We
had a whole day yesterday of not only no rain but blue sky. Today is
looking to be the same so Rocky and Gunnar arrived early and started
painting the house, leaving the concrete pillar til later I guess.
Another
day Sunday of putzing around in the house because...mosquitoes. Got
another painting hung, moved a rack from the shop over to the house
to hold the models and free up table space, and surely there was
something else though I can't remember what.
Here's
something else the rain brought out...fire ants. They've been mostly
underground during the long hot dry summer. Now I have big mounds all
over the yard so this evening will be the perfect time to douse them
with my favorite ant killer combination of Dawn dish soap and orange
oil in water. Kills the shit out of them.
It's
been two years since my friend had to move his studio and house and
brought the contents of his shop over here. That's when I gouged a
spoonful of fat and tissue out of my thigh (23 stitches) on the
corner of the tailgate of the truck loading up the landscape blocks
he was going to leave behind resulting in the Mark Of The Chicken
(for you newer readers, that's a scar mid-thigh on my left leg about
2” long in the shape of a chicken foot and yes I posted all the
gory pictures). The other thing I did then was dig up his bird of
paradise which he was also going to leave behind. I managed to get
four bulbs roots plants out mostly intact, three of which survived
and gave one to my sister. Potted mine up and moved them out in full
sun and they both sent up bloom stalks this summer. So when my phone
camera refused to focus on the rain lilies, it also refused to focus
on the emergent flower of the bird of paradise. I can't tell you how
many out of focus pictures I have of that. Well, I could but then I'd
have to count them.
Today
was devoted to, besides killing fire ants and in general wasting
time, making all the communications that had been piling up about
various matters. I also repaired the water hose after a blister
bulged out, split, and shot out a 20' geyser of water.
Yay
little repair gizmos!
Just
a few random shots of what's blooming like day lilies. I have never
ever had day lilies bloom in September and never twice in a year.
I
know I post pictures of this flower a lot when it blooms but it's one
of my favorites.
Confederate Rose? Is that the pink one?
ReplyDeleteI like the color of the house too
not confederate rose but morning glory bush. I do have confederate rose bushes but they are just now putting on buds and probably won't bloom for several more weeks.
DeletePhotos are lovely. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was reading an article about fire ants threatening horny toads in Texas. Biologist brought in a different species of ants. The new ants attack and eat fire ants (ick), so horny toads are thriving again. How do you fight fire ants?
We were thinking about moving to North Carolina, discovered there are fire ants everywhere, so erased N.C. from out list of potential retirement locations.
I use Dawn dish detergent and orange oil in water and pour it on the mound, about a half cup of soad, quarter cup orange oil per gallon (I don't actually measure it, just pour til it looks and feels right). kills them and the eggs instantly. probably doesn't get the queens unless they are near the surface. I'm not trying to eradicate them (impossible) but discourage them from popping up in my flower beds and places I walk in the yard. there's a whole big field behind me where they can live undisturbed.
DeleteLove the sagey green of the house. Is that a correct description?
ReplyDeleteYou spent far more time outside than I did today. I just can't do it until it cools down.
sounds good to me. two dry days in a row and dry today. I may try to get the weeds out of the garden and get it ready to plant.
DeleteMy day lilies bloom 3 times a year. I pull all the spent stalks out and they bloom again. It is time consuming and tedious, but they grace the front of the building and it is one of those tasks that can be accomplished on weekends while the store is open. I love all your colorful flowers!
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing and I have some that will send up another round of blooms after the first one but usually within a matter of weeks. not months later and never in September!
DeleteI love the soft green of the paint on your house, It is difficult to find the right green. I wonder if fire ants are spicy.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking it wasn't quite dark enough but I'll withhold judgement til after the other two colors are on. I do like it though.
DeleteI'm all for reclaiming the landscape with dish soap and stuff!
ReplyDeletejust trying to keep them out of the flowerbeds and yard where I walk.
DeleteThose ants are hard to kill so I suggest you bottle and sell it. Million dollar adventure. Being on a lake, I am swarmed by mosquitos so yesterday, I got one of those tennis racket looking bug killers and it worked like a charm. Completely evaporated them. It was a comfort after all the bites I've had. Progress there. I admire your get up and go.
ReplyDeleteI love that morning glory bush too - so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThat morning glory bush is just gorgeous. Love it when you post flower pix. I also love your ant kill recipe. Gonna have to try that. The color on the house is very soothing. Good for you dear lady.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing still blooming in my yard are cosmos and zinnias. The yard is too wet and mold and mildew re everywhere. Maybe next year will be better.
ReplyDeleteDay lilies now?! How weird. Ours seem completely done for the year, as usual. Those hose-repair things are pretty ingenious! I haven't seen anything like that before.
ReplyDeletethey're usually done by mid-summer. first time that they have ever bloomed in September. the hose repair thingy has an interior part that goes into each section of hose and then the clamps hold it all together.
DeleteLove the paint color you chose for the house! It occurs to me reading this that a chicken foot could look impressionistically like an inverted bird of paradise. Random, I know.
ReplyDeleteThe house is coming along nicely, great colour choice.
ReplyDelete