Notes

Blistering heat. Temperature of 78 yesterday along East End Rd, official temp in Homer not quite as high. Expecting another scorcher today.

Moose all over the yard this morning. One calf has an injured leg - right rear. Predator? Porcupine? Sprain? Break? Something scared the heck out of Tux last night. She sleeps on the sofa next the front room window and her mad barking woke me. By the time I got to the window there was nothing to see, but she spent the rest of the night in the bedroom with us which is kind of unusual. Did she see a bear or was it just a moose that got too close? 

Sanding of first coat of mud in the bonus room was finished this morning. What a miserable dusty job that was. Tomorrow we apply another wet coat. We'd better finish this job soon. My hands won't last much longer.

What's happening in the yard

Weeds are growing like crazy and the garden is looking a little wild after high winds and weeks without rain. I'm hauling water from the hand-pump well by the bucket and it looks like no rain for another ten days. I think this dryness is unprecedented here. So here is what is going on in my garden.

Astrantia

I love the fragile airy look of this burnet. The thin oval leaves have serrated edges. It's a native and is an easy to grow filler plant.

Burnet

The huge delphinium that was queen of its bed barely survived the winter. It's down to just a few flower stalks now. I was going to transplant it this year but decided to let it regain some strength instead.

Delphinium with Tux

Shells and beach things collect in this bed along the entry to the cabin. In the background is the oak water barrel that is almost empty.

Entry garden

The Hansa roses are growing well. In a few years these will become a massive wall of flowers.

Hansa Rose

The bleeding heart is gorgeous this year.

Bleeding Heart

Hoop

The Marie Bugnet roses survived and are blooming like crazy.

Marie Bugnet 

Monkshood must really like it here. The flowers add color to the garden when the poppies die out and is spreading itself throughout the yard, supporting the surrounding more fragile flowers when the wind blows. I love it.

Monkshood

Only four peony plants survived the freeze up and this is the only one that will bloom this year.

Peony

First year for flowers on the Philadelphus. Very pretty.

Philadelphus

Tag

Tag 

The Bugnet roses are tough. This one is Therese, a pretty pink. I have to keep these wrapped with wire because they have no thorns and the moose love to eat them.

Therese Bugnet

Tux

The spirea were badly damaged and at best are half their size last year, but two are covered with pretty flowers.

Bumblebee in the Spirea

Three dogs in one shot

Entry garden 2 with Tux

Birds and Sun

Whimbrels and Brants have been on the Spit the last couple of days.

We are waiting for the drywall mud in the garage to dry so it was a good day for Bob to golf and I spent hours weeding. A brush with stinging nettles has my arm itching like crazy. Weather has been gloriously sunny for weeks, very little rain, and there is no change forecast. Temperature dropped about 10 degrees but still sunny and dry. We cranked up the hand pump to give some much needed water to the garden. I don't know what to do with all this sunshine!

Drywall in the Bonus Room

Unfortunately the cabin sale negotiations died yesterday. 'Nuff said.

We are moving on with taping and texturing the drywall in the room above the garage. It's hard on our wrists and forearms due to carpal tunnel injuries so the work goes slowly. Plus, there are a lot of seams because we can't manage large sheets of drywall - just the two of us old fools. Once the initial layer of mud is applied to seams and holes it needs to dry, then it all has to be sanded smooth and another layer of mud applied as needed. Dry, sand and finally texture. Bob likes to apply three layers normally but since this is a garage room we won't be fussy. I guess I will paint eventually as well.

Roses, Zip and Sales

After a few false starts we have actually entered into negotiations on the cabin. I won't say more on this until the deal is closed for better or worse.

Weather has been incredibly warm (72 today!) with more of the same on the way. In the garden poppies are fading but the roses are coming through. First bloom of the season is this white Marie Bugnet. The pink Therese Bugnets will follow soon. Some older pale pink Wood's roses are blooming and the four I planted last summer are loaded with buds but won't open for another few days. A moose nipped the tops off the Hansas in the big patch so their normally rosy red display will be delayed. I am sure going to miss my roses. And the blue poppies. And pretty much all the wonderful things I planted. *sigh*

In the meantime I need to keep Zip the dog out of the flower beds. He visits all by himself every so often and stomps right through the flowers. Maybe he is following a trail of sweet scents on his stubby little legs but he has smashed several nice full plants to my great displeasure. All the dogs rush out to greet him with a lot of barking and tail wagging in a big pack welcome. You can see below Tag is pleased to have another guy to hang with. Zip's an odd character, but lovable.

Tag with Zip

Master Zip (standing)

Things You Find

I looked up at the roof over the deck on front of the cabin and found this monster nest hanging there. The yellow jackets have sure been busy. Bob says he'll take care of it. Yikes. 

We've found a few neat things on our beach. They appear to be various kinds of stone fishing net weights. The holes are drilled all the way through the rock.

Fishing / Tux's Eyes

Tide's up and salmon are jumping this afternoon. Bob is tossing a line down at the beach and seeing how the luck goes.

An offer on the cabin is coming in the next day or two. No telling how strong it is. We don't feel pressured to sell.

Tux's Eyes: Looking much improved. How long has she been getting medication... two months or more? We're about ready to move on to the second 15 ml bottle of Prednisolone eyedrops and she takes them like a champ. I bought a half year supply of the stuff after seeing the Adequan supply shut down, another of her essential medications. She'll be a miserable dog when our supply runs out if we can't get more of that. If only there were Adequan for human use... my knees are getting worse by the week.

Cranes in the Yard

Visitors this afternoon. Sandhill cranes. First time we've seen them in the back yard. 

Peeps

A growing flock of peeps is converging on the Spit. Western Sandpipers maybe?

Photo of the Morning

Fledgling robin plans next leg of flight