The second foggy photo shows the redone porch. We had all the bad trim on the house replaced last August, including all the railings on the back porch, but that meant that my plant shelf disappeared too. So our friend Tom kindly replaced it with one of his refurbished pallets. Cousin Chris donated the basil plants.
There's that little kitten who showed up at the Coffee House on Saturday night, totally stealing the show. Thankfully she found a home other than ours!
While we were having lunch on the porch, this old lady came to visit. At the same time down by the lake, there was a bald eagle in the trees supervising two of its youngsters flying overhead.
Mother Nature was putting on a show for us, while Mr Pea was putting on his own show out front by our car.
One little Mitsubishi mini-split on the first floor is enough to tackle the hot and humid days we have had recently. The hazy part most likely comes from Canadian wildfires, but there is not much we can do about that.
At least she appears to be happy out there. She only has 3 dog beds to choose from. Poor girl!
This second time I was able to catch her and put her in the dog crate in the garage with a dozen new eggs. Just yesterday, on day 21, she hatched all 12. Considering there were some very hot and humid days that were even hotter in the garage, she did an amazing job. One of the hatchlings died the same day, maybe because it was too crowded under her, but the 11 survivors all seem very healthy.
Mama with 11 new babies is the main pic of the day, but this sunset with blooming elderberries is stunning as well. This will be our first year with such a huge crop of berries. Cousin Chris is interested in picking some to make elderberry wine. Not sure if I get to participate in the making, or just supply the fruit and enjoy the wine.
The little cherry tree in front had a great crop of cherries this year, but the birds ate all but one before they got ripe. I think even if the birds get to the elderberries, we should still have enough left for the humans.
Jessie is getting better about coming in the house, but not so good at staying in, even when it is hot and sticky outside with the AC on inside. It feels like Jersey weather—I'm thinking we can blame it on this week's visitors from Florida and New Jersey!
Here is the perfect little lady posing with her cookie bones. She allows Cyrus to eat the cookies sticking out, and then she steals both of bones and won't let him touch them. He doesn't care.
The 2 cat boys are good posers as well. Here they are trying to catch a breeze in the un-air-conditioned bedroom. Most of the time it gets cooler at night. This week—not so much.
 |
| Scarface with Cyrus by the door |
I have been using the push mower up here in NY to do around the edges after The Husband mows my domain, inside the back fence. He mows the rest of the property however he pleases, or not, mostly paths thru the weeds.
Considering I still have no idea what the throttle and the choke are supposed to do, I think I did a pretty good job.
Feeling pretty confident that I knew what I was doing, I tried doing a bit more outside the fence under the apple trees. It became obvious that Hub was not mowing this area because the ground is not level. At one point when I was leaning a little too far to my left, I reacted by putting my foot out to correct that. Duh! This is how serious accidents occur—people feeling confident when they have no idea what they are doing. Had I tipped over, that would have been my last mow.
I will do better now that I have been granted the opportunity for a second mow.
https://katykeck.com/garlic-scapes-maple-achers/Farm Fresh Garlic Scapes - Behind the Scenes @ Maple Achers | Katy Keck
On a quick trip to New Jersey about 2 weeks ago, I managed to pull all the English ivy off of one of my sister's oak trees out front. I threw all the vines around the base of the tree and picked them up when I finished.
I noticed one little 3-leaf sprig of poison ivy under the big pile after I picked it up. I was not wearing gloves, but had long-sleeve jacket and long pants, so I figured I would be okay.
Came inside and washed my hands for a very long time and thought I was good.
It all went downhill from there. Apparently there was plenty of poison oil on the jacket and pants that I did not realize. Put pants in the suitcase and wore the jacket after I got home. Duh.
Since May 19 I have been fighting what started as a little rash on my arms only. I did a video visit (twice) with a Prime Care nurse who gave me a script for several things, including prednisone. She recommended Sarna lotion to stop the itch.
What I didn't think about, since the rash didn't start until the day after I got home, was that I also slept in my bed, and still had the jacket and pants unwashed, like me until the day after.
It's over 2 weeks since I was there. Once I realized what was going on, again I thought I was doing everything right. But no. Sarna lotion felt so good that I used it too often and burned my arms but good. Stopped the lotion and continued with Benadryl, and was doing really well until I accidentally wore that pair of pants yesterday. Not sure if they had been washed once with the jacket, but even so now I have spread this over my body. At least my legs are clear. Yay!
I would like to say I learned a lesson, but I didn't really. I did wash the sheets and affected clothing 4 or 5 times today. Not sure that that's a lesson.
Happy birthday to me.
Jessie returned to Breezy Acres kennel a weekend ago, while I made a quick return to New Jersey to visit with Little Sister, and Uncle J&E, AND about a dozen old volleyball friends.
My job for today was putting together a Gorilla Cart (smaller wheel barrow) that I gifted myself for an upcoming birthday.
It was too easy, so I also prepped the dog crate (that has never been used for dogs) for some chicks I am hoping to hatch.
More on that later.
Monkey sleeping (or trying to), Martin bird-watching, Jessie looking sad and pathetic outside on the porch—this is how we spend a rainy Sunday here in Upstate NY.
Jessie spent most of the morning indoors and shared some pancakes for breakfast with us, but she still cannot overcome her desire to be outdoors, even on rainy days. No matter how many times we ask her to come in, she stays out almost every day until dinner time.
I was bragging about my Eglu chicken coop in Friday's post, and then today when I was moving it, the nest box crashed to the ground with a chicken and 5 good eggs going with it. I succeeded in getting it back together, but all the Humpty Dumpties turned into chicken breakfast.
The Eglu is still worth every penny—yesterday I saw either the biggest fox ever, or a young coyote darting across the backyard in the middle of the day. The girls might not be thrilled with their living quarters, but at least they are alive.
