Word of the Day

Cranial flatulation - Condition of the brain to cease functioning mid-sentence, frequently occurring during important meetings where one must impress others, leaving the user of said brain with a blank stare.

Woodtick Count - 3

My gardens are planted....all of them, including the Earthboxes. I planted Bright Lights Swiss Chard in one of my Junior Earthboxes, and Buttercrunch lettuce in the other. I like the Junior Earthboxes for lettuce and such, so much so that I ordered another one online today that will be arriving in June....just in time to plant a second batch of lettuce. All told, I've planted twelve varieties of tomatoes. Four Jet Star, four Whopper, and one each of the following, Cherry, Yellow Plum, Mortgage Lifter, Beefy Boy, Marglobe, Lemon Boy, Beefsteak, Amish Paste, Carnival, and Boxcar Willie. The soonest that I'll see any tomatoes will be 65 days...according to the labels. With the weather as it has been, I don't expect to see any tomatoes until mid-August. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I fertilized and pre-treated all the tomatoes for blight.

As I had my duster out (my contraption that spreads garden dust on my plants), I pruned all the old, dead growth (non-growth) on my established currant bushes that were hit hard last summer with some sort of disease. They seem to be recovering, a bit, I'm hoping that if I continue to treat them with the fungicide/insect repellent, they'll recover fully. We'll see. However, just in case, I planted new bushes last fall and they seem to be doing just fine. They're small but I noted that they're already blossoming.

Aside from tomatoes, I planted eleven pots with Little Marvel peas...on the lower deck, and on the upper deck, I planted Sugar Snap peas with Kentucky Wonder bush beans, two zucchini plants, two summer squash plants, and I tucked some set onions into the side of the largest of my tomato pots. I went ahead and added tomato rings to all the tomatoes AND the pots with the peas on the lower deck. Planting peas in pots is an experiment for me. I've already had good luck planting them in my Earthboxes with the only drawback being that the base of the plants would get "fried" from the heat up on my deck during the summer. I'm hoping that my bush beans will help shade the Sugar Snap peas that I planted in my Earthboxes.

Frustration! I've lost my trowel...my only garden trowel...my favorite garden trowel. I have no idea where it went. It's disappeared and I've looked everywhere...well...everywhere but where it is. *sigh* I went ahead and ordered a new one online. Surely, that will make mine appear once again. I normally keep it outside by the front door where I can grab it as needed. Did someone else grab it while I was in town yesterday? Weird. Cue the Twilight Zone music.

I've been enjoying my bird-watching from the deck and from my recliner as I sit with my laptop. There's one bird that I haven't been able to identify. It looks kind of like a miniature Oriole....about the size of a Goldfinch. The closest that I can figure from my bird book is that it might be an American Redstart. However, the images online don't quite match what I'm seeing. However, I've decided to stick with Redstart.

Kylee decided to barf. I have no idea what she got into. There's plenty of outdoor things that she could have eaten to upset her stomach. I'm sure she'll be OK. Poor baby.

Sis called to ask me if I'd drive her and her hubby to the hospital on Tuesday. Sis' hubby has to go in for an angioplasty and isn't supposed to drive himself after the procedure is completed. Since Sis doesn't drive, I'm elected....unless the friends that they've got coming this weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) are willing to offer. Either way, it looks like I'll be driving to a hospital (an hour and a half away...not the closest to The Lake but, the one required by their health insurance) next week and in June when Sis' hubby goes in for valve replacement surgery. Sis sounds beside herself with worry and I don't blame her. Plans for this summer are going to be somewhat "up in the air" due to Sis' hubby's medical situation. My roof project is a nit in comparison.

Random Quote of the Day

Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.

- Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919), Speech in New York, September 7, 1903