The Pond Thrives

Well - so far anyway. Here is a pic of the pond and the new plants I put in this past weekend. I actually have blooms on the water zinnia - whoo hoo! The koi are still skittish and growing. At this rate, they'll out grow the pond by next year. I've also included a pic of the hydrangeas that are alive and well - I just love the deep blue and purple.

I had to water everything in the yard tonight as all of the plants and beds were screaming with thirst. And with the forecast of 99+ tomorrow - I didn't want to come home from work to find a bunch of shriveled up plants staring at me. Hopefully the wildfire smoke won't be so bad.

Rainy days and Mondays...

Well, we've had both today! It's Monday and we got a little bit of much needed rain. No where near enough rainfall to diminish the Dismal Swamp wildfire, but we need and will take any rain that comes our way. My plants sure appreciated it!

I put some new plants in the pond yesterday. If they "take" and stay alive, I'll get some pics. And my new fish are just now beginning to get used to me - the small shubunkins are coming up to feed and seem to be the most friendly. The koi have almost doubled in size since I put them in so they must be happy! The comets just don't really care about anything. No frogs yet, but they will come back.


Zippy is scheduled for his regular hair cut this week - and he needs it! His fur is growing like mad and he's started to get knotted and tangled again. I'm going to have her take him a little shorter than usual so he'll be cooler. And he needs to be thinned out. She'll take good care of him - she always does.


My next door neighbors had to put their beloved little Yorky down last week. It was heart-breaking for them. Nikki was about 15 - 16 years old and had a very good life. You know what most people say - if I'm reincarnated, I want to come back as my dog? Well, the neighbors should be saying that too! She was a good little dog and a lot of company for them. I called her peanut because she was just a little squirt. We'll miss you Nikki.


OK - nothing much on tv since it is summer. Time to get the paintbrushes out and get busy in the art room! Christmas will be here before I know it. Oh - I said the dreaded "c" word...sorry.


Have a good week everyone.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

And that's not just a song title! We have two separate wildfires burning in the area and we've been inundated with smoke/haze for several days. It's not so bad except when you get to work and you can smell the smoke in your office. I was "ok" with that until I went outside to go to a meeting...my throat and eyes weren't very happy. It cleared off around noon and got a whole lot better - we'll see what happens tomorrow.

I know the season is over, but they preempted the NCIS rerun tonight with some award thing for movies. Geesh - the nerve!

Almost Friday

Thursday night and I can already taste the weekend! Of course, it's going to be a busy one - stuff at Mom's house, my yard, the pond, etc. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will rain on Sunday! My brother was kind enough to get Mom's yard cut this week - so that's a relief and one more thing off of the checklist.

I don't know how we manage to stay so darned busy all the time. Seems like items never really get crossed off of the "big" household list and all the little petty things you keep putting off just pile up until you're overwhelmed. At least we're not bored, right.

With all of the neglect given to my yard this season, this bloom caught my eye. It's in the backyard where we get the most shade. I hope I don't kill it...

TGIF

We made it once again to those two treasured days called the weekend. And we went straight from spring into middle of August-type of heat - the heat index over the weekend is supposed to be 100+ so all I can say is thank god for air conditioning. And my neighbors' pool! And the ocean.

Mom had a set back this week and she's back with us for a while. She keeps having these short black outs and her doctor doesn't want her to be alone until they figure out why. She has a carotid ultrasound on Monday so maybe that will shed some light on the matter.

Still haven't seen the new critter. And honestly, I hope he has moved on - although I wish him no harm - he's just too cute. Just don't want 'em living under my shed.

After this latest heat spell subsides a tad, I have to spend some serious time in my yard weeding and planning. I still don't know what I want to do to the front since we graded it this year. I'm giving myself until September to develop a plan. Then at least I'll have a plan, right? Don't like to rush things!

New fishes are still with us. They are hiding under the pump box and haven't figured out that I'm the food wagon yet. But they will catch on. Having some issues now with plants - in that they aren't growing and spreading. It's always something, isn't it? Just get the water cleared up and new fishes, and now the plants don't want to grow. Maybe I need new plants.

Have a safe and air conditioned weekend....
Ciao.

Reruns

Well, if we have to watch reruns, I guess it's ok if they are of Gibbs and gang. We'll suffer through the summer somehow. Right D?

I haven't seen my new little yard critter since Friday night's first sighting so I'm not sure what the little guy is up to. Still haven't figured out if he's on his own or not. Maybe this week will provide our answers. We have a new delimenna though - over the weekend I was awakened around midnight to the sound of little scurrying feet in the gutters. This went on into the wee hours of the morning so I was not a happy camper come morning time. Maybe Zippy can scare them off for us!

Mom did well at the mall on Saturday. A real trooper. We walked the entire mall before we decided where to eat and she did very well. Then we made two other stops after that so it was a good day and she enjoyed getting out and about.

Well, we're almost to hump day yet Friday sounds so far away. It's my weekend to tend to Mom's yard but I can relax and hang out at the beach on Sunday.

Have a great week.