This and That and Some More

This morning I went out to make some pictures. I did discover that if your camera is anywhere close to the AC vent and you take it outside in the 70F degree heat the lense will fog, therefore, some of my pictures are not all that good. I had to snap a picture, wipe off the lense and try for another one. Didn't always work. I missed a shot of a redthroated hummingbird. He was buzzing around the Hollyhocks and Lavender but before I could get a focus on him he was gone.

The stonecrop is beginning to look like autum is somewhere in the wings waiting.

I love the silvery colour of sage and the spiderwort has bloomed again.

The Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida) was just a tiny sprig when I put it out this spring. It seems to enjoy full sun. I only recently discovered that it and spiderwort of of the same family.

Not sure the name of this little lilly. My mother had this for many years after a neighbor gave her a start. She always called it her "little pink lily". My sister gave me a pot of it last fall since I had lost all of mine several years ago and it has bloomed all summer if I give it a drink everyday.

My cypress vine has taken over the stump and is trying to cover everything on the ground. The hummingbirds love it. I hate to cut it back but I think I am going to have to rescue some of the plants

There were lots of honey bees around the cleomes this morning but you can't see them in the pictures.

I'm not sure planting them around the mailbox was such a good idea but they sure seem to like it there.

Someone was Hungry

My sweetpotato was doing fine and when I came home about six o'clock it had all it's leaves and vines. About 2 hours later when I went outside this is what I found. Apparently the groundhog was very hungry. I saw him just the other day as he was scurring across the yard. He is very well fed. About a week ago he dined on one of my large dahlias that was just getting ready to bloom. Considering the fact that he appears (from his rotund size) to have a large appetite I consider myself lucky that he has not done more damage.

Flowers, flowers and more

This is the only one that came back. I bought some more this year so hopefully next spring will bring many more.

Crocosmeia

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we seek to...
Cypress vine. Hummingbirds love it.

One of my most liked flowers - the hydrangea

These blackeyed Susans were a wonderful surprise when they appeared.

Touch-me-nots have always been favorities of my kids and grandkids. The seed pods are wonderful entertainment.

These bees were busy collecting pollen from this large sunflower.

Here are a few pictures of the new garden I have been working on. It is just outside my back door and is doing beautifully. By next year everything should really have filled in and look very nice.

Right side of path with lavender and daisies.

Left side with coreopsis anddelphinium/larkspurs.

The eggplant has really not done very well so I relocated it here.

"Water, Water Everywhere & Not A Drop To Drink"

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of my favorite classic tales and on August 5th the "Water, water everywhere..." described the scene outside my office building.

I was on vacation for a week which was really great. On Monday August 4th I came back to work. That was just a regular workday.

Then came Tuesday, August 5th. The two pictures below show the stree in front of my office building about an hour after I arrived.

As I was driving in there was this black cloud that was directly in front of me. It was black and there was a green look to it - as a child I was taught that if the cloud looked "green" it almost always meant that there was going to be hail involved. Anyway, still a good distance from work I considered going back home because there was this "feeling". Next time I will head my "feeling". I arrived at the office at 8:20 am. Within minutes it was almost as dark as night outside and I could hear hail hitting the windows. Then came the rain - 6.5 (16.5 centimeters)inches of rain in about an hour. We watched it flood the street in front of the building and then it blew the covers off the sewers and it was like a huge wave that moved higher and higher until it was up over the parking meters.

My car, along with many more was in the way of this wave of sewage, and needless to say flooded. By the time I realized the water wasn't going to stop before it got into the parking lot I couldn't get to the car to move it. Well anyway my car made national news on the weather channel.

The fire department had to bring in boats to evacuate some of the people. My sister and daughter had to be evacuated to the second floor of the building next door, then after is stopped raining and the water began to go down the grounds people took them out to a local business so that they could get a ride home.

Needless to say, my car has been totaled.

Digging in Rocks and Dirt

Yesterday was a beautiful day and for mid-July here in Kentucky it was about 10 degrees cooler than normal. The high was only 70F. Actually we broke the record of the coolest July I8 which was set (I believe in 1948) of 71F. I worked outside all day, dug out some of the pavement and put in the larkspurs, I need to find more if the markets still have them for sale. The ones I put in have already finished blooming and look a bit ratty but that's OK. I also added the sand and stepping stones for a path thru this garden. The other side of the path will be herbs since this plot is just outside the back door and very convenient to the kitchen. In the center of the herb portion I want to install some type of ornament, perhaps an old hand pump once used to pump water from the well. I have seen these used as fountains but I'm not going this route. Water features are just too much trouble for me.

Hopeful

I've been a bit out of touch these last few days. Have been working on my house. It's suppose to be quite hot here tomorrow but I have tons of things that need to be done outside. Guess I'll be up early and out before it gets in the upper nineties. Gardening in that heat is not my cup of tea. I want to get beds made for the larkspurs but that may not all happen. We will hope for the best. Next week we are suppose to have off and on rain several days so that would be good it I could get the plants in the ground

Objects are Closer Than...

Let me introduce Mr. Doodles. I walk out to the car, purse over my shoulder, lunch and briefcase in one hand, a cup of coffee and some papers in the other along with the car keys. After some juggling I reach to open the door and out of nowhere this thing flies in my face. I duck and yell, spill my coffee (luckily not on myself) and try to wave away whatever it is. Then I realize it's a BIRD. He hops onto the windshield and glares at me. My mirror, where he was perched is covered in doodle and all the way down my door. If I open the door will he fly into the car? I put down my lunch and brief case and fling the papers at him, but he just darts over to the other side mirror and looks at himself. Quickly I open the door and toss my things inside. As I close the door he's back and in my face. It's like he's saying "Lady, this is my perch. You deal with it." I go around get in on the driver side. He's still sitting on the passenger side mirror looking at himself. It's like "OK, Bird, Let's see how you like the carwash." He flies off before I pull out of my drive. When I came home from work I tied a plastic bag over the mirrors. Hopefull this will keep Mr. Doodles from doodling on my car again. I'm thinking he is twitterpatted (Remember in Bambi, Owl tells Bambi, Thumper and Flower that the birds were twitterpatted?) with the reflection of himself. Anyone know what type of bird he might be? I know that it would be hard to tell from the angle of the first picture so here's a better view.