Every Blooming THing, Mid June

My daisies are all in bloom right now as are my wild tall phlox.  I have several hundred of both so the yard is a mass of white and purple.  The dianthus are blooming nicely in all sorts of colors.  They're nice because you get several years out of them.  My wild daisies are also blooming.

I also have several other perennial blooming, but don't know their names.  One is yellow, and two are a pinkish color.

Weeds are growing fast, of course, and that is a never ending job.  Plus,I have been doing a lot of trimming on my creeping phlox plants (where I also have about a hundred.  All these plants except the dianthus come back year after year and are very easy to transplant.

I've been cutting the yard about every 4-5 days and I usually do that once a week.  It is growing fast.

Two big jobs I have this summer are cutting down three dead trees and power washing and staining the deck and gazebo.  I talked with a friend of a friend last weekend and he will cut down the trees and stack the wood.

Always Something to Do In the Yard.  --RoadDog

THEM FUNNY COUNTRY SONGS:  "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly"

Almost No Posts Yesterday, and, There Was a Reason

And there was a reason why I only got the one for my War of 1812 blog posted.  The reason was that it was much too nice of a day to waste sitting inside the house.  And, as we approach the end of October, great days will be getting fewer and fewer.  You-know-what is around the corner.

I spent time out on the front porch, deck and gazebo.  We also took the boat out for one of the last times and cruised around Fox Lake, Nippersink Lake and Pistakee Lake.  We got thirsty and boated into the McDonald's and had something to eat, drink and an ice cream cone.

Sure glad to see McDonald's is bringing back that tasty and hot McChicken Jalapeno sandwich.

--RoadDog

Outside Christmas Decorations are Down

Finally stopped raining yesterday and after the garland and wreaths dried out, I was able to get all the outside decorations and lights down.

Sometimes I have to wait until February and one year even to early March until we had a day with decent enough weather to do this. That, and sometimes I couldn't do it on decent days because of other commitments.

I have everything in carefully labeled boxes to avoid confusion the following season. One box is for garland on the deck, gazebo, and the front of the house. Another box is for lights on the deck and gazebo. Another is for lights on the front of the house.

One Less Thing to Worry About. --RoadDog

Enjoying the House

A couple days ago, I got to sit out in the gazebo for several hours. Today, I had a bonfire on the Grand Strand, the lower patio which is named after one of our favorite places to visit, Myrtle and North Myrtle Beach. Of course, this is the epicenter of one of my favorite types of music, Beach Music, and I'm not talking about the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean. I'm talking about East Coast Carolina Beach Music.

I've finally gotten the yard to just about where I want it. Now, I intend to enjoy it, especially since I'm not boating anymore.

We also have a great bar downstairs in the basement that we call Margaritaville with all sorts of nautical and Jimmy Buffett stuff as well as a TV in the upper corner, wet bar, and mini fridge. Why go anywhere else? We call the whole homestead Key North because we definitely aren't west but way north.

Then, of course, there's the oversized deck to enjoy.

Wasting Away Again at Key North. --RoadDog

No Boating for Me, Bumble Bees 1- The "Dawg" 0

This past Tuesday, I went out to the boat with the intention of doing a bit of a float. I already knew that the Chain of Lakes was open, but only no wake. Plus, there were dire warnings about the extremely high bacteria content in the water. If you got any on you, you were supposed to wash it immediately (with what?) and take a shower.

When I got out to Rick's, I found the boat actually a few inches above the pier. I'd never seen it that high before. Water was up along the seawalls and grass on both sides of the channel. I would have had to walk through several inches of water to get out to the boat, so decided to take a RAIN check on my float.

Hopefully, I will be able to get out on Thursday or Friday.

Of course, we have Labor Day weekend coming up, always a big crowd out on the lakes. Hopefully the water will have gone down enough by then so that the no wake can be lifted.

Last evening, I was making a "Search and Destroy" mission against the dreadful Japanese beetles. It was essentially the "gloaming" with daylight fast leaving us. Out by the gazebo, I grabbed a dark object that I though to be a beetle. The buzz gave it away as not being a beetle. Before I could get my hand away, I'd been STUNG. Ouch!!! One very mad bumble bee buzzed away, probably planning on telling his buds about the stupid guy who thought he was a beetle.

This is the third time I've been stung out in the yard since 1993. Fortunately, I am not allergic to bee stings like Liz is.

The first time I got stung was by a bumble bee out by Frances' Back 40. It flew straight up and nailed me just above my right eye. A few years ago, while I was staining the deck, a wasp came up between the boards and got me on the rear end. Sure glad I didn't have to go to the emergency room for that one. "Let's see, what is the nature of your injury?"

Just one more reason to hate those beetles.

Do NOT Mistake a Bumble Bee for a Japanese Beetle. --RoadDog

Every Bloomin' Thing- Mid July

Currently blooming perennials are the tall phlox, black-eyed susans, purple coneflowers, gladidoras, and bee balm.

About half the daylillies are still blooming as are about half of the various heights of daisies. I even have some mums blooming.

I have been doing work on a retaining wall by the gazebo that had partially fallen down. I also have been working on a flagstone leading to the gazebo that had slipped as dirt has settled.

Always something to do in the yard.

Lately, I have been pulling out or trimming the many marguerettes (like a yellow shasta daisy). They are like the shastas as they reseed themselves all over the place. I have also been dividing my irises.

My low-growing ground covers are covered in blue flowers and the chameleon plants, so called because of their multi-colors, are doing well.

Always Something to Do in the Yard, Right Mom. --RoadDog

Boating, SCV,Captain's Quarters, The Only Sons, Free Tickets to Country Thunder

FRIDAY, I boated over to McDonald's for breakfast, did a float, visited Frances, my mother-in-law, and met up with Kora, Ed, Laura, and Gail at the Legion. I did some yard work in between. Yard work just never stops. I am of the opinion that I planted too much.

SATURDAY I went to Des Plaines for a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting. Always have a good chat with like-minded people over breakfast. I was shocked to see my breakfast, that cost $6.80 with coffee had a 66 cents tax on it. That is 9.5%!!!!

Did some yardwork at home. Then Liz and I went to Donovan's Reef in Twin Lakes, Wi, and played NTN. Out of 3000 or more places playing across the US and Canada, we had three top twenties, not bad for just two people playing against about 9000 other people. They show the top twenty scores, both by site and individual. Liz had a 14,567 out of 15,000 on one game, not bad. We ranked #4 and she was #3 on that one.

Came home and had a bonfire out on the Grand Strand. The Grand Strand is the lower patio between the gazebo and the deck.

SUNDAY, I listened to some of the radio shows OD, On Deck, and worked on my retaining wall by the gazebo, part of which had fallen down.

We went to Captain's Quarters and saw The Only Sons and were lucky enough to get seats at the bar. Usually, you can't even get near it. All the bands that we've seen at Captain's (which is located on Fox Lake) are good, but The Only Sons are our favorite. As usual, they put on a great show and had the people up and dancing most of the time.

We won four free tickets from Chicago's US 99 FM radio to see Country Thunder in Twin Lakes this coming Thursday. Trick Pony, Keith Anderson, Carrie Underwood, and Dierks Bentley are playing on the main stage. Now, that causes two problems. One is that I was already planning to see Mr. Myers do their Caribbean/reggae music Thursday at Taste of Antioch. Also, Dierks doesn't start until 10:30 PM, a bit past the old guy's bedtime. I'll have to think about it. Hey, we didn't go to Waukegan's Scoop the Genesee car celebration this past weekend because the bands started at 10 PM. Friday they had Chicago's own Cryan' Shames and Saturday it was Flo and Eddie from the Turtles. It used to be called Scoop the Loop, but the name was changed this year.

Decisions, Decisions!! --RoadDog