Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here to bring you up to date on all the news from our garden. You may remember me from such posts as “Dry Grass”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose. I got my pants brushed, as you can see.
Not much has been happening here, gardening-wise, though there have been some things.
It’s mostly been so hot that I’ve preferred to stay inside, with a fan blowing in my direction.
Last night was horribly frightening; I spent most of the evening and night in my Upstairs Fort. Huge explosions and shrieking noises. (From fireworks, which are illegal here.) It lasted until two in the morning.
And then we had to try to sleep without pulling cool air into the bedroom, with the fan, because there was this strong acrid burning smell outside that lasted until about four in the morning.
The guy I live with explained that some people really are that inconsiderate.
He also left me at home last week for a couple of hours to go see the urologist. He is, right now anyway, cancer free. He doesn’t have to go back for six months, now.
And there’s oak news. The ones that had to be dug up to make way for the backhoe in the front yard. The oak that was in a pot buried in the ground (or “plunged”, as they say) on the south side of the house was moved next to the other one in the side yard, watered pretty heavily, and now it’s leafing out, too. (It’s on the right, and there are a couple of tiny leaves barely visible at the extreme right center.)
That’s pretty much it, except for the flannel bush (Fremontodendron californicum). Two of them, actually.
I’m not sure why this picture is so small, but anyway, the guy I live with heard from two people that the flannel bush was hardy here, in dry gardens, and so he had to have one. Or two.
I found it kind of surprising since he isn’t into that sort of thing–having to have things that others have–but this was an exception, I guess.
He said they might survive here.
Other than that, there hasn’t been much. My walks have mostly been okay, except when there are loud explosions. It’s been too scary at night to have popcorn.
The guy I live with said he saw a Striped Kitty out in the field late at night, but I haven’t seen one, which of course is just as well.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
You look very dapper with your pants brushed! We purposely went to stay in a house we have access to in the country with no near neighbors to escape the noise on Saturday night which is so alarming to one of our family. It helped, although there was one short episode with very far away booming. Better than close by, and the house has stone walls which block some of the noise. Its an odd habit to bring out at such an uncelabratory time. Excellent news on the cancer and oak tree front; a tiny oak I have been nursing along in a pot was dug out by a horrible squirrel last month so I am in oak tree mourning. It was grown from an acorn found on a special adventure far away so probably would not have flourished here, and at 70 perhaps I should be focusing on more immediate gratification plants. Or squirrel slaughter.
Hoping you have a quiet and cooler spell this month.
ceci
Thanks. The guy I live with will be 69 next week, but he finds woody plants pretty interesting. Maybe not as interesting as bulbs, but interesting.
It was heartbreaking to have to dig up the oaks, but they did survive. The backhoe ripped out the big manzanita which couldn’t be saved anyway.
Surprisingly quiet here last night.
Excellent news and glad to hear it! My husband also experienced that diagnosis and treatment trauma a number of years ago and blessedly survived. Here’s to your health!
The comfort and joy of your boon companion are no doubt a key part of your healing:)
Thanks.
Great health news about the guy you live with.
We have legal fireworks, but the ones neighbor’s set off weren’t those, they were much, much louder and higher. This year, Boo, the not-purebred-Border collie decided to just ignore the “booms,” and pretend they didn’t exist. I could see they bothered him, but he acted like they didn’t. Last night was worse than the 4th since the fireworks were on sale. Today is the last day to use them legally.
A tuxedo kitty showed up in our back yard last night. Like fireworks, Boo pretends it doesn’t exist. I always have hopes of reuniting lost kitties with their loving owners, but in reality I just end up with another kitty. I think there’s a sign only kitties can see that says “Here lives a sucker.” I’m not even a “cat person” and have two already!
The guy I live with says thanks.
I couldn’t ignore the booms since they were unbelievably loud. We have legal fireworks here, too. Sparklers and snakes.
Kitties show up in our back yard too, sometimes. They get chased away.
HURRAH!! YORE GUY HAS NO CANCER!!! This ISS THE bestest mewss Mani!! If it were not so *hot* wee wuud do a ‘happy dance’!!!
An you look guud havin had a guud brush. Man wee are livin parryllel livess! Firecrackurss have been goin off efurry nite since May 2-4 weekend here…an even aftur July 1st (Catnanda Day) wee had MORE firecrackurss July 4th (Happy 4th to youss;!)
Mee iss furinallee just ignorin THE noise butt it iss loud. an here it iss furry *hot* with humiditee an feelss like over 100 deegreess….wee need rain; has bin over 2 weekss. Mee an LadyMew only have 2 fanss an black-out drapess to keep Sun an sum *heet* out!!
Yore Flannel bush iss kewl…wee nevurr herd of such a plant beefore…wee love comin to vissit ’cause wee leern sumthin mew efurry time Mani!
Stay safe mee frendss an kewl iff pawssibell too!
***purrss*** BellaDharma
He says thanks.
It’s pretty hot. Going to get up to almost a hundred (Fahrenheit, thank goodness) by the end of the week. But there won’t be any humidity.
(It was 9 percent today.)
It’s been pretty quiet here, the last couple of days. I like that.
The flannel bush is from California. The guy I live with had heard they were hardy here, so we’ll see.
Meow meow Mani wee REELLY happy fore yore Guy an you too!!
Wee gotted up to 105 deegreess an so hue-mid LadyMew had to shower 2-3 timess a day! Wee have alot hue-miditee! 9 purr cent soundss wunderfull; wee are more like 99 purr cent here; it iss UCKY! An same here ’bout beein quiet…a ffew fireerkss last nite (Caturday) butt it HAS bin quiet all week,,,,,
Wee bet yore Flannel Bush will grow guud!
**purrss** BellaDharma
Thanks. I did hear some firecrackers tonight.
It got down to six percent humidity in the last two days. Pretty dry.
The guy I live with tried to do some watering this evening (I was hiding in my Upstairs Fort because of the firecrackers), but he had to go inside because there was such strong perfume in the garden he started coughing.
We usually have to wait until almost midnight before we can run the fans in the house, so it’s about 80 degrees in the bedroom right now.
It’s supposed to cool down a little next week, but that could mean bad storms. It’s one thing or the other.
Flannel bush is an odd choice. I am surprised that it does well there. It does not get so cold where it is native to. They are pretty in the wild. However, I would not want to work with one in a home garden. They cause such nasty itchiness. Also, they look great for several years, and just when they are at their best, they die.
Yes, it is hardy here.
Pantsed? Thought you were uncatchable…. https://www.linguee.com/english-german/translation/uncatchable.html…. next, da teeth…..
I got snuck up on.
We all lose a step: https://www.cell.com/cell-systems/fulltext/S2405-4712(20)30203-9
I guess so.
Very cool: ” An online image processing tool lets you see for yourself what a particular picture looks like to your pet.” See the link at: https://theconversation.com/do-dogs-really-see-in-just-black-and-white-131438
Yes, it is cool.