Around the House #4

Not all of my favorite things are in my house. Some of them are outside. 

When we bought our house 21 years ago, there were no trees in the yard. Apparently, the previous owners didn't like to rake? Or didn't like shade? Who knows. So I went a bit crazy and planted a half-dozen, thinking that some of them I'd bought were "smaller" trees. 

I was wrong.

They've turned into big trees, all. But my favorite is this Mimosa that I actually brought from our old house. It was nothing more than a twig when I dug it up and now it reaches over our two-story. It's in full bloom right now and it smells like a perfume factory--almost overbearingly so. But it attracts hummingbirds and there are violets growing in the cleft where the trunk divides. Which is why it's one of my favorite things!

A Day In The Life

Life has been stressful for the last <*insert time period here-- it's been so long, I've lost track> . Like so many people, it's about 90% financial. Quite simply, the bills are more than the income. I try to take comfort in the fact that we're not alone in our misery. 

I tend to be an optimist and constantly tell myself it's going to get better. (And I'm confident it will, just hopefully before we lose the house). But I've spent the last <*> trying to get the daughter's financial aid arranged. That's been enough to make me drink (more than normal). Fingers crossed, that may be taken care of now. 

Then there has been medical insurance fun. I'm not even going into that one. It may take awhile to get that one worked out. Red tape!

So, of course, Wednesday night we had a storm and lost a tree-- and our electricity and phone line and internet/cable. More time on the phone, because being on hold is my favorite thing to do! Bless them all, they came and took care of us (if only Sallie Mae was as easy to work with!). Glass half full-- the damage to the deck and garage is minimal.

The moral of the story is--- I need a vacation!

Morning Coffee!

Roscoe is our problem child these days. I don't know if he is "marking" his territory or just likes to leave messes, but he can't be trusted in the house by himself. So it's a good thing that most of the time he seems perfectly content to be outside. The small Maple in the back yard seems to be his preferred spot at the moment!

Garden Blahs

Somehow, after all of the cold weather and rain we've had this Spring, warm weather finally popped. And so has the flowers, and the grass, and the trees. My allergies haven't hit as hard this year, at least not yet. My worst time is usually when the cottonwoods start dropping their little cotton wads. That should be soon. I'm having a hard time getting interested in gardening this year. Maybe because it's just so late. I usually have my flower beds cleaned up by now, and new plants in the ground. We did manage to get the garden tilled and I got most of it planted over the weekend, but again, I'm not really interested in it. I was about 6 weeks ago, when I normally would have started. Some how, during the delay, I mentally just moved on! Maybe, when the seedlings start coming up, I'll get interested again. I had every intention of cleaning out one of the flower beds and making it into an herb garden, but it's so overgrown now (it's full of perennials)  that I think it'll wait until next year. On the up side, my daughter got home over the weekend and she doesn't know how long she is staying, so I guess I just want to spend my time with her!

Morning Coffee

We had another of our strangely nonseasonal Spring storms again Friday and we lost another branch off our Bradford Pear.  I think Roscoe thinks he is hiding!

But What's Normal?

We finally got some rain and some relief from the heat this week. It was too late for most of my garden, tho.  This morning I tilled up about half of it and replanted green beans. Fingers crossed. I have a yard full of trees, bushes and flowers. I'm worried that I might have lost my burning bush, but the mimosa tree has done well. Usually I have hummingbirds flitting around it, but I hadn't seen many this year.  I was so delighted to go out one evening last week and see four of them buzzing and fighting.  This one stopped to take a break. Maybe things are about to get back to normal!

I Hear a Lawn Mower!

Spring has sprung--at least a month early! All of the flowering trees are in full bloom. It's bazaar. Most years we are having a final snow storm--quite often with accumulation in the inches. But the birds are chirping, the mushrooms are popping and the slugs have started making their slime trails. I actually feel good. No headaches, no sinus pressure. I feel like I have energy and want to do something with it! It's a nice feeling.

Officially Fall

It seems like just last week I was wondering if the leaves were ever going to start turning color, and almost over night they did! It's been strange weather-- extreme hot, then sudden cold with frost, then hot again, and now we are at just about perfect! Illinois weather bounces around so much, you never know what you are going to get from day to day. We always say, if you don't like it today, wait until tomorrow! The farmers have been crazy at work--I think most of the fields are in. Corn, anyway. Because of the Spring rain, some of the beans got out late. But, I still think they are ahead of schedule. You know you live in an agricultural area when weather isn't just something to talk about to fill in those ackward silent spots!

Gone Batty

Several years ago we noticed bat houses at the zoo. My husband found a pattern for them and built one and put it on the garage. Further research said it could take 4 or 5 years to actually attract bats. I think it's probably been 7 and I had given up. But I noticed droppings this week and upon further investigation it looks like we have three! I'm guessing that losing a big part of the tree that is between the house and the garage is the reason we finally have bats. I imagine the tree was simply in the way. Too cool!

Monsoon Season

For quite a few years our summers here in Central Illinois were hot and dry. We were actually in severe draught for several years. But for some reason the last few years have been totally opposite. We have had such wet Springs that the farmers have had a rough time getting their crops into the ground. And if you have noticed a canned pumpkin shortage, it's because the ground was so wet last Fall that, altho there was a decent crop, no one could get out to bring them in and they rotted on the ground! This year hasn't been quite as bad as last year, but it took me forever to get my garden planted, and now it's been so wet I haven't been able to hoe. At this point I have more weeds than plants, so there may not be much of a crop this fall. To top it all off, we have had some pretty strong storms move through and the one that passed us on Tuesday had a little tornado action going with it. There is a "mound" outside town that seems to divert actual tornadoes around us, but occasionally we get some damage. This time it was our turn! My poor Bradford Pear took a hit. The gooseberry bush got smashed a bit, but otherwise we were lucky. Our neighbor down the block--not so much. A huge limb fell on his garage and car. I haven't heard how the dog is.

Fragrance in the Air

We planted this Mamosa tree when we moved here 10 years ago and it is huge now. This year it has stayed bloomed all summer. I don't know if it is because of the weather, or because there didn't seem to be many Japanese Beetles. For whatever reason, it has been beautiful and I noticed one night when I had stepped out after dark how good it smelled. A few days ago while I was outside I noticed several hummingbirds buzzing around it. I do so love that tree!