Friday, June 20, 2008

Happy Summer

It's odd. The eve of the summer solstice and we've had overnight lows in the 50s. We did not break 80 until today. After all that hot weather, we are back to springtime goodness.

As it so happens, my hydrangea is pink. And blue. And some of the flower heads are even purple. It's adorable looking.

I was affected by the big water main break in DC this week. I did not lose water pressure, but I was under a boil water advisory for three days. I brushed my teeth with bottled water, ate frozen microwave meals, and washed my hands with dehumidifier water. (For the record, dehumidifier water is bad for your skin and I used a lot of lotion.) I'm glad my water results tested negative for contamination, eventually. My container plants needed watering. I did not want to risk contaminating the sprinkling cans, because I do use them for my turtles or to refill the bird bath.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hydrangea

My hydrangea is budding out. I should have open flowers by the weekend. I'm kinda wondering if they are going to be pink or blue this year. Regardless, I need to fertilize it with food for acidic plants this year. As well as the Rhodies.

The chrysanthemum that I thought I lost last year, is coming back strong. The little yellow buds are about to burst forth. Maybe I'll get around to posting photos one of these days.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Weekly Update

So, I was having a good weekend until I mowed the lawn.

I had gotten notice that the landlord wants to have the deck powerwashed and restained. Which I took as notification that he had managed to come out and look at the fence. So, I dug out an old piece of wood from the stack behind the shed and propped up the fence. I had done it just in time for the last batch of thunderstorms. It held up fine.

One morning on the way to work, I saw a little frog on my front sidewalk. He was about the size of my thumb and brown in the near dawn darkness. I left him to go about his job of eating bugs.

I had taken the day off Friday and was working in the living room on stuff. While I was sitting there, several little birds were looking for birdseed. I didn't get up, because they never come back when I disturb them. Until one of the little brown birds perched on the screen and looked in. I took that as a sign that they were really, really hungry.

I went canoeing yesterday before more storms. I get a little further each time and feel less worn out afterwards.

Right, mowing the lawn. Unfortunately, I discovered that I had a garter snake in the backyard the hard way. :( Poor little snake. It was about a foot long. Just the right size to be eating slugs and other pests. Drats.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Huh, 400.

So, some changes at work have made blogging weird for awhile. I'll find a new grove.

Anyway, Wednesday we had truly terrible storms buffet the region. There was rotation spotted on Doppler near work. And since there was a confirmed tornado near there that killed two girls several years ago, they take that kind of thing seriously. Fortunately, the first batch of storms moved along at 60 mph. Unprecidented in our region. So, it was here and gone. A few hours later, another batch moved through, also with tornados and strong winds. Not as fast, but still fast. A third moved through in the late night hours. I didn't have electricity for a couple hours, which wasn't too bad, seeing as how it was late. But, trying to sleep without even a fan going in the mugginess was terrible.

Right now, we're heading into a weekend of extreme heat advisories. Tomorrow the feels like temperatures will be between 105 and 109. Sunday and Monday, it will feel like it is 110 or higher. Ouch. Air quality is going to be horrid. And some folks are still without power from the storms.

Something is wrong with my peonies. The buds I was so proud of died. Just dried up. Since I've already verified the depths and the late cold snaps weren't serious frosts, I'm looking at some kind of disease. Drats. Probably a non-organic remedy too. Bugger.

But the evening primrose are blooming, so there's something in the yard.