We're a week into July now and it's still looking a lot like June - cool temperatures and lots of rain. I don't like it! The mosquitoes are absolutely unbearable this year, and I'm afraid they'll still be here in August if the weather doesn't ever warm up. One plus side of the yucky weather is that we have spinach and chard coming out of our ears! They are both really lush and especially tasty this year. I don't have real high hopes for a giant tomato or pepper harvest though, at this rate.
Larry sold his house this winter while we were traveling, so that's a huge thing for us. Thirty years since we built these two houses here, and now we have new neighbors. They are a couple of really nice women and they have put in a big garden in the old corral. I wanted to have them over for a BBQ, but they're vegans and I wouldn't know where to begin... I can do vegetarian, but vegan is outside my wheelhouse, crotchety old thing that I am. We all get along and no one seems to be worried about boundaries or dogs so far. I like them and met one of their moms, who was here to help out for a week or so, and planted a nice garden at the front of their house that really makes it look nice.
We lost a lot of bank this winter while we were gone. It was a little scary this spring, but so far the river is behaving itself, more or less. I think we might get some rip-rap placed when it's way down and at that point in time, we wouldn't be putting rock in the river, so I don't think you need a hydraulic permit perhaps. We'll have to research it, though there doesn't seem to be much help for homeowners in this sphere. We've got to do something.
I've been trying to reclaim some flower beds that have gone wild, but between the mosquitoes and my bum knees, it's been a challenge. I need to hire a worker bee for a spring clean up next year, or possibly this summer. I do what I can and embrace the wild look as much as possible. The flowers are still pretty. My rock garden looks pretty shabby though, so I might focus on that for now since you see it every time you walk in the house.
We haven't seen the bear since early one morning when it was checking out the garbage cans again. It was a young black bear, maybe two years old? Kind of cute, really. I just make a lot of noise if I have to go outside after dark, and Ruby barks her lungs out. No worries, although the night it was on the porch while we were trying to figure out what the racket was gave us some pause. (It was shoving the large gas BBQ around.) Bears will be bears.
Post a new thread about this blog entry:
