Back in Business

My suspicions were right. The hanging pots that are vegetables were in, were no longer doing so well. Turns out the capillary strips used to transfer the water from the resevoir on top to the soil inside were no longer working. I ordered new ones, installed them last night and this morning I had this.

That's right! Nearly empty reservoirs. That means the new strips were working. Hopefully we can get back to ripening these babies!

These too, though we've had a few already and they're delicious!

The broccoli, though, is a different story. I moved it to the other side of our garage to get less sun, and it's already doing better. Better enough to eat, though we're not the only ones eating it.

I've got some organic pesticides on the way. Hopefully that will take care of things.

- b

For the Furry Elite

We decided after such a poor report last week from doggy daycare, we'd send her again sooner than originally planned.

The change in plans was good. Todays report was a total turn around. Gretchen was "Active", "Friendly", "Excited", and "Happy". That's the Gretchen we all know and love.

She even made friends with Alex & Shelby - two other daycare participants.

Apparently she spent most of her day playing and romping in the kiddie pool.

By the looks of her passed out on the floor tonight, I'd say she did alright.

- b

Freak-a-Zoids

Usually it's Gretchen going around licking CJ. Apparently it's some kind of submissive thing - at least in her case. But when CJ licks her, it's just weird.

Hell she's licking herself!

They've been doing this since we got home on Monday. They're concentrating on her paws - the rear ones mostly, though this shot is the front.

She doesn't appear to have any pain. She's not limping and there are no visible wounds. The only thing I can figure is her pads soaked a little too long in the creek over the weekend.

The worst part is CJ barks at her when she tries to pull away. Usually he barks at her for licking him. Now he's barking for not letting him lick her. It's ridiculous. It's one of those "senior moments" I'd rather not have.

I guess we'll find out what condition they're really in when we go for a ride tomorrow morning.

- b

Insect Politics

Applies to arachnids too.

I posted last year about this situation, but only had shots of the two separate parties. This year I caught the wasp in action. He/she had a tiny hole in the caulk near the top of the stoop that it was trying to drag this wolf spider into. It couldn't get it, and eventually dropped it. In the morning when I went back to check, the spider was gone. Either something else got it or the wasp succeeded. The next day there was another spider waiting to be "moved". Busy little bees they are.

- b

Anti Corona

How the other half lives...



- b

Do That to Me!

You asked for it kid.



- b

Cabin Weekend

Was nice and relaxing.



I'll get more up later if/when I can.

I will say (since there are no pictures) tubing with Gretchen was both fun and painful. Fun seeing her shoot the rapids with her life vest and swim laps from side to side of the river. Painful for me having her climb all over me in my tube. Painful for her after soaking her paws for two and a half hours - now she (and CJ) can't stop licking them???

Thanks to Bill, Cheryl and the boys for a great time away.

- b

A Luxury retreat...

Dropped Gretchen off for her first day of doggy daycare.

She's had this shy/submissive streak with other dogs for a while. When she first meets another dog if it's bigger then her or exhibits more energy, she cowers and/or runs away. Why not cure it, by throwing her in the middle of it?

I pass this place every day on my way to work and have talked to many people who take their pets there. I even stopped in one night back in March for a tour. It's very nice.

While Gretchen had a pet sitter till the end of June, we couldn't justify the extra expense of daycare to cure her affliction.

So I dropped her off and the staff did all they could to make her feel at home.

I know. We're freaks. We're actually checking our dog into daycare that's nearly as expensive as child daycare. Whatever. It's temporary and convenient.

Though honestly I was a mess most of the day. Partly because I was afraid she would be afraid all day and hate it and partly because I wanted to be there to share in the new opportunities for her.

Yeah I know. She's a dog. Get over it. She's the closest thing I have to a kid, so what can I say? I try not to treat her that way, but I can't help it if I feel that way - sometimes.

When I picked her up, I got her report card. Apparently they do it daily (classy place huh?). She scored well, but mostly quiet and shy. She really didn't take well to the new environment or playing with the other dogs.

I guess we'll have to try again.

- b

Canning Experiment #1 - Jam

We have 8 zillion raspberry bushes behind our house. After I had picked a bunch I figured I would make some jam. Because, what else are you going to do with 2 pounds of raspberries? Here the raspberries are marinating in sugar and lemon juice.

After about an hour, they look like this. We have a mixture of black and red raspberry bushes behind our house, so this is Mixed Berry Jam.

The canning supplies all ready to go.

After marinating, you boil it for about 20 - 30 minutes until the jam reaches the gelling point.

I boiled this batch a little too long and the jam came out very thick and difficult to spread, but it was still tasty, so we'll let it slide.

This is the final result. 10 half pint jars of jam. This is really from almost six pounds of berries in 2 separate batches of jam. The first jam batch is on the left and you can see it is darker as there were more black raspberries in it. All in all not too bad for a first attempt.

Weekend Update

Spent a lot of time (twice) loading and unloading materials from the Home Depot. We decided it was time to fix the railing around our deck.
We bought a whole bunch of supplies, then decided we wanted to do it differently. So far, even after ripping half of it down, we're sticking with our last decision.

Went to a party celebrating Ben & Krissy's wedding. That was fun. It's nice to hang out with so many friends.

Sunday morning we saw "The Dark Knight". Jen liked it - thought it was scary. I wasn't as impressed. I would have preferred a little more "Silence of the Lambs" type drama, though the pencil trick was nice. Either way it's not a kids movie. We were amazed at the number of children (little ones too) that were there. Then again I wasn't ever allowed to watch things like Miami Vice, The A-Team, V, The Terminator, etc. and I'm saying the movie could have been scarier.

- b

Another Vegetable Update

It seems our hanging vegetables are having issues.

The tomato plant had been kind of withering. Watering the reservoir up top didn't seem to help. When the little green maters started dropping off, I had to take a look.

It appears the white felt strips that were transferring the water to the soil underneath are done. The one for the tomato was practically gone. The one for the pepper plant just wouldn't absorb water.

For now I'll water them the old fashion way, but new strips should be on order.

- b

Color of Money

Is not a good thing for your pool.

Not sure what happened. Maybe it was the dog or maybe it was all the rain last week, but double dosing the chemicals took care of it.

Things like skin and hair are over-rated anyway.

- b

Three Times This Week

We actually managed to load up the bike, boat and dog and hit the park at 6am.

Of course a routine is required. The boat basically lives on the car. The helmet, shoes, paddle, life jacket and sun hat go in the night before. At 5:15am the alarm goes off and Gretchen goes outside, then gets fed. The bike goes on the car. Jen puts on sun tan lotion and we're off.

By 6am we're at the park unloading and heading in different directions. Roughly thirty minutes later we're back at the car packing it up and heading home around 7am.

Not a bad way to start the day.

- b

Only 43

Filled up the tank on the Ninja 250 today.

Yeah pretty small bike, but great gas mileage right?

Not really.

It only got 43mpg.

It's been having some problems, so I'm not surprised.

I'm hoping a little Pepboys magic fixes it.

I mean 43mpg isn't bad, but I could be riding around in a nice air conditioned car and getting that instead of sweating myself silly on a bike that's too small.

- b

About That Swimming

She's gotten a little too good at it.

This morning the three of us packed up for a trip to the park. Gretchen and I were going Mt. Biking and Jen was going for a paddle. We tried putting Jen in the water first to get the most paddle time, but Gretchen wouldn't let her paddle away from shore without swimming after her. Not until I rode off with Gretchen was Jen able to leave.

When Gretchen and I got back before Jen, I knew we were in for trouble. Gretchen sat at the shore watching the cars on the other side - waiting for one of them to resemble Jen I guess. Luckily I saw Jen before Gretchen did and distracted her until I thought it was safe. At that point she was off and swimming.

Keep in mind she just ran four miles.

The energy of youth is certainly not wasted on this dog.

- b

She Swims!

Never thought I'd have to train a dog to like swimming, but considering CJ hates it maybe that's where I went wrong.

Little by little, while I've been away, Jen's been working with Gretchen.

I think it started with Jen picking her up and putting her on the step, then slowly coaxing her out into the water with sticks.

She would do it, get good at it, then protest the next time Jen went swimming.

Now she's a pro. If the rubber stick sinks from a hard throw, she'll tread water waiting for it to surface.

A nice side-effect is the pool has become her grooming mechanism. All that fur that we were brushing out daily is now in the filter. Eh, so I have to backwash sooner.

She's cooler and cleaner for it.

Though I'm not sure clean enough to lounge in the sun on the furniture.

- b

Motorcycle Culture

Being in the U.K. for a few weeks got me inspired to be a better motorcyclist. Over there commuters wear full leathers and boots back and forth to work.

Granted it's a lot cooler there in the summer, so full leathers here aren't likely this time of year. Lucky for me this setup is two-piece. I can at least try and wear the jacket till it gets cold enough for the pants. Why I never wore the pants before when it was cold is beyond me.

Though tempting, the knee pucks won't be necessary.

- b

Christmas in July

Somebody got some stuff

All on the same day even.


At least the gift cards went to a good cause.


-b

Vegetable Update

Looks like our experiment in farming is working so far.

The tomatoes have a few little green bulbs and lots of blossoms.

The peppers are bigger, but fewer.

The broccoli looks good too.


- b

A Double?

Standing at the bar at 10am in London Gatwick airport, the bar tender asks if I'd like my Bloody Mary to be a double.

A double?

Now there's an idea. How often in the states does a bar tender ask you if you want a double? Forget the fact it was only 10am.

I had an eight hour flight ahead of me. Yes make it a double.

- b

Finally

I'm glad to live in a township where public land access is a priority.

- b

Windows - As Promised

On Monday, June 30, we got new windows installed in all of the bedrooms. 2 guys showed up at 7am and started ripping out the old windows. And when I say old windows, I mean the windows that were there and also the windows that were there before them. Apparently the previous owners had installed their new windows inside of the frames of the original windows. A common practice I hear, but we weren't having any of it, so out they all went. And here is a picture of the gaping holes this process left in the walls. I have to say the window openings looked enormous.

Okay, so this picture doesn't really show how big the opening looked and neither does this one, but I'm showing it to you anyway.

This one either, but people like pictures and who am I to argue?

Here are the windows waiting to be installed in their new home. (My apologies for the terrible pun.)

Gretchen had a great time playing with the crew, that is when she wasn't confined to the kitchen.

Too many ladders, power tools, and miscellaneous parts laying around for a rambunctious puppy. But she did get her fair share of fetch and belly rubs.

Unfortunately, there was a minor emergency at work that prevented me from taking more "during" pictures. But nobody cares about those anyway, right? It's the "after" that everybody wants to see. So let's get to it. Actually, I'm going to warn you that these pictures suck. I blame the camera. Bob is off in England and he has the good camera and that's why the pictures look terrible. Yeah, it's the camera. Has nothing to do with the photographer.

That and trim. Trim will definitely help. And maybe curtains. And pictures. Pictures would help too. Those blank walls, look really blank.

I think the windows in the office and spare bedroom look funny with the grids. It's a lot of grid.

Luckily they snap out. But I'm not sure I like that either.

And finally, a parting shot of our giant propane tank. Oh, wait, there's some new windows there too.

London's Fun!

- b