Stuff Grows…

…if you water it.

Tomato plants are getting big, and flowering—thanks to irrigation. And watering has now become a regular routine—garden, bushes, even trees, all around the house.

Otherwise, mostly indoor projects today, hiding from the sun and heat. Thinking we need to install solar panels to run the air conditioning.

Rain Actually

We saw clouds, we heard thunder. And then, actually, we got a little rain. Not enough to do any good, but proof that it can happen.

Having blown out a rear bike tire yesterday, today a drive to the special bike shop Pewaukee for repair. After dropping the bike off we headed out of town to a little sandwich shop where we bought a big sub (cut in half) and a couple of bags of chips. Well supplied, we found a picnic table in a park along a stream and had a picnic. The bike was ready when lunch was finished.

Not a bad way to handle a blowout.

Phantom Thunderstorms

Thunderstorm weather, thunderstorm forecast, but, when the time comes, the clouds go. SE Wisconsin now in extreme drought. Plenty of heat and humidity in the atmosphere, but for some reason, the pattern refuses to produce precipitation.

A few drops on sedum the last time it rained several weeks ago.

A few drops on sedum the last time it rained several weeks ago.

Garage Reassembled

Nice upgrade, and much less stuff. And, there will be no more salty drip down to the garage basement.

Below, the remains of my recently planted, deer and rabbit resistant shrubby St. John’s Wort. Someting not only chewed it off, but actually dug it out. Meanwhile I have to continually battle with volunteer mulberry and buckthorn.

Sahara, Mojave, Sonoran

Awful weather but garage floor finished.

And quite beautiful it is, too. Two youngish guys worked steadily and methodically from 8 am to 6 pm, in what I learned is a much more complex process than I imagined. Fill and grind, then fill and grind again, vacuum thoroughly, apply a first coat of polyaspartic and let set, apply a second colored coat, shake out vinyl flakes, sweep up vinyl flakes, scrape, sweep, vacuum, and apply a final clear coat.

I felt guilty watching these guys work so long and hard in such heat.

Perfect Weather…

…if you like perfect weather. However, if you like rain, you are SOL. I would not have the stoicism, fatalism, sangfroid, or whatever, to be a commercial farmer. The new corn in the fields, a few inches high, looks bad.

Meanwhile, the compromised fence has been reinforced and is now impermeable. It doesn’t make sense to bother with the time and expense of building a fence if it only serves as a holding pen for marauding rabbits.

Surprise Tree Trimming

What started out as a car wash turned into a tree trimming when neighbor Dave came over with his electric pole saw. A few dead or unwieldy limbs were pruned, and that, along with the lilac trimming of a few days ago, made the front of the house visible from the street.

Notes: 1) birch wood is extremely heavy, and 2) the cars did eventually get cleaned.