Dedicated to our new Mascot, Howard. And if you already have/had a loving dog (or two) in your life, you already ARE a Millionaire!
Posted on 08/01/2025 6:03:57 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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So far, I’ve not seen the black rat snake again, and I put our largest rooster in the shed / oversize chicken house where I saw it. That’s where I raise chicks (and I just bought some “Majesty Morans” @ Rural King, so, hopefully Mr. Rooster will do his duty if Mr.(?) snake shows up. He’s cooked, as in for our dinner, if he doesn’t!) (The chicks are in large dog cages the roo can’t get in to, until they get a little bigger. They are just about ready to “fly”, so, Rural King had them at half price. That roo is kinda old and slow, so, in another week or two, I doubt he could catch them.)
Happy Labor Day Weekend, All!
Don’t “labor” too much!!! :-)
I used to make my own crust from scratch. Now I just buy Rhodes bread dough. 4 or 5 frozen loafs in a package. Less money, less ingredients. I take one loaf out the night before, put it in a food storage bag and leave it out on the counter. It thaws, and rises in the bag and is ready to roll out and put the toppings on. I sprinkle with granulated garlic first.
Not EVEN $10 if you’ve been saving chicken parts. ;)
Thanks for the reminder - I have two ‘spent’ chickens in the freezer and all kinds of veggie trimmings to use to make stock; soup weather will be here before you know it!
‘Mom’ introduced me to a seasoning called, ‘Vegeta.’ I’ve been adding it to my chicken stock and it really, ‘kicks it up a notch’ to quote Emeril Lagasse. ;)
Dedicated to our new Mascot, Howard. And if you already have/had a loving dog (or two) in your life, you already ARE a Millionaire!
LOL! :)
It could be worse, Augie. She could kill the dog and take you to the pound.
Much cooler weather here. FINALLY, and some rain in the forecast.
I still have some seedlings to get out, hopefully in the next day or two, mostly cool weather crops but a few beans I don’t expect much out of unless we have a nice warm fall.
Boxwoods (actually 3 gallon size) in their new home, lavender in a new raised bed home. This is the better of the two lavenders - looks ok, but it's dying off from the bottom. Better draining soil should help the lavenders, if they survive. It needs cutting back, but it's still got good blooms, so not quite time yet.
My best dahlia bloom to date - first 2 were missing petals. I have 3 other plants with buds & the blooms should be different. The lavender is my cheap plant from Walmart. It started blooming almost as soon as I planted it & has been blooming all summer. I wish I knew what it was - gorgeous color.
It’s all looking so nice! You and your plants are settling in nicely. Love seeing all of your progress!
Well, I’ve been up since 5am. My back is out, so that shoots a hole in whatever I wanted to accomplish today - including the Pig Roast! Grrrr!
I’ll still send my ‘dish’ with Beau and I’m sure he’ll bring home some pork for me.
Mom & Crew are coming out tomorrow to raid what’s left of the garden and have BLTs for lunch. They’re going to have to live with a messy house and un-swept floors - it usually takes me a day to get through this.
The frustrating part is that there’s never any rhyme or reason as to when my back will go out. Frustrating! I did my stretches and it feels better when I keep moving - kinda hard to do at 5am in the house - there’s only so many places I can go! Icing later then more stretches then some Icy Hot. Beau is here through Monday so I am hoping for a massage with our big massage machine.
No spasms, so there’s that! Wish me luck!
You have my sympathies on your back situation. Mine was grumbling big time yesterday & after transplanting the lavender, I took a break, then took an hour break between boxwoods. If the grumbles turn into spasms, I’m toast for at least 3-5 days.
I was in the recliner last evening & mom asked if my back was hurting & I told her “only when I move”. I ‘might’ try planting the Cinnamon Heart rose this evening depending on how the day goes (church at 10, potluck following for starters). After yesterday, I’m down from 15 to only 11 holes to dig!
I’m starting to see hints of ‘color’ on some of the trees - this is 3-4 weeks before we would see color at the old home. Fall is about a month earlier, Spring a month later. With the grass slowing down & making progress on digging holes, I won’t know what to do with myself when there’s no mowing or hole digging to be done! Maybe build a chicken tractor? I haven’t given up on that idea yet :-)
Good luck with the back - hope it resolves quickly.
Yep, I have one of those spots. Seems like just taking a step will trigger it.
I used to get back problems once in a while. It turns out it came from turning awkwardly to gaze out the window from the couch to see what animal was outside the window while sitting on the couch.
Ever since we got rid of that sofa and replaced it with two big comfy chairs, the problem has disappeared! My new chair is closer to the window.
Seriously though, I hate back pain. Or pain of any kind. Rest up and I hope you feel better soon!
P.S. My cold is still with me, though gets a little better each day. I hope I can go work outside for a little bit today. I just need a little more energy.
Love your dahlia! I don’t have much luck with them. Beautiful though!
Your lavender is a reminder to me that I need to incorporate those somewhere in the meditation garden plan.
Your place is coming along!
Just got home from church & when I put the car in the shop garage, I made the rounds to check on my plants.
I was pleasantly surprised to see the better of the two lavenders “sitting up” rather than sprawled out on the ground! It looked much happier than it did yesterday in its old spot. I trimmed the other lavender back so that got it ‘upright’ instead of sprawling.
If you get English lavender, here’s a good article on pruning, the one I am using as a reference for my English Hidcotes:
https://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/absolutely-best-way-prune-english-lavender-beautifully/
Thank you! I think the lavender I bought a year ago was French. I didn’t trim it back and it never resprouted. So this year I didn’t plant any. I planted some French tarragon in its place and it’s doing fine.
I think next year I will try some lavender, lemon verbena, and maybe lemon thyme over in the meditation garden for fragrance. I want to make it a nice spot to go over and read and think. It has the bones for that kind of spot.
The Monarch caterpillar I rescued has turned into its J formation. My neighbor periodically asks me how it’s going. She said it’s like waiting for a baby to be born. It sort of is! I hope it is a successful pupation.
All 10 of the black swallowtail caterpillars in the herb garden ‘disappeared’. They had eaten all of the leaves on the lovage & were clinging to the stalks when I last saw them. I suspect some bird spotted them & had a feast - they’re not toxic.
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