I don't have any real reason to post today. It's just been a while so I figured I'd ramble on for a bit. It's kind of a gloomy day and cool, currently about 69 degrees at 1:00 pm in the afternoon. So I'm cleaning and doing random things, including posting to this blog. The girls are sleeping or hanging out. Since they're 16 and 18 years old, they do a lot of sleeping now.
The sages I planted are doing well. The Russian sage is still blooming as you can see. The Texas sage has stopped blooming, but looks good. So it looks like I managed not to kill either one so far. I'll be interested to see how they winter. I know the Texas sage has leaves year-round, but I don't know about the Russian sage.
The little pine is looking okay, but is getting brown tips on it's pine needles. Maybe that's normal pine behavior when they prepare to be somewhat dormant over the winter. It would be just too ironic if the brown tips I tried so many things to cure a year ago are normal for a pine before the winter comes. Whether they are or not, I'm not treating the tree with ANYTHING. It will survive or not as it sees fit.
The peaches are putting on that last growth spurt before they drop their leaves. My big peach at the other house did this too. They actually grow more in the early Fall than any other time of the year. Maybe peaches are too busy producing fruit to grow in the Spring, so they grow in the Fall instead.
And in other gardening news, the aloe vera that got frost damaged and stayed out all winter last year, is the healthiest one of my aloe veras. It's a nice dark green and thriving, as opposed to the ones that I kept in the house over the winter. Those in-house ones got badly sun-burned when I put them outside last Spring and are still pale and just beginning to look good. That's yet another indication that I should leave my plants alone and just let them grow. They always look worse when I try to "help" them.
In work news, I managed to win my election to national office in my professional organization! To say I'm delighted about that would be a massive understatement, because I had a tough opponent. That puts me as President-elect next year in 2015 and President in 2016. I suspect the next two years are going to fly past even faster than the last two have.
My neighbor across the street had foundation repair work done last week, and it not only made me very sympathetic, it caused dream flash-backs. I dreamed twice last week that my foundation shifted and I had these huge cracks in my walls and ceiling and had to have the foundation work re-done. It made me realize again how great 2014 has been and what a difference from my struggles in 2013. On top of that I've only had two minor colds this year, and I'm maintaining my weight around 132 without too much trouble. My cholesterol is back up to 200 the last time I had it checked, but that's because I started eating some greasy fast food again, and slacked off on the fruit eating. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on that. Shouldn't be too hard to find a happy medium. Plus my HDL cholesterol was 91, so nearly half my total is "good" cholesterol.
So unlike last Fall at this time when I felt like the whole universe was against me, I'm once again pretty happy with my life and how things are going.
That's about it for now.
Man. Once again a month has gotten away from me. Here we are at the end of September. Time continues to move way too fast. Plus I've been busy on the weekends, which is when I usually post to this blog. So blogging falls by the wayside when I have too much to do.
I've been gardening today. Or at least puttering around outside, pretending like I'm gardening. I pulled nearly all the mint out of the garden around my patio. Mint tries to take over everything, so I have to pull it occasionally. I love the smell of it though and the bees love the mint flowers. I also pulled lots of other plants that I have no idea what they are. But they're not flowering, so they go. I found this little blue flower in the first picture, a morning glory maybe?, hidden in the mint and I did leave it growing. I also pulled up the remains of the sunflowers that grew from the birdseed. I let them grow until they flower, because they're pretty, but it was time for them to go.
Then I dead-headed all my roses and then drained and cleaned the metal tub out by the fence that's become a gnat-squito (Dad's name for these damned tiny mosquitoes that are about the size of and as aggravating as little gnats) breeding ground. That tub is also where the birds like to drink, so I cleaned it out and refilled it, with the intent of flushing it out every few days.
Then after all that, I planted two sages in between the shrubs around the patio - one on each side. Those are in these two pictures of plants with purple flowers. When I was in Colorado this summer I kept seeing this shrub that was flowering a gorgeous purple color. It was such a bright spot in every landscape where I saw it, that I finally asked someone what it was. It's called Russian Sage, and it's supposed to grow here in Texas too. So yesterday I was picking up some potting soil at Home Depot to plant cat grass in (I grow the cat-kids grass every month or so), and I saw some small Russian Sage shrubs. And right next to them were some small Texas Sage shrubs and it reminded me how much I liked the Texas Sage at my old house when it would bloom purple. So I bought one of each type, and today I planted them on either side of the patio.
I know it's probably not the ideal time of year to be planting things, but I figure, this is Texas. If we get a freeze it probably won't be until January, December at the earliest. So the sages should have time to take root in place and grow some before the weather turns on them. We're still dry as a bone here though, so I'll have to be sure and water them a bunch.
I took pictures of the three peach trees today. The one by the back fence is doing okay, but the other two are growing gang-busters. I've but in some pictures from June and from today, so you can see how much they've grown. The top picture is June on the smallest tree when it was almost half as tall as the fence. Below it it today, when it tops the fence. Then below is the oldest tree in June when it was just taller than the wall, and the last picture shows it considerably taller than the wall.
You can also see that they think they're shrubs, not trees. When they drop their leaves this Fall, or before they put on new leaves next Spring, I'll try to trim them into some sort of tree shape. That won't be easy for the one that was the smallest and it now the largest because it got mostly buried by the foundation guys and came back up this Spring as multiple limbs from the ground. There's not really a central trunk there. I'll have to see what I can do with that peach shrub.
The birds are unhappy with me because I was outside on the patio a bunch today, disrupting their feeding. I did pull the hummingbird feeder today while I was out there. I've been watching it this week and haven't seen any hummers at it for at least a week, so I guess they've moved on for the winter already. I still have plenty of sparrows and finches though. Some of them may try to stay through the winter.
Anyway, That's what I've been up to today, digging holes and planting things and cleaning up. It's been nice and decently cool in the mornings lately, although it was getting hot by the time I finished. I like the cool morning time of year. I could wish it wouldn't get up to 90-ish in the afternoons, but I can't really complain. For Texas, we've had a cool summer.
That's all today.
I'm so past due to post something on this blog. It's September 1st! The whole month of August just seemed to disappear without me being able to make it last longer.
Actually almost the whole month of August I took vacation. Three weeks worth. It was so nice! I went back to Utah and hiked my favorite hikes. Landscape Arch in the first picture is from Arches National Park. I first stayed in and hiked four National Parks in Utah in 1994, so this was my 20 year anniversary trip. I intended to stay in the four parks again and hike the same hikes, but it didn't work out that way. Partly because two of the hikes I wanted to do were closed for repairs. And partly because the weather wouldn't cooperate.
I had LOTS of rain and cool weather. In fact I hiked one hike in the rain! I was determined to do the Navajo Knobs hike in Capitol Reef National Park, because Capitol Reef was the first place I ever camped in Utah and Navajo Knobs was the first Utah hike I ever did. Only I had 24 hours of continuous rain while I was there. So I hiked it anyway. 9.4 strenuous miles in the rain. Nope. I'm not goal-oriented. Nor stubborn. Why would you ask?
The picture above is the view looking down on the road while sitting up on the Navajo Knobs. The view isn't clear because it's raining all out across that land (and where I was). Then this picture is looking up at the Navajo Knobs from the road later on that same day. As you can see, the Knobs are now above some of the clouds. The clouds weren't that low when I was up there.
Other than uncooperative weather I had a good time on the trip. I started in Zion National Park as usual, hiking Angel's Landing, but left a day early because the other hike I wanted to do was closed. Then I ended up skipping Bryce because it was 57 degrees and pouring when I got there and they were forecasting that same weather for the next two days. So I went on to Capitol Reef and ended up with rain there too. Then I went to Moab and Arches National Park, where the weather actually cooperated. After that I went down to Durango and spent some time in Mesa Verde National Park since I was three days ahead of my planned trip. And ended the trip up spending a couple days in Buena Vista visiting my sister and her husband. It was overall a really nice trip. And if I didn't get to do all the hikes I wanted, I did my three favorite ones, Angel's Landing, Navajo Knobs and Dark Angel.
The cats survived my absence just fine. They've finally warmed up to my pet sitter and accepted her attention. It's been awhile since I've been away from them for this long, so I'm sure they got lonely. This last week I've been home and doing all the house-related things I never get around to when I'm working. And of course getting ready to go back to work after being off for three weeks. The second week I was gone, I accessed my work email and cleared 700 emails. This week I did the same and cleared almost 400 more. "Cleared" being a euphemism for: tagged those that I need to deal with and deleted the rest. At least tomorrow shouldn't be too overwhelming, email-wise.
The one thing I'm a little worried about as far as work tomorrow is shoes. I pretty much destroyed both my big toe nails, I guess hiking in boots that didn't fit well. Although my toes did NOT hurt while I was hiking. They were new boots and hiking in them was really comfortable. I don't know whether they shrunk just a little getting so wet in that long second hike, but when I took my boots off after the third hike, both nails were pushed up and shifted over from all the blood under the nails. The right big toe nail I'm definitely going to lose. It's creating a new nail bed because of the damage to the original one. The left toe nail I may keep. It's slowly turning from solid purple-black to yellow-red. Anyway, I've only worn sandals since that last hike, so we'll see how closed shoes do tomorrow.
It looks like the little pine tree will survive after all! It's put on new growth all around and through the dead areas, and is growing taller as well. That little tree just amazes me. It reminds me of that line from the original Jurassic Park, "Life will find a way." It just keeps striving to live.
I also decided that I'm going to try planting some flowering things next Spring. Around the Buena Vista area there is a lot of a shrub called Russian Sage that is a gorgeous purple and beloved by honeybees. And I saw some beautiful hollyhocks too. So next Spring I'm going to try those two and see if I can increase the bees and hummingbirds around here. I really like growing things and especially things that bloom.
That's the short version of my August. I guess that's about it for now.
How's this for a study in contrasts? This picture is the same little tree from the last post, or anyway, what's left of it. *sobbing quietly* Reckon I'll EVER learn to leave nature alone and let things grow on their own?
This is what happened: I was looking at the pine one afternoon and it looked like something bug-wise was maybe munching on it. So I sprayed it all over with a bio-pesticide called neem oil. I think what happened is that it needed watering and with the excessive heat on the patio, it essentially baked in the oil. When I got home the next day it was wilting badly and all oily. So I transplanted it and watered it like crazy and washed it down as much as I could with lots of water in a watering sprinkling can. Over the last week or so, a lot of the needles and limbs have turned brown and are pretty obviously not going to survive.
The only good news is that the areas that are still green now are putting on new growth. So I have some hope that enough of the tree is going to survive for it to come back . . . again! This poor little tree has survived an unbelievable amount of abuse from me. I really hope it makes it.
In other news, the house has done it again. Tuesday I replaced the entire AC/heat system in the house. Last weekend I was sitting here working on this computer and the outside compressor part of the AC began making a horrific noise. The system kept the house cool over the weekend, but I called and had the AC guys come out first thing Monday. They told me what I essentially already knew - the AC system in the house was original to the house, roughly 18 years old. It may keep limping along, or it may quit tomorrow. All I could think of was going out to Utah on vacation next month and the system quitting while I was gone. So I had them replace it.
The new system runs so quietly I can't tell when it's running. I hadn't realized how loud the old system was. Plus I had them redo the duct work while they were up there, so the three front rooms now get adequate AC and heat and are the same temperature as the rest of the house. Plus the system is on wifi, so I can log in from anywhere and change the temp in the house or switch from AC to heat or whatever. Nice! It's actually a relief to not have to worry about an old system any more, especially when I'm out of town.
This morning the cat-girls went to the vet for their annual physicals and vaccinations, so they're currently pretty unhappy with me. Especially poor Addy. The vet knows she's had reactions to her vaccinations before, so she gave her a shot of benedryl first while Addy was having her blood work drawn. Then later when the vet and I were discussing whether to give Addy any vaccinations, due to her age and being an indoor cat and her reaction to them, Addy started throwing up everywhere. It looks like Addy is now allergic to benedryl also. So she didn't get any vaccinations, although they had to finally give her another shot to stop her vomiting. The vet is going to put "no vaccinations" in her chart. She's also going to email me a letter that says that Addy doesn't need her rabies vaccination under the circumstances. So it was an eventful day at the vet.
The good news though is that both cats are in good shape for their ages. Addy actually gained a little weight. The last couple of years she's weighed less every time I've taken her to the vet, so I was happy that she put on a little. Zoe's still 16 pounds. The vet will call me next week with the results of the cat's blood work. I have it done because I'm keeping track of their kidney function.
Zoe has a little patch of dry brittle, fur on her back and the vet and I were talking about her diet and trying some vitamin supplements when Addy began vomiting. We got side-tracked and never got back to Zoe's dry patch, but since the vet was talking about diet supplements, I'm figuring it's not something serious that needs to be treated.
That was my eventful day, and last week or so. I don't know that I'll post again until I get back from vacation, but I may get one in.
Man, this year has been flying past. I guess I say that every year, but they seem to go by faster and faster. We're half way through 2014! Amazing.
For me, 2014 has been a good year so far. I almost hate to say that so I won't jinx myself. But I've been healthy. My folks have been relatively healthy, for their ages. My family keeps growing, with a new set of grand-twins. My house hasn't needed any more repairs since they finished in January. My cat-kids are holding their own at 16 and 18 years old. My job is going well and keeping me busy. I guess I have a lot to be grateful for.
I'm pretty much over the jet lag from Istanbul. I'm finally waking up to the alarm rather than between 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning. And the airline found my luggage and delivered it to me three days after I got back, so not too bad. I had taken most of the clothes that fit me now, so I was really happy to get those back.
Friday was Fourth of July holiday so I went to east Texas and visited with my folks and my sisters and their husbands. It was really nice to see them all. So often lately I've felt like I just need to stay completely away from my sisters, who always seem to be mad at me about something. Being around them I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, afraid to say the wrong thing, or say something they'll take wrong. It's sometimes really tempting to just keep a distance. Still. I love all my family. I'm happier when things are going well between us, and things felt better last Friday. Better than they've been anyway. Maybe I've learned just to keep my mouth shut. It really doesn't pay to say what you think.
Hmmmm. This post didn't start out introspective. Not sure where that came from.
Anyway, the pictures in this post are the cat-girls and also my little pine tree, which is still growing gang busters. I also stuck a picture in of where I jury-rigged a broken branch with a garbage bag twist tie. The branch was broken at that fork, almost all the way through, and I didn't think I could do anything that would help it. but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. And that branch seems to still be growing fine, so maybe the twist tie saved it.
That's all for today.
I'm home from Istanbul. The trip was good. Travel was mostly uneventful, meaning no flight delays or complications. The airline did lose my luggage on the way back. They're still trying to locate it. Still, if I had to lose it, I'd rather lose it on the way back than on the way over. I had everything I needed while I was there. I'm making a list of contents. In case they don't locate it, they can pay me for what I lost.
Anyway, the trip. Istanbul is a pretty amazing city, and I learned a lot about it's history and geography, as well as having a great couple of meetings over there. I didn't have a lot of time for sightseeing, but I managed a 2-hour boat tour on the Bosphorus - the waterway strait that divides Istanbul (and Europe from Asia) and connects the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea. I also managed time to run around and take pictures, although I didn't end up with time to actually go into the mosques, which is a shame. Maybe next time. It takes a considerable amount of time to get from point A to point B anywhere in Istanbul, so that eats up a bunch of time.
I did learn a really fascinating thing about the Bosphorus. The water on top is fresh water and runs swiftly from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea, since the Black Sea is at a slightly higher altitude. However the water at the bottom of the Bosphorus flows in the opposite direction! And it's salty, coming from the Marmara Sea, which comes from the Aegean Sea and ultimately from the Mediterranean Sea. The two waters in the Bosphorus don't really mix. The just flow past each other in different directions and with different salt concentrations.
The first picture in this post is the Blue Mosque and the next one is Hagia Sophia or Aya Sophia as the Turkish call it. The other two pictures are taken in a courtyard of the Blue Mosque. Unfortunately, the afternoon I took the boat tour, I actually left my camera in the hotel room. I could have kicked myself.
My hotel was really nice and was situated at a great location. It was located about 3 blocks from the Istanbul Congress Center and maybe 5 blocks from Taksim Square. Taksim Square not only has the lightrail stations, it's also one end of the busiest shopping street in Istanbul. They say 3 million people a day shop there. I believe it. LOTS of people.
The two Congresses I attended were both good. The first one I helped organize, so it pretty much consumed my time the first three days I was there. I had much less responsibilities at the second Congress, which is why I could escape for some sight-seeing. I was also put in touch with young woman who did her training in the US, by a mutual colleague. She was kind enough to invite me out for dinner one evening with her Father and several people I know from the Association. It was a perfect evening - great food, great company, outstanding open-air restaurant on the Bosphorus with a wonderful view.
So overall I would have to say the trip was really good. I made some new colleagues/friends with international members of the profession, learned some new things and got a chance to visit one of the amazing places in the world that I may never have gone to without these two meetings.
Now if they could just find my luggage, it would be pretty close to a perfect trip.
I mentioned last time that I have a jay hanging around who goes to the feeder, gets one sunflower seed and carries it to the metal shelf where he opens it and eats it. He repeats this behavior over and over, occasionally stopping for a drink at the little bird bath. So the pictures in this post are of him doing this.
He clears the feeder whenever he lands on it - all the smaller birds making way for him. I've seen the smaller birds occasionally challenge the redwing blackbird for feeder rights, but never seen them challenge the jay.
I'm spending most of this weekend getting my act together for going to Istanbul on Wednesday. I've been planning my wardrobe and figuring out packing. I've already done everything as far as money, visa, notifying credit cards, upgrading phone service so it works over there, setting up the pet sitter, etc. Now I'm making myself lists of what to remember to take (camera, ipod, etc) and what to remember to do before leaving (water plants, leave note for sitter, etc). Nine days away takes more planning than 3 days, which is mostly what I've been doing lately.
Big family news. My nephew and niece-in-law had their twins yesterday morning around 2:30 am. The twins are 34 weeks, so they're early and in the NICU, but they're doing well. The little girl is breathing room air on her own pretty much. The little boy is requiring some ventilation and surfactant therapy to get his lungs to finish maturing and work well, but both are beautiful. I know, I know. Of course I would say that, but really, they are beautiful babies, which isn't surprising, given their parents. I wish I had taken some pictures of them when I visited yesterday, but I'm still so old school I never consider using my phone to take pictures. Thus this post has all blue jay pictures.
The little boy, Aiden, is just over 4 pounds, 17.5 inches long. The little girl, Addison, is 4 pounds 10 ounces, 17 inches long. How Kellie managed to have both those kids inside her is a mystery. Apparently the twins will stay in the NICU for 2-3 weeks, until they're sure they are growing and putting on weight and everything (lungs mostly) is developed enough.
Kellie and Jason are doing well. It was a c-section birth so Kellie will be moving slowly for a few days, and both were understandably sleep-deprived when I saw them yesterday. I think it's still sinking in for them. I also think it will be hard for them to have to wait the 2-3 weeks to take their babies home. They are definitely excited and proud parents though. And actually, they get to semi-rest for 2+ weeks before becoming totally sleep-deprived while caring for twins. I'm very happy for them.
Also I'm glad if they were going to have them early, they had them before I left for Istanbul, so Lynne didn't have to try to get hold of me there. Although my phone should work just fine. Still I wouldn't have gotten to see them as newborns.
Damn! I just saw a cat catch one of the sparrows. He grabbed it on the ground, took it under the shrub and immediately started eating it. I have such mixed feelings about this. My own cats are too old to catch birds, and of course I don't want my bird feeders to be a place that is a bird delicatessen for cats in the neighborhood. But quite obviously the cat is hungry - a stray neighborhood cat I haven't seen around. He immediately started eating that bird, and he's thin. Still, I know it's happened at least once before because I found a part of a wing when I was cleaning up one day a week or so ago.
I may have to move that feeder. I enjoy watching the birds up close and personal, this close to the house, but there is too much shrubbery close to it for cats to hide and pounce from. That being said, the birds are already back, but none on the ground - all jockeying for position on the feeder itself. And there are a LOT of sparrows here. Decisions, decisions. Well, the feeders will be empty while I'm gone, so maybe both the birds and cats will have moved on by the time I get back from Istanbul. The hummingbird feeder will have enough to last while I'm gone.
Anyway, that's all for today. My next post should have pictures form Istanbul.
