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dbjc364's August 2010 Entries

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Aug 27, 2010 | 1:58 AM PST
Tag: clean-up time..
for the next 7 days they say. Summer is back but without all the high humidity.One of the projects I'm working on is cleaning-sprucing up of my garden shed.Now that all the bigger power & garden tools are gone into the addition,I have my shed back.Washing the floor, windows,vacumming,moving the potting tables around,hanging stuff.The windows never got finished on the outside with paint,and the inside never got to at all when we built it.So I've got the primer,brush,sanding paper and whatever tools I need to do that out there.The deck chairs arent heavy,so they can be hung up on large hooks out of my way in late fall. Jims old 10-speed bike he hasn't ridden for 20 yrs.came down,and on the garage sale it went.I have no doubt that my project wont get finished this year but I'll make more progress anyways.And I'll be able to walk right in there in April,and start right in getting my potting soil containers ready without climbing over anything.It might be so nice I'll want to live out there.Because of the lack of rain this year-our spider count on the house is up.So he has to tackle that again this weekend.I have far less on the shed,thats why I might go live out there,as I dont like spiders.On the backside,in full sun,where I outlined a bed with rocks,but thats as far as I got,I'll remove them to start on another side in the shade for my shade plants.Jim will till that up for me on Sat. morning,and I can start moving the plants.In the front where its difficult to mow because of the ramp,he might as well till that up for me too,and I'll lay the landscape fabric to kill the grass & keep the weeds down,and make 2 small beds flanking,and I know for sure it wont get planted till spring.I'm not sure but it seems that the ramp is no longer needed now..but planning on a step.Seems like its taking up alot of space for nothing,as well as making the mowing more difficult,and the rider will no longer be stored in there.Jims got 3/4 of his tractor bay space back,as I've been moving Dads stuff into his own bay.Two long shelves are needed for Dad-then I can finish unpacking his boxes,and give Jim back his needed space.I'm spending a whole lot of time moving stuff around these days it seems,I hope most of it gets situated,so I can move on to better things.Another thing that I like to do is painting or refinishing a piece of furniture.I have a cabinet that needs to go out to the garden shed, and get it out of jims garage workshop,and I can work on it out there.Now I'll have plenty of room to work on it without all the garage dust blowing on it too.More shelving went up for the garage sale,and I think thats all the wall space I have.This week will probaly be the last chance to take a swim,as the water will chill off quick with the cool nights.Labor Day weekend, we usually spend a day & night with his sister at camp.He got his fishing license this week,and us ladies usually go to yard sales for a few hours,take a nap, while the guys fish.I hope thats a good weather weekend also.It rained the other day for 24 hrs straight and everything got a good drink of water-but the grounds still too dry.The blueberries are done for this year,I gave mom the last of the cukes for pickles,and now picking the tomatoes.Probaly this week will pick the watermelons as the plants are dying back anyways with all the cool nights we've had.Time to empty the containers of dirt,and start getting the beds in shape again.

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Ok, I learned my lesson-

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Aug 22, 2010 | 2:42 AM PST
Tag: everything is shaping up..
to not put clothes outside on the table on a yard sale.Even with a tarp, they got wet thru the weeks of being out there.So my daughter did 4 loads of yard sale laundry,and we threw away 2 bags.Now,Jim will build us more shelves,and another narrow table to go down the center of the bay,but easy to take apart for the winter when they all go in totes.Jim worked on the shed floor,leveling that,adding dirt,in between helping us move the bigger stuff from Dads bay to the yard sale, and breaking down lots of boxes.We were all out there from 10-5 p.m.tagging,wiping stuff down and finding a spot for it.Since its raining today,I wont open unless it clears this afternoon,but work out there doing more straightening up and more tagging.The mower rider {my chariot},is now parked in its new home.Now- I can work on moving tools and filling it.The cucumber plants put out all they were going to, and the plants were dying back,so we picked all there were-another 10-and pulled up the plants for the compost. The biggest one,must have gotton missed by a picking, measured 11 inches,9 inches around.I took pics of the funny bugger,and I'll take them to moms as she wanted to make one batch of pickles.I have a wonderful thick batch of Morning Glories climbing up, and should be getting some flowers in a few days.Whenever we get any rain,whatever stopped blooming,starts blooming again.The daughter and I also dug up a 1/4 of a 5 gal bucket of potatoes to give away.She must have had a fire under her butt yesterday-because thats the first day I've seen her work that much,and for that long & that much. She hopped in the raised bed barefoot and went to town digging.I told her she would really like squishing grapes with her feet then.She's planning on another round today.I have lots of repeat customers because they all know I have no less than 20 totes yet to empty,and now another household added to the mix, so they keep checking back,as we get more stuff out there.The fellas' garage sale across the street is moving, and a used car dealer coming in-so the daughter thinks we'll do better and a different batch of people.A favorite-junk shop/yard sale place I like to go has relocated to another spot-this one much bigger,and I stopped and got a huge hunk of fabric for 2 of my projects for $4.50.The rest will go on my sale after I'm done with it.I got a good bowlful of tomatoes picked,and another batch ready to pick tomorrow.Another week of sunshine they're saying,and the humidity has finally gone away for good it looks like...

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A strange but nice summer,,,

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Aug 18, 2010 | 2:53 AM PST
Tag: apple crisp coming up..
Our summer season is winding down.I picked a batch of 30 cukes last night,probaly another 6-8 more to go from what I saw.What an awesome cuke year for us!The watermelon is good,but after never growing watermelon,I should have left it alone for at least a few more days,as it needed to be sweeter just a little bit more.The next five coming I wont be in a hurry.Its hard to tell when to pick them.The tendrils were turning brown already.I harvested a big colander of potatoes,and we had a roast with baby carrots and spuds,which were yummy too.I have to give away these cukes or they'll go bad,but I have enough neighbors nearby,maybe some of them don't have gardens.Hard to believe,but some people just don't get into it.We've got Dad all moved in.Yesterday I went and picked out the lineoleum for the floor,on the other side of town,my guys came and picked it up with the truck, and by late afternoon installed it.Jim hadn't had a chance to go for a swim at all this summer-I've only been once.We took a few needed hours off,and packed the cooler/beach things and headed for the lake,about 20 min drive.The water was great,rented a paddle boat to take a spin for an hour,as Landon had never sat in a boat.He has his Spiderman fish pole and didnt catch anything but its good practice for casting, and man can he cast,as well as he can throw a ball.Ok- we're gonna have to take him fishing very soon again-and maybe another swim.The house has been a good bit of a wreck with boxes-bags,clothes and suitcases,but after getting the floor down we started moving it into the bedroom, and cleared up the living room in no time.We'll move the bedframe in for him this morning,as he wants something to work on today,while we're at our jobs.The grass needs mowing,started wacking last nite till I spotted all the cukes,then got sidetracked-so I can get back to that this afternoon.The days are still running hot-80*,with some humidity-but nothing like July was.The 1st light bill for summer was $150 of air conditioning,the next one wont be as bad.Thats been our highest yet living here.The nights are nice and cool-50-60*.The tomatoes are in various stages,and right now anyways,not too many all at one time.Whatever bothered the carrots before has moved on, and their doing great.I think I counted 6 Leek plants that I'll leave till next summer.Since our season started early this year-the first batch of apples are ready for picking in the orchards.Thats weird to be still swimming and picking apples at the same time.Some rain forecasted for this week,but another nice weekend ahead so far,and if it doesnt rain this weekend, we'll open the garage sale again.

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I'm still recouping from the last load..

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Aug 13, 2010 | 3:22 AM PST
Tag: purple cone flowers
and thought we were done.Before I walked out,I said to Dad" I think its another load.He said no way-I can handle whats left,there aint much.He called a few days ago-Yup,I was right,there's another load.He can fit his bed-kitchen table-2 chairs,big tv,in his truck,but not all of the 16 boxes that are to come also.We dont need to take the trailor,just the truck,but I'm wondering if we can get by with using the car now,so I'll have to call him.The trailor is still full,waiting to be emptied,but the shed is almost done now.Jim cut out the 2 small windows,put up the trim board,and we need to call for some gravel.I'll do one more coat on the trim board before the gutter goes back on.I expect another 3 weeks puttering before we're all done with that for this year,and I can actually put stuff in there.Not sure if I'll get those last 2 windows painted though.The flower boxes made it till just after the wedding,now their fried with the heat of the summer.The mums are in the nurseries now,and I'd like to find some time to plant them up.I haven't had Landon full time since spring since his mom got laid off,and he starts kindergarden this fall.Since life was too hectic while I was taking care of him, I gave up one of my clients 2&1/2 yrs ago.She called last week needing someone to come in. I told her since I dont have Landon full time anymore-I could now pick up where I left off,and she was quite happy.If and when the daughter goes back to work-I'll bring him to school-and pick him up,but that leaves the day to get done what I need to.Then 2 more phone calls came in for outside jobs.Thats 5 times this week,I'm elsewhere,and thats a bit more than I like to do right now.I should be happy I'm working,but right now I'm just tired,and want it to slow down just a wee bit-or just simply be done with moving dad would be good.I'm certainly not going to take on anymore at this point.The tomatoes are still ripening very slowly,picking cukes to beat the band,and just a couple-? more days till we're eating our 1st watermelon.Its time to harvest the remaining garlic and start beefing up the soil for the next crop.The days are August hot now,with some humidity but not as bad as it was,but the nights are much cooler.Even the weeds in the flower beds have finally slowed down as I have cutting the grass.I keep getting the feeling that winter is going to roll in sooner this year-August is normally our month for our prepping,since it seems it takes us so long to secure for winter.A quick morning check of the tomatoes before we head out for that last load.Those Rudebeckia's are extremely tall this year-but the blooms are much smaller,and I dont have the ususal big clump of Purple Coneflowers either,and the blooms aren't as stunning.But other stuff seemed to do extremely well,like a huge leap in growth with my shrubs of Weigala, Forsythia,Rhodes,Dogwood,St John's Wort,Pussy Willow and the Blueberries.

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Coming along nicely in the heat

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Aug 7, 2010 | 1:59 AM PST
Tag: dog days...
of the summer.Too hot-hitting 92*.This weekend its suppose to get quite chilly like fall,then next week its back to summer again.We need a few cooling off days.My cukes are producing wonderful though,tomatoes are turning red,I dug up 3 potato plants to give my brother a pile.My dad along with a passion for antiques,was also a painting contractor for most of his adult life.He's been retired for quite some time now,{78} but doesnt sit still for too long.He got the job to paint out the apartment that he's leaving,which was no surprise since he's done the ones that needed it in the apartment building.The boss just asked him to do another before he bugs out to come here,so he's staying a few more days-but with only the very barest of essentials. He says he's ruffed it out before. My brother will go down and give him a hand at the beginning of the week.Up here,the painting is just about wrapped up now,today we rent a floor sander,and Jim picked up the "Rubbermaid Closet system" for me.I have a small shelf unit to redo the color on, and hang that.His delay gives us a few more days to get farther along,which works out pretty good-otherwise he'll sleep upstairs till its finished.I've pulled up the spent string bean plants-garlic & onion ends to put in the compost.I have the 2 big tomato plants growing at the edge of the compost heap that are flowering and doing very well.I got the cage around them before they got too big,mainly so I wouldn't trample them over adding to the compost.This year I get to try out the new "Dehydrator" thats sitting in the box,to make sun-dried tomatoes,dried celery flakes,onions.With a good supply of cukes I'm going to try Cucumber Soup this time.Armed with a new "Blender from hell",as seen on tv,I can make Blueberry Smoothies that I lov,along with trying new combo's of "Power Drinks".Time to pick up some wheat germ.Jim lovs V-8,so we'll be using up some of those veggies for that too.I like it ok-but I'm more of a fruit person,as I lov V-8 Splash.I dont mind the veggies so much if their hidden under the taste of the fruit.Next year I'm going to try growing some beets.Next year the garlic gets planted in one of those raised beds out back.That might deter whatever was shearing off my carrots,and plant those closer to the house.I have to rotate them anyways.I'm just glad it only got a few,but we think it was a deer.Clean cut shear-no prints in the dirt-like from a rabbit.If it was a rabbit he would have been hopping all around that bed.Hmmm-I need a night camera...

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I knew better when he said I don't have that much,,,

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Aug 2, 2010 | 3:43 AM PST
Tag: Rudebeckia's
and 3 truck-trailor, and car loads later,here we are.Oh-yes you do-Dad.It was a small 2 bedroom apartment,but he had every square inch used up.I'm sure its not going to all fit in the bay that we gave him,alot will be going on the garage sale,so maybe at that point the important stuff will fit.Dad's been collecting,buying and selling antiques for at least 40 years,and he's got some beauties right now.He's got a Mink Stole he's had appraised at $1200.00,just hanging in his closet.Thats not the place it should be hanging.Anyways we'll get him settled in soon. He's got the final truck full at the end of this week when he comes up. My brother and him are painting the apartment over for the landlord to make some extra cash.We've got Jims office cleared out pretty good,just a couple more things,then I can start taping off for painting so I dont make a mess on the walls.I had my daughter go with me this time,as I needed to clean while packing.If she hadnt helped me we would have had to spend the night,and would still be packing this morning.As it was- we got home just before dark.Today she will help me in the bedroom cleaning and painting it out.I dont have to change the wallpaper, as thats in good shape,but the ceiling-trim and floor needs an update. We pulled out the last nasty rug that was in this house when we bought it,so glad to see that go to the dump.The wood floor was new under that,needs to be sanded down,then decide what we're going to do.I've been harvesting the garlic little by little,3 fixings of string beans,gave mom some onions and cukes.Something ate the tops off my carrots,which are doing well,so next year looks like I'll have to cage it in.Jims taking a vaca day today,he can sleep in,after all that work yesterday he did,then he'll get back to the overhang tool shed.He's got a young buck that he hired for a helper,so its made it go much faster with 2 people,while not having to spend thousands on getting it completed.The young man is happy he's got some money in his pocket and loves to work outdoors,and learn new stuff.I've got a ton of tomatoes,that are now trying to red up.The last 3 days have been wonderful weather,no rain,cool at night-but they say the muggies are going to roll back in, and the next possible shower on wednesday.I'm back to watering again.The gardening has been hit or miss all summer,with the building of the deck and shed,getting married and now moving Dad in,but everything is surviving ok.I need to pick blueberries again this morning.Oh- my, and I have one watermelon that is decent size,and will give me at least one,but 5 more are growing also! Thats a hoot! Jims sister bought us a deck box for a wedding present,which was really nice,so now we can put all the cushions away if it rains.The Morning Glories are up to the 3rd rung, so I may actually get some flowers before frost time.I sold the freezer-so that is out of the way now,thank goodness.A full day ahead for us,and another busy week...I am finally seeing some toads and frogs here and there,and the Dragonflies have arrived eating the mosquitos.The Rudebeckia's are blooming,but their blooms are very disappointing this year.Just an off year for them with the lack of rain I quess.

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dbjc364's August 2010 Entries

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