7 Quick Takes (Vol 163)

Well here we are again. Gathered at the Blather Table for another big helping of Deb’s incredibly productive and over the top life. You know the drill. When you are done being amazed by the blather you need to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of the horses that will run the Kentucky Derby tomorrow, over to Conversion Diary.

May the Fourth be with you!

1.
I hate to say it but most of the mulch is still sitting on the driveway. Mocking me.

But HHBL and I will be putting ourselves to work for at least part of the day tomorrow to move as much of it as we can.

I will not be mocked.

And it goes much faster with two of us working together in a concerted effort to conquer the beast.

2.
I love a day when I just crank out small projects that have been hanging around on my “to do” list for a long time. Yesterday was one of those days. Despite the fact that I was sweating up a storm because the temp in the Frozen Northeast Ohio hit 87F yesterday, breaking the record by the way, and I refuse to put the AC on in MAY, I cranked out work.

I was a machine.

Well, I was a machine up until about 4p when I sort of decided I had done enough and went off to read a book for a while.

But my “to do” list is much shorter. And I am happy.

3.
We finally put the screens in the windows last Sunday. It might seem like a mundane thing to most but it means, to me, that I can sleep with the windows open at night.

I lovelovelove to have the windows open at night. As soon as it gets even a modicum of warm I have the window open at least a little bit all night long. And that goes on until the end of September.

Well, unless the AC is on. But we don’t use the AC all that much if we can help it. Both HHBL and I like the windows open at night. I can hear the owls hooting and the coyotes singing and the peepers in the Spring.

Oh how I love the mysterious sounds of the night.

4.
Can I just say that without audiobooks I just wouldn’t get any weeding done. It isn’t that I don’t like weeding, I do actually. It appeals to my OCD nature. But sometimes I just need to have an audiobook going in my head to distract me from the endless task of weeding.

Currently I am listening to Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder. It is the thought provoking and inspiring true story of a young man who lived through the genocides in both Burundi and Rwanda. I would recommend it to everyone. And when you have been to some of the places that he speaks about it makes it all the more real.

5.
The Rose Breasted Grosbeaks are back!!!!

This picture is actually from last year, I haven’t taken any of them this year yet. Only the males are back and I haven’t seen them too much as yet. But I have seen them and I have heard them.

They have the most beautiful song.

6.
How about a quick garden update.

We have potatoes coming up in the potato tower, despite the whole tower being blown over last week in the wind storm. The actual dirt wasn’t disturbed so LaurenLeap and I just set everything to rights and all seems fine.

Holy Summer Salad Batman! We have a lot of lettuce coming up. My mouth is watering for that first salad of the summer.

And the spinach is looking good as well. I feel stronger already!


The onions are happy and growing as is the garlic, which you cannot see in this picture. We have both white and red onions planted.

But I am afraid we have had a garden casualty.


On Saturday night, well really Sunday morning, we had an unexpected frost. I knew when I looked out my window Sunday morning that we might be in some trouble. And it was confirmed on Monday when LaurenLeap went out to check on things at the garden and called me with the disturbing news about the broccoli. We have a number of plants that seem to have been pretty much done in.

But not all of the plants were so badly damaged. We will just replace the ones that took the biggest hit. All is not lost.

Ah the early morning garden. So peaceful

7.
A round up of pictures taken on the morning walks around the lake. I love walking there in the Spring, Summer and Fall. And I guess Winter too. These were all taken with the little camera, which I stick in my pocket before I leave

Who wouldn’t love seeing this early in the morning.

Get those geese, Ben! Most of them now see him coming and move away before he gets there.


These geese were none too happy to have to hustle off the path. They moved into the water but then hung there hissing at us.

I have protected my women from the evil honking bags of feathers!

We don’t encourage him to chase the ducks and ducklings. We like them.

And then there is the Killdeer momma who tries to distract us from her nest, which must be some where close to the path. They are ground nesters and the momma will flutter along the ground like she has a broken wing to distract us predators away from the nest.

I love our walks.