As Our Life Goes On

There are some outside maintenance projects that have been started that will need to be finished before the cold weather arrives. The garage doors will have to be painted and the interceptor drains will have to be cleared of vegetation. Some gravel may have to be added to the top of the drain which keeps the ground water away from the back of the house. Optional work will include moving of some of the perennials from my flower garden into other areas. There is never a lack of things to do.  The fungal growth above is larger around than a very large dinner plate and about 5 or 6 inches high. The little white spots on the mushrooms are little larva that feast on this growth. They will soon turn the fungus into a slimy brown goo. 

Last Fall I pruned this hydrangea shrub so that it looked like a crooked little stick standing in the garden. I don't know exactly what I was thinking at the time but it seems that the shrub did not do well last year and maybe I secretly did not care whether it grew back this year or not. It was quite a surprise to see the numerous large flowers on the bush. Some branches seem to be on the verge of breaking under the weight of the blooms.  There are some small ash trees near the hill at the back of the property and they have been infested by the Emerald Ash borer. The D shaped exit wounds in the bark are good evidence as to why the small trees are dying. These smaller trees are under the canopy of a huge tall, perhaps 80 feet or so, double trunk ash tree. The tree has a huge girth and two huge trunks extending from the bottom. It imparts a great deal of shade to the yard behind the big barn. It saddens me to see this huge tree dying back bit by bit. The D shaped holes made

As I walked through the paths that are cut through the meadow areas in our yard I could not help but notice that there are a number of fallen leaves. Some are very brightly colored. The maples are just starting to get some colored leaves on the tips of some branches and the wild cherry trees have entire branches of pretty elongated red leaves. Summer is still here but Fall is not far off. 

This has to be one of the worst years for pollen spreading through the air. Our sneezing, running noses and congestion seems unending and difficult to combat. We will have to enjoy the beauty of these flowers as they grow outside. They make a beautiful bouquet combined with some Queen  Anne's lace but the allergies rule out having them in the house. The beautiful purple flowered ironweed grows very tall and their blossoms do not seem to last very long. There is abundant goldenrod this year. The excessive rainfall has caused these pretty yellow flowers to grow exceedingly tall. The Summit County Health Dept. dropped a brochure at the house that told how to control our annoying mosquito population. We already empty our birdbath regularly as described in the info packet. I wonder if they understood that there are many acres of wetlands and woods just behind our house and wooded areas on either side and across from our house. 

Please just let me rest In a big field of daisies I'll just rest a while It's a very happy place  Just to visit and reflect -Caroline

There are a still a few great businesses that are run by individuals. Their services may be difficult to find so you have to search a bit to find the old timers that still are into running their businesses as they choose. When we called this business,  Electric Motor Repair, we had no doubts about what service it offered. We have used this establishment before for various electrical repairs. The business, located near Nelsons Ledges, Ohio, has been in operating since 1937. The proprietor  told us that it would be OK to bring our motor to him this afternoon but he might be out in the hay field. He said to just tag the motor with our name and phone number and put it into the basket in front of the door.   The starter motor needed some repair before it could be put on our old Yazoo mower. The rope start is not going to be an option any more. Last week that rope kicked back and hit my husband's hand turning the entire back of his hand black and blue. Fortunately there were no bro

I walk quickly through our garden at any time of day. The mosquitoes are so numerous that it seems impossible to spend much time in the yard no matter what time of day it is. As I type this blog I see one of the tiny bloodsuckers flying about the room. It is no doubt waiting for me to quit moving when I fall asleep tonight so that it can drink as long as it wants to. Our city was supposed to start spraying for these pests because West Nile has been found in some of the little pests. It does not seem that they have sprayed in our area.