The rain has given back what the drought took away :-)

July 30, 2023

a (2) — We were caught in a heavy shower this morning and all of us,except for Nova took shelter beneath big trees. I understand why she didn’t want to go there because that was the place most biting flies decided to stay as well 🙂 🙂 🙂

The weather has really been mixed today. Steady rain in the early morning but after that it has been mixed between heavy showers and sunshine. One minute sunshine and one minute showers just to go back to sunshine again. The dogs refused to go outside until rather late for being us so when we finally went out on our morning walk the flies were already there waiting for us. I can happily say that there now are fewer biting ones than there were before we went out on our walk 🙂 🙂

a (4) — I wasn’t expecting to find any mushrooms on our walk since I guessed that Nova would chose to walk down to the creek today. So I could unfortunately not pick this rather delicious mushroom because I had nothing to carry it in.

a (7)

I’m glad I mowed the lawn yesterday because it would have been impossible to do it today. My neighbor however mowed the last parts along their hedge and that mower can’t have been fun to clean up afterwards 🙂 🙂 But I haven’t been lazy despite the weather. I’ve trimmed away lots from the lilacs (and some of a mock-orange) that now made life hard for my Chinese catalpa. I’ve also ripped up some weeds around one of my ginkgos and I realized that I also ripped up a stinging nettle. I now have that burning sensation in my finger on my right hand.

a (11) — Lots of water in the creek now, so I would say that what the drought removed when it comes to water the rain now has given back.

Some of the summer apples are ripe now, I don’t like them especially much unless they are slightly un-ripe because when un-ripe they’re slightly sour. When ripe they are more bland and sort of mealy. I guess they could be great for apple sauce though so perhaps I should pick some for myself, I give away most to my closest neighbors because their oldest daughter really likes apples and especially those. In September I’ll have too many winter apples so I hope they take lots of those as well 🙂

a (14) — Snails are now eating my melon vines. I removed this one before it ate those tiny flower buds 🙂

I sowed some cone flower seeds just a few days ago and they first one has already germinated 🙂

So tomorrow starts the last week of my summer vacation. I can’t say I don’t like my work place but I desperately wants to win the lottery anyway 🙂 🙂 🙂 Just thinking of having to drive to work when the roads are slippery with ice again and most parts of the days will be dark again is depressing 🙂 🙂 Ok I’ll start working evenings in September so I will actually see daylight but still I really don’t look forward to winter again.

The Catalpa doesn’t stand a chance if I don’t do something about those lilacs and the mock-orange.

This is the result. I’ll leave the branches where they are and later on I’ll drive over them with the mower.

Finally buds on my squash plants. They really didn’t like the heat wave we had but grows better now.

The same with the chicory. They do look a lot like dandelions 🙂 🙂

The Catalpa is in bloom but the flowers are hard to find since they all are up at the top of the tree 🙂

Have a great day!

4 responses to “The rain has given back what the drought took away :-)”

Caryn

August 1, 2023

I’m surprised the catalpa is struggling. There are American catalpa trees growing all around the neighborhood here and they seem to overcome all opposition. They are listed as an invasive native tree which surprised me because I hadn’t considered native plants as invasive. I thought about putting one in the middle of my big side lawn until I remembered it’s a three season messy tree. Big flowers shed in the early spring. Giant beans in summer/early fall. Huge leaves in late fall. The walnuts are all the mess I need. 😀
Enjoy your last week of vacation and don’t think about winter. It’s not here yet. Think about it when it arrives. Also, play the lottery. You never know. ;D

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1. Christer.
  
  August 1, 2023
  
  Hi Caryn!
  
  This is on the edge of where Catalpas can grow, well it was anyway. So with higher temperatures I’m sure it won’t struggle that much here either. It’s still blooming to late to give any seeds that will germinate.
  It is surprising that a native tree is listed as invasive. Over here the EU has decided that only vegetation from outside the EU can be seen as invasive. The good thing with this one is that the flowers are so small that they can’t create a mess when they fall. 🙂
  
  I was going to my friend at the garden center today but had to change that to tomorrow so instead I took a long nap and woke up because I realized I didn’t have any lottery tickets for tonight 🙂 So I went out the entrance door and got stung by a wasp. They have a nest in the space between the ceiling and the roof at my entrance. We usually co exists peacefully but today one decided it was time to start an argument. I don’t have any wasps there now 🙂 🙂 🙂
  Normally I swell up like a balloon where I’m stung but it must have hit the cartilage on the backside of my ear so no swelling. It did look and feel like the ear was boiling for well over an hour and I’m still quite hot there. I hope I’ll have bumblebees as tenants there next year 🙂
  
  Have a great day!
  
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  1. Caryn
    
    August 3, 2023
    
    But did you get the lottery tickets?
    
    I have hornets nesting behind the driver’s side mirror of my jeep. It’s a very small nest as one might imagine. They are funny. About three seconds after I pull into the driveway a couple will speed over to the mirror as though they’ve been waiting for the nest to come back for hours. If I open the door, the mirror is no longer in alignment with the rest of the vehicle and the wasps will just hang around it trying to square where it is with where they remember it ought to be, I think. But as soon as the door is shut they figure it out and go inside. We co-exist. On the other hand, I was stung twice in the face by a bumblebee because I had the nerve to mow the lawn.:D
    
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  2. Christer.
    
    August 3, 2023
    
    Well I renewed them but forgot to say that it was to Tuesday, instead i managed to renew it for tomorrow instead 🙂 🙂 🙂 I didn’t notice that until I checked if I had won anything. I’m so glad that those numbers didn’t turn up when I checked 🙂 🙂 🙂
    
    Didn’t You have one there last summer as well? Must be a perfect place for them 🙂 🙂
    I’m so glad that we have very peaceful bumblebees over here 🙂 🙂
    
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