Smarties Bar & Grill #76

I 've an unruly salt cedar.. tamarind tree. Most of the species was removed here, clogging up and using the water in Texas a few years ago they were originally brought in for bank stabilization. I took out a bunch of them, left the one by the big house, it throws a lot of shade, and two things about the saltcedar water usage 1. like tall big trees the root system draws the water level up , and Two.. it respires water, making it especially cool, one other thing.. they are electrostatic.. they draw in dust. Bigger stands the air around them will appear dustfree perimeter. The growth on mine has been somewhat stunted, fortunately; they used a wasp to kill off the salt cedar and I had my tree inoculated against that wasp. Serious freezes affect it too. I have 4 or five dead branches , they've been bare for years, /I leave them, as the birds like to roost in them.

 

Do you ever make H20 out of the air?

 

Memorial Day RIP for those who paid with their Lives!!

 

My husband lost a cousin five years ago. It made national news. They were stationed in Japan, but when to Australia for training exercises. He was a hero; sacrificed himself to help others get out.

RIP Nathan.

https://usmclife.com/marine-corps-identifies-three-service-members-killed-osprey-crash/

 

Last two jugglers leave tomorrow morning.
It's been great to see everyone.
Lots of port, pot, poker and ping-pong.

We did have three people test positive for covid on the last day.
To be expected in a group of 100 people camping together for 10 days I suppose. No serious symptoms amongst the infected who all went straight home.

 

Hug your veteran friends and remember those we've lost.

Also, my 2nd grandchild was born last week in Delaware. I made it home yesterday and I already miss them.

 

As strange as it sounds to me, my scallions pretty much all died this spring. I have never had that happen ever. I didn't think it was even possible and I am not sure why. It didn't make a difference whether they were the ones planted in pots or directly into the ground. My holdovers from fall and walking onions all doing fantastic to boot so I am not sure it can even be weather related.

 

I have seen that it is done in some places.. I don't think I will try it, it is extremely dry.. as in very low humidity, so trying to suck what little moisture we have out of very thin air does nopt seem likely

 

Many use water catchment.. however, you need to be able to catch 1000s of gallons, so I will last for months. When it does rain, it comes down in buckets (then runs off, which is why we are adesert) We have to build roofs for that one torrential rainfall each year or so.

 

My creeping phlox cuttings are coming along. My first 144 cuttings have 132 survivors. Some roots showing out of bottom of cell pack. They were taken too early. The cuttings taken later when the stems were a little tougher are 100% so far. Gonna get some more cuttings today. Like I think I said before they will be plugs and planted like zozia.

 

Sprinkled enough that it tamped down the dust, sure put on a light and sound show, but in the end, other than the fresh tracks across the dust, you could not tell it had precipitated , no puddles of water left over.

 

First of 2 days public holiday for Her Majesty's platinum jubilee today so I got my flags out.
English, Gibraltan and Ulster (Northern Ireland) for my grandparents with the Union Flag for the UK.


God save the Queen.

 

~ Some nice things to think about


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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WOMAN FINDS $36K IN CASH HIDDEN INSIDE COUCH ACQUIRED THROUGH CRAIGSLIST

https://abc7.com/money-couch-craigslist-colton/11913777/

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I am just amazed how these animals can still trust us.

 

Dogs .. proof God loves us.

 

Got a good rainfall.. more than wet down the dust, carried alot of it off! Heard the little peepers down in the place where water collects, expect all those absent mosquito to come out, have to be sure to keep your mouth closed, they will be so thick it will take effort not to inhale a few.

 

Longest reigning monarch, ever, right? I believe Victoria held the record until now.

 

She surpassed Victoria a few years back. Without looking it up I think Victoria was 1837 - 1901 or 64 years.

 

Always liked the Queen.. such a lady.

 

Me too. Also have respect for her military service.

 

That is so sweet.

We rescued our two cats from the Richmond (VA) SPCA six years ago. I took this picture a few days after we brought them home - they were around 12 weeks old:



We were told they were brother and sister. The female (at left) was the bolder and more gregarious of the two while her brother was painfully shy. He hid the entire time we were at the SPCA and then he hid for three days after we brought them home.

Happy ending, here they are today - they just turned six:



Don't let their cute looks deceive you. They're cold blooded killers.

 

~ Beautiful ...

 

Thanks for posting the video about Benny, James. That brought back some great memories from when we brought the kittens home.

True story, when we moved out to the homestead three years before they were born we had a really scary and dangerous Copperhead situation going on around here (the pine forests of northern North Carolina and southern Virginia are the epicenter of Copperhead Country). After we brought the kids home and set them loose they wiped out all the field mice and moles who lived around the house and now I rarely see the vipers who used to prey on those rodents anymore. When we adopted the cats I never imagined that they would solve our venomous snake problem but that's exactly what they did.

Whoever said cats are worthless never met those two. My wife and I are a lot safer because of them, and that's no joke.

 

~ I have 10 rescued abandoned adult cats. No mice ! Now and then a neighbor will "borrow " a few to do patrol work under their house and yard. We have many Opossums around here that do the same.
Even in the city starving Coyotes come down from the hills so we have to be careful. So far I have been lucky ...

" We take care of business ... " ​

 

Wow. That's a lot of cats. My wife has a friend who owns a big spread in Mississippi and they look after a bunch of cats.

As for predators, coyotes have supposedly migrated into our neck of the woods but I haven't detected their presence, so the greatest threat to cats (and humans) in these parts are black bears. The folks who lived here before us said a bear treed one of their cats and try as they might they could not get it to leave. Because of that I won't let our cats out at night and I'll keep a shotgun or a .40 cal pistol on me when I'm outside after dark. A couple of years ago someone hit a 500 pound bear on the highway a couple miles from our house...



Last year my neighbor saw a sow crossing our road with her cubs.

You can't take your safety for granted around here, either - even if you're armed you're not necessarily the apex predator in these parts.