Thank You!

Nellie, on a catnip high.

Thank you for your words of comfort re the passing of Nellie-cat.

He was a dear boy.

The love of animals is a common bond.

 

Early July Weather/Garden Journal

The pall of smoke from Canadian wildfires kept our weather unusually cool and damp through June. Nights have mostly been moonless.

Tipping into July, summer has asserted itself. Early mornings register a scant 70 F, but the air is heavy and moist, forecasting noon heat in the high 80's F.

Stepping into the greenhouse to water a few remaining seedlings I am nearly flattened by a wall of heat.

J. runs the A/C in his shop, it is turned on in the house by mid-morning.

T-storms and wind have torn through during several nights causing area damage and power outages. 

We have been safe here though sleep-deprived by unsettled nights.

I pull the bedroom curtains during a thunder storm, sometimes turn on a bedside light to read. 

The cats are upset by the storms, piling onto my bed, twitching with each loud thunderclap.

When the sun breaks through the haze we slog into the muddy garden, picking cucumbers, tomatoes, up-earthing a few hills of potatoes. 

Meals have been haphazardly timed; I keep freshly brewed iced tea in the fridge. 

When it is overcast but not raining I've managed to move volunteer coneflowers from one area to another, pull a few of the lushly proliferating weeds. 

Sometimes the evening is cool enough to take a book to the east screened porch. Often the book rests in my lap as I watch the antics of the hummingbirds. I've counted 6 at one time thronging the two hanging feeders; possibly there is at least one more. Both feeders need refilling daily--and my sugar canister is getting low!

Monday was happily busy. A friend dropped by to practice music for a church service later this month. She and her husband were headed home to make pickles, and after sampling a jar of last year's Dilly Beans decided to add that recipe to their pickling venture.

G. and M. breezed in for a rest stop between produce auctions. The big one in Casey County gets underway noon-ish [Eastern time] and can run for several hours at peak produce season. The smaller auction at Speck Ridge advertises their starting time at 4:30 Central time.

I was reading at my desk late yesterday afternoon when J. buzzed in and announced that I needed to drive to Speck Ridge to collect a share of the sweet corn Matt had purchased. That auction usually winds down rather quickly  so I flung myself into the car, and while mindful of the stretches of road that wind up and down the ridges, I have to say that I made good time.  The auction was still in full swing.

Matt and Gina will be canning for the rest of the week:

Photo from Gina of the auction bounty unloaded onto their dining room table.

I came home with 2 dozen ears of corn and 3 dozen eggs, generosity of Matt.

Matt also acquired these beauties but had no room left in the truck to safely carry them home.

We installed them gently in the cargo area of my Honda and they are gracing the east porch until they can be retrieved.

Gina delights in 'selfies' and in photos of unwitting family members.

I dislike having my 'picture' taken, but here I am, protesting, caught in my torn garden shirt and grubby jeans. 

New potatoes scrubbed and ready to boil in their skins.

Monday morning's harvest of tomatoes and cucumbers. We are already at the point of offering cucumbers to anyone who stops by.

Tuesday morning, first harvest of Tenderette green beans.

Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' and a tangle of coneflowers. 

Still color in the western sky at nearly 9:30 P.M.