flowers, rain, tomatoes

One last daylily and I think I’ve now shown you all the different varieties in my yard (although this last one is behind Pam’s old house so not in my yard…yet. I plan to move it).

And one last pink angel trumpet flower on the cutting I rooted but now the rangoon creeper is starting to bloom.

As usual, this post is written over several days.

Tuesday - It’s been raining for the last four days and it is raining today and will rain tomorrow. From last Saturday to Tuesday evening we got 4 1/4”. This on top of the weeks of rain we’ve already had. It was just sprinkling this morning when we got up so Minnie went out to do her business and came right back in. Cat has been pacing the room meowing at me. This is her way of telling me she wants out so I opened the back door, told her it was raining, she looked out, looked at me, backed up, and meowed. I know, but I can’t do anything about it I told her. Now I hear her in the litter box.

Last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we had intermittent showers. Monday heavy showers all day letting up now and then. The west side of the house, across the front, and the low spot in back all had standing water and the ditch was flowing about half full. 

I think this is the first day after all the weeks of rain that the ditches had water, that’s how dry it was but now the ground is truly saturated. The standing water around the house eventually soaked in and the ditch was empty this morning but sometime during the night another large dead branch fell from the water oak onto our internet cable line and dragged it to the ground. Fortunately it didn’t pull it loose so we’re still connected. Marc managed to lift it high enough by draping it over small shepherd's hook next to the water oak so we can get the car in and out.

Wednesday - You’re not going to believe this but it was raining when I got up this morning! Who’da thought? More like sprinkling but enough that neither the cat nor dog wanted to go outside. Now a few hours later, barely sprinkling but looking across the corn field it looks to be raining in earnest. 

Friday - A mysterious thing happened Wednesday afternoon, it cleared up and the sun started shining. Yay! Thursday afternoon, the sun is shining and it is brutally hot, boo. Already pining for the overcast that helped keep the temperatures down. I just can’t be pleased I guess. One thing this incessant rain has brought is the fire ants up to the surface, into the pots, into the house, and into my pants! Pulled on my capri leggings Wednesday morning that I’ve been wearing this week which were hanging on the elephant head hook in the corner above the chair that not clean but not dirty clothes get thrown on and felt a sting and then another sting and by the third sting I was shucking those leggings as fast as I could and there were ants in them. I literally had ants in my pants. They came up from an infinitesimal crack in the corner under the baseboard, up and across to the hook and into my pants. Why the fuck would they do that? I ended up with 7 bites. Also have had ants in the kitchen the past two days from a crack I had previously sealed.

A recent harvest of green beans and tomatoes. 

The green beans are still blooming. I’m getting a handful just about every day. I have 16 green tomatoes still on 3 plants and 18 either on the windowsill or in the fridge and we’re eating one or two every day. I’ll be making stewed tomatoes soon because we can’t eat them fast enough. I’ve lost 5 or 6 to splitting from all the rain

and one to some critter that took a couple of big bites out of one almost ripe hanging low. Leaf footed stink bug nymphs have finally showed up on a couple of the green tomatoes. I’ve been amazed they haven’t shown up before but they are strongly attracted to corn and since the farmer planted corn at this end of the field I guess they’ve been over there. Stink bugs inject a fluid into tomatoes and suck up the juices. It doesn't make them inedible but it does create white hard spots in the tomato that are sour. A few of the plants are still blooming but now it’s hot enough they aren’t setting any more fruit so when these last 16 ripen that will be the end and now I have to keep a close eye on them. The nymphs and stink bugs are hard to kill because if you try and smush them or spray them with insecticidal soap they just drop to the ground so I try and slide a small shallow pan with rubbing alcohol in it under the tomato they are hanging out on without disturbing them and then poke at them so they fall into the alcohol. Then I follow that up with insecticidal soap on any stragglers. 

This is long enough so I’ll stop here.