Are We Skipping Summer This Year?

We're continuing to have our cool, very wet weather.  And the projected forecast, as far as they are projecting, is for more of the same.

These are the facts, folks.  I'm not just whining.  Here it is nearly halfway into July, and the temps are still dropping down into the 40s overnight.  

Truth to tell, I'm kinda surprised things are doing as well as they are in the garden.  (The weeds, of course, being super-adaptable, are growing like . . . weeds.)

The plants in the garden do look lush and green . . . or it might be mold, I'm not sure.  But they're not really growing as they should.  Kinda just sitting there.  Waiting for some warmth and sunshine.

At least the impatiens in my window boxes are doing exceedingly well, non-sun worshipers that they are.

The plants in the two pumpkin hills in the pumpkin patch are no bigger than the weeds alongside.  (Pretty pathetic, huh.)  'Tis definitely not a good growing season for squash or pumpkins.  (Bird bath has stayed nice and full though.)

The continual (at least it seems that way) rain is sure putting a crimp in our wood working.  Let alone the fact that the wood we do have already in the wood shed isn't doing much drying without sun and warm summer breezes.

Besides our wood supply, there are many things (like the re-roofing job . . . ugh) we could/would/should be doing outside, but the weather simply isn't cooperating.

We've had to find something constructive to do inside (which, believe me, wasn't too hard) so we've been using the time to build shelves in the basement.  Years ago, we purchased some (supposedly) heavy-duty plastic shelving units, but have been really dissatisfied with them.  Or maybe we just try to store items on them that are too heavy.  You would think they could withstand the weight of cans of paint, jugs of motor oil, boxes of plumbing supplies (okay, maybe those are a bit hefty) and such, but they haven't.

Well, these sturdy wooden shelves we're putting up now will do the job! 

It snowed, snowed, snowed all winter and now it's raining, raining, raining all summer.  I know everyone around here is hoping our real summer weather has got to start soon.  If it doesn't -- well, gee -- we won't have a chance to grump and grouch about any uncomfortable heat at all this year!

A Strange Question?

I'm wondering.  Am I the only person who has never had a professional . . . 

. . . manicure?  

Nope, I've never ever.  Not even once.

So how about a professional . . . 

(Oops, sorry wrong picture.)

As I was saying, how about a professional . . . 

. . . pedicure?  Never done that either.

I'm not sure what brought this burning question to the forefront of my mind, but I'm curious and would really like to know.

Have you??

Another Mosquito Repellant Fail

My dear husband reads a blog written by a fellow in Canada who works as a handyman.  The blog contains all sorts of helpful hints on DIYing.  Lots of good, solid information that hubby files away for future use.

A while back this blogger wrote of having to do a roofing job in an area that he knew was going to be riddled with hordes of mosquitoes.  He was aware of and decided to try out a homeopathic remedy which reportedly keeps mosquitoes from biting.

Turns out the remedy worked extremely well for him, and he was able to complete the roofing job with next to no problem of being bothered by the mosquitoes that were definitely present and out for blood, but did not bite him.

So Papa Pea immediately found a source for and ordered a sample box for me.  The box says it's a "homeopathic remedy used for reducing the frequency and severity of insect bites."  Hooray!  "Keeps biting insects from attacking for at least 2 hours after chewing a tablet."  Wahoo!

I ingested a tablet each of three mornings this past week before going out to do our wood work in Mosquito Heaven, otherwise known as our back wood working area.

Didn't work for me.

But then, I can use nearly any mosquito repellant, purchased or homemade, and it does very little to repel the nasty little blood suckers from feasting on me even right through clothing.  Anyone standing smack dab next to me will comment they can't believe I'm getting bit when they (using the same repellant) aren't bothered at all.  (It's a curse, I tell ya, a curse.)

I'm not saying Mozi-Q doesn't work, because I believe it certainly did for Mr. Canadian Handyman.  It just doesn't work for me.

What's next on my list to try?  Tami over at 500 Dollar Tomato is as much of a mosquito magnet as I am, and she's had great luck this season using Downey dryer sheets.  She just tapes one to the back of her clothing and is pleased as punch to report it is working for her.

So next trip to town . . . Downey dryer sheets, here I come!

Oh, How the Wind Doth Blow

I mentioned in my post yesterday that we had some ferocious winds here on Monday and Tuesday.  How ferocious?

Well, they ripped one of my red kuri squash plants right out of the dirt.  The one you see on the right was out of the ground except for one feeble, white rootlet when I found it.  I "replanted" it but it doesn't look like it will make it.  The one on the left doesn't look too good either.  I put a couple more seeds in the hill, but it's getting too far along in the growing season for any seeds to sprout, grow, form vines and fruits, and mature before frost hits.

The same thing happened with my pie pumpkin vines.  None were ripped out of the ground, but they do look so sad that I planted more of those seeds, too.

The zucchini plants sustained a few broken leaf stems, but will survive. 

My dill and purple mustard plants were laid flat, but seem to be rebounding now.

This poor cherry tomato plant is another victim of the wind.  The leaves are losing their green coloring, becoming dry and brittle and curling up.

Being a gardener requires you to learn to roll with the punches, doesn't it?  We all have setbacks of one sort or the other to deal with.   I don't know what one can do to combat a natural happening such as high winds though.

Wait, I do!  Plant everything inside a huge hoop house that covers the entire garden.  A huge hoop house that is fastened down VERY securely!

Garden Progress . . . Mostly

This afternoon I worked in the garden while Papa Pea finished the lawn mowing job started yesterday.  He bagged the lawn clippings so I could use them to mulch the lettuce and other salad greens which had been coming in splattered with more mud than I liked.  Washing them will be much, much easier now.  Plus, we'll ingest less dirt.

But my main goal was to get the potatoes hilled.  The picture above is Before Hilling.

And, in logical order, After Hilling  (The two pictures were taken from opposite ends of the three 25' rows.  Sorry if I caused undue consternation or confusion.)

I took what was most likely my last picking of rhubarb yesterday.  I usually quit harvesting it by mid-summer and I've set the date of July 4th as mid-summer, although we have more summer-like weather after the 4th than before it.  (Am I making any sense?)

Anywho, the poor plant now looks as if it has been struck by lightning and needs to be shipshaped up a bit.  Actually, we did have darn high winds again on Monday and Tuesday of this week that didn't do several things in the garden any good.  I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.  It just doesn't make a lot of sense.  Here we sit, surrounded by heavy woods on all sides so you wouldn't think we'd get blasted with that much wind.  But.  We do.  (Sigh.)  Frequently.

Before I sign off, a report on the homeopathic tablet to repel mosquitoes I took this morning before going out to work on firewood.  Didn't work.  Although after the first mosquito nailed me, as he took off with a full tank of my blood I do think I heard him say, "Pa-tooie!  Yuck, that tasted awful."  I'm going to give it another test run to see if I get the same results.  Today, I gave up in short order and had hubby spray my exposed skin with what seems to be doing the best job for us this summer . . . "Buzz Away."

Getting With It Again

I wrote a friend last night that things tend to get a little uncomfortable and wonky around here when I'm not ready and able to do my usual thing.  Tending to think I don't do as much or what I do isn't as important as the endeavors of my better half is a possibly erroneous notion of mine.  Maybe I should give myself a raise.

Things necessary to keep this joint running smoothly do, indeed, start to go rapidly down the tubes when one of us isn't totally engaged with mind, body and spirit!  Now it's catch-up time for a period in this already over-scheduled summer.

Papa Pea just disappeared into the bathroom to brush his teeth while announcing he's going directly out to the wood pile in about 5 minutes.  Was that a hint?  Not necessary as he knows I feel quite left out if I'm not back there grunting and groaning playing right alongside him.  So, this shall be shorter than originally planned.

Before leaving the house, I'm going to try a new mosquito repellent we've obtained.  It's a homeopathic tablet one chews and which claims to keep mosquitoes from biting for up to two hours (or longer).  Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful as the *$%#! buggers have been simple AWFUL lately.  They are the worst they've been in the 17-18 years we've lived in this location.

A rhubarb pie is nearly ready to come out of the oven, the sun is shining brightly, I'll brush my teeth, chew the damned-mosquitoes-be-gone tablet (damned mosquitoes, not tablet) and head out for a couple/few hours of wood splitting and stacking.

More later today if I can.