On Puppy-less years, the front porch is pretty spectacular!; I certainly have all the FREE corn shocks I want to use, LOL!
We need rain SO badly! None in the forecast for this week, then back to the 80’s next week and also no rain. Ugh!
Decided I really DO need to mow by the weekend - just to tamp down the various weeds and crab grass in the lawn. Any weed that likes hot and dry is blooming again!
Rain again today, mostly this morning. We are not getting large amounts, but the plants are happier & it settles the dust.
Next week, there are 3 days forecast to have highs in the 60’s & lows in the 40’s. It’s getting to be time to plant the Rose of Sharon bushes - two are still blooming. The tree leaves will start turning faster - peak color should be the 21st- 28th.
We got lucky: It really looked like the NWS precipitation forecasts for the last several days were overdone, but then at the end, when it was supposed to peter out, we got a solid 1”+. So, maybe 2” overall — not enough to bust our drought, but at least it was dented a bit.
The 1st part of the Opo vine (one of the branches) that I’d sort of looped back into the ground got KO’d by that branch that came down in a storm. So much for that part of that experiment. The other spot where I did basically the same, a couple days later, looks ok, so far. I don’t know if it’s rooting or not, though. If it seems strong in a week or so, I’ll carefully dig a bit near it. The fruits continue to grow...
Lots more great clearance deals @ Wally World this last week, both the store nearest us, and the one near my Mom’s old place. The latter had a few garden items including that “Trek” repellent based on “natural” oil and such, that seems to do better at repelling gnats and small flies than DEET or Picaridin. (It’s not quite as good vs. mosquitos and ticks, tho’.) Anyway, $6 a can - not bad - I bought 4!
They also had Avia (brand) “Quickflash” sneakers for $5, originally $25. I’ve had reasonably good luck with “Avia” shoes not falling apart in 5 months, in the past, and these are comfortable and a sort of slip on design, but pretty “secure on the foot”, which I wanted (say for when I hear the chickens raising a ruckus at 3 am, and I’d better rush out quickly to see if a predator is about!) The design is strange, as these are slip-ons but also with std. laces. The laces were, well, laced incorrectly, apparently @ the factory, as all on display were the same. So, I guess that’s why the “blowout” price. I can just remove the laces if I wish.
The store near US was blowing out “nutrified” (and sort of “light”) garden soil for $2 / cu. ft. I bought 12. I wanted to pick up some raised bed soil too, marked at the same price, BUT, here’s where you have to be watchful:
Sometimes the local manager marks down stuff for clearance, and the home office thinks the price is too low and marks it back up! That goes into the local store’s computer, but may not make it back to the shelf or pallet. I ran into that with both the raised bed soil and a couple other items. SO, watch carefully as you check out @ the register!!!
I probably “could” have forced the point that the displayed price should be honored. In fact, I’ve done that in the past, but, I was short on time, and just “cancelled” those items. Who knows - the WM employee who explained what had happened also said “you never know, next week the home office might make it half that “erroneous” displayed-on-the-pallet price, next week.”