Yes, Fall is here - you can feel it in the air.  Some flowers are just starting to bloom - like the mums.  Since they seem to do good here, Grace and I have bought 5 more to plant.  Other flowers are kicking back into gear after the long summer drought. The roses are releafing and starting to bloom after getting a double whammy from the drought and the Japanese Beetles.  Even the strawberries are perking up though I don’t think they’ll get any more berries made before frost.

The ornamental kale is really starting to show its colors now and will look good all through December.  I was also able to acquire several yucca plants this spring.  They are well established now and should look good poking through the snow this winter.

We have already started stockpiling firewood.  I think it’s gonna be another cold winter.  Very poor pumpkin crop this year - didn’t help that I got them in late.  But we did get a nice selection of gourds to decorate with  and even got a few birdhouse gourds to make some birdie homes with!

Grace’s trigger thumb problem has been fixed through surgery and she’s doing fine.  I’ve been busy helping out a lady with a pond mgmt. business and also working on stocking our online store.  Time to start listing a few things in eBay now, too.

It has been over 2 months since we had any significant rain.  This is the third year for a drought - this year it just started a little later.  The only rain we’ve had is 1/4″ one day and .4″ another about a month ago.  Tonight we are getting some sprinkles from hurricane Gustav.  That’s pretty sad - it takes a hurricane before we get any rain.  It’s too late for the corn field that surrounds us this year - the ears have already dropped over and the short 6″ ears are only about half developed.  About every 5th stalk doesn’t even have an ear.  Our grass is very brown and crunchy.

The only things green in the garden are plants I have been painstakingly watering.  Of course, watering only keeps them alive, they don’t really grow much under these conditions.  Grace is worried about the well drying up.  I told her we’d be OK.  Suprisingly, the marigolds are really starting to kick in and bloom.  Grace’s pepper plants are doing the same thing… boy, they’ll be hot this year!!

I even had to start watering my Hybrid Shade Poplars that I planted last Spring.  These trees are amazing - I planted 3ft long sticks from Gurneys and now they are over 12ft tall.  I am also impressed with the Royal Empress trees (bought from a cheesy ad in the paper - “Grow 12 ft a year - plant in the ground and STAND BACK!”).  They also are approaching 12ft tall with huge leaves that measure over 1ft across!  These things came in grow cubes, were about 2 inches tall, and looked dead.  In fact, the first ones were, had to request replacements.  They have been in the ground 2 years and are amazing.  OK, not 12ft a year, but a good 6ft is nothing to sneeze at.  Maybe they’ll bloom next year - yes, they’re supposed to get purple flowers on too.

It’s a comforting and satisfying feeling to walk down in the cellar and see shelves lined with jars of canned goods.  Grace and I have been busy canning… 16 pts of green beans… 13 qts of peaches… 5 qts of dill pickles… and Wednesday I canned 18 qts of tomato juice.  I also made another batch of salsa while I was boiling the tomatoes - that went in the freezer.

We acquired Grace’s dad’s (Bruce) old National Retort Canner.  It is a big one!!  It will do pints stacked 2 high or 1/2 gallon jars.  I am searching for a rubber gasket for it but so far have had no luck.  The Tiffin Hardware gave me a phone number of a company that handles alot of parts for old canners so I will call them tomorrow.

Bruce also set us up with the peaches.  Grace painstakingly blanched and peeled them.  I am so prould of her!!

We are down to 5 female cats with just 2 tiger kittens to give away… at least we were until Miss Kitty gave birth to 3 more kittens in the barn on June 25th.  There was a 4th but it was stillborn.  She is not the best of mothers, having them in a back corner on concrete… actually I found one about 20 ft away in the main barn.  Luckily I heard it crying.  I moved her into the kitty nursery box and all was well for several days when she moved them to the front lean-to which I keep locked so there was no way they could stay in there so I moved them back.  She then moved them into the chicken laying boxes I have in the main barn - they were so scattered around I had to look for them.  Her latest move was up to the house behind the grill.  Since they are under cover, I’m leaving them there.  They are big enough to get around now and are fat and happy.

Little Miss Kitty went into labor July 11th and produced 3 more kittens - all orange tigers.  They are doing well so far.

The garden is growing great - a far cry from last year when we had no rain for 2 months. Sunflowers have taken over several sections. There is one area I call ‘The Jungle.’ It is thick with them. Luckily, I found out that leaf lettuce doesn’t mind being in some shade so it’s growing fine under the big sunflower leaves. Tomatoes are coming on and should have some soon. Last night we picked 2 qts of peas. Sweet corn is nearly waist high and the pole beans are climbing like crazy.  Flowers are blooming nicely, too.  Of course weeds are growing at the same rate.  And the Japanese beetles are starting to appear and eat everything.  They have already attacked the leaves on the pussywillow bush.  That’s the latest from the garden.

Grace has been busy picking strawberries. We will be making freezer jam soon! Meanwhile, I have been enjoying leaf lettuce… so much better than head lettuce. The peas and green beans are up, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet corn, and popcorn are all looking good. The blackberries are blooming and it should also be a bumper crop of raspberries this year also.

My plum tree that I planted last year has died. It even had blooms on this spring. I suspect that Roundup might have nipped it that was sprayed on the field around us. We will be surrounded by corn this year - I am looking forward to it - Grace is terrified!

I planted Grace a purple redbud tree this spring that I purchased from Gurneys. It came with hardly any roots. Then we got busy so I had it in a bucket of water for over 2 weeks. When I finally got it planted, I wasn’t expecting much. Well, it sat there in the ground doing nothing for over a month, but unbelieveably it is now popping some leaves out! Surprised me! It must have been busy rooting. My pixie crunch apple tree is doing good despite all the wind that is whipping the sh_t out of everything. That’s normal around here. You’d think this was Chicago.

All the flowers are doing fine. Irises were gorgous as always. Grace has even picked some roses. Volunteer poppies are everywhere - so dainty but really hold up well to the wind. Oh, and I must mention… sunflowers are everywhere. I’ve had to thin them out in places. It will be another bumper crop this year.

Mother Cat gave birth to her brood on March 31st. The funny thing is - she had them in the same box with Fred’s kittens (her great-grandchildren)! Tonight I was kinda able to get a head count of 7 and one of them is a calico. Add that to Fred’s 3 and it’s a box full!! Fred’s kittens are already starting to open their eyes. Meanwhile, Miss Kitty had a single little tiger kitten on Friday the 28th.  It’s doing fine in a box all by itelf. I have thought of taking one or two of Fred’s and moving them over there but maybe I’d better leave well enough alone.

Wednesday morning we awoke to find that Fred had given birth to 3 kittens. Appears to be 2 tigers and the third one is all white - not sure how that happened!! This makes Mother Cat a great-grandmother. And yes she has been helping out her granddaughter with nursing duties. As of Thursday evening, Mother appears to be in labor herself.

On a sad note, We returned home Wednesday evening from BG to find Calie dead on the road. Calie was born last Summer and captured the hearts of everyone who met her. She has been fighting what I believe was a ‘psudo-pregnancy’ -her milk glands were very swollen. This had been going on for the last month. It was making her very uncomfortable and she had difficulty walking. Then she got an eye infection in the last week. I’m not sure why she was crossing the road because she normally didn’t go out there. We laid her to rest under the pine trees.

I have started seedlings growing in the front window. A wide variety of flowers and some pepper plants, too. The ones I started last week are already sprouting. A favorite last year was the ornamental kale. They are neat because they hold up good to freezing and look good till well into January. Ornamental cabbage will do the same thing.

Yes, you may think I’m crazy but I know what I saw.  On February 16th, I had 6 robins hopping around the yard!!  I would assume they were 3 pair on their way north to Canada.  They were here a few hours picking around in the pine needles and around the few snowdrifts in the yard and then left.  Maybe Spring will be here sooner than we think.