Every Blooming THing, Late July: RoadDog's Achin' Acre

I always feel my flowers are at their height of color here at the end of July when four major flower groups start blooming.

Right now, some 300 black-eyed Susans, 200 purple coneflowers, 200 tall phlox and 150 daylilies are blooming.  Those figures, of course, are estimates, but probably close.  I have done a real lot of transplanting.  Plus, my hostas are blooming their blue spikes and I probably have 150 of then as well.

I am still trimming bushes (and I really planted too many of them) and also weeding, pulling up and cutting down spent flowers and keeping up with the grass and all that is really keeping me busy when it is not too hot  and humid outside.  We are one of the highest spots in the state of Illinois and usually get a whole lot of breeze, but not so much lately.  Plus, our temps have been running in the 90s for much of the last three weeks.

This has all cut down on my working outside.  Who'd have known that when you get older, yardwork is so much harder?

Plus, I just read that growing a lot of corn raises the humidity.  And, we are surrounded by farmland with mostly corn being grown on it.

Thinking of changing the name of my yard to RoadDog's Achin' Acre.

Ohh, My Aching Back.  --RoadSore

JSS: OK, Call It Global Warming-- Japanese Beetles-- Long Distance, Please

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  OK, CALL IT GLOBAL WARMING--  After this past two weeks, go ahead and call it Global Warming.  You'll get no argument from me.

2.  JAPANESE BEETLES--  They're back.  But their numbers don't approach anything like in their heyday ten years ago.  They do two things, eat and procreate.  I often find one on top of another and they are prime targets.  They can't move fast and at least I know I get a female so no eggs and new beetles from her.

3.  LONG DISTANCE, PLEASE--  I read that President Nixon called the Apollo 11 folks fifty years ago.  Hopefully he had a REAL lot of quarters, dimes and nickels to cover THOSE long distance charges in 1969!!   Another quarter, please.

I remember calling Liz in Illinois when my family was on vacation in North Carolina when I was in high school and college.  I would have to gave a pocketful of change.  It seemed that every few minutes the operator was asking for more money.  This was an expensive thing to do.

A Lot Of Japanese Beetles Have Died With Smiles On Their Faces.  --RoadDog

JSS: Summer '72-- Black Cat Blues-- Real Hot

JSS--  Just Some Stuff


1.  SUMMER '72--  This Sunday, July 1st, Bob Stroud goes back to the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of 1972 on his Rock and Roll Roots Show on WDRV, the Drive in Chicago from 7 to 10 AM CST.  A great way to time travel and the show goes out over the internet at http://www.wdrv.com/. I'll sure be listening.


2.  BLACK CAT BLUES--  Some neighbor has a big black cat who has taken up residence in the yard and going after my birds.  I have found the remains of two bords and imagine the cat is the culprit.  I would like to find out which neighbor and charge admission.  Better yet, KEEP YOUR DUMB CAT INDOORS!!!


3.  REAL HOT--  How did that song go, "Feeling, hot, hot, hot?"  It sure has been the last couple days.  Almost 100 yesterday and with humidity such that you sweated just standing there.  Just about got drenched just covering the boat in the breezeless channel.  I can stand the heat as long as there is a breeze.

Just Some Stuff.  --RoadDogweat

It Wasn't Sweet, It Was Sweat

A friend of ours who grew up in Wisconsin and taught with me in Round Lake many years, Marcy Eaker, has retired and moved to Las Vegas, but is still a big fan of Wisconsin teams wrote on her FaceBook page yesterday that her Milwaukee Brewers, by the sixth inning, looked like they were about to sweep our Chicago Cubs at Miller Field.

She ended by saying, "Sweet."

Well, Marcy, it was a sweep, but definitely wasn't sweet. IT WAS SWEAT!!!

We were at the game and I have never sweat more than I did in the first four innings. I like the idea of retractable domes, especially in this area, but I found a definite drawback yesterday. The structure of the dome seriously cuts into breezes and wind when it is open.

On top of that, humidity was at max and then there were the 40,000 people in the place adding body heat. My hair was wet from the time we got to our seats until about the 7th after they had closed the dome and turned on the air conditioner.

Making it worse, was another poor performance from the Cubs, losing 4-2.

But You Don't Have a Fukudome to Kick Around Anymore. --RoadDog


GROANERS: What do fish say when they hit a concrete wall? Dam!!

Just Finished My Two Sweats for the Day

It is supposed to be 98 degrees today, maybe 99, maybe even 100. The last time it was this hot for this long in the Chicago area was back in 1995 when all those folks died from the heat. We were down in New Orleans at the times enjoying their special brand of heat. But we're here for this.

Took the boat out this morning for a float and it was mighty nice with the southerly wind, but then I sweated profusely when I got back into the channel and put the mooring cover on. I'm ok as long as there is a breeze and there sure wasn't.

Then, I went to Menard's and bought sixty concrete edgers (buy one for 96 cents, get one free: great deal!!) and got a little sweaty putting the blocks into the truck, but had help from their people and a friend.

However, at home, it was just me and those sixty blocks. This was a BIG SWEAT!!

Now, I'm in the basement a-typin' away with my two sweaty little fingers, but cooling off. In a little while, I meet some friends to see the new "Harry Potter" movie. The theater is air-cooled as they used to call it.

More Fun in the Sun. --RoadDog


FUNNY THINGS TO SAY TO YOUR DOC DURING YOUR COLONOSCOPY..."Any sign of those trapped miners?" You know, making those folks gathered around you during the operation is probably not a good idea.