July 4th

Happy Independence Day, USA.  It never gets old...  My usual routine this day is to read The Declaration Of Independence on the deck (quietly, to myself).  Then I will break out the small hibatchi and cook a steak over hard lump charcoal and hickory (doesn't take much), roast an ear of bi-color corn, and a potato.  

In the evening, I'll watch a baseball game and/or watch fireworks on the TV.  I would go watch local fireworks live, but parking is difficult and getting out  of the parking lots is worse.

A couple of decades ago, I went to the National Mall a couple of times.  It was spectacular!  But the crowds were a mess and getting home took hours...  And I sort of want to be at home to comfort The Mews on what is to them "a scary night".

So I watch on TV now.  And the HD TV is pretty impressive!  And I can change channels and see the fireworks in other cities.  The performance acts are not my favorite part, I don't need to watch a band play, so I switch around.

I do enjoy the standard patriotic songs and I will stay on a station while those are being played.  But, you know, my favorite song for the day is Neil Diamond's 'Coming To America'.  I'd provide a link, but there are many versions (and some good covers by other artists) so just do a search and listen to a few.  :)

Still, the meaning of the day isn't just the fireworks and songs.  I think about our US history more on this day than any other.  I mentioned reading The Declaration Of Independence, but I also have a DVD about the creation of it. and I usually watch that sometime during the day.

So some images for today...

The Declaration.

Fireworks

Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown.

The original 13.

North America in 1776.

The Dream...

And I'll add more, after these few hours...  

There were people here before most of us.  I recognize that.  And I recognizw that many did not come voluntarily.  The past has been harsh.  History and human migrations can be cruel.  

But today I celebrate what has progressed.  Desperate people came here to seek freedom.  It wasn't easy.  Many died for an idea of a better place.  Some cane with their possessions in a cardboard box.

For many many centuries, some people have fled oppression and given up their normal lives to seek a better life wherever it seemed better.  It takes a lot of courage to do that!  

For a few centuries, that has been the US.  I can't see images of desperate immigrants at Ellis Island and not try to imagine what they felt seeing the Statue Of Liberty without feeling that they hoped they found that "right place".

And generally, they were right.  I don't want that to change. Some of the best of us are new-comers.  It has always been that way.

There is probably a child who crosses our border who will earn a Nobel Prize someday.,  Or will become teachers, firefighters, or inventors.  

I personally welcome them all.

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

What ideals are these....

""Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

It is the bravest who leave home behind and seek out freedom and opportunity.   And we here should welcome them... 

Marley

It gets difficult to recall which of The Mews is outside and which in with 4 of them sometimes.   And we have had some sudden brief downpours lately.  They hate getting rained on, so I check The Weather Channel a lot.

But sometimes there are surprises.  Being old and experienced, I can usually guess when it is about to rain.  A sudden darkness, a sudden stillness in the air outside (and oddly, inside) and you can expect a heavy shower to happen soon.

I call any of The Mews outside in.  And a funny thing about that.  I used to be able to whistle loudly and they understood that meant "come in now".  Lately, I can't.  So I bought a tonette and do it 3 times 2x.  They are getting used to that as a "come in" call.

So a surprise rain caught by by surprise yesterday afternoon.  The Mews naturally want to shelter from rain but a few tonette calls usually let them know the deck door is open and they can come in.  And Laz and Lori came running...

But I couldn't decide where Marley was.  Sometimes outside, he hides under the raised shed, or under the deck, unwilling to get wet running for the house.  So I searched the house.  I checked the garage.  Couldn't find him.  And I know most of his hiding places.  Couldn't find him...

I get really worried when I don't know where all The Mews are.  So I spent an hour searching around the house and calling to him outside.  No Marley...  I got worried enough to go out and look around the street!

So back inside, I fed The Mews.  The sound of a cat can being opened always makes him come running.  No Marley.  That got me calling outside again.  I went out to the shed and called.  He would at least stick his head out!

No Marley.  After 4 hours, I was getting distressed.  And then there was Marley indoors sitting at my feet and asking for dinner.  He had been inside the whole time.  Well, that's better than if he had been out all night and sitting at the deck door in the morning waiting to get back inside!

They drive me crazy sometimes, but I love them...

Frogs

Today is all about frogs.   Where have they all gone?

I used to be bothered by Spring Peepers.  I live across a street from a wetlands area and the Spring was filled with their calls.  That was OK.  They were so collectively constant, it was just background noise.  But I have a small 5' pond just outside the bedroom window.

And they would individually croak, which drove me nuts at night!  I have acoustic ceiling tiles in the bedroom window to dampen the noise.  But last year, I realized I wasn't hearing any frogs.  They are all gone.  A whole swamp of them vanished!

I am baffled.  My neighbor who's yard borders the swamp, doesn't know why they vanished either.  Ive read about frog-diseases wiping them out sort of like beehive diseases and parasites.  Or it is climate change.  Or pollution.  

I still have regular green frogs (Leopards?). in my pond.  They don't bother me.  I've even grown some.

Fed them and put a log in the tub so they could climb out.  If we are losing some, I want to help the others...

Marley and Lori sometimes catch one.  But for everyone they catch and play with, 19 probably survive.  Between the pond and the creek-like drainage easement and the swamp, they have lots of good places to exist.

But I think we are "extincting" too many small ignored animals...

RAIN!

2' so far and thank you Mother Nature.  We sure needed it.  Give us a couple more...  I actually stood outside in the rain.  

I haven't mowed the lawn in weeks.  Well, there were a few weeds sending up flowers.   But mostly there were dead clovers seed heads all over.   I like clovers.  They send down deep roots and pull nutrients to the surface for the grass to use.

A "lawn" is anything short and green to me.  LOL. 

No Rain

Another day of predicted rain that didn't fall.    1.5" of rain in 6 weeks, and that was mostly 6 weeks ago.

I support some shrubs with a 5 gallon bucket with a small hole drilled in the bottom.  It drips slowly out and gets down into the root zone.  Very little wasted water that way.  It's for their survival, not thriving.  

The front yard tree looks wilted and the grass is brown.  It is too early for the grass to go dormant, so I think I will have to water it deeply.  I don't like to do that, but it seems necessary.  And it will be for a couple of hours.  Most people water their lawns shallowly, which brings the roots to the surface, which causes the roots to dry out faster.  Deep watering, when you have to do it, encourages them deeper.

I do a cat food can test.  Set an can out on the lawn where the sprinkler hits.  When it is filled, you gave the lawn  1" of water.  It needs that much per week.

Planted Tomatoes Today

Talk about late planting tomatoes in MD!  But May had chilly nights (and predictions for warmer nights ahead so I delayed).  Then in early June, I kept staying up late and getting up late so I kept thinking "tomorrow".  Last week, we hadn't had rain in 6 weeks and the soil was very hard (but they kept predicting rain).   

I finally stopped messing around on Tuesday and watered the area until it was damn near mud (so the water got down a foot at least).  Then waited 2 days for the water to soak all around and leave the soil digable but "crumbly".  Thursday, I planted.  

Now, when I plant tomatoes, I try to do it right...

1.  Tilled the soil 6" deep to get everything loose and raked off the grassy weeds.

2.  Cut several lengths of 4' wide black mesh fabric (weed suppressor but water-permeable) and held them down with bricks.

3.  Put my 24' wide x 5' high concrete remesh cages on the fabric and poked a hole in the center of each to mark where the tomatoes would go.  Removed the cages.  Cut a 4" "X" at each hole.  Marked the spot of each X.

4.  Folded back the fabric and dug a 12" wide and deep hole at each spot, leaving the soil in place.  Sprinkled organic fertilizer on each spot.  Turned the soil over a few times to mix it in well.

5.  Put the fabric back in place and used a bulb planter to remove a cylinder of soil 12" deep, saving the soil in 2 buckets.  

6.  The bed can hold 11 tomatoes in 3 rows (4-4-3).  This year, I had Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Striped German, Black Krim, and Pineapple.  I set them at holes randomly.

7.  Wearing knee pads (my knees are not great these days), I got down on them and went to work setting them in the holes as deep as I could (tomatoes will grow roots from buried stems).  Back-filled with scoops of soil from the buckets.

8.  Stuck 3' stakes next to each tomato and held them up with plastic clips.  The clips have a small end to grab onto the stake and a larger opening to hold the seedling.  It all took about 4 hours...

  -------------

No pic of the newly-planted ones today.  They are a bit frazzled from the process and don't look good yet.  Pushing them out of the cell-packs, handling them for planting, and then straightening them gently to attack them to the stakes is stressful.  They will recover in a few days as their roots discover the joy of new  soil to grow into and they discover the fertilizer.

But here is a picture from last year and they will look about the same in a few days...

My tomatoes are all heirlooms.  They aren't as productive as hybrids, but WOW do they taste better!  

I used to plant the "best" hybrids available (like Celebrity and Big Beef).  About 25 years ago, I bought a Brandywine and a Cherokee Purple seedling at a farmer's market.  When I tasted the 1st ripe tomato of each, I simply pulled up the hybrids and forgot about growing them again forever.  LOL!

So I plant more of them and get as many ripe fruits as fewer hybrids, but it is worth it.  And I still have a few more seedlings (and cages).  I'll find somewhere to plant the rest tomorrow.  You really can't have too many great-tasting tomatoes.

Random Stuff

 There is always some random stuff going on.  Some normal but some not.  So a list:

1.  I solved the wristwatch problem.  It's hard to find a wristwatch that is both simple and readable.  I bought one that had a large display that was  easily readable.  But of course it came with features I didn't want.  I don't need a wristwatch with alarm settings, hourly beepings, or countdown or uptime timers.  But every manufacturer assume that I do.

When I received it, every feature was functioning except the actual time.  So I set the time according to the instructions.  That wasn't too difficult.  But a "chronometer" function beeped every hour.  And an alarm went off at Noon every day for 60 seconds.  Drove me crazy.

It is a foreign product, as most small devices are today.  The instructions can be hard to understand sometimes.  The watch has 4 buttons (A to D).  The instructions tell you which order to press them to turn on and off various features.  I tried to follow them for 2 weeks with no success!

The features are tiny little abbreviations in a corner of the watch, and I couldn't even read them with my reading glasses.  It took a magnifying glass (the kind you can wear on your head so both hands are free) to see the letters. 

I know how to follow instructions.  These were like "press B 2 seconds then press C to access "chronometer" and make adjustments as purposed".  Yeah, that's a quote.  I could never get the hourly single beep or 60 second beeps to stop.

Finally, after trying again and failing, I just started pressing the 4 buttons randomly in anger.  And it worked!

The chronometer and alarm were both off.  I have been delighted with the watch since then.  It shows me the time and date in a relatively clear display, and that is all I wanted from it.  I hope it lasts the rest of my life (batteries to be replaced of course) so that I don't have to struggle with settings again.

2.  It has been unusually dry here for months.  Here it is not yet even Summer and the lawn grass is fading and the soil is hard.  We normally have 17" of rain for the year by now and it is just 8" and nearly nothing for 2 months..  I know, things are worse elsewhere, but this is my yard and my plants.  

So I decided to actually water the lawn.  I don't normally do that.  I'm organic, and I accept that grass goes dormant in Summer.  But it isn't even Summer yet.  The WEEDS are even dying.  

So I took out my old lawn sprinkler to at least save the new meadow bed.  It leaked like crazy!  I allowed it because I have a lot of established plants in there and 36 more to add very soon.  But I needed a new one.  I looked up some garden sites about recommendations.  No sites agreed about the best.  So they are probably sort of either all crummy or all good.  I ordered one.  It will arrive Saturday.  At least (being new) it will probably work well for a couple of years.  So many things are just built poorly these day.

3.  The cold nights (and odd tiredness) caused me to delay planting my heirloom tomatoes.  I had too many 40's nights in May and that stunts them.  And after no rain for nearly a month, I can't barely get a shovel in the soil.  So I soaked the soil for an hour.  Tomorrow I can dig good holes and add good organic fertilizer in the soil before I fill it back in around the transplants. 

4.  I mowed the daffodil bed.  They had all died back sufficiently.  And I will spread mostly P and K fertilizer around to feed the bulbs.  Then cover it with black mesh landscaping fabric to smother the grasses and weeds that tried to take over earlier this Spring.  By next Spring, there won't be a living weed or grass in the bed!

5.  Given the failure of the old oscillating lawn sprinkler and until a new one arrives in a few days, I will be setting out some buckets near special plants.  I have some with small holes in the bottom. That allows the water to drip out slowly and get down to shrub and tree roots.  

Fixing Suspender Clips

I wear suspenders (OK in some places they are called braces).  Well, I don't have a well-defined waist, so belts don't work for me.  But the suspender clips seem cheap and don't hold well.  Some men's pants have belt hoders in good locations around the back, but a lot don't.

So I was shopping at Walmart looking for something to glue into them to help them hold better.  As I went along, I thought a cheap mousepad might work. but those things are so cheap even Walmart doesn't sell them.  

So I looked for thin rubber mats in "Crafts".  Nothing there.  The bubble wrap interested me, but it wouldn't last long.  And then I noticed that rubber mesh shelf-liner stuff.  Hey I already have that!

A bit of cutting, a little rubber glue, it might work.  So I'll be giving that a try...  Better than buying new ones (I have black, brown, tan and camo).

I love trying to fix things creatively!  I'll let you know if it works...

Dinner

I was busy with a cat vet visit, grocery-shopping, and getting gas for the car, so dinner was my one meal for the day.  But I think I did it well...

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Fried skin-down chicken thigh (crispy), bi-color corn, 2 shrimp rolls with duck sauce and hot mustard *, tossed salad, and asparagus with light cheese sauce.  Two small glasses of Merlot.  One chocolate-covered cherry for dessert...  I'll have some fresh fruit later, while watching TV.

* I haven't been able to find traditional chinese hot mustard in stores for 2 months, but I found that if I add some vinegar to yellow mustard, I can't really tell the difference.  Start with little vinegar and add to taste.  LOL!

And I use 3 minced 21/25 shrimp for 2 shrimp rolls (with bok choy, scallions, ginger, garlic, and water chestnut).  I had 1 left in the bag, so I just dropped it in the hot chicken grease for a minute.

Flowers, Part 2

 And then there are deck flowers.  I haven't planted the pots with the new ones yet, but there are perennials.

The Oriental Lilies exploded the past few days.  From nothing...

To a few...

And more!

It will spectacular in a couple days.

And there is a volunteer in one deck pot from last year!  I will give it special attention!

And the lettuce/celery/pak choi trays are doing well outside now.  

I sure love Spring...

Flowers, Part 1

 Well, the blooming season has finally started!

The Stella D' Oros lilies started first...

I was amazed to see some Tithoniums blooming that I planted 2 years ago.  They are annuals, but described as "self-sowing".  Well, apparently they do!  I'm thrilled.  Self-sowing is as good as perennial.

This is something from the meadow garden I planted a few years ago.  Apparently they need a couple of years to bloom.  I don't know the name.  But they sure are a nice pure yellow!  And there are dozens of them.  I'll have to look through catalog to identify them.

This is actually some sort of weed.  Kind of pretty.  It doesn't seem to be a disease because they all look identical.  I'll allow them if they don't spread too much.

I brought variegated 'Snow-On-The-Mountain' from my parents home a couple of decades ago where it grew naturally.  They survive here in the hotter Mid-Atlantic area, but seem to convert to solid green leaves given the climate.  I am digging up the remaining variegated ones to transplant to shadier and cooler spots, but these do have nice May flowers.