The peacock was back in the yard on Friday. Minnie wasn't exactly sure what to think of it, she kept her distance while she followed it barking, herding it out to the street while it made strange hooting calls.
It took me three days to get the yard mowed with the little electric mower with it's 14” cutting swath, or at least the 150 feet of it that the cord would reach. Really, there was only another 10 feet of so that I would have mowed. Friday I did the front, Saturday and Sunday the big backyard. Saturday was hot and humid and even though I took a water and cool down break, I got overheated. Fortunately, Sunday was cooler but it didn't stop sweat dripping off me. I'm not doing this again. Mowing is Marc's chore so if there isn't a new riding mower by the time it needs to be cut again, I'm getting the guy who cuts the shop yard to do it. The only reason I did it in the first place is because of the mosquitoes loving to hang out in the tall grass and since I'm the one that spends a lot of time outside, I'm the one they're attacking. I also got two mosquito traps (mixed reviews on if they work or not) and mosquito dunks for the four ponds and the one rain collector since it appears the minnows aren't eating the larva faster than the mosquitoes are hatching.
(most of) the big backyard
Taking the picture above, I'm standing under the magnolia tree by the corner of the garage with a maple tree and the barn to my right, there's another big pecan tree and the west flower bed to the left not shown.
Cat has decided, at least for the time being, that's she's an indoor cat. All that rain and lightning and thunder we had kept her inside and the first day or so after the last rain it was pretty wet out there. Ever since she has shown no interest in going outside. I hold the door open for her and she just looks at me like, are you nuts, I'm not going out there. Previously she would spend about half her day outside.
Yesterday I put up corn. My neighbor Jose who works on a farm came by Sunday evening with a car load of sweet corn to give away. I guess the farmer he works for sold as much as he could or maybe he just let Jose load up to distribute as he saw fit as a perk. Anyway, I took three dozen. Gave my sister and daughter half a dozen each so I have two dozen to blanch, cut off the cob, and vacuum seal in amounts of two servings. I'll also get some corn from another neighbor's brother when he harvests next. I don't buy corn from the grocery store because I don't know where it came from or how it was grown. I want to see worm damage. If a worm won't eat it, neither will I.
Corn grown the way it's supposed to be grown, worm gets some, people get the rest.
That took me basically all day, had about 5 minutes to change for yoga and just as I got in the car Abby called and asked if I would lead the class, her son wasn't feeling well, so I did that.
Some of the tomatoes are starting to show some color.
A few more daylilies.
That corn looks so delicious. I was just thinking about the corn we used to grow when we lived in a much warmer and sunnier area of California. There's nothing like homegrown corn. Yum! Your kitty cat looks so happy and content. Beautiful flowers too!
ReplyDeleteHopeful your peacock won’t make its screeching mating calls at 2am like the one in our neighborhood did. They are beautiful but the mating calls get old. I wish I had half your energy!
ReplyDeleteXoxo
Barbara
Woman! Yes! If cutting the grass is Marc's chore, make him do it. (Said the woman who rarely demands anything of her husband.) But seriously, it is too hot for anyone to be using a tiny push mower that's going to take five times as long as a riding lawn mower.
ReplyDeleteBut your yard sure is pretty.
Maybe Cat is worried about that peacock. It smells like a bird, I'm sure, but it surely does not look like one.
Good job on the corn! I just put seven pints of dilly beans in the canner. Took all afternoon.
My daylilies haven't popped yet, but I am enjoying watching my peas and beans grow. No pesticides here, either. I am ever aware of what goes in my body
ReplyDeleteYou are nothing if not busy, Ellen. I can't even imagine gardening, being outside even, in that hot Texas sun. And summer hasn't even started yet!
ReplyDeleteI love your daylilies! Such a colorful assortment. Ours are still not showing any signs of flowering.
ReplyDeleteThat is a WHOLE lot of yard to cut with a push mower. I used to cut our grass in Florida with a push mower and we had about an acre, but I was a teenager!
I can't blame that cat for wanting to be inside! She sure is a pretty one.
I was just craving some of my dad's creamed corn, which is no more. He doesn't garden anymore. He possibly still would if his second wife was still alive - she loved gardening.
ReplyDeleteYour daylilies are just the bomb. I love the variety!
Also, we got a brand new riding mower so now I can mow again. Wahoo!
I'm glad I dallied about reading and replying. The news about Ken Paxton just came down. I think we Texans finally have come to one issue we can unite around, regardless of our political beliefs; that dude is the worst, and needs to be gone. Otherwise? Corn! Tomatoes! Daylilies! As for those darned mosquitos, I got run out of the refuge last weekend. When they start clogging up my nose and mouth, that's it. I did get our my Permethrin clothing spray and treated a set of shirts and jeans. I use the Sawyer brand, and it works like a dream. Combined with Picaridin lotion and spray, it makes it possible to go into the marshes without fear. Even better, there's nothing in it that damages things like camera bodies, and that's a real plus.
ReplyDelete