The cold front arrived yesterday bringing a little rain. I haven't checked the gauge yet. It is cooler; 56° this morning. We do enjoy this fall weather.
I have accomplished very little beyond daily routine these last two days. I did have to get more "kitty"
supplies. He refused to use the litter box! Then I tried a larger box and Tidy Cat litter and so far he has used it......now I know why I do not have house pets. I am not geared toward the care and cleaning they require..........only for a granddaughter would I do this! I just have this week to be sure he is trained to it. She plans to get him next weekend.
We did go to the local orchard for apples before the kitty errands. I bought a half bushel of Jonathon and Grimes Golden. I did a taste test and the Grimes was much more flavorful than the Golden. I will order a tree for spring planting. The rains did not hurt the flavor of the apples. I will be making sauce, jelly and use some for mincemeat. Surprising because of all our summer rains, but the apples were smaller than usual.
I wanted to show the vinca major that has taken over several areas here. This is the holding pen area where I just sprayed. The vines are so tough they can trip you and never break.
If glyphosphate doesn't work I will resort to something stronger.
This is the path I have to walk to go into the holding pen to get Willow. She does not walk up the ramp into the barn without a little 'persuasion'.
The cats love this water because it drips out of the hose.
and this is inside the pen. See what I mean?
The yard is definitely not at its peak, but some spots are still nice. I told you once I couldn't take a picture without catching either the cats or DH. Well here he is again and, no, that is not a purse he is carrying, that is a plastic bag with a bottle of milk that he is bringing from the barn for me.
I am trying to save seeds from this salvia, it is a favorite. (the red one). The blue is a victoria and it returns each year here, not the red.
'Immortality' iris is having a good re bloom;
and this is a gaillardia from Ilene,
Roses always improve with the cooler weather. This is Paul McCartney rose. So far it has lasted longer than any rose I have had and has resisted RRD.
I wish I had pruned the clematis vine behind the rose, but I wanted to show why I let the native aster grow here. I reminds me of gypsophila (baby's breath) which doesn't last long for me. I have to cut it back before it sets seeds or will be take over the entire yard.....ask me how I know.
Random Farm Picture
Cow enjoying lunch.
PS. Plans for today: Bake bread again using triple raise method.
I have accomplished very little beyond daily routine these last two days. I did have to get more "kitty"
supplies. He refused to use the litter box! Then I tried a larger box and Tidy Cat litter and so far he has used it......now I know why I do not have house pets. I am not geared toward the care and cleaning they require..........only for a granddaughter would I do this! I just have this week to be sure he is trained to it. She plans to get him next weekend.
We did go to the local orchard for apples before the kitty errands. I bought a half bushel of Jonathon and Grimes Golden. I did a taste test and the Grimes was much more flavorful than the Golden. I will order a tree for spring planting. The rains did not hurt the flavor of the apples. I will be making sauce, jelly and use some for mincemeat. Surprising because of all our summer rains, but the apples were smaller than usual.
I wanted to show the vinca major that has taken over several areas here. This is the holding pen area where I just sprayed. The vines are so tough they can trip you and never break.
If glyphosphate doesn't work I will resort to something stronger.
This is the path I have to walk to go into the holding pen to get Willow. She does not walk up the ramp into the barn without a little 'persuasion'.
The cats love this water because it drips out of the hose.
and this is inside the pen. See what I mean?
The yard is definitely not at its peak, but some spots are still nice. I told you once I couldn't take a picture without catching either the cats or DH. Well here he is again and, no, that is not a purse he is carrying, that is a plastic bag with a bottle of milk that he is bringing from the barn for me.
I am trying to save seeds from this salvia, it is a favorite. (the red one). The blue is a victoria and it returns each year here, not the red.
'Immortality' iris is having a good re bloom;
and this is a gaillardia from Ilene,
Roses always improve with the cooler weather. This is Paul McCartney rose. So far it has lasted longer than any rose I have had and has resisted RRD.
I wish I had pruned the clematis vine behind the rose, but I wanted to show why I let the native aster grow here. I reminds me of gypsophila (baby's breath) which doesn't last long for me. I have to cut it back before it sets seeds or will be take over the entire yard.....ask me how I know.
Random Farm Picture
Cow enjoying lunch.
PS. Plans for today: Bake bread again using triple raise method.
That vinca major . . . talk about a "ground cover!"
ReplyDeleteLove seeing the pictures you take around your place. You still look like you're in full summer time rather than fall! Flowers are gorgeous, but what a lot to take care of!
I am not keeping up with it like I once did. I need to figure a way to cut back with something.
DeleteWe are lucky in that we had lots of summer rains so we are still in a green state and have lots of pasture for the cows. We are grateful.
As usual, you are very busy. Cats are sensitive to litter and what's in them. He also is an older kitten, and has been outside, so it may take a little while. Sometimes its the litter pan, and its height, and depth. Yes, cats are funny creatures. I know too fully well.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful rest of the weekend, and look forward to what you are up to.
Good news; he used both litter pans so I slipped the one with the cheap litter into the bathroom and just left the larger pan with Tidy Cat. So far, so good.
DeleteI have to get him used to it this week or cancel Courtney's trip down to get him.
You know, I've often wondered about actually planting kudzu for the goats. On purpose. When the highway dept. mows the sides of the roads where there is kudzu, it grows back green & lush in no time flat.
ReplyDeleteYou want to borrow a couple of goats?!
I could use a herd of goats. I don't think anything eats this blasted vinca. It is in the holding pen and nothing touches it.
DeleteI jokingly told the helpmeet that I needed a couple of goats to fence in on the cellar to eat down the brome grass. He didn't buy that.
I've got myrtle on the south side of my house. It has never 'taken over' thankfully. I let it duke it out with the pachysandra. Seem the fight keeps them both in check. Love the cow on pasture. Very pastoral. I'm with you - no housepets please! :-D
ReplyDeleteI am trying to be patient with the kitty.....it isn't easy............
DeleteVinca minor isn't quite the problem as vinca major and I have both.
I have the air potato vine and Virginia creeper that are thriving thugs that overtake anything and everything. UGH! I'm looking forward to cooler weather so that I can try to get a handle on it all.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week ~ FlowerLady
It takes about 7 days to see results from glyphosphate so I am patiently waiting to see if I got a good kill.
ReplyDeleteI think we all are ready for some cooler weather. I bet I get cooler than you!
Oh, your Indian Blanket IS pretty. It comes up all over the place here and it's one of my favorites. I was talking to Wayne Herriman, he runs Holman Seed in Collinsville and I get my Crimson Clover over there. He said he hired a bunch of high school kids to gather the seed in a field where he'd found it growing native, and it seems like he told me they're selling it for $30 a pound. OMG, kinda pricey.... He said it's because the seed has to be extracted by hand. I wonder what he paid the owner of that field......
ReplyDeleteI would take Kudzu in place of Puncture Vine or Bindweed..... If goats eat Kudzu, I wonder if chickens would? Can you plant something else amongst it, like Comfrey, that might duke it out and win the battle? Then you'd be overtaken by the Comfrey but at least its leaves are full of protein and its roots have skin-healing qualities.
I hope the weed killer does the trick.
I think I have had gaillardia self-seed once or twice but not regularly. I hope this one does.
DeleteI don't know what puncture vine is. Bindweed I think I have in some spots in the field west of the house. I doubt anything could survive the vinca; it lays so thickly on the ground, vine crisscrossing vine. It is dangerous to walk on because of tripping.
Puncture Vine is also called "Goatheads". It has a central rosette and sends out multiple vines from it in all directions. It makes little yellow flowers about every half inch and they turn into round, barb-covered stickers that will puncture tires and go right through the bottoms of Crocs. Hubs has to fill the lawn mower tires full of that green goo that stops leaks, otherwise he has a flat every time he goes out to mow. The only way to get rid of them is to burn them and they are one reason why ranchers burn off their fields. We cannot burn so we pull them out by the roots and throw them in the burn barrel. It's a losing battle, though.
DeleteI am sure glad we don't have that growing here! We have enough trouble keeping the mowers going as it is! At least Bermuda grass doesn't puncture anything; it just chokes it to death!
ReplyDelete