Those Deer!

About a week ago I posted about Milo's tomato, planted in honor of one of the little brown  dog who loved cherry tomatoes.

Milos's tomato plant was growing so well, getting a few blossoms, and then the deer came.  Despite a cage and some varmit repellent, over two nights, Milo's tomato is half the size it was.  It will be ok, this is just a minor setback.  Hopefully.

Today at the hardware store, I got some Liquid Fence and more Miracle Grow.  On my way out the door, I noticed that the remaining plants on the sidewalk were marked "free."  Most weren't looking good at this point, but there were some hopeful little tomato plants.  And Milo whispered, "You have Liquid Fence now, get two."

I also got a hot pepper plant, just because it looked pretty good and should grow into a pretty plant. 

Hopefully the deer will now find somewhere else to go and stay away from the tomatoes.  And the precious pumpkin plants that are looking so good.

Press on Monmouth

 

Steph and I had a nice Sunday bunch at Press on Monmouth, a nice  little cafe close to home.  Just close enough that sometimes I drive right by and forget that it's a good place to eat.

It looks like my salad is gigantic compared to Steph's avocado toast, I didn't take a very good picture.  Her avocado toast was quite wonderfully portioned.

I ordered the Press Breakfast Salad because I couldn't figure out how the ingredients would taste together:  mixed greens, blueberry, granola, bacon, egg, cheddar, maple vinaigrette.  (No bacon for me.)  In face, the combination was wonderful.

A little Sunday shopping completed our afternoon.  Nothing to report.

I'm going to be a more regular customer, it's just my kind of place.  Lots of vegetarian options  Reasonable prices.  Close to home.  Take out too.

We sat by the window and admired the big vacant lot across the street, soon to be vacant no more.  There will be two hotels, office space, and a parking garage.

And as we were looking out, it rained, really rained.  No watering tonight

Sun Dog

 

This is my grand dog Butler, who loves to lie in the sun.  And who always needs a coat when the weather starts to get cool.  He''s definitely a warm weather lover.

Did you ever see such long legs?  The vet wants him to gain a little weight, but any increased food goes right to those legs.

I can't remember what his genealogy test showed, except that he is more chihuahua than anything else.  He's a sweet guy, pretty lacking in chihuahua spice.  And those are not chihuahua legs!  There may have been some Mini Pinscher, but no Italian Greyhound.

I love to watch him run - he has a gait like a horse.  And those legs can fly.

Anniversary

 

My church will be celebrating a 50th anniversary in October and a friend and I will be doing to collaboration banner.  The theme is "Our Life Flows On."

Our only instructions were that it be big, so big it will be.  To make it more manageable it will consist of individual blocks, although a few of the blocks will be combined.  

And so, I pieced a couple of rows on another wall hanging I'm working on and went through the steps to change the sewing machine to embroidery.  I'll embroider on a few of the blocks then switch back to sewing for a few days.

I have a pattern sketched out but I know we'll make some changes as we go.  And there will be some additions. 

It feels good to  be in a creative mode, combined with a more tech-y mode in using the embroidery software.  It's been a while for that, other than embroidering a name here and there.

Should I Plant More?

 

Roasted yellow squash from my container garden.  Yellow squash is my favorite vegetable.  I even planted several plants in the actual garden bed.

I wonder, is it too late to plant more?  The seed packet says "Harvest in about 55 days.  There's time.  I have an unused bed in the back yard that might just work even if the soil isn't ideal.

This variety is called Rise and Shine Hybrid and it's supposed to grow vertically, spreading out into a large bushy plant.  Sometimes I've been disappointed in new plant varieties, but I love this one.

I try to not often be political on this blog but I saw a comment today that's too good to not pass on:  "JD Vance washes his cast iron skillet in the dishwasher."

Oh, and did you see that my governor is on the short list for vice presidential candidates?

A Good Day

 

It's been a good day.

I actually cut out blocks for a very simple small quilt.  Green blocks with yellow stars.  

My daughter and I went to Newport on the Levee for lunch, the same brewery Sarah and I visited last week.  We shared shrimp tacos and pretzel bites.  There was a Bacon Bourbon Brew Festival beside the river with music and themed foods - we did NOT try the bacon wrapped fried Oreos.  Or anything else.

I planned that today would be a day off .walking, but with walking at the Levee and watering and a morning and evening walk around the street behind me, which has only a modest grade, I'll have 8000 steps by bedtime.

And the pumpkin vine is growing.

Finished Wall Hanging

 

You've seen bits of this wall hanging before, but now it's been gifted and I can show you the finished product.

It was meant as a Christmas gift for a young woman, using swim suits from her synchronized swimming days.  You probably know how December turned out for me, and I couldn't finish it.  The young woman's mother was gracious and it turned into a birthday gift.

I didn't know how to incorporate those slinky swim suits into a quilt, so I made a cotton quilt backing, meant to resemble water, and cut fish out of the swim suits.  After appliquing the fish with Wonder Under and outlining them with thread, I used fabric paint to cover the stitching and to add a few decorative touches.

All during January I only made it up the stairs to the studio once or twice.  It's hard now to even remember being that weak.  And then one by one the remaining fish went on and getting up from the floor where I was working was a challenge every time.  Then one day the wall hanging came downstairs for the finishing painting on the dining room table.

The wall hanging ended up telling part of the young woman's story and a bit of mine too.

Birthday Bunny

 

For my birthday last month I got this wonderful little garden bunny.  When darkness comes its lantern starts to flicker.  What a wonderful gift.

Along with the bunny, there was a string of new solar lights for the back porch.  Sarah hung them up when she was here and they are perfect.  It looks like there is a party at my house.

I'm still on the hunt for a few solar LED landscape lights but so far I haven't found any that I love.

The doctor said that I could resume normal activity, including walking.  I thought that I'd need to build up the number of steps once again, but I'm happy to discover that I could pick up pretty much where I left off.

Has anyone else read recently that older people should aim for 6000 - 8000 steps per day as opposed to 10,000 steps?  That seems to me like a much more attainable goal.

Milo's Tomato

 

Back when Sarah and Winnie had three little brown dogs, the middle-sized one was named Milo.  Milo loved the little tomatoes that grew by the front steps, and the tomatoes reseeding themselves year after year just for him.

Milo is gone now, but the tomato plant comes back faithfully each year.  Milo's little brown buddies showed little interest in the tomatoes and the current small dogs don't either.  And yet Milo's tomato flourishes.

When I was considering what to plant in the large black container in the back yard, Milo's tomato came to mind.  This is a different variety of little tomato than Milo's, but it will do for this year.  The season is getting late and the selection is limited.

The container is big and a few other things will share the space, but Milo's tomato was the first thing planted.

Visit Is Over

 

Sarah got in her truck and rolled down the street this afternoon, heading for home, and she took this picture of me waving good-bye from the front door.

She took me to two eye doctor visits (and now I will go six days before the next visit - amazing!)  She did some weeding and cleaning and we did some minimal shopping and had ice cream twice.  She is nice company.

Now as usual the house is too quiet and time goes by more slowly.  But the doctor has said I can resume normal activity and I'll soon be planting  a few things in the big black tub in the back yard.  Perhaps a tomato plant and a few flowers.

Look for the Little Squash

 

If you look closely, you'll see a couple of tiny squash.  There are actually three, one is in the back.

I've had another eye surgery to have the shunt tied off to give me more time to build up scar tissue so that when when the stitches dissolve the eye will retain its fluid.  That won' happen for another few weeks.

I've so enjoyed my garden and the evening watering.  One of my neighbors walked by and said that it looked really nice.  It may not have been the gardening summer of my dreams, but the various containers and their flowers have been a joy.  They mix well with the grasses and day lilies plus a few other plants. 

I've planted a few pumpkin plants and their leaves will soon spread out as ground cover.  I'm even hoping for a pumpkin or two.

Happy July 4

Many years ago, probably fifteen, watching The Boom in the Sky with Aaron.  "Protecting" his ears so he could enjoy the fireworks.

And so, happy July 4 to everyone.

I've been quiet - and busy seeing eye doctors.  The shunt in my eye opened as planned, but it's been working too well,  Instead of helping the fluid drain a little it's been overproducing and helping the fluid drain a lot.  I've had several injections of new fluid or gel that all too quickly drain away.

There will probably a surgery on Monday to tie off the shunt and give the eye more time to heal.

People are saying to me, "I could never get a shot in my eye."  You could, and it doesn't hurt.  I'm very grateful to my doctor and to all the others covering on weekends and holidays and surgery days.