Hoppin' Along

I couldn't resist. DS needed a ride back to the brewery this morning after dropping his car off to get new tires and he showed me the hops vines he'd planted to use as a sun shade on Zambaldi's patio. They've been growing about a month and a few of them are going gangbusters, this one in particular. He strung cords from the ground to the top of the frame he made and hopes they'll grow up to the top this season. They're perennial so they'll come back next year and grow taller. He plans to string cord from the frame to the roof so they can make a canopy if they grow that much next year.

 

This afternoon I saw a new flower up on the retaining wall. The Black-eyed Susans have started blooming. There aren't many of them but I'm glad to see them.

 

I filled the bird feeders this afternoon and this chipmunk arrived to clean up the spilled seed. You can kind of see its cheek pouches are filling up. They can climb up the crook that the cob corn hangs on and they take no time at all eating all of the kernels. I don't think the squirrels get a nibble these days.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Pick a Color (or rather Colour). I couldn't think of what to draw so I just drew my journal that sits beside me on the table. It's red, the first color I always pick.

 

 A male House Finch landed on the jelly dish this morning to have a few sips of the watered down jelly. We had some serious rain yesterday afternoon, evening, and overnight so I'm sure that there's grape jelly juice in there. The bird didn't seem to mind.

 

All of the old fashioned orange day lilies looked pretty beaten up this morning after all the rain but managed to perk up. The weather was sunny today but much cooler and more comfortable than it has been in days.

 

The other day I found a WW recipe on FB that looked interesting so I got the ingredients and made it. I think I had the wrong Greek yogurt to stir the sugar free lemon pudding mix into because instead of being creamy it's kind of like that weird kinetic sand that OJ likes to play with. And it looks like yellow ricotta cheese. I'll make it one more time using different yogurt (Fage is too dry) before forgetting the recipe. Hm, there's chocolate sugar free pudding too. That might be even better!

 

I drew a gratitude journal page for today--and yesterday--and the day before that--after supper today. It just seemed like the thing to do. I used my journal to remind me what I did those days and I remembered the weather. Now I feel accomplished.

 

This morning I went out and cut back a lot of the weeds that grow up in between the patio blocks. I have RoundUp but don't want to use it because it'll hurt the wildlife. I mentioned it to DS and he told me they use a mixture of vinegar, salt, and dish soap to keep the weeds down on their patio. So I went to the store after supper and bought ingredients. I have a sprayer so I can try it. Hope it works. I'll have to wait until after the weekend because it's supposed to rain. 

I've got the plumber coming at 7:30am tomorrow. I am so not used to having to be up and presentable that early but I'll manage. I'm setting my alarm right now. And I found out that the window well on the tenant's side is filling with water and the water is coming down the dryer vent. I thought I had that window well drainage fixed a couple years ago but evidently not. Once again I say, it's always something.

--Barbara