off the meal from last night.

Since I need to create a home for my new peonies, Julia Rose and Big Ben, I began by digging out the fense bed. It was never more than leaves smothering grass, with a few flowers poked in this summer. I sifted all the dirt and removed some rocks. I was surprised with how few rocks there were to pick out.

Then I shifted the compost pile. It's sat for three years. I needed at the bottom, plus it needed mixed up good. So, relocating it was a good thing to do. I managed to find some nice compost at the bottom, but it is a little too mud-like to use my screen sifter for more than the bare minimum to put back in the garden. Right now I'm letting it settle. Maybe it'll be ready to work on the raised bed part tomorrow.

Friday, October 19, 2007

34 Days Later

It's been 34 days without appreciable rain at the local airports. I'd gotten a few passing showers that just wetted the pavement at my place in that time. We're hoping the storms coming this afternoon have a lot of moisture in them, but it won't be enough to put a dent in our nearly a foot deficit.

After dipping into the thirties last weekend, we've had a gorgeous week with highs in the 80s. It is decidedly annoying. I have two new peonies to plant, and I want it cool enough to actually prepare the bed. To say nothing of giving the rhisomes a good dormancy period.

One of the peonies arrived the other night. I recieved a daylily as a free gift. Gold City Sue. Now I have to figure out where to plant that too...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Birdbrains

There was a very confused bird in my yard while I was mowing this morning. It kept being surprised by the fact that I would walk under my deck to empty the bagger on my lawnmower into the compost pile. Once it even flew into my shed. I thought it was finally gone after I finished mowing. I brought out my new swing hammock and rocked for awhile, listening to a woodpecker searching for bugs.

Boy, was I surprised when I went into the house to get something to drink, the bird had flown into the basement! I think it was a catbird, based on the size and color. It was a little small and didn't have the white patches under the wings to be a mockingbird. I managed to manuever around it to chase it back outside. It just sat on my compost pile and called a little bit. I wonder what is wrong with it. I'll put some seed out later.

Meanwhile, earlier in the week, while I was in Home Depot to get some more hardware for my swing hammock, I picked up a pack of double yellow daffodils and a pack of peony-type tulips. I might go back for another pack of daffodils, but I don't really expect the tulips to survive the squirrels. Now, I just have to wait till proper planting time.....

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Dragging On

Where as the region has not had appriciable rainfall in twenty some odd days, I was undergoing a flood at work. Which is not good, since I blog on my morning breaks.

However, there isn't necessarily that much to blog about. We're getting our "Indian Summer" slash heat wave. We've been setting record highs in the 90s. And although the back yard is going gangbusters, the front yard has brown patches underneath. Which is why I'm not going to mow that until after we get some real rain. Better long then dead.

About the only thing I accomplished was buying a hammock chair and mounting it under the deck. It is a cozy cocoon. I just have to buy some more S-hooks, so I can actually climb into it without a step ladder.