Still No Rain
27 Aug 2024 06:54 pmThe trees are looking sad, even the invasive ones. The mulberry is dropping its leaves. The Asian pear was drooping horribly. The native trees like hazelnut and persimmon are looking fine. They have not been watered all season. Still, since I got the hose to reach that far back, I watered them today. The weeds are also dying out so I suppose that's good. Although I believe in no till and no chemicals, I saw a big poison ivy plant on the fence line today. I definitely sprayed it with round-up. It took me close to two hours to water everything.
There were beans to pick, a few tomatoes and a zucchini. The drought is impacting everything. The critters have nothing to eat anywhere else. They come here for food. I am planning on trapping the ground hogs. Still trying to figure out how to fill in the hole under the garage. I'll have to order Dig Defence for the rest of the garage. I think that's a September project.
Today was a shipping day. A couple orders went out via USPS. Other errands were run as well. It was hot. The "feels like" temperature was 97 degrees F but there was also an air quality alert. I laughed. It was still better than on many days when it was cool. There was no smell of dragon in the air. I cannot for the life of me understand why The Dragonriders of Pern was such a big deal. No one would want to live with that stench. No offense to Anne McCaffrey. She wrote it well. I just am not sure she ever went to Pittsburgh.
It was so hot, we took towels out to the car to sit on so we wouldn't get burned. I brought more merchandise in from Pennsic. I don't feel the need to rush to empty out the vehicle. There were ants in everything. They can die in that oven of a car. It's been 2 weeks so I guess it's time to put things away. Mostly, it's about reordering and restocking right now. I had to find out what was in the merchandise totes. I finished pulling together a yarn order for A Wool Gathering. I am usually inspired and energetic after Pennsic. It's still true. I have so many projects planned. It feels like a log jam burst. I want to do all the things!
From 2015-Oregano

Since I started with an onion dye bath, I am winding those skeins into a nice display for the next show. It's time to pick oregano and get a dye bath started of that. I am also trying out new techniques with a non-toxic dye called Greener Shades. The colors are fast. I already tested that. Next is blending those. Right now I am working on winding mini-fingering weight skeins to dye with. I need three pounds wound. The goal is 90 skeins of 12.5 grams, roughly 54 yds each. I have one pound done but it doesn't make for exciting pictures. yet. I plan to take advantage of this heat to do a solar heated soak of these skeins. Today's quest was to find 25 jars to use. I am 7 short. No worries, I am not done poking through cupboards yet. I have a huge collection of jars and bottles.
Fresh from this week:

I finished today's grown up tasks and will soon start on tomorrow's. Bills are due, that kind of thing. I am thinking of hitting up the farm stand again. German potato salad goes well in hot weather. There are bratwurst in the freezer among other grill-able items. Tonight we are having Caprese Salad. The Italian specialty store had some decent bread to dip in the olive oil. A simple meal for a hot day.
Drought Monitor
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?northeast
There were beans to pick, a few tomatoes and a zucchini. The drought is impacting everything. The critters have nothing to eat anywhere else. They come here for food. I am planning on trapping the ground hogs. Still trying to figure out how to fill in the hole under the garage. I'll have to order Dig Defence for the rest of the garage. I think that's a September project.
Today was a shipping day. A couple orders went out via USPS. Other errands were run as well. It was hot. The "feels like" temperature was 97 degrees F but there was also an air quality alert. I laughed. It was still better than on many days when it was cool. There was no smell of dragon in the air. I cannot for the life of me understand why The Dragonriders of Pern was such a big deal. No one would want to live with that stench. No offense to Anne McCaffrey. She wrote it well. I just am not sure she ever went to Pittsburgh.
It was so hot, we took towels out to the car to sit on so we wouldn't get burned. I brought more merchandise in from Pennsic. I don't feel the need to rush to empty out the vehicle. There were ants in everything. They can die in that oven of a car. It's been 2 weeks so I guess it's time to put things away. Mostly, it's about reordering and restocking right now. I had to find out what was in the merchandise totes. I finished pulling together a yarn order for A Wool Gathering. I am usually inspired and energetic after Pennsic. It's still true. I have so many projects planned. It feels like a log jam burst. I want to do all the things!
From 2015-Oregano

Since I started with an onion dye bath, I am winding those skeins into a nice display for the next show. It's time to pick oregano and get a dye bath started of that. I am also trying out new techniques with a non-toxic dye called Greener Shades. The colors are fast. I already tested that. Next is blending those. Right now I am working on winding mini-fingering weight skeins to dye with. I need three pounds wound. The goal is 90 skeins of 12.5 grams, roughly 54 yds each. I have one pound done but it doesn't make for exciting pictures. yet. I plan to take advantage of this heat to do a solar heated soak of these skeins. Today's quest was to find 25 jars to use. I am 7 short. No worries, I am not done poking through cupboards yet. I have a huge collection of jars and bottles.
Fresh from this week:

I finished today's grown up tasks and will soon start on tomorrow's. Bills are due, that kind of thing. I am thinking of hitting up the farm stand again. German potato salad goes well in hot weather. There are bratwurst in the freezer among other grill-able items. Tonight we are having Caprese Salad. The Italian specialty store had some decent bread to dip in the olive oil. A simple meal for a hot day.
Drought Monitor
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?northeast