My Dwarf Iris are Blooming

Word of the Day

Fizuck - Used to express displeasure; "Oh poop!"


Woodtick Count - 3


I really should stay away from the bathroom scale. HATE that it tells me that I've gained five pounds since I left Arizona. I'm working out more than normal with all the stuff that needed doing here. I'm not eating anything more than My Fitness Pal recommends. Water weight? It doesn't seem fair. I'm having no problems at all fitting into a size 10 and the size 12 clothes are lose on me. Color me miffed and feeling defeated. I am NOT looking forward to stepping onto the scale at the doctor's office in June. Yup...I really need to put that scale away and forget about it.

It's 85 degrees outside with REALLY high humidity. I'm seeing storm clouds build. I got my outdoor work done after my morning workout. I put poison in the bait boxes. The one on the upper deck didn't need any poison. Apparently, the mice didn't touch that one. However, all the rest of the bait boxes outside were empty. I only had just enough poison blocks to bait the outdoor boxes. I ordered more poison online. I actually like mice but when you live out in the woods, you need to keep them from destroying your house. Last year, one had gotten into the workings of my furnace. Major damage....to both the furnace and the mouse. Yuck! Plus, when they get inside my air returns, they can't get out so...they die and they stink. Ewwww!!!!! It's best to stop them before they come inside. Plus...after noting that a chipmunk got into my pots on the lower deck (eating sprouting peas) I wouldn't be weeping too much if a few of the pesky chipmunks bite the big one.

My purple potatoes are the first to break the surface of the ground in my kennel garden. Peas in containers? I may have to replant. With any luck, that nasty chipmunk didn't get ALL the seeds in each pot. However, after I watered everything, I noted that the peas are just starting to sprout and there IS some peas left in each of the pots. I sowed them HEAVILY. Maybe the chipmunk is doing me the favor of thinning them out somewhat. I decided to water despite the storm clouds. There's no real guarantee that we'll get any measurable rain and I want to make sure the plants in pots get enough water to survive. None of the Earthboxes needed water since they have their own reservoir, but the pots dry out in this sort of heat.

I treated the perimeter of the house with ant bait and bug block. It's something I do each spring and, unlike Sis or Ma, I never seem to have an ant problem...as long as my children and my grandchildren follow my rules when it comes to food anywhere but in the kitchen where I can clean up the crumbs etc. I actually ended up having to spread mosquito repellent on all exposed body parts today. That is so not normal. Maybe it's the humidity. I hate using mosquito repellent. It always gives me a headache and makes me feel a bit sick. I plugged in my mosquito trap on the lower deck. HTP will make me unplug it and put it away when he comes but, until then, I plan to see if I can kill as many egg-bearing mosquitoes as possible...at least those that suck the pleasure out of sitting out on the upper deck.

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Update.

And the promised storm has arrived. We've got pea-size hail...not something that I would have liked to have but the roof seems to be holding up just fine. However, I'm sure that I'll be seeing a lot of shingle "dust" tomorrow morning. I was enjoying an Andrew Zimmer Bizarre Foods show on TV but....I lost the satellite feed. Maybe I'll actually do some reading tonight after dinner. I made some fresh guacamole with ramps and green tomato salsa. It'll taste wonderful on my oven-fried venison chimichanga. I blended a bottle of white wine with a bottle of Sis and my Mulligan Berry wine. It tastes wonderful on ice with a wedge of lemon. Yes, I brought avocados, lemons, and limes cross-country from Arizona. I hate to pay the price for what they charge for that sort of thing in Wisconsin.

Random Quote of the Day

Delusions of grandeur make me feel a lot better about myself.

- Jane Wagner


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