This year provided a challenging and heart-felt adjustment in that we lost 5 of our 6 bee baby colonies over the winter which is always a heart-wrench. We believe the colonies were simply not sufficiently populated to keep the hives as warm as needed and then all varieties of varmints moved in – oh dear and what a disgusting mess!
The weather is blessing us and Capt. Allen’s ‘big mo’ is growing in momentum so he/we are screaming ahead amazingly with the redux of the faux mosaic – yea! Joshua did one of 2 required repairs on the concrete surrounding the work and the other repair will happen shortly. It involves scraping, sanding, priming, and repainting those surfaces.
As with all creative projects and endeavors, notions and paths shift as things come together. As fate would have it, the original artist involved in this redux project is no longer available to us so Praise Be the ‘Capt.’ stepped up to the plate – yea!
Our little faithful raccoon family was quite busy recently scavenging and making friends with the skunk.
The latest monsoon rains have absolutely electrified the gardens and sent us heirloom tomatoes, okra, basil, peaches, and pears. Mind you, we are NOT putting Del Monte out-of-biz, but these darlings good-looks are exceeded only by their full-bodied flavour.
We had a close call a day ago with a bizarre complete splitting of the UV light housing for one of the pumps that supports the large upper pond. Joshua arrived to find the depth of the upper pond just shy of 1.5 feet rather than the typical and desired 5.5 feet.
Summer continues to wend its way through August and we still feel monsoon-cheated. We are pleased that this little family is finding food and most importantly water. Indulge us by enjoying them yet again.
Well finally, and what seems to be months too late, we were visited by our first raccoon family this year. Mama brought her four kindergarteners for their premier visit and training session in foraging and tree-climbing.
This summer’s blooms have not been as spectacular and prolific as years past so when we are given a show-stopper like this dahlia it truly gets our attention.
Although the ladybugs have been in short supply, we have a few other neighbors keeping themselves busy this month. With our datura in full regalia where it volunteers in the veggie shed, a praying mantis has taken up housekeeping.
