TheCapeBlog

Dug up the purple butterfly bush today and was horrified to see that it has almost no roots; no wonder it’s done so poorly.
I bought a new, larger one at Mahoney’s. Will try to get it to acclimate better than the old one.
Had a nice chat with Richie, too. He has a great attitude towards long-term customers, considers us “friends”.
Paid a visit to Country Garden in Hyannis; what a place.

Picked and ate the first tomato today. Got fired. Glad to never have to go back to the “Black Hole of Calcutta”.

We’ve finished the hottest month of the year; August has been kind so far, a break from July’s killing heat and humidity.
The first tomato is almost ripe, and there are 3 pumpkin seedlings. I moved their EarthBox to the yard yesterday.
Put Miracle Gro on the vegetable garden as well as the annual flowers and the recent transplants. Gave the little garden by the right fence a good watering.
Leaving shortly to pick up Peter’s lawn mower.

Gave them Rose Pride today, a couple had some bad leaves.

Tiny seedling in the Earthbox where I planted pumpkin seeds only four days ago.

I finished the ramps today. They work great; I used them to get Peter’s lawnmower on the truck – easy.
Each ramp will take up to 700 pounds, although I wouldn’t risk it with that wood.
I think I bought the ramps in January, around the same time that I brought home the flooring from Avon.
It’s taken that long to “psych” myself to get the 2x8s and actually mount the ramp tops. It was difficult – I estimate that each plank weighs around 50 pounds – and I had to redrill one of the holes to line up the top correctly. I had to improvise on drilling since I didn’t have a large enough bit.
It all worked out, though, and I’m very happy.
The hibiscus are spectacular this morning. We’ve had heavy wind since yesterday, but the poor things still are holding their own.
Bad news from Social Security, they want their money back for this year, or maybe not, depending on my actual earnings for 2010.

8’d the whole front yard tonight. Should be good until the end of August.
Looking at the boxes of Late July crackers in the supermarket, I had that suffocating feeling of summer sliding away. It’s already half gone.
I’ve worked very hard keeping the grounds watered and healthy. I’m tired of people and traffic.
This morning, I dropped a 50-pound board on my left foot. The foot is feeling much better now. This provided a reason to stop for a sandwich, so I picked up lunch at Dana’s Kitchen.

Watered most of the gardens that don’t have soaker hoses this morning.
Planted three beautiful Rudbeckia from Home Depot. Cut down the back garden coreopsis and Liatris yesterday. Did some cleanup in the front garden this morning.
Picked up two 12-foot pressure treated 2x8s at HD last night. Got one ramp put together, will do the other tonight.
Miracle-Gro’d the annuals, including the vegetables, but not the ones in the Earthbox. Very happy with how the tomatoes have turned around: have two tomatoes now.

The Lord Baltimores have started blooming. I planted them last mid-July, and they are certainly thriving in the garden instead of a nursery.
Very happy with the front yard at Edgewater. After all the years of work, it is looking pretty good.

Cut down the Shasta daisies, they were in tough shape. Something is eating the small yellow daisies as well. 8’d them and the hibiscus even though it’s raining lightly.
Planted pumpkin seeds yesterday in one of the EarthBoxes. Probably a waste of time, but you never know.