Foggy morn & new editor

Foggy Morning

1.25 inches

I'm trying out the *new* blog editor today.  I'm hoping that using it instead of the old editor the comment problem might get magically resolved!  (It's got some neat tricks like drag-n-drop picture placement and captioning.  Best of all - an UNDO function!  YAY!)

Now if only I could use some juju editting on the weather.  All July and August and earlier this month I tried all the old tricks to entice rain to the gardens.  Standbys like washing the car (actually I dry dusted it), putting nice things outside that shouldn't get wet, leaving the house with the windows open.  Even a couple of tries as rain dancing on the deck, but to no avail.

Finally I hit on a sure-fire process.  Strip the deck!  Good grief.  I finished the deck on Sunday and it hasn't stopped raining since!!  Yesterday we got 1.25 inches.  Everything is soaked.  Not that it will do the gardens much good this time of year when everything is shutting down.  Heck, I haven't even seen a bee since Sunday.  At least the annuals will get the benefit. 

wet deck

Now I'm dancing up and down hoping for a couple of dry days in a row so I can put the TWP on the deck.  *whine*  Originally today, Thur & Fri were supposed to be sunny.  Now the forecasts call for a cloudy day followed by a rain day for the next 7 days or so.  Darn that tropical system crawling up the coast!  I just hope I'll still get a couple-three dry days with temps in the 60s at least before all the leaves start coming down.  The deck needs a day to dry out then at least 2 for the sealer to cure. And I can't even imagine what fun it is going to be now that leaves will fall onto the sealer.  :-/

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Once again I'm hoping you'll let me know if you can't comment on this post (Beemail Me).  Yesterday's 'fix' only allowed a couple of folks to comment that previously couldn't.   Others (like TS) still can't comment on this blog. *fume* (Thanks for going to one of the other blog pages to comment, TS. :-D)  

Newsflash!  When I use the PREVIEW function in the new editor, I can see "Post a Comment" is light blue!  Now if I can only find a way to change that.... So, bear with me, and keep your fingers crossed. :-D

(Use links on top of sidebar to view additional garden posts.)

Undecked

What is this? Looks like someone moved everything off the deck. I wonder why? ;-D

To see what's up, link over to my Garden Projects (<= click here) page.

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I need your help. More and more of you cannot post comments on this blog. Google blogger has many complaints on this very issue, but no resolution. Please help me help them.

Kyna, TS and anyone else who hasn't been able to comment on this blog since mid-August, I've made all the changes Blogger suggested. I would really appreciate it if you would try to comment today. Even a single word. If you find you still CANNOT post a comment, would you mind using the BEEMAIL link near the top of the sidebar and let me know that my fixes didn't work? I want to help solve this annoying problem. After all, without comments this blog would be soooo lonely, no? THANKS everyone. :-D

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Tuesday 9/28 followup: Looks like folks can now comment to the blog. Yippee! If, in the future you cannot comment, please Beemail me (link on top sidebar) and let me know. Thanks everyone for helping.

(Use links on top of sidebar to view additional garden posts.)

Morning commute

or...why I can't close the garage door at night.

7:30 a.m.

Did Skippy here have coffee under the shelf where he spends the night?





He's moving kinda slow. I'm thinking he hasn't had his cuppa joe yet.







Whoa! Whoa! Too sharp a turn. Good thing you didn't put out your trash cans last night!




Okay, he's gotten it in gear. Watch out for the leaf!







Finally, heading off for a day under the deck.

Be careful, Skippy. It's a jungle out there.

Call if you're gonna be late.

(*sheesh* I'm glad I'm retired. I don't miss that kind of stress at all!)

(Use links on top of sidebar to view additional garden posts.)

You've come a long way, baby.

This time of year our garden beds are probably pretty full and seems normal.
Thanks to photos, though, we can glimpse back to how things looked when the season started.

March 2010:

September 2010:

Kinda puts all that work into perspective, no?

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Not happy - not joy

Sometimes things go horribly wrong.

Recently I found a couple of yellow jackets flying around in my sunroom.

Then I found a couple buzzing around in the upstairs bathroom.

Finally I tracked them down. The 'wonderful' people that built the sunroom onto the house back in the 80s left gaps. No foam. No insulation. Nothing. So now that a piece of the old butyl caulk fell out of the eave flashing, yellow jackets are under the flashing and obviously have found little holes into the house.

The white powder is insecticide. Supposedly they track through it, groom themselves, and die. I've done 2 treatments (hanging out the window at night, trying to get the spray where it should go, yeah I'm pretty crazy). All I seem to have done is get them all riled up.

I'll try one more treatment and if I don't see any sign that it's working -- I'll have to pony up for a real exterminator. *grumble* I HATE having to kill anything (especially if I have to PAY to do it!) but invasion is invasion and I stand my ground when it comes to protecting my house. And me!

I have to get them out of the house else they may well overwinter in a wall and next spring could bring real trouble. Nor can I repair that caulk until I'm sure they are gone else they may chew their way through something else if they can't use that entrance. And I LOATHE having to use insecticide here at the sanctuary. I fear collateral damage.

Gee, where's a couple of nice foxes when you need them? Foxes? <== click here for that story.

Stay tuned....

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Happy happy Joy joy

Happy happy joy.

It's raining! Right now! YAY! And it looks like it may give us at least a half-inch!**

I'm happy. The deck plants are happy. And the rain is not anything like the weather channel hyped it up to be yesterday.

They forecasted high winds, powerful thunderstorms, large hail, etc etc yadda yadda yadda. Sure it's a little breezy out there and I heard thunder - once! Honestly I wish PBS did the weather. I think they wouldn't try to drum up viewers by constantly yelling : IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD. The weather channel has cried 'wolf' far too many times. Makes us NOT pay attention when something REAL is coming.

But -- enough of them. Back to the rain.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. What a blessing!

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** 10:00 am update. It only lasted an hour and gave us just shy of 1/2". Still, that's better than none. So I'm still happy happy joy joy.... :-D

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Red dawn = red beds

I love a deeply colored dawn, a sky shot with cranberry and magenta.

All those colors flow down into the gardens, lending a rosy glow to all it bathes.

It even turns the browned-out graham-cracker lawn into something close to raspberry cream. The colors are fleeting but the inner glow it produces lasts all day long.

(Use links on top of sidebar to view additional garden posts.)