Beating the heat

It's been hot (upper nineties) and muggy of late, and since the AC is not working properly, we've been making do with fans the last couple of weeks.  Thinking about all the thousands of years that people managed before electric fans and AC makes me stand in awe of some of the things people did in spite of the heat.
Sometimes, it's actually cooler outside under the sycamore than it is inside, so yesterday I took a paperback and sat out in a lawn chair in the shade.  Doing some light reading in the summer heat made me feel like a youngster again.  My reading usually consists of news, commentary, and blogs on the internet.  Rarely do I just relax with a book.  Believe it or not, I had never read an Agatha Christie novel.  I came across one of her short stories in one of my son's literature books and realized I would probably enjoy her books.  Somehow, I'm thinking I, at some point, must have been misled  to think her writing would involve gruesomeness.  Anyway, my son picked up a paperback at a yardsale or thrift shop.  I got a chuckle yesterday when I realized the book was dedicated to me:

\<>/

TO ALL THOSE WHO LEAD

MONOTONOUS LIVES

IN THE HOPE THAT THEY MAY EXPERIENCE

AT SECOND HAND

THE DELIGHTS AND DANGERS OF

ADVENTURE

 /<>\

 

 

So I've been staying at the Ritz, eating at Lyons' and riding the tube, all while tracking down a mysterious letter of international intrigue that was passed on by a young man who went down with the Lusitania.  How's your summer?

 

Beetles, bugs, and bees

A good way to pick the Japanese beetles off plants is to go out in the morning (or late evening) when the beetles are not actively flying around.  It is simple to knock them off into a bucket of sudsy water.  (A little squirt of hand dishwashing liquid works.)  If you bump the plant the beetles are on, they usually fall down.  Just have the bucket underneath to catch them.  If you have chickens, you can skip the bucket.  Knock the beetles down to the ground and the chicken will be on them as quick as a... well, that's where they get the saying, huh ..."chicken on a June bug."
In addition to the oodles of Japanese beetles I drowned, I also picked off at least 40! stink bugs from my tomatoes.  Here you can see they met the same fate as the beetles.

A good reason not to spray poison is that the crepe myrtle that many of the beetles were in is literally humming with bees.  I don't know if they gather nectar or just pollen, but both honeybees and bumblebees are frenetically working the blossoms.  About 3/4 mile away as the crow flies, there is someone who keeps bees, and I don't know of any beekeepers closer than that.  It always amazes me how far the bees fly to get food.
The bees were moving too much for me to get a good shot, but you may be able to see one in the upper left side of the picture (and a beetle is the dark spot half hiding in the top middle part of the picture).  Click on the image to enlarge.
I keep telling myself that one day I'll get myself a hive.

Something new, something blue

Yesterday, I passed by a fallow section of the garden and saw something new to me.  What a pleasant surprise; there was a pretty blue flower! 
I had planted a mesclun mix there last fall.  Anything that survived the winter had bolted.   I believe it is the endive that bolted.  Endive is in the same genus as chicory, the roots of which can be used as a coffee substitute. 
Since my son always recommends "a touch of blue" in the landscape, I suggested he go take a picture.  On his way out, he took a picture.  As he walked by the window, he shouted that it was PURPLE not blue!  Later, (sometime in the afternoon), I went by to take a picture, but the flowers had shriveled in the heat of the day.  I went out this morning to shoot pics while the flowers were still fresh.  I think the newer flowers are more bluish and the older flowers take on a more lavender color.

 

This is the first time that I know of that I've had any chicory of any kind blooming on my property.  It is so pretty!

Pass along plants

Over 15 years ago when I did a local paper route, I had a customer who was in her nineties.  She was still working a little bean patch in her backyard even though she said of herself, "I can't HARDLY get about!"  She had some pinks that I wanted a division of, and I wasn't too proud to ask.
It still blooms in my flower bed.

Another plant I have which has a bit longer history is an oxalis.  When my mother was a young woman still living with her parents, she worked at a textile mill.  She did not have her own transportation, so she always rode with someone else.  One year work was sporadic, and when the mill workers didn't have employment, they could go and sign up for some type of unemployment compensation.  Mom rode into town with her usual ride and went to sign up for unemployment compensation.  After signing up, since she had no way to go home until the person giving her a ride got off work, she was invited to stay at a coworker's house.  All along the side of the coworker's house was a neat little pink flower.  Thus, almost 60 years ago, that little plant began its journey from the coworker's house to Granny's house, to Mom's house, to my house.  For all its travel and history, it sure looks mighty fresh!

 

If someone does a good deed, pay it forward.  If someone gives you a good plant, pass it along.

Summer berries

Picking blackberries is a traditional summer ritual among my folks.  Hot, humid weather, redbugs, briar scratches were all part and parcel of the ritual.
I don't know if I'll have a place to pick this year other than the few that are encroaching on the edge of the yard. 
We have black raspberries encroaching as well, and I picked a few.
To those who have the location and are hearty and hale enough to brave the heat and vermin, happy picking, and may the berries bring you good health.

black raspberries and honeydew melon 

The garden "plot"

I once saw a cartoon which featured a man and his little girl in the garden.  He was explaining that the disease and bugs and other varmints were all out to get them and that's why they called it a garden "plot."
I can identify.  The Japanese beetles have made their arrival.  They are loving my white crepe myrtle.  I was quite shocked at church yesterday to see the sweet potato vine in the planters had their leaves made into lace by the Japanese beetles.

I have a Virginia creeper vine on the fence that the Japanese beetles like, too.

 

 

My tomato plants, which are looking fairly good overall....

 ...have a few places that look alarmingly like blight.

 

 

I'm fighting a losing battle with poison ivy, as well.  I don't use a lot of chemicals, but two weeks ago, I did spray some weed killer on some poison ivy here and there.

  I've also pulled up quite a bit by hand.

 

 

Whenever I go through the yard, I manage to pick up a few ticks.  I guess we can attribute part of that to the rodent problem, which seems to me as if it shouldn't be so dire, given the neighbor's cat and our snakes.

Yes, we have snakes (even in the house) but still have plenty of mice, moles, and rabbits.  We have moles, which supposedly eat beetle grubs, but you would never know it.  Now, the snake pictured was under the awning by the back door last Wednesday (just looking in at me in the kitchen eating my snack!!).  But the one that really gave me a start was one I saw the Wednesday before that.  I was doing some cleaning up around the heat pump, and I thought it would be smart to turn off the circuit breaker that is at the end of the house.  I opened the door to the breaker box and tried to push the door into the open position.  There is a bit of finesse required sometimes to get it into position to hold itself open.  I kept meeting with resistance, so after a few attempts, I bent down to see underneath the door, and there was a snake.  Boy, was I startled!  When I came back with my camera, the snake had gone behind the panel.  I lifted the panel off, but the snake had disappeared.  The only evidence in the breaker box was a bit of dead snake skin.  There is a good-sized hole that all the wires feed through.  It must have gone through that.  (So it's in the wall of the house or under the house.)
I also saw a good-sized snake skin by the shed in the backyard.  Do you think the snake thought "shed" was a verb and not a noun? 



 

 

Sunday thoughts: Happy Father's Day!

I am blessed to have a father who has loved me, protected me, and shared his wisdom with me.  Happy Father's Day, Daddy.  I love you.

When Jesus used a parable to describe our Heavenly Father, He described the forgiving love of a father who has a prodigal son and the entreating love of a father with a resentful son.  I find a comfort in knowing that God's love is a good father's love.