Running on Fumes

Ha-ha, those would be polyurethane fumes! I got the very last of the painting and polying done in the pantry today. Tomorrow the door can go back on, we'll have a way of closing it off and we can see how cool it stays in there in this hot summer time.

The good news is I don't think the temp hit 80 today. (I know, some of you would do desperate things for a day down in the 80s.) The bad news is we had such humidity that my underwear has been stuck tight to me all day long. I went out to pick blueberries before noon time and really felt yucky by the time I came in. And it was even a gray day without any sunshine. But that heavy air laden with about 96.5% water was a killer.

Did you know that the Sweet Pea flower actually forms a pod that looks a lot like . . . well, a pea pod?

Yup, it surely does. The pods seem to be developing early this year (because of all the heat?) so I'm going to try saving the seeds for planting next year. If they don't seem dry enough by the time our wet, cold weather hits in the fall, I'll hang the pods inside to dry thoroughly.

When we made the decision I shouldn't try to do the full-blown garden this year because I'd be so busy with the remodeling, we both agreed that we should also nix any new plantings or garden additions/expansions of any kind. Guess who came to me very sheepishly this spring with some Jerusalem Artichoke tubers that had just arrived in the mail, ones that he had "forgotten" he'd ordered?

I planted them in one of our raised beds because they will spread and take over the acreage if not contained in some way. Haven't they done well so far this season? Tall, sturdy and very healthy looking. We're looking forward to seeing what kind of a crop we get this fall when the tubers can be dug.

Remember I made mention of the bed I had our cherry tomatoes in last year? And the 4,000 volunteer plants that sprouted there? I finally got around to doing a quick pruning in that bed today and was pleased to find we actually had some little green tomatoes forming. With luck, we'll have tomatoes for our salads one of these days.

A couple/few years ago, I planted a clematis waaay over at the side of the yard against our 7' high deer fence. It really was a poor choice of location because the yard boy (aka Papa Pea) has mowed it completely down two times (or is it three?) and I tend to forget to give it any TLC at all. Despite this concentrated neglect, it's blooming its little heart out this year . . . but only at the very top of the fence. There are two spindly bare nekkid vines climbing up, up, up to the top of the fence where it spreads out and gives us this lovely show of huge, purple flowers. Ya gotta love a plant with a will like that!