Outside My Window… my Texas Star hibiscus is still blooming, the ornamental sweet potato vine is overrunning the flower bed, and one lone zinnia has staked a claim, producing several pink blossoms. I spent some time trimming away some of the sweet potato vine while I did my morning watering – if I don’t do that every few days, those plants would begin trying to cover the house!
I am thinking… about how my mom had fun this morning with my reaction to her picture she posted on Facebook, a picture of her and her new companion with the comment that the picture was a wedding picture. Turns out it was taken at her companion’s (Charlie) grandson’s wedding, which she had told me about a couple of weeks ago. Momentarily, though, my heart rate increased markedly, thinking she was referring to her wedding. Not that that would be a bad thing, but I figured she’d at least give me a head’s up before doing so.
I am thankful for… fun day trips that Bill and I like to take. This past Saturday, it was a trip to Wichita Falls and the Jenny to Jet Exhibit. We even took a selfie in front of the Curtiss Jenny.
I am hoping… we are able to get those danged tree roots out of the water feature. We’ve been adding some muriatic acid and letting it sit in the pipe behind the water feature and it does seem to be breaking the roots up more than just plain water pressure. We may conquer yet!
I am reading…
- Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom by Condoleeza Rice
- And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
I am busy creating… a material list for Lowe’s, which will include building supplies for closing in the bonus room, landscaping blocks for flower beds, cement blocks for rain barrels, and lattice for the compost bin alcove. Too bad Lowe’s doesn’t sell rain barrels! I did talk to a local rain harvesting business and while they don’t currently stock the smaller, household size barrels we are looking for, they are planning to within the next month or so. I left them my contact info and they are going to send me info about what they may be stocking. And they deliver – a very important feature.
I am hearing… the washing machine (sheets), the TV (taped Morning Joe show), and Bill talking to his Project Manager on the phone/computer. I’m never quite sure what these calls are, phone or Internet. All I know is they are sometimes quite distracting. I’m sort of looking forward to turning the bonus room into a retreat from the office noise. And also planning that enclosing the office must be done sooner, rather than later.
Around the house… not much of note, other than the floors are a disaster. Sweeping, vacuuming, mopping are all long overdue. But with all the outside yard work going on, we just keep tracking in more dirt and grass. Maybe I should just wait until winter and then sweep, vacuum, and mop? Probably not.
Around the garden… I trimmed away some of the zinnias that were dying back, but that was only a few of the profusion of zinnias growing in the raised bed. I had planned to make that a greens garden for winter again this year, but I’ve already started mustard greens, kale, and collard greens in containers, and they are growing nicely there, so now I’m thinking of putting my herbs and mints in that bed and see if they will overwinter well. I spent a lot of money on those plants and I don’t have room for them all inside. I can cover the raised bed with sheets if it gets down below freezing and also mulch well with leaves, so maybe that will be enough that the plants would survive and come back strong in the spring.
In other news… it’s the second half of September and we’re still swimming! We did take a week’s break because the pool temp dropped down around 83 degrees, but it’s now back up to 85 and those two degrees do make a big difference. The solar pool cover really has been a good investment, both in helping keep the pool warm and helping keep the pool clean.
One of my favorite things… my mom! She’s an inspiration. I hope I have half her gumption and energy and love of life when I’m her age – and that’s only 17 years away! I’m glad she’s here showing me how to embrace the latter half of life with joy and happiness. Here’s the picture I mentioned above, mom and her beau, Charlie.
Our Weekly Overview…
Karen: This week’s focus is continuing outdoor projects, a bit of housework, and getting back to catching up Quicken. I had a good start and then we went to Paris, Texas, over Labor Day weekend for a square dance event and I came home from that exhausted, only to have a lot of lawn mowing and trimming to tackle. I was sore and tired, and didn’t have the mental focus for much of anything that week. My only appointment this week is on Friday morning, visiting another Master Gardener’s garden, a revisit from the Spring Garden Tour in May.
Bill: Bill is working from home all week – daytime for pay and evening on house & yard & pool projects.
David: David has Monday & Tuesday off, works Wednesday thru Sunday. And he’s back to his old schedule of going in two hours earlier on Saturday & Sunday.
Here’s a picture thought I am sharing …
