Wrapping Up Summer

 

The picture above shows my loofa plants. I'm not a fan of loofas only because they're aggressive climbers, but they are beautiful. All the plants are full of bumblebees and butterflies.

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I haven't been up to doing much lately. Some of it is due to losing Jammy, the cat. I still expect to see him in his favorite spots. It cuts deep to know he's gone.

The weather has been oppressive too. You can't go anywhere without feeling like you've been baked in your shell.

To add insult to injury, someone, somewhere got a hold of my credit card number. The scum made only one large purchase which tipped off the credit card people to call me to verify.

That sorted, almost immediately afterward I received a blitzkrieg of spam texts. I get the occasional spam text, maybe once or twice a year, but this time I was buried under hundreds of texts within hours. I contacted both my cell provider and the Geek squad and both said there was nothing to be done but block the numbers as they came in. I'm already on the national Do Not Call list, (for all the good that did).

It's been less and less everyday, but it's made me very angry. I hope the instigator gets boils on his privates. 

The garden is starting to peter out. I'm canning and freeze drying whatever is left. I might do a fall garden this year, which means I need to get my seeds started now. 

The only good news lately is that Nana is managing well. She has a burst of energy first thing in the morning, and then she sleeps the rest of the day.  She's happy. That's all that matters.

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We went to look at the house for sale across the street from us. The land is terrific, but the house is so dated it would need a total remodel. If they reduced the price significantly, I could see buying it and "flipping" it. I could also see it as a BNB, or an outdoor wedding venue, after some modifications.

It does have a gorgeous deck and patio area. I could see it as a place where the bride and her entourage could get ready at the house the day before, without the stress of driving to the venue.  

It's just an idea. I really wouldn't relish doing that much remodeling. I still have things to do on this house. --Nothing big, just some updates I'd like to accomplish before the year is out. 

We should have another month of hot weather before it becomes tolerable again. It hasn't been as bad as in previous years, but that oven setting is still on Bake. 

First on the list is to finish the extension to my greenhouse deck and the shade cloth structure. Greg has the structure finished, but we need to get the deck installed before we can set it up. We've been procrastinating on getting the wood. It's such a big production hauling a huge trailer into the city. The last time, we ordered wood to be delivered, but they gave us such crappy timber, we decided to pick and load the next order ourselves.

I've got to finish painting the eaves. There's only one small section left. I had to quit when the storms hit... then summer hit. Now I'm waiting until it's a little less steamy. It should only take me a few hours to finish. It's in a tricky spot. I'm going to have trouble getting a ladder up there. It's also the tallest peak. Yikes!

Greg has an area behind his shop that needs to have concrete poured. We're going to do the finishing ourselves, but we have to order the concrete. 

It'll take longer to clear this area out than it will to smooth out a pavement.

There are also some big trees we need to take down. A few have been dead for a while and one is shading the garden too much. They all have to go.

As soon as they're available I also need to order asparagus crowns and garlic. I want to do hard neck garlic this year. It's tricky to grow hard neck garlic in the south. I read a trick that said if I stick the bulbs in the fridge for a few weeks before planting, it'll make the bulbs think they had a real winter. We'll see if it works. I really want garlic scapes next year, and those only grow on hard neck garlic.

Lastly, I'm going to make another appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to see what they can tell me about my hands and hips. I suspect my hands are a lost cause--no cure for arthritis, but my hip problems only occurred since having knee surgery. I have to assume that the new knee has made me taller (or shorter) than the other leg and is affecting my gait. Even if it's off by a fraction, I feel the difference.

I'm putting that off until winter, just in case it requires surgery. 

What's on your agenda for the fall?