Juneteenth

 The preparations I have been trying to do for starting the new job have not been going as well as I had hoped.  I know it will all be fine, but I also know I should have tried harder to sleep today.  Most of the day was very restful, and that was good.  I just didn't sleep.  Other things I am happy for today:

• Getting out for a walk with my friend, Amy.  She has been off visiting her daughter's family in Virginia.  
• There were two woodchucks in the garden today.  The happy part of this is that I learned more places that the fence needs to be more fortified.  Where this little critter is, did not seem to be one of them.

Woodchuck/groundhog.

• Lens helped me identify a butterfly on the vetch.

Silver-spotted Skipper.

• The milkweed that I let grow in the yard (shh, don't tell the lawn/weed police) is blooming.  This, as well as the butterfly weed in the front of the house, are supposed to attract monarch butterflies.  

Common milkweed.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Thank you for reading, stay safe.

Wednesday

 According to Blogger, the FollowByEmail widget by Feedburner will be discontinued in July.  Anyone who currently receives the blog by email will need to go to the feed to read this blog.  I keep trying to learn more but so far my attempts are coming up empty.  That is not a happy thing, but here are a couple from today: 

• Summer is almost here and there are so many green things!  Some of them were pulled today.  That is what happens when plants grow in places that other plants are wanted.  The following plants were identified using Google Lens.

Houndstongue-gone!

Pokeweed-gone!

• Fairly certain that the east side of the fence is now done.  By done I mean that the netting we put to heighten the low garden fence is now sewn onto the garden fence or pinned to the ground.  The north part is done except for a gate and some of both the other two sides are done, just not all.  It is getting there.
• Breakfast for dinner today, made by Keziah, was scrambled eggs and cream of wheat.  Love breakfast for dinner!

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Thank you for reading, stay safe.

Happy Rain Day

 Last year, our first in this home, the deer, other animals, and insects consumed more of the garden than the humans.  Today we began the process of putting up a deer net around the garden.  I had visions of getting some pretty wood posts to attach the netting.  The price of an eight to ten foot pole, plus the labor to place it, meant that wasn't going to happen this year.  We used metal conduit pipes that we already had to get almost half the garden enclosed.  We need more conduit, but they are way cheaper than wooden posts.  So it is a bit of a hack job, but I think it will work.  

Zed and I, putting up the netting.
Photo courtesy of Keziah.

The netting is really hard to see.

• Within minutes of us walking away from the garden, birds flew in.  They didn't get caught, but they were mad that the netting was there.  The happy part of this is that they seemed to learn that it was an obstacle and flew around it fairly quickly.  Later, I tied some ribbons randomly to the net, hopefully that will help them see it.
• Keziah and Zed had chiropractor appointments this afternoon and their second vaccine this evening so Gideon and I got to spend time together.  In the afternoon I wanted to go to the bank so we stopped at a park nearby to play Pokemon Go.  It was raining so that seemed like a good plan.  Unfortunately Gideon couldn't get the game to work on his iPad.  Instead, we walked around the playground.  I think that was more fun.

• In the evening Gideon was playing on the computer.  I was playing with the cats and had a Disney song stuck in my head.  Instead of stumbling over the words I found the movie, Sleeping Beauty, and put it on.  So I danced to the songs while playing with the cats.  
• After feeding the cats I sat down to watch the movie.  With no prompting, Gideon joined me on the couch and we snuggled and watched the rest of it.  

It was a lovely rainy day.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.
    And suddenly I am at the chapter on growing grains and now I want to grow grains.  🤣😜🚜 Who even am I??

Stay safe.

Other happy things for today: