FishinBC's Blog
FishinBC's posts about: dogs
Aug 19, 2007 | 4:20 AM PST
Tags: No Rain , Tomatoes , Cukes , Fall Garden , Internet , Dogs
Well we are suppose to have an 80 percent chance for rain today. Keeping my fingers crossed becaused I have really not watered much the last two days. Will get out this morning and wet some of the containers down real good.
My little old neighbor gave me a beautiful plant. She said it is swedish ivy, but this thing is no ivy. I will take some pix when the sun comes up and see if you all can help me figure out what this thing is.
The internet police at the office has blocked ALL but necessary websites. So I am unable to check GG in the mornings or at lunch. I am going to start carting my personal laptop to the office. I only peek in on MY time so there!!! Not like I don't do my work and 5 other peoples everyday!! Okay enough bellyaching. I know I sound bitter.
My fall beans are up and my beets are up. Too hot still for anything else and the clock is ticking. Might be all we get out of the fall garden. My cukes have a few more small ones left, but I am not seeing any new flowers and I think they are about finished up. Maters ripening all over the place and I have been living on toasted mater sandwiches for days. No problem there I love eating them that way. Though the boys will be glad when they are done. Because at least three times a week I tell them it is "fend for yourself night"! They don't eat maters like I do.
Well the dogs are up and giving me the evil eye. They want their trip to the lake and then we will come home and water, pray for rain and does anyone have a spare snake? Want to try out Angels grandfather's method for getting rain.
P.S. I posted some pix of the mystery plant in the General Discussion Forum.
Aug 9, 2007 | 12:06 PM PST
Tags: Groundhogs , Critters , Border Collies , dogs
We came home last night to find Robdog working the fence around the veggie patch. Something had his attention and he was not about to let it out of there. When most border collies are working their front end is low to the ground, tail down, and they don’t make a sound. Rob was in full BC crouch and strong eyeing something. I asked hubby to go make sure it was not a snake, before I would go near. Noticed one of the potted tomatoes was decimated. Don’t think snakes like tomatoes. We called Rob off and the culprit stuck his head around the raised bed, biggest ground hog I have ever seen.
Mind the veggie patch is chain link all the way round, so Rob could not get to him. I solved that problem by opening the gates to the patch and had Rob “come bye” around the bed and flush this big brown furry thing out of my garden!! Don’t think the groundhog had ever been herded like a sheep before. But it didn’t take him long to figure out that Rob was trying to push him out the gate and on to freedom. He went on his way at a good clip and I hope never to return.
Rob has taken up serious garden patrol. “Mom, that was fun and a lot bigger than those puny squirrels.” Had to give him a “That’ll Do” just to get him to come in and eat this morning, but right back out he went to take up his post by my tomatoes. GOOD DOG!! Rob herding and me grinning like a stupid idiot watching my dog do what he was meant to do.
Jul 27, 2007 | 8:07 AM PST
Tags: Patio , Dogs , Daylily , Fall Veggies
Not really a lot to report. Just the dog days of summer and the regular chores. Hubby cut the grass last night and we added all the clippings to the compost pile. I added more browns to even out the mixture. Picked eight ripe yellow and red tomatoes, some peppers, two cukes and one zucchini last night. We will have them with dinner this evening.
The new raised bed will finally be complete this weekend and will start prepping for a fall crop. I am looking at broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and peas and want to get some garlic in to winter over.
I have another daylily that has bloomed this one is called “Fall Embers”. It’s very pretty and I will try to post a photo if the bloom hasn’t faded by the time I get home.
We got a new patio table and six chairs last night at Wally World. They are marking stuff down now. Nothing fancy just stained pine, but we needed a bigger table and more chairs. Never have an enough room for everyone on the small one we have had since we got married. I gave the table a coat of Australian timber oil to protect it and will do the chairs tonight when we get home. The table looked nice this morning when I checked it to see if it had dried. We will christen it tomorrow with a BBQ on the deck with friends.
Missy Blue Eye, Briar Rose has me a little worried. We think she had a seizure last night. She has been on Phenobarbital four years after having cluster seizures a month after we adopted her. We have been seizure free until last night. Called the vet and she said one breakthrough seizure is not a big deal but if she has another we need to go in and have her phenol levels checked. This was a small one no thrashing, just clacked her teeth together and it only lasted seconds. But you could tell that electricity was firing off in her brain and she was hot an acting drunk for a bit afterwards. Always keep vanilla ice cream in the house just in case, it speeds recovery and helps cool them down. She enjoyed her treat though.
Jul 20, 2007 | 6:58 AM PST
Tags: veggie , Pond , Daylilies , Squash Vine Borers , Tomato , Cukes , Zukes , raised beds , Banana Peppers , dogs , racoons , birds
Still dry but we are supposed to get some rain this afternoon. I should have watered last night but was just too tired. Been fighting a summer cold and trying to convenience myself I am not going to catch it. I am sure it will sneak up and bite me sooner or later. I don’t have time to be sick!
Gave some more pond plants away. I potted up some off shoots of the lotus and four leaf clover, added some hyacinths, water lettuce and gave them to a co worker who just put in a pond. My pond is still full!! Loads of lilies still blooming, but nothing from the lotus yet.
We will get the new raised bed up this weekend and do the soil prep, to have it ready for a fall veggie planting. Want to do some peas and beans and more greens. My yellow tomatoes have been the best producers so far. They sure are yummy. The red varieties are producing, just not as big or as many. I think the vine borers have finally discovered my zukes, I have two plants withering that I will pull out tonight. L Cukes are still doing great and I have one with dinner every night. I think the heat is starting to get to the peppers. The banana peppers are curling. I have been checking to be sure that they have adequate even water. Any suggestions?
More of the new daylilies are getting ready to bloom. These should be the Crimson Shadows. I have to late season ones that I hope will bloom also. One is called Late Embers and the other Fall Pink Melon. The two blooming now are called Go Figure.
Have the inevitable weed pulling and deadheading to do as well. Been lazy about the weeds in the flowerbeds with heat we have been having. The black and white brigade has been promised a trip down to the lake in the morning, so we will be up before the heat and I will have no excuses after that. The boys will be good and tired after a swim and Briar will have a good long ball session. They deserve it after being put aside a bit while company’s been here.
Rob now has the timing of the raccoon family’s visits down. They show up on the deck at about 5am every morning now and he knows it. No barking this morning, he just sat at the sliding glass door to watch them eat their breakfast. The babies are growing fast. Got a couple of dark pix of them this morning and will try to get them posted tonight.
The bird feeders have been really busy in the evenings. I am seeing a lot more indigo buntings this year. Not sure if there are more than normal or I am just providing a better seed selection. Must make some more of Gene’s suet for the pileated woodies. They are now daily visitors too.
Jun 7, 2007 | 11:40 AM PST
Tags: veggies , dogs , hawk , tomato , Squirrels , Bird Feeder , decks
Summer is coming on fast here. We have been pushing toward the 90’s all week. Expecting severe storms tonight with wind and hail. Hope things don’t get too bad.
Finally beat the squirrels to some of the ripe strawberries; they were few but very yummy. The squirrel trough is working wonders and they haven’t been in my pots all week!! Of course I had to make a run to Wally World for more seed. But that’s okay. (posted a photo in my profile of the trough)
My best friend and two of the three Calif kids are coming for July 4th week!! Our younger daughter can’t make it because of summer college classes. (boohoo) I am so excited and have begun planning for the week. When I planted the petunia bed I was hoping they would be coming so I put in white, blue, red, red & white and blue & white petunias. I am still the crazy holiday decorator and the kids will get a kick out of it. I have been picking up little things here and there to decorate with also. Flags and buntings and patriotic garden stakes. I am going to replant the pots and baskets on the deck with red, white and blue this weekend so that they are well established for the party. I can’t wait to see my friend and the kiddos!!
The decks still are not restained! Every time we go to start on them it rains again. At this rate they will never get done. Got them cleaned and sanded but can’t stain until they are completely dry for a day at least. I am ready to give up and just paint away.
We took the black and white brigade for a long walk last night. Old Buddy is noticeably slowing down and that kind of worries me. He is a dear old soul and I knew at his age taking him into our pack would not be forever. At least he is loved and comfortable and will enjoy what is left of his life. Think we will go for a check up just to make sure he is doing okay. As long as he let’s me know life is still worth living we will let him enjoy what is left of it. (You can read Buddy’s story under my profile.)
The veggie garden grows and grows. I have one mater starting to blush! I can almost taste them as I check the plants for more fruit. I know it sounds crazy but I love the smell of tomato plants!! Lots of squash blooms and noticed a few cuke blooms last night. Got the rest of my bean starts out last night when I got home. Noticed that one bell pepper plants dropped three peppers. The whole stem of the peppers were yellowed and laying at the base of the plant. I am hoping it is only the result of the pounding rain we had and not something else. The banana peppers are all doing well though. Next year definitely calls for a larger veggie garden, that is all there is to it.
Harrison paid a visit this morning. He roosted on the tomato trellis and sat watching over my garden. I thanked him and wished him a good day before I left for the office. Couldn’t ask for a better scare crow or squirrel patrol than a red shouldered hawk!
May 21, 2007 | 12:30 PM PST
Tags: Birds , Deck , Daylilies , veggies , dogs
What a beautiful weekend!!! Lot’s of sun, perfect temps and best of all no humidity.
The rest of the daylilies I ordered came Friday night by the UPS man. The dogs were out front with me when he delivered the flowers. He gave them all a cookie, said he keeps them in his truck because some dogs aren’t very nice to guys that they think are mailmen. He got a big kick out to the black and white brigade, all three sitting at the same time and looking up at him when they realized he had treats. He said he wished all dogs were so polite to him!
I got brave and decided to give the dogs their lion cut for the summer. Left their manes, front leg feathers and tails. I hate doing it and hate how they look but I know they feel better with all that hair off.
I got busy at 7AM Saturday morning prepping the bed I put the daylilies in. Put some more mulch around the pond where it was wearing thin from the traffic to the hose bib. Hubby cut the grass and then we gave everything a good watering.
The veggie patch is growing, we had our second salad out of the garden and there are loads of maters. Yummy. I staked and tied of the green beans and caged the tomatoes that I have in containers because they are starting to get big. My carrots tops are growing but there isn’t a lot of activity happening under ground. Is that normal? Never planted carrots before. Lot’s of blooms on the bell peppers and a couple of peppers well on their way.
The pond is off and running again. Everything is coming in great. The lotus is filling in and the four leaf clover is ALL over. We had one lily and my hyacinths are making little hyacinths already. No blooms yet on the cannas but they are growing nicely. All but one of the 25 cent gold fish dozen made it. They are growing fast and giving the four big fish a run for their money. We had zillions of tadpoles a couple of weeks ago but no signs of tadpoles and no little frogs at all. I think the fish have been eating tadpoles; the new fish sure are growing fast!
After doing some shopping I spent the rest of the afternoon watching the birds between loads of laundry. The blue jay pair has three fledglings and their wings and beaks are busy keeping their brood fed. The whole family spent most of the afternoon in the trees near our deck. I never realized that they would feed their young from my feeders. I guess I would use any resource I could if I was in their position. The young were certainly demanding. I also wonder if they are teaching them to come to the feeders. I guess that is possible. The cat birds are actually visiting my feeders as well. That is a first, normally I see them down in the blackberries but they have never come to the deck before. The rest were the usual crowd.
Sunday afternoon we started in on sanding the deck and prepping for re-staining. I am very sore this morning but the hard work will pay off. Just a bit more sanding to finish and we will be ready to stain. I am taking Thursday and Friday off this week and will start on the lower deck. Hubby is off Friday and will help finish up then. Other than the decks and the shed cleaning, which still needs to be done, I think we are almost ready to take a break from all the work and finally sit and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
May 3, 2007 | 7:33 AM PST
Tags: veggie , birds , Squirrels , dogs
Lots of good steady on and off rain for the last couple of days. The veggies and flowers are loving it. By Saturday, we are supposed to be in the mid 80’s and tons of sun. We have quite a few small tomatoes and tons of blooms. My spinach and lettuce is growing like crazy and I put in another row of lettuce seed. The radishes and carrots are up and going to town too. The peppers have a lot of new foliage and are showing signs of blooming soon. Onions are plumping and the cukes are happy in there new bed.
All the daylilies, dahlias and lilies I planted are all up and doing well. Columbines are still blooming like mad. My new shade bed looks so nice, it really added to the front of the house. The pond side of the front was so busy and this side was a brick wall with a couple of windows. I just need to find something to put in there for winter interest. Is there a holly that does well in part sun? Pictures of all will be posted as soon as the rain let’s up enough to get some good photos.
The sod is well established now and looking wonderful. It will get its first haircut this weekend. Still need to finish the edging around the grass and ring the last of the trees with stone.
Went out front and sat in the rocker to watch the hummer wars last night. We have three feeders in the front and one little guy that takes up a position in the tree where he can guard all of them. I watched as he sat scanning the area, his little head swing back and forth, determined to catch any others trying to steal from his treasure. As the interlopers flew in, he was quick to strike, diving from his perch onto his unsuspecting victims. He successfully knocked one opponent to the ground. After each attack, he then proceeds to test a sip from each of the three feeders to be sure that all is well. I think I will get some S hooks to hang a couple of the feeders from the trees further apart in the yard, so that others have a better chance at a drink.
Anyone need a few squirrels? GRRRRR!!! Went out to the deck to check on my herbs and other pots and the buggers had dug in every single pot on the deck. Oh! And they somehow managed to get to my hanging basket of strawberries and ate every one of those too!! Told DH I needed a gun. He looked at me and said, “What did you do with my wife?” Teehee!
This morning I loaded the deck railing with peanuts and bird seed and hope that will keep them busy enough today and keep them out of my flower pots. I just bought a new finch feeder because they ate the plastic one. I think I have peeved them off, because this one is metal and they can’t get to the seed and they’ve taken revenge on me. I need a dog door to put in the sliding glass door to the deck and post Rob there during the day; he’d take care of them for me. You know that’s not a half bad idea really!
