Rainfall and More.....

 My rain gauge says that we received tthis much rain. It isn't a perfect measure but it is almost full. I was sprinkling in the evening and I did hear thunder early morning when I was laying awake. It is a good sound to hear thunder when you have a drought going on in the area.

The tomato patch looks good with the new rain. I am sure that all the grass that is growing in there is happy too. 

I am sharing this piece of furniture to show how the same woods do have different colors used when they they are made. The door shows the many colors.  Back when they were made they would paint on a dark finish to make it look like one color.

I share that because my four drawers of this dresser are of walnut but the top two drawers have a lighter color of wood used in them.  It isn't a horrible  thing and I an thinking I will still just use a clear finish on them and not try to stain them to all the same color.  I did discover today the the last bottom drawer is bigger than the one shown here. The two bottom drawers are just made from a darker walnut wood. 

I did get them all checked out and the bottom drawer fell apart when I picked it up.  It had to have major repair with glue on every joint to hold it together.  The glue did do the trick. The ends of the drawers show a very rustic hand cut joint making.  I think that may show it is older than the ones that have machine cut joints. 

The joints were so dry that they just came apart when I picked it up. I am thinking the piece sat in an outside shed for quite a long time. 

The joints that are cut on the back of the drawer are rustic or can I say crude. Glue did help to put it back together.  I don't think I have ever seen joints cut like this before in all my furniture restoration.  I started refinishing furniture back in 1967 when I was still in high school, fixing up two chest of drawers from an auction.  My mom paid six dollars for each one of them. 

I did sanding on the top of this piece and it is in rough condition.  It sanded up nicely but it has a lot of history of repairs by a bad crafts person. I will share that on another day.  Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good rest of the weekend.

Haze Day....

 They come in all sizes as I pick them from the vine.  We will be enjoying them for quite some time now. I have some really large ones that are ready to be picked.

It is so hazy today.  I looked down from the deck and welcomed the sight of green rather than the smokey haze. We can tell that the outdoor air is affecting our inside air. The  air conditioner does help filter it a bit. 

This is the sight of our sun this morning. One can barely see the clouds that are around the sun. We are not going to be so hot today and they think we might get some rain later on in the day.

The rose buds are back now. I had trimmed everything back from its first blooming cycle. The watering helps them and the humidity really is good for them too.

The field lily is doing well in this location.  It is invasive so I might have to move some flowers away from it as time goes by.  I have these blooming everywhere at the old place.

I take so many pictures of the zinnias that I don't know which ones that I have shared in the past. They had a good dose of water yesterday so they will grow better and fill in better.  I am staying inside today so the work for me will be project oriented today.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Thursday's Things......

 We did hear some thunder but there was no rain in our area.  It was in the 80's already by 8:00 in the morning.

I watered a lot of things this morning using water barrel water.  It is a slow process but I wanted to use some of it up before the next rain, whenever that happens. 

I was sure to dump some water on some of my roses. We are dry and the flowers are showing it. The phlox has been shut down because of the heat and low water.  I of course watered them today even though it is too late.

There is a light  yellow daylily at the old place that I plan to dig.  I think anything that probably will be under the new garage that they build will mean lost flowers. I have a couple of weeks to get the last of the things that I want to dig. 

The shape of it isn't too great but the begonia is really taking off with many new blooms. I like the shiny leaves on this plant. 

I am hearing swimming pool sounds from the neighbors kids today as I blog.  The babysitter takes them in for fun in the water and they always scream for joy about the experience.  The water should be really warmed up now because of the many warm days and nights that we have been having.  The pool is in the direct sun so that helps it warm up too. 

I cleaned out the north side of my garage today moving things into the basement.  I had containers of tools from the old place and boxes of nails and screws.  That is great for on day but the south side of the garage will need to be cleaned and reorganized too. The garage is so great for dumping things and placing them somewhere else later.  A lot of the people in our area don't park cars in one side of their garage as it is just too full of things.  I don'[t want to have that problem so I try to stay ahead of the clutter. 

It is so hot again today.  I won't venture out any more today.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Hot and Humid.....

 The shape of the petals on a dahlia are so unique. This color is a good one.

The dinner plate hibiscus is doing well in spit of the heat. One of our news persons had to take out a dinner plate to show the comparison of his wife[s flowers and the plate. 

The zinnias are blooming enough that I could cut a bouquet to bring inside.  I like how they just take off and bloom when it isn't expected. 

This drawer number three that has not been sanded.  I couldn't find any really fine sandpaper so I bought some wet/dry paper that is really fine.  The walnut wood really shows scratches if the paper is too rough.  This size of drawer is much larger than the top two. 

These two are not the same size.  I really don't remember if the two  bottom drawers are the same size.  I bet that they are. I want to do sanding on one drawer a day until all four of them are done.  The top of the dresser is really beat up and I bet the electric sander will work better than just hand sanding. 

The tomatoes are just great for now.  I am sure we will get tired of them but for now they are a treat.  It is hot everywhere.  I am done up at the old place for now and won't have to get out in the heat up there. I did get my old lawn boy going this morning and trimmed along the bushes where my hired man doesn't do a good job with.  The lawn boy had not been started for an entire year and it did give me a little bit of a problem.  I should start it everyday so it works better.  Thank you for stopping by today.

 My dahlia bloom with a morning glory bud. The vines of the morning glory seem to be invading all of the area.

The canna in the front yard has shot up two new sprouts. I had not been watching the plant but when I was watering things I was surprised to see them. The clay in the soil has not been very good for me to grow them. 

After taking this photograph I went to get a good bucket of water for the plant.  It has died out on the bottom of it and the leaves are shriveled.  The drought continues and I need to keep better track of the plants. 

 

It is very hot here and morning watering sessions are going to have to begin. I had to work at the old place today and I dug a few more plants to bring home.  I may stick them in pots temporarily and keep them in the shade. The weather keeps us on our toes.  Our grass has started to go dormant again this season.  

Thanks for checking in today.

Monday without Words.....

 

 

 

 

Thanks...for stopping by.

Sunday Afternoon.....

 I have never taken a photo where the craters are visible at the top of the moon. It is close to being a full moon so the light must be hitting it at a different angle for this phase. 

I wasn't going to go out and take a shot but I thought it was good that its position was perfect and there were no clouds.

The hardy geraniums are surviving the heat but they really could use some more watering. This was the best showing of the ones that I have. 

The former owners/gardeners have this planted all over the property.  I really don't know the name of it.

Thanks for stopping by today.

A Done Deal.......

 I have been busy with the work needed to sell a house. I could not bring any of the outside gardens and landscape up to a good level. I did get some stray trees trimmed back but there are a lot more to do. I may not get to that thought.

In three weeks the signing of papers will take place turning this over to some creative flippers. They have the history of gutting out the insides, creating new floor plans, and finishing things in modern style.  The precence of a 1916 styled house will be gone. I have owned it since 1976 and I am relived to be done with the sale. The process was not fun and I am just letting go of all the difficult problems. 

The derecho did damage to our roof earlier and a horrid hail storm put holes all over the three year old shingled roof.  The price of the new roof was deducted from the selling price and I get to just walk away from it. The whole town has been through a lot with the strong winds a year ago and now the recent hail storm.  Farmers have been hit again for the second season. 

I have a couple of more trips to the old place and then I am done with the property.  I will have to keep paying utilities and the lawn mowing person. Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday Finalities.....

 

 The harvest begins in an instant.  I had not been out to the patch for a few days. I was moving stray vines out of the way for the mower.  Tied them up and picked some tomatoes.   I can see others are changing color too. 

 The pink hardy geranium is finally blooming.  I wintered it over inside and tt took it a while to adjust being outside. The blooming should pick up now with the weather that we are having.

 

 This was moved from the old place with its history being from a plant sale at an arboretum. The one bloom in the background is a lighter colored version of it. 

The smaller yellow lily is still blooming. It is time to maybe move some things around, or at least to divide them and spread them out.

I am so glad that I bought some dahlias. I do have to dig them in the fall but they are worth it. The plant keeps getting taller and the blooms increase in size after the bloom opens.

I am headed to the eye clinic to get my eyes checked and to pick out new glasses. The diabetes has messed with my eyes and we will see what the can do for an already very nearsighted old guy. It has been too long for me to renew them and things seem to be quieting down so I can take the time to do it. Living in a big city means I only have to drive about three miles to get there. 

We are going to get hot again today. I should have watered things but didn't.  Maybe I can do it this evening.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week.....

 Growing morning glories in the tomato patch really does work well. They come up volunteer each spring and they don't hinder the growth of the tomatoes. 

The zinnia patch is maturing and a lot of the shorter plants are catching up in height. The glads on the left side of the photo are shooting up stems of buds

The dahlia plant puts out blooms that seem to get bigger than ever as they mature. I like the red color of this one and the height of them is going to be tall. 

When I was a kid on the farm my mom would plant them in the fence row next to the vegetable garden. I remember them being tall with lots of brown blooms. That memory is from sixty years ago on the farm in southern Iowa.

My camera would not pick up the reddish cast that the moon was displaying. It was fun to be out  in the late evening to take shots. Surprisingly people were out walking their dogs as the weather had cooled down.  It is always interesting the size of the dog and the size of the dog walker.  Big men sometimes are walking their little dog. 

These lilies are sure lasting a long time with their blooming period. I like that they last so long.  We are having a hotter day today and the whole week is suppose to get worse. I have a yard that needs to be mowed but he doesn't come until Friday.  I guess I should be glad that is green even though it is thin.  Thanks for stopping by today.