12 Oakdale

The last day before we’re gone 6 weeks, visiting Betsy in New Zealand. I am so close to ready. My anxiety is peaking. I’ve worked like the devil in the yard, trimming back and putting down mulch to have it look good while we are gone. CC is coming 3 times to keep it pretty. I fear her spending too much time deadheading salvia and picking little weeds rather than yanking out torpedo grass. C’èst la vie. Note to self: print sign to remind yard guys to leave the cypress needles on the boathouse deck. Last year they blew it all in the canal before I could sweep it up for mulch. Also need to print sign reminding pool guy to keep the screen door closed so Gracie doesn’t leave. That one I’ll do in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. I planted eggplant and southern pea (aka black eye or cow peas) in the vegetable garden. I hope the peas twine up the string I tied to the trellis on the side. My plan is to get them above bunny height. Might work. The rabbits are keeping the sweet potatoes trimmed ...

After 3 days of rain, we are able to work in the yard. I wanted to trim the Japanese blueberries along our neighbor’s fence back to shrub level, rather than the small trees they have grown into. Time for more chainsaw work. And get the brush from a previous trimming reduced to mulch. Daunting work.  Debby came ashore in the Big Bend area, crossing Florida before heading up the coast. We ended up with 3 1/4” of rain and some wind, but thankfully, not enough to take out any more screens. Gracie was dismayed by the dampness, going out under the lanai, then coming back in. She missed her morning bunny watching. We didn’t loose power, only internet, which came back on in time for me to continue watching the Olympics. I’ve restricted myself mostly to the 3-hour evening recap, rather than the all day offerings. Sometimes I hear results before I get to see the event, but I really don’t care.  The day before the hurricane made landfall, Grant put together his 7-story plant tower, a Chr...

3 1/4” was the final tally on the rain yesterday. Tuesday, we got 1 1/4”. The yard and frogs are happy. Of the later, I saw a little thumbnail sized one this morning when I went outside to check the rain gauge. Yesterday, when I did my daily early morning inspection walk around the pool, Grace was watching what I would call a garden toad jump in the same place against the pool screen, over and over and over. It was still fruitlessly hopping there when I came back with a plastic box to capture it for its ride to the outside and freedom. Gracie wandered off. I have been working like crazy to get the yard as ready as I can for the 6 weeks we will neglect it while we are in New Zealand. I’m having CC come every Tuesday to help me. I’m trying to figure out what I can have her do while I’m gone. She loves to deadhead salvias. I want torpedo grass dug out. A management problem. Grant has been assigned to Roundup the edge of all the beds every Friday. That is making it easier for us to spend t...