The LAST Door Makeover. .and Some Other Stuff!

By now, you may be wondering if we are about out of doors that needed painting. .

the answer is a good, solid YES!!

This door that goes out onto our west deck. .was the last one.

Jeremy decided that it would be easiest to paint this one ON the frame. .since the inside didn't really need paint. .Boy was I glad. .since my job is to tape up all the windows. .and that requires doing the same procedure on BOTH sides of the door.

Cami stole my camera and snapped some intriguing photos of her dad spraying on the primer. .

It's been a month in the making! The new light fixtures that I bought wouldn't hang where the old light fixtures were. .and Jeremy R-E-F-U-S-E-D to take the aluminum siding off so we could hang them where I wanted them to hang. .He refused because he would have had to start at the top taking one row of siding off at a time until he got down to the door. All I could say was. .that I couldn't blame him. One 1 X 10 board painted green solved that problem. .and I love the lights!! I should have snapped a closer view!

In other news. .

School started yesterday for three kids. .

and PRESCHOOL started today for small girl!

The older boys had football practice at 5:45 A.M!! So, yours truly ALSO has to be functioning by then to make sure they are ready! Blech! It sounded like they both had a good day at high school, though it was a short one. Today is a full schedule. Along with the usual math and science classes they have some electives like food and nutrition, wood science and art. .they are encouraged that they will like the mix. Devin had a good day too. .his class was split in half this year and so he will have a much smaller class. .but since they all hook up at recess and lunch, he was good with that!

And because my daycare provider ROCKS. .

and with the help of modern technology. .

I got to see my excited girl get on that bus, just minutes after she actually did!! Thanks Becky!! Becky's message told me that Cami's last words to her were questions regarding WHAT Becky was going to do with Cami gone and WHAT were the daycare kids eating for snack this afternoon. .that's MY girl!! She will get to ride the bus home with Devin after school. .so hopefully they can keep each other entertained and stay out of their dad's hair. .that is, if he had any hair to stay out of!

I know that I haven't posted any pictures of what is going on in the garden lately. .mostly because the answer is NOT MUCH!! Though it has cooled down to the 90's this week, with promises of a few days in the 80's. .plants are just rebelling!! The four oclocks got HUGE while we were gone. .and a few sphinx moths have been hanging around sipping on them. We have spotted a ruby throated hummingbird at the feeder lately. .Surely she has tried the flowers out too!

If you have been around my blog for any length of time, you may recall that I usually have some vines planted in my garden by God. The vine in my memory garden this summer. .

. .has little tiny watermelons on it. .which is good, because the melon vines in the garden aren't looking too great!

These miniature hollyhocks were transplanted several years ago from my mom's garden. They have continued to grow and spread from where I originally put them. .Some of them spreading into what used to be the lawn (before the drought and heat). One evening when it was about 108, I decided that I should move some of those into gardens where they wouldn't just get mowed off. They never missed a beat, and have continued to bloom since. Just now they are starting to grow upright instead of along the ground. They should fill in a nice section of purple into the memory garden!

The red salvia has been blooming their little heads off. If I can beat the seed to the ground, I think I will sow this into another garden too. .It's such a vibrant little plant!

The yellow native snapdragon has put out a new flush of color. the maple tree barely visible to the right side of the photo is being killed by a mole. Thankfully, when my MIL was caring for my plants while I was on vacation, she recognized it. I thought it was being stressed from the heat. She dug out grass at the base of the tree and noted the mole tunnels. Turns out, that on several other struggling specimens, mole tunnels are present at each one too. We've been trying to drown it. .and I used a mole bomb (which was fun-but didn't seem to work) and last night finally googled for a solution. .coming up with not much. I may try to apply nematodes to the bases of the trees/shrubs affected. .since the other viable option of trapping him, has proved difficult for us in the past! Anyone have any good advice? So now, in addition to dragging hoses, I am routinely trying to stomp tunnels down to protect the roots!

The cabbage in my ornamental bed are making heads. Something is nibbling on them too. .but at this point. .I don't care! The gardens have been hot and dry and windy and nearly fruitless. .I'm afraid my humor is about shot with it too! Bah humbug!! I'm starting to feel like the gardening grinch!!

I did start some seeds the night we got home from vacation to go in the greenhouse this winter. .maybe I'll have better luck with that!

Fall will be here soon. .

Enjoy your "back to school" days!!