Happy Birthday, Greg

Aside from the momentous 250th anniversary of the USA over the weekend, today we celebrate another grand trip around the sun for my favorite fella, Greg.

That's him in the picture above. (We were all in black and white back then.) That little devil turned into a big, handsome devil (in living color). 

I'll take him to his favorite restaurant and celebrate tonight.

I'm so glad he's with me. We read about another couple celebrating 71 years of marriage. I told him if we try real hard, maybe we can put in another twenty years too! No promises, he said. 

That sounds like a challenge to me. I'll do what I can to keep us both alive and kicking. 

On the homestead, I'm still busy canning sauce. I put the garlic in long storage, and put up some okra and eggplant.

It's been so hot nothing new wants to grow.

My dragon fruit cuttings are slowly (very slowly) trying to put out roots. So far, two of the four have sprouted roots. I'm a long way from claiming success though.

I won't crow about my dragon fruit until they've successfully put out buds. Fingers crossed.

I'm having to water the garden every day and sometimes twice a day. It's always like this during the summer. My only goal is to keep everything alive until the fall.

The dogs are well. Nana, despite numerous close calls has finally settled into a relative reprieve from all her pains and infections. I had to take her off all her medications and slowly reintroduce only the most essential meds. She can no longer take antibiotics, so I'm doing my best to keep her skin eruptions controlled with frequent bathing and brushing. She's definitely slowing down, but we do all we can to make her days comfy.

Odin has grown into the rottweiler's core identity: He's the protector and keeps an eye on everything. He's a good boy and very obedient, but every so often the goof comes out. 

The does have returned with their fawns. One of them got a late start. Her fawns are very young. Between me and my next door neighbor, we keep them fed with corn and the occasional stolen nibble from my berry plants.

If my food forest plan takes off, in a couple of years they'll have ample food from mulberry and fig trees.

Life is good. 

That's it from my corner of the universe. What's going on in yours?