Category: Garden

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Allergy season is upon us

The past few couple of weeks I have been hearing a lot of sneezing going on, here at home, at the mall, at the grocery store and of course at the hospital, where we spent so much time at last week.  Every single person was complaining that their allergies were kicking in, tis the season.

My youngest has had allergies for several years and gets an allergy shot once a month and takes a small little pill once a day and it seems to be working rather well.  I took her off of the pill for a few months during the winter, but I think we need to start her back up again so that she doesn’t start up like everyone else around is.

Yesterday was a beautiful day, it made it to the 70’s and today is supposed be the just as nice.  I hope we are done with the snow and freezing temperatures once and for all.  I am itching to get outside and start working on the yard and the gardens, and boy do they need work – it was a hard winter on our yard this year – lots of strong winds made it worse.

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Rainbows

Something that I remind myself, without the rain there can be no rainbows. I saw a double rainbow this afternoon on my way home. It looked like it might end near my house. Wouldn’t that be nice to come home to?

two for the price of one
Double Rainbow
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Rain Ants

The bad news is that those pesky little black ants are back, in the bathroom and the kitchen both, they arrive here every spring. They actually came out about a month ago, but I immediately put out the ant traps and sprayed and thought that I had nipped it in the bud, guess I was wrong.

What I believe has happened is that the “heatwave” has finally ended this morning, and after a whole day yesterday, of rain and thunderstorms, the little buggers have come back with vengeance!

A few years ago, one of my daughters was dating a pest control dude, who for three years after they stopped seeing each other, he would still come over every year come the spring and do a real good professional job for us that would do an amazing job of keeping the ants under control.  But he hasn’t been around for the past several years and we are left to our devices of ant traps and sprays!

ant in rain drop
Rain Ant
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How To Remove A Tick

Please forward to anyone with children… or hunters or dogs, or anyone who even steps outside in summer!!

A School Nurse has written the info below — good enough to share, And it really works!! I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it’s some times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I’ve used it (and that was frequently), and it’s much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.  Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can’t see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor’s wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn’t reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, ‘It worked!’

**Please pass on. Everyone needs this helpful hint.**

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Online Banking Solutions

Well the “Pink Stuff” was hit at my sister’s house this afternoon, we had a nice time with the dozen or so of the family that were able to attend, my eldest daughter decided to go with me at the last minute, which was nice. We really had a nice time during the drive down, listening to music and laughing together. I had her drive because she still doesn’t know the way to her aunt’s house enough to get there by herself if need be some time, she is a good driver and it gives me time to look around at the scenery for a change instead of focusing on the road and traffic and such.

One of my brother’s came with his wife that is such a doll, we don’t get to see her very often so I made sure and took the time to visit and chat with her as much as I could. She caught me up to date with her attempt of starting up her own business that is keeping her super busy and worn out physically and mentally. She is working with a company called Northern Trust that she hooked up with on the Internet, that has assigned her a financial advisor that she thinks very highly of and is trusting him to guide her in these important financial decisions in the opening her very own florist boutique.

All of the paperwork involved is tremendous so she is happy doing the majority of their business online and has even started up her business checking account and is talking about retirement plans already with her personal “Relationship Manager” from Northern Trust.

It is good to see her so excited and up beat about the whole thing and is keeping a sense of humor and I hope that it all works out well for her. It will be great to be related to a florist.

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Heating For Our Outdoor Patio

Hubby has been working real hard the past few years in order for us to have a quality outdoor patio.  We really do enjoy being outside as much as possible in the warm weather months.  Our garden keeps getting bigger and bigger each year which requires a lot of work, so it is nice to be able to kick back when the sun starts going down.  Sometimes it does get a bit chilly so I have been contemplating on purchasing an outdoor patio heater, but I want one that looks nice along with our other things that Hubby has put together.

I have been seeing a few Bistro Table Patio Heaters that I think would suit us just fine, seems they run on either propane or LP, and I love the ones with the hammered bronze effect.  The idea of being able to use the table top is an awesome feature.  Guess I’ll have to run it all by Hubby before ordering it, just in case…….. hey he has been talking about checking out some gas garage heaters also.

table heater for patio
bistro table patio heater with hammered bronze effect
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The Tiller

Hubby is taking his time getting the tiller ready for this year’s planting season and I’m getting anxious to get the ball rolling and the garden planted. If I knew how to do all that was necessary to get the darned thing ready I’d be more than glad to take care of it, but alas I’ve been kept in the dark when it comes to most of the “lawn care” equipment around here and the more I nag the more stubborn he becomes, sigh…..

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Corn Fields & Their Mazes

A few years ago I heard about a local farmer who took his tractor out in the corn field and cut a series of paths in the stalks. He had a particular design planned out, and when he was finished he sent his kids out to find their way through the maze. When they got out the other side there was a prize waiting for the first one out. They loved it and told their friends and next thing you know they had a bunch of people wanting to go through the maze, too .Now all of a sudden a bunch of farmers had picked up on that idea and are cutting mazes into their corn fields and then charging admission for people to come try to find their way out. It’s actually a fun way for a family to spend together doing something outside in the fresh air and supporting the local farmers who could use a few extra bucks considering all that they have to go through trying to make a living off a farm.

If you have one in your area go ahead and give it a try. I bet you have a nice time and you could probably use the exercise, too!

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For the Birds

On a whim I bought a little bird feeder and a bag of bird seed. I think I’ll put it in the front yard, by the living room window so I can watch if any birds come to it. I love birds and hope they come eat, safely and appreciated from my yard.

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Mushrooms

There is a lot of shade in my yard, which is one reason I have a hard time getting any flowers, vegetables or even shrubs to grow. And now it turns out that there are a lot of different mushrooms that want to grow in my yard. I have seen 4 totally different types in different spots in my yard. I have to figure out how to get rid of them. I guess first I have to ID the different ones and then go to the hardware store to see what they have to kill them off.