I've mentioned before that July is not my favorite month. This year though, with the rain we've received, my usual watering chores have been non-existent. The Walnut limbs are drooping under the weight of their nuts & a few are already dropping. The trees by the swing have grown so big, it's hard to remember the size they were when we first arrived.
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| July first~ |
Butch wasn't home for the fourth. He did come in for what was originally to be a quick overnighter on the fifth. He pulled into Nationwide to drop his trailer with two minutes to spare on his
ELD. He'd left the Farmland Rest Area in IL early in the morning & even with construction driven 494-miles. He was to make a delivery in Lincoln, NE the following day.
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| 9:00 p.m. Butch & Maverick are Home! |
We had a late dinner & he left at 6 a.m. Sunday morning. Finn & I slept in - but were soon awake when Butch reappeared asking if I wanted a latte? The warehouse he'd been scheduled to deliver to, was closed. Yippee! He would have Sunday home! It was another in a string of hot & humid days. We went to see
F1 & really enjoyed it.
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| 7-8 Flowers~ |
With the rains & humidity, the flowers are amazing this year. I've spent a lot of time weeding & spraying the weeds I can't pull, but it's been worth it. Everything I've planted, has had plenty of room to grow. I still have a lot of the hillside to tame, but the Hosta's are more numerous than the weeds!
A relative of my dark red germanium, it too has the small, tight full blooms. I read that it was a favorite of Queen Victoria & I can see why. I've kept it on the deck rail this year & it loves the spot.
The red is still impossible to find. Even the page I had bookmarked for this variety is gone. I have the five plants I wintered over sitting out in pots with full south exposure. They're compact & covered in blooms. The new starts I have on the deck, with morning sun & afternoon shade. I'm thankful that daughter Courtney still had the
variety I'd shared with her years ago & paid back the favor when mine accidentally froze!
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| 7-13 Finn in his favorite spot~ |
Finn is one tough boy! He'll spend time outside, no matter how hot it is! One afternoon he was laying on the sidewalk in the full sun! I told him he'd be a baked Finn if he didn't come in! He spends a lot of time watching for Woody the Woodchuck who seems to have taken up residence on the abandoned property to the east of us. The other morning, he even managed to corner him again under the lawn tractor! You'd think Woody would wise up!
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| East end of the deck~ |
The polycarbonate panels make such a huge difference on the deck. The filtered light is perfect for us to sit out & for the fern, orchid & Hosta. I've given up putting any plants on the west end. The afternoon sun bakes them to a crisp, even with watering twice a day.
Here we are, almost midway through the month & yesterday I was back on two wheels! That post to come~
