Last year, you may recall, I bought some knock out roses on a clearance sale. The guy at the garden center told me to water the heck out of them and they would be ok. Not only were they ok, they also came back all beautiful this spring, had roses all over them and then promptly - died. Leaves fell off, roses fell off, looked like thorn covered sticks. I was devastated. BUT I told Jim the sticks were green, so I decided to continue to water them. I also got some miracle grow from Mallory, and continued to feed them rose food as well. And slowly, the leaves are starting to come back. All three of them appear to be alive, and are now regrowing leaves! I do not know what happened, but I almost think maybe they got hit with some sort of spray? Anyway, as I was leaving for work this morning, I noticed I have a rose again! I had to back up the car and take a picture! I was so happy to see my little roses making a comeback. I hope this time will be better for them! Side note - Jim hooked me up a little spray rig - that sits in the back of his truck and allows me to not have to haul buckets and bottles of water! It has made my life a lot easier, and my flowers at the end of the driveway are looking very pretty as a result! End of the driveway is the only place I can grow flowers in the ground - because owning goats and growing flowers are mutually exclusive!
There is a pile of rocks in our back yard, I assume from when they dug the basement of our house. Big rocks, in a pretty large pile. A couple of years ago, I brought home a load of feral cats. They sort of scattered, and I would only catch glimpses of them down by the barn or out in the yard. One of them was a mostly white cat who for whatever reason, decided to live in the rock pile. So I named her Rocky. Last year, Rocky (who I thought was a boy) had 1 kitten. The kitten was adorable and looked almost identical to Rocky, so I named her Adreinne (spelled the way my friend spells it- sort of named after her, sort of because that is the name that goes with Rocky). Rocky comes up to the door every single night when I bring the dogs in, and I feed her something - leftovers, a little cat food, or even some stuff I have warmed up when it was really cold outside. When I take it out, she hisses at me and hangs out under the car - we have a love/hate relationship. But I am sort of weird, and feeding her at bedtime has become a thing. This summer, she had 1 kitten. she is a gray little fluffball who I have been calling Adreen - because that is the way Siri pronounces it when my friend Adreinne calls me. Adreen hides in the bushes until I put the food out, and go back inside, and then she comes up to eat with her mom. I have been watching the kitten and am always happy to have some feral cats around - they keep mice at bay. Last night, and the night before, Rocky has not been at the door. I have still put her food out, and Adreen has been coming up to eat, but no Rocky. She still stays far away in the bushes. But this morning, she was screaming and carrying on until I fed her. Totally unusual as I never feed them in the morning - I put out water and dog food and they are welcome to it, but the "special cat feeding" is generally only at night.. I am fearful that maybe something got Rocky. I really hope she is ok, but it isn't looking good.
The girls coming over to swim and eat popsicles is my favorite thing in the summer. I have to keep my popsicle stash up - which is harder with Poppy being retired. The only person who eats more popsicles than the girls - is Poppy! At least it is cheap right?
Evelyn gets in the pool and never wants to quit swimming.
Last week, Wren decided she could swim without us holding on to her! She was everywhere! Both of them know they can't even step foot on the pool deck without a life jacket, and it makes me happy that they like wearing them and swimming! This pool season has been a little bit rough. I had a day where I ran the pool vac and it must have had some algae growing in it - I had a terrible outbreak of green water. I got it back to blue, but I had to use this stuff called green to blue. It kills the algae and then you have to vacuum it out. I did that and it was better, but then Preston and his friends had a little pool party and tracked in a lot of debris. The water has not been clear for days. It doesn't stop us from swimming, but I am starting to think I need to replace the sand in the filter. The chlorine readings are fine, so I assume nothing is living in the cloudy water! My vices - I love bagged (store bought) ice, and my pool. One is significantly less expensive! I know a pool is not a necessity. I know that the amount of work it is sometimes sucks hours out of my day, and money out of my account. BUT having a place for the grandkids to hang out when they come over, having a place that my kids can relax and hang out, having a place where I actually enjoy exercise, having a place where I can kick back and float and think, or cool off with Jim after we work on the yard - it just worth the work and the money in my opinion.
You know who loves the sun, and is always cold in the a/c, and never needs to cool off in the pool? This little dog - we keep finding him wrapped up in Harper's bed!
I am starting to notice the days getting shorter. The sun rises now as I am talking to Grace at 6:00 am, rather than being up already. I am not even wanting to discuss the fact that the school sent out enrollment information yesterday, and I averted my eyes when I stopped at Dollar General and they have a school supply section going up. Time needs to slow down! We did talk to Colin and Spencer and got some ideas of what we are doing/staying/times for wedding events. I am so excited about their wedding. I am really looking forward to that weekend! Last night, Jim and I ran to KC to deliver a title that Preston needs to Cameron - as Cameron and Colin are headed to Tulsa this weekend to spend time with Preston. I enjoyed having dinner with Cameron and running errands with him and Jim. I am just enjoying summer and never want to see it end!
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