chattycarnation's Blog

BIL had a heart attack, prayers please
Aug 30, 2007 | 7:41 PM PST
Tags: prayers , weeds , poison ivy

I have been working off and on all day in one of my flower beds.. with a broken wrist, hot and dry summer, I had let some things just get ahead of me. I am hiring a cleanup crew for my north side of the house.. at some time or other, a little birdy left a present for me in the form of Poison Ivy.. which I am HIGHLY allergic to..

One of my friends who has a landscaping business hired some people who are not allergic and they will be here in the morning to take it out. They think they will be done in about 2 hours, so I think tomorrow afternoon or Saturday I will rent a power washer and clean my deck, house and outdoor furniture and then get busy next week staining and resealing my deck and repainting my metal furnature. Going to be busy the next few weeks  and I really need to keep busy right now to keep my mind off everything going on.

My brother in law is in serious/critical condition so we are not getting too far from home right now. He had a heart attack last week and the doctors say he has damage to about 80-85 percent of his heart! They cannot do open heart surgery on him right now.. maybe in the future, but it would be very risky so we are just praying for him to heal and be able to function. He had been having problems for awhile, but did not beleive in doctors, but he sure wishes he had had a checkup. Please keep him in prayer, his name is Andy.

Did anyone else get up at an unreasonable hour to watch the lunar eclipse??
Aug 28, 2007 | 3:44 AM PST
Tag: lunar eclipse
I have been up about 1 1/2 hours now watching the lunar eclipse.. right now from my kitchen window the moon is a weird shade of orange with a fuzzy look to it.. it is really neat!

Since my garden is fried, I am doing cleanup
Aug 28, 2007 | 3:42 AM PST
Tag: deck stain and cleaner

I think today will start my cleanup for fall.. quite early for me, but so many dead or gone by plants!! Despite high water bills, my garden looks pretty puny.

I did harverst some tomatoes and peppers and we got one cantalope.. it tasted pretty good, but hard as a rock ..LOL Many people complained at farmers market that this was just not a good year for them, next yer will be better!

I have an extensive list of things to do including restaining my deck.  First I need to clean it real good. Does anyone have a favorite cleaner that wont hurt plants?? Which sealer do you find to be the best? This will be a several week project  for me, I just cant do things as fast as I used too.. and my broken wrist, although healing makes things more difficult too.

 

 

 

We got 1/2 inch of rain yesterday!!
Aug 26, 2007 | 1:15 AM PST
Tag: grass

It is way to late to help the farmers much, but I am sure all the plants were glad to get a sip of water! The trees have been under a lot of stress and are losing leaves early this year already :(

From the looks of it, much of my grass is dead and will have to be reseeded this fall. Doenst the farmers almanac say to seed around Labor day or close to it and right before a rain? We have an acre and cannot do the proper thing by digging the old out and putting new in.. will just have to trho some seed out and hope the birds dont eat it all!! LOL

 

We got 3/10 inch of rain this morning..better than nothing!
Aug 16, 2007 | 12:01 PM PST
I am so happy we had a short shower this morning. We got 3/10''.. I know it is not even a 1/2'' of rain,and the ground is not muddy, still as hard as a rock, but it was so nice to listen to the rain for the 20 minutes it fell from the sky!

Still no rain for my county ;(
Aug 14, 2007 | 7:26 PM PST

My hubby and I were driving in a nearby county this morning and saw a farmer getting his combine ready.. that is weeks ahead of schedule for around here.. rain goes all around us, but locally for me, no measurable rainfall for weeks now. When it does rain in the central part  of the state..it is scattered and my garden and county are not on the list.

I have stopped watering my annuals, color will be gone without them, but have to concentrate on trying to save the many perennials I have in the garden. My daylillies I am hoping are just going dormant and are not dying. It looks like my hydrangeas are going to hit the dust and my maple tree that gives me the most shade is dropping leaves. I guess I will keep watering my containers, but the 100 degree weather with no rain has just cooked everything. Even my waves (which get watered daily) are waving goodbye.

Usually we mow all summer long about 2 x a week, but this year it is less than once a month! Saving on gas, but losing plants by the dozen. I pulled off all my peppers today no matter what size they were they were wilty and getting soft. Tomatoes are cooked on the vine.. so much for a continued fall harvest. Not even many people at the farmers market right now with much of anything, a few melons from a nearby county and some baked goods for the most part. :(

 

 

Brown is a color right?? LOL
Aug 8, 2007 | 2:55 AM PST
Tag: Daylily

One of the things about summer I love is the color.. and right now I am seeing way too much brown!! We can't burn the brush because it is too dry. I went out yesterday after it cooled down a little bit.. heat index was about 107 yesterday and we are in a heat advisory until tomorrow night, so wont be doing a whole lot out of doors, but my daughter is getting ready to visit my younger daughter and I have to get some plants ready to send over for a new section of garden she is starting. I finally have one of my children get interested in gardening..YEAH!

Yesterday, I dug up some daylillies, they are sure looking pitiful, even the bulbs are not nice and plump like they should be. Maybe I should fertilize them this fall?? I am afraid to do that right now, it is too hot.

She is getting starts of Star Twister, Jane Austin, James Marsh and a no name apricot. one. Also sending her some verbena and iris from her grandmother's old farm. Should get her going for now!!

 

Flowers, trees and crops showing signs of stress
Aug 4, 2007 | 7:44 AM PST

Well, still no rain for us and none really in the forcast for next week.. I think there is a slight chance of a pop up shower, but we will see..I am trying to concentrate watering on my perennials, but some are looking pretty sad. Our tomatoes cooking on the vine, the cherry tomaots are giving us a few to eat daily, but not for much longer. We might have to just go ahead and pull our tomatoes out, but we are trying to hang in there. Trees are dropping leaves already.

We have not had to mow the lawn for over 2 weeks now.. usually have to mow 2 x a week ! The weeds are evern wilty, So for now, perennials it is, but my daylillies are really drying up and I am hoping that they are just going dormant and not dying back. The farmers are really getting worried now, soybeans are not filling in and the corn shocks are curling and the bottoms fired up. Counties around us have had rain, but not here, when the rain comes it has gone mostly to the eastern part of Illinois.

Do a rain dance for us will ya??