Random Thoughts

1.  I like mushrooms, but there are limited uses.  They don't go with BBQ, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard,; just stir fries or suateed with butter or bacon fat.

2.  I always I have to examine my paper napkin before tossing it.  Sometimes I make notes on them while eating dinner and watching TV.  Well, they're paper and I always have a pen handy.  

3.  I love tomatoes.  I ran out of them and made spaghetti sauce 2 nights in a row.  I could have made a pizza, but I was too late to make decent dough.

4.  I showed pics of myself on the cat blog yesterday and one commenter suggested I should smile more.  It's not the first time.  People have mentioned that for most of my life.  I do not have a natural smile.  In fact, my "neutral face" is rather frowny.  No idea why, but I also don't blame anyone.  It IS a frown.  

It is almost funny.  I once practiced smiling looking at a mirror.  I can assure you, that does not work.  An artificial smile (I CAN do it but it looks worse).  I CAN be surprised at one occasionally, but it is rare.  Rest assured that I am actually a pretty happy person, enjoy my cats when they are on-or-around me, and like my life.  

Really, who could have have happy cats around and not actually be happy themselves?

5.  Last Summer was brutal on trees here.  I have Golden Rain trees on either side of the front of the driveway.

They look like this on the web...  Mine don't.

The flowers look like this and it is very lovely towards Fall...

But last Summer's drought about killed them both.  There are few leaves growing from a couple branches.  Most limbs seem dead.  I watered them daily through a 5 gallon drip bucket.  That's where you drill a small hole and let water leak out slowly so it gets down into the roots.  I probably didn't do it enough. 

But I'll see if I can get them growing again.  There are a couple branches leafing and a few shoots from the trunks.

6.  The Beech tree in the front yard is probably a goner for the same reason.  The top had already died years ago, but lower limbs continued to grow.  This year, I need binoculars to see the one small branch with leaves.  

It isn't all that tall and if it falls over by the usual wind direction, it won't actually damage anything; and it has no special value for shade on the house.  In fact it shades the lawn and the Saucer Magnolia tree, so I'm thinking losing it might even be a benefit.  I value all trees for producing oxygen, but I will plant a specimen close to the spot to replace it.

7.  My indoors lettuce garden is growing.  Not enough to take a picture, but soon.  The seedlings are 1' high and growing fast.  The heirloom tomato seedlins are about 4" high.  I will be trying to graft them to more disease-resistant roots again soon.  I usually fail, but I keep trying.  Commercial grafters say they get about 90% success.  I get none.  Someday I will learn what I'm doing wrong.

Which is why I always plant enough heirloom tomato seeds for regular plantings.  Better some than none.

8.  I'm trying something new with the pole beans.  An angled 6" wire mesh so the beans hang down though it.  The idea is to make harvesting easier.

9.  I planted cherry tomato seeds in an upside down pot.  I've done this before successfully, but not for a few years.  The idea is to hang the pot at least 8' above ground so that the tomato hangs down from the bottom.  No cage required, easy to water from the deck, and convenient to pick a couple of cherry tomatoes as I leave the basement to do yardwork.  

The pot didn't fit under my basement lights, so I found a gooseneck lamp around the house and put a high-lumens LED bulb in it.  That should help it grow for a few days.  The weather is warming this next week, so I will be able to hang it from the deck soon where it will get direct sunlight.  After that, it is on its own.  If it doesn't work, little loss; 2 seeds...

10.  I went shopping Sunday.  Some produce stuff at Safeway (great fruitsd and veggies) and some basic stuff at Walmart (they have really great prices on some brand-name stuff).  But I also wanted 2 specific flower seeds and a couple automotive items (heavy lubrication grease for the garage door opener tracks, and starter fluid for gas engines, so I stopped at one place (that had  neither) and another place that had one. 

I guess I have to go to an automotive store for the starter fluid.  Another trip tomorrow.  Always one more trip to get what you need, but I had milk and ice cream in the car so could tarry much.

11.  Got back home, fed the cats, put away groceries, made dinner.  Some dinners seem great in the mind but are boring in actuality.  The chicken, onions, and bell peppers were boring; needed some spices.  

The tossed salad was good.  Mixed 1,000 Island dressing with leftover Italian.  The new tomatoes and basement celery leaves saved the meal.

12.  I almost forgot to mention the Baby Fish!  When I got a new pair of fancy guppies months ago.  Some were born and I worked to net them out into a separate container and they grew.  The aquarium is covered with floating anachris plants, so the newer babies have places to hide and grow but kind of on their own.  I now have a couple dozen guppies.  The males stay fancy with red and black colors and delta tails.

Sometimes efforts work...