CoTT 2 House of Cards

[Headstall]

Happy Saturday, all! Another hot one, but temps are supposed to drop on Monday, to more reasonable levels. *sigh*

[Marty]

16 minutes ago, Headstall said:

Aren't we all.   Hey, bro.  

Gary, my friend!

Hope all's well with you.  

[Marty]

59 minutes ago, Headstall said:

Happy Saturday, all! Another hot one, but temps are supposed to drop on Monday, to more reasonable levels. *sigh*

And a happy Saturday to you.

Changeable sort of day here. Temp around 16C/61F, but it can't decide whether to be sunny or showery. I started up the lawnmower a while back and almost immediately a shower arrived. I did manage to get the lawns mowed between the showers, though.

This weekend is a bank holiday weekend here in Ireland. Tomorrow's promised much the same as today, but Monday should at least be a degree or two warmer, with the promise of more sun than showers. That should hopefully please those who are now back at work after the lockdown.

Edited August 1, 2020 by Marty
typo

[Valkyrie]

14 minutes ago, Marty said:

And a happy Saturday to you.

Changeable sort of day here. Temp around 16C/61F, but it can't decide whether to be sunny or showery. I started up thee lawnmower a while back and almost immediately a shower arrived. I did manage to get the lawns mowed between the showers, though.

This weekend is a bank holiday weekend here in Ireland. Tomorrow's promised much the same as today, but Monday should at least be a degree or tow warmer, with the promise of more sun than showers. That should hopefully please those who are now back at work after the lockdown.

It's supposed to be hot here today.  High of 87F.  But we get storms tonight, which will cool things down to 80 tomorrow, then to 75 by Wed.  So lovely, more cool temps, which I like.  I'm thankful to have my repaired basement wall, so now I don't have to worry about the rain anymore   

[Headstall]

39 minutes ago, Marty said:

Gary, my friend!

Hope all's well with you.  

Been doing some writing of a new story... I'll likely end up with another unfinished one that just sits there.  

[Marty]

7 minutes ago, Headstall said:

Been doing some writing of a new story... I'll likely end up with another unfinished one that just sits there.  

You're doing a lot better than I am as far as the writing is concerned. At least you do manage to finish some of them.  

[dughlas]

1 hour ago, Headstall said:

Beautifully described. Hey, bro!  I hope it's a good day for you. My daughter brings my groceries this afternoon, so I get some social interaction.  

Hi! It hasn't been a bad day so far. I just spent the better part of the last 3 hours using a small garden tiller to churn the soil around what was my veggie garden. You might recall that last year about this time I'd decided to rework the small side yard where I had a raised garden bed. The old bed was 9×12 feet and not being used. Even with the raised bed, gardening just required more effort on my part than the migraines allowed. Also with fresh produce being so readily available where I live it seemed foolish to plant a garden when I didn't need to grow my own veggies. I shifted the raised bed a few feet closer to my deck and resized it to be 3×12 feet. At that size I can easily reach to do any weeding with out needing to walk on the planting bed. The bed is large enough for a tomato, a pepper, a zucchini, a bush variety cucumber, some beans and a few onions. Or if I decide against veggies I can turn it into a strawberry bed, or an herb garden or plant flowers. The biggest issue though was that I'd decided to replant grass around the new bed. Originally the side yard had been a small lawn. About same time the migraines forced me to quit working  I had an issue with the water main into my house. A leak was discovered. The local water/sewer authority thought from acoustics that it was under the side lawn so they forced me to have an excavator come in and dig up the 50 feet of water line from the valve connection to my house looking for the leak. Turns out it was the valve connection not my water line so all that work and expense was wasted. I could have made the Township pay to have my yard regraded and planted and to replace the shrubbery that had been damaged plus pay the excavator since they are responsible for the connection. However all we asked was they pay the excavation costs. My wife had left by this time and the landscaping was what she wanted. I put in smaller shrubs and planted several roses, a minature lilac and peonies and turned the small front yard into a flower garden. We moved my garden to the side yard from the far end of my lot, 200+ feet closer to the house, creating a smaller raised garden and mulched the surrounding area. The idea being this would make the garden more convenient and be less yard for me mow around the house. Considering my physical ability at the time it was a good idea. Unfortunately, my ability and desire continued to decline and the garden was impractical. Finally, when things started to improve last year I was able to attend to some things that had been neglected. The garden was the last on my list. I started the project. Resizing the garden bed and taking up the mulch but the whole area needing to be regraded before grass could be planted. I set about it but with the hand garden tools available it took more effort than I'd expected and the project didn't get finished before I left for the winter with mum. Of course things went awry and I was late returning. The side lawn and garden bed had become an overgrown mass of weeds. I was able took clear the area of weeds but the weather was too hot for me to prepare the area to plant grass seed. Fortunately I was able to borrow a small tiller and today set about prepping the soil. I've managed to work up two-thirds of the area before quitting. The machine has a noisy two stroke engine and I decided both I and my neighbors deserved a peacefully quiet afternoon. Plus my head is beginning to ache. I feel good about what I've accomplished. My plan is to finish tilling the ground on Monday and rake everything smooth and scatter the seed. We are forecast for a thorough drenching from the hurricane on Tuesday. That will provide a good soaking to get the seed settled. With luck I'll have a new lawn before I head back to mum in October. I don't plan on planting any thing in the garden this year. It's too late for summer crops and autumn crops will not be ready for harvest before I leave. Instead I'll mulch it to control weeds then in the fall I'll cover it with a heavy mulch of chopped leaves and grass clippings to hold it over winter. That my dear diary ... er, I mean friends is the looooonng explanation of my morning. Please note there was also the standard morning walk in the park with Thistle to start the day. Blessed be y'all.

[Page Scrawler]

22 minutes ago, dughlas said:

Please note there was also the standard morning walk in the park with Thistle to start the day. Blessed be y'all.

Hey, Dugh and Thistle.      *scratches Thistle on his belly*

[dughlas]

18 minutes ago, Page Scrawler said:

Hey, Dugh and Thistle.      *scratches Thistle on his belly*

PAGE!

[Headstall]

48 minutes ago, dughlas said:

Hi! It hasn't been a bad day so far. I just spent the better part of the last 3 hours using a small garden tiller to churn the soil around what was my veggie garden. You might recall that last year about this time I'd decided to rework the small side yard where I had a raised garden bed. The old bed was 9×12 feet and not being used. Even with the raised bed, gardening just required more effort on my part than the migraines allowed. Also with fresh produce being so readily available where I live it seemed foolish to plant a garden when I didn't need to grow my own veggies. I shifted the raised bed a few feet closer to my deck and resized it to be 3×12 feet. At that size I can easily reach to do any weeding with out needing to walk on the planting bed. The bed is large enough for a tomato, a pepper, a zucchini, a bush variety cucumber, some beans and a few onions. Or if I decide against veggies I can turn it into a strawberry bed, or an herb garden or plant flowers. The biggest issue though was that I'd decided to replant grass around the new bed. Originally the side yard had been a small lawn. About same time the migraines forced me to quit working  I had an issue with the water main into my house. A leak was discovered. The local water/sewer authority thought from acoustics that it was under the side lawn so they forced me to have an excavator come in and dig up the 50 feet of water line from the valve connection to my house looking for the leak. Turns out it was the valve connection not my water line so all that work and expense was wasted. I could have made the Township pay to have my yard regraded and planted and to replace the shrubbery that had been damaged plus pay the excavator since they are responsible for the connection. However all we asked was they pay the excavation costs. My wife had left by this time and the landscaping was what she wanted. I put in smaller shrubs and planted several roses, a minature lilac and peonies and turned the small front yard into a flower garden. We moved my garden to the side yard from the far end of my lot, 200+ feet closer to the house, creating a smaller raised garden and mulched the surrounding area. The idea being this would make the garden more convenient and be less yard for me mow around the house. Considering my physical ability at the time it was a good idea. Unfortunately, my ability and desire continued to decline and the garden was impractical. Finally, when things started to improve last year I was able to attend to some things that had been neglected. The garden was the last on my list. I started the project. Resizing the garden bed and taking up the mulch but the whole area needing to be regraded before grass could be planted. I set about it but with the hand garden tools available it took more effort than I'd expected and the project didn't get finished before I left for the winter with mum. Of course things went awry and I was late returning. The side lawn and garden bed had become an overgrown mass of weeds. I was able took clear the area of weeds but the weather was too hot for me to prepare the area to plant grass seed. Fortunately I was able to borrow a small tiller and today set about prepping the soil. I've managed to work up two-thirds of the area before quitting. The machine has a noisy two stroke engine and I decided both I and my neighbors deserved a peacefully quiet afternoon. Plus my head is beginning to ache. I feel good about what I've accomplished. My plan is to finish tilling the ground on Monday and rake everything smooth and scatter the seed. We are forecast for a thorough drenching from the hurricane on Tuesday. That will provide a good soaking to get the seed settled. With luck I'll have a new lawn before I head back to mum in October. I don't plan on planting any thing in the garden this year. It's too late for summer crops and autumn crops will not be ready for harvest before I leave. Instead I'll mulch it to control weeds then in the fall I'll cover it with a heavy mulch of chopped leaves and grass clippings to hold it over winter. That my dear diary ... er, I mean friends is the looooonng explanation of my morning. Please note there was also the standard morning walk in the park with Thistle to start the day. Blessed be y'all.

I have a love hate relationship with mu zucchini plants. I just picked my second zucchini of the season. Pathetic! I think I will stick to peppers and tomatoes next year. My pepper plants have really attractive foliage... and no, I am not turned on by my pepper plants.  

[Valkyrie]

3 hours ago, Headstall said:

Been doing some writing of a new story... I'll likely end up with another unfinished one that just sits there.  

You can do it  At least you're writing  

[Valkyrie]

1 hour ago, dughlas said:

Hi! It hasn't been a bad day so far. I just spent the better part of the last 3 hours using a small garden tiller to churn the soil around what was my veggie garden. You might recall that last year about this time I'd decided to rework the small side yard where I had a raised garden bed. The old bed was 9×12 feet and not being used. Even with the raised bed, gardening just required more effort on my part than the migraines allowed. Also with fresh produce being so readily available where I live it seemed foolish to plant a garden when I didn't need to grow my own veggies. I shifted the raised bed a few feet closer to my deck and resized it to be 3×12 feet. At that size I can easily reach to do any weeding with out needing to walk on the planting bed. The bed is large enough for a tomato, a pepper, a zucchini, a bush variety cucumber, some beans and a few onions. Or if I decide against veggies I can turn it into a strawberry bed, or an herb garden or plant flowers. The biggest issue though was that I'd decided to replant grass around the new bed. Originally the side yard had been a small lawn. About same time the migraines forced me to quit working  I had an issue with the water main into my house. A leak was discovered. The local water/sewer authority thought from acoustics that it was under the side lawn so they forced me to have an excavator come in and dig up the 50 feet of water line from the valve connection to my house looking for the leak. Turns out it was the valve connection not my water line so all that work and expense was wasted. I could have made the Township pay to have my yard regraded and planted and to replace the shrubbery that had been damaged plus pay the excavator since they are responsible for the connection. However all we asked was they pay the excavation costs. My wife had left by this time and the landscaping was what she wanted. I put in smaller shrubs and planted several roses, a minature lilac and peonies and turned the small front yard into a flower garden. We moved my garden to the side yard from the far end of my lot, 200+ feet closer to the house, creating a smaller raised garden and mulched the surrounding area. The idea being this would make the garden more convenient and be less yard for me mow around the house. Considering my physical ability at the time it was a good idea. Unfortunately, my ability and desire continued to decline and the garden was impractical. Finally, when things started to improve last year I was able to attend to some things that had been neglected. The garden was the last on my list. I started the project. Resizing the garden bed and taking up the mulch but the whole area needing to be regraded before grass could be planted. I set about it but with the hand garden tools available it took more effort than I'd expected and the project didn't get finished before I left for the winter with mum. Of course things went awry and I was late returning. The side lawn and garden bed had become an overgrown mass of weeds. I was able took clear the area of weeds but the weather was too hot for me to prepare the area to plant grass seed. Fortunately I was able to borrow a small tiller and today set about prepping the soil. I've managed to work up two-thirds of the area before quitting. The machine has a noisy two stroke engine and I decided both I and my neighbors deserved a peacefully quiet afternoon. Plus my head is beginning to ache. I feel good about what I've accomplished. My plan is to finish tilling the ground on Monday and rake everything smooth and scatter the seed. We are forecast for a thorough drenching from the hurricane on Tuesday. That will provide a good soaking to get the seed settled. With luck I'll have a new lawn before I head back to mum in October. I don't plan on planting any thing in the garden this year. It's too late for summer crops and autumn crops will not be ready for harvest before I leave. Instead I'll mulch it to control weeds then in the fall I'll cover it with a heavy mulch of chopped leaves and grass clippings to hold it over winter. That my dear diary ... er, I mean friends is the looooonng explanation of my morning. Please note there was also the standard morning walk in the park with Thistle to start the day. Blessed be y'all.

Wowee.. I'm tired just reading all that!    Sounds like you're making some good headway.  

[Valkyrie]

I just finished the rough draft of Chapter 4 of my new story   Yay for writing!   I need to decide what to make for dinner.  I'm thinking cheesy cauliflower and spinach soup.  I've never made it before, but it sounds tasty. 

[Valkyrie]

Storm clouds are moving in now.  We're supposed to get storms tonight and tomorrow.  It's getting pretty dark here now.    

[Albert1434]

Aloha All 

[Albert1434]

So far we have gotten 8 zucchini to date and our corn is growing great and god were going to have millions of tomatoes

[Marty]

1 hour ago, Valkyrie said:

I just finished the rough draft of Chapter 4 of my new story  

Well done, you!

[Marty]

5 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

Aloha All 

Hey, young Albert!  

[Marty]

13 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

So far we have gotten 8 zucchini to date and our corn is growing great and god were going to have millions of tomatoes

Millions of tomatoes?

If I've told you once, I must have told you a billion times...

Edited August 1, 2020 by Marty

[Page Scrawler]

24 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

Aloha All 

Hey, Bertie.         How are you and Steve?

 

22 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

So far we have gotten 8 zucchini to date and our corn is growing great and god were going to have millions of tomatoes

I foresee lots of Italian food in your future.    

[Marty]

Hi, Page!  

[Albert1434]

We have been know to leave zucchini on peeps doors steps

[Page Scrawler]

4 minutes ago, Marty said:

Hi, Page!  

Hey, Marty!    

[Marty]

9 minutes ago, Albert1434 said:

We have been know to leave zucchini on peeps doors steps

That's a really nice gesture.

[Albert1434]

Aloha Marty