...or in my case, a dozen cinder blocks
Why are all the things I love SO heavy?!
I recently put out a FaceBook request for free cinder blocks so that I can rebuild my garden plot. Two people quickly responded and I've been hauling cinder blocks ever since. The new garden wall is almost done, thanks in part to Tanya who talked me off the ledge by pointing out that I didn't need a 4' tall planting bed; 2 layers of cinder blocks will suffice. I also received an offer of free pavers and since I've reverted to my original plan of paving my back yard (chickens and mulch integrity are a no-win situation), I've been hauling those, too.
I'm determined to get my ping pong table back in action. Only 10 more truckloads of pavers...
This photo cannot express the heat and humidity outside. I work until my face turns beet red and
then I hide inside for the rest of the day.
My 3 stanhopeas are crazy happy outside
The middle plant has begun sending down blossom spikes. Let the fireworks begin!
Speaking of fireworks...
I attended our local 4th of July display and overheard an appreciative audience member declare,
"Yo, that's technology, bro!"
The opposite of technology is my life without a clothes dryer.
I visited Singapore a few years ago and was struck by how a tiny country that is nothing more than an environmental footprint works very hard to minimize that footprint as best they can. I stayed in an apartment built with a design to catch breezes, floored with cool tile and stone, each room with its own AC control, and, among other energy savers, a clothes rack to air-dry laundry before fluffing it briefly in the dryer. I bought a drying rack the minute I got home and have used it faithfully ever since. Unfortunately, without a dryer to finish off the laundry, I start the day by dressing in clothes that feel like a loofah sponge. Saving my pennies for the new dryer...
When I bought my house in '07, I also bought some wood deck chairs.
I was sitting in one of these chairs yesterday, enjoying my morning coffee, when I became aware of a faint crunching sound behind my shoulder...
These wasps have been chewing on my chairs since I set them outside but apart from a splotchy finish, they haven't done any serious harm.
After I saw this cardboard palm on the Gulf Coast...
...I ran home and doused mine with fertilizer. Come on, man, GROW!
And I dream of a crinum lily with a thick trunk like these...
I've procured a start of a Queen Emma crinum so all I have to do is wait...years.
I love the journey of my yard
I got this tabebuia tree as a free sapling in 2008. It's been leaning to the side ever since.
I staked it when it was younger in an effort to get it to grow straight but I finally gave up. Nowadays, I trim branches on the "heavy side" hoping to counterbalance the lean, and I keep my fingers crossed during the hurricane season. It's the only real shade my house gets.
My "Living Privacy Screen" is growing like gangbusters
I'm trying to create a situation where instead of pretending not to see my neighbors in their swimming pool, I actually won't be able to see them. Cactus + heat = project success.
I finally caved and cut this encyclia inflorescence:
It measures nearly 40 inches from the base of the stem to the last flower. I wanted to enjoy its last days inside...in the AC.
My backyard is like a world unto itself for my little dachshunds. Schotzie is not only a sun worshipper, unperturbed by mind-sizzling heat (maybe because she has a tiny dachshund brain insulated by a thick skull), but a skilled cherry tomato forager as well.
She likes to spend a portion of each day sniffing out ripe tomatoes to eat.
Alas! The tomatoes called it quits and I had to rip out the dying plants.
Witness this sad tableau:
Schotzie, mopping up the aftermath of the tomato apocalypse.
Thank goodness she loves her kibble, too.
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