new swim suit

Jason and I went swimming at the pool in my parents' neighborhood.  The water was a little chilly but refreshing.  I was glad to wear my new swimsuit.  I have received a lot of compliments on it.  Not to toot my own horn, but it's deserved; the suit is badass.

My flower garden

Here are some photos of the flower in my yard.  I'm really pleased that things are finally starting to bloom.  I love just walking around in the backyard looking at the plants.  I've also grown some Alyssum and sunflower from seed.  They are still in containers, but I think two of the sunflowers will be ready to go to their final locations tomorrow. They are about 8" tall and hardy, will grown to about 6'.  The leaves are a dark, healthy green.  But its too hot out today (97F).

The Alyssum is doing well, too.  Some of the shoots around about 2" tall already, and I was going to transplant them this weekend.  I have them in containers, and they have been wilting in the afternoon sun.  So I need to put them in a shady location.  They would look gorgeous on the side of the house, but they would cook there; it faced south and gets constant sun.  I have a place for them in the back yard under a giant maple tree that will provide intermittent shade.

There are more flowers than just the ones pictured below.  I also have about thirty Marigolds in yellow, orange, and red with yellow centers.  A bee balm, a lantana, some forget-me-not, a hosta, and some ivy, and a heavenly blue morning glory (that has yet to bloom, but the vine looks healthy).

These white cones in the back yard are a true survivor story.  The rabbits ate the soft, new leaves down to the crown, and I had to cover the plant with a jar and then a gallon water jug to protect it.  It started to grow again and toughen up.  The first day I took the jug off, I saw TWO rabbits eating on it at the same time!  They ate all the leaves and left only the stems.  I protected it with a barrier, kept it fed and watered, and it came back!   At first I wasn't too wild about the white bloom because I love the pink so much, but the white is a nice splash among the pink, orange, yellow, and purple of everything else in the yard.

This is the Astra or balloon flower.  It only blooms for one day, but there are constantly new shoots.  It is amazing to me how quickly the plant grows new blooms.  This perfect pentagon is what is looks like just before it opens.

 This is what it looks like when it opens.  I love purple flowers!

There are two coreopsis plants in the side yard that have been just thriving. They get full sun and look as pleased as ever about it!

more coreopsis in the side yard





















This is one of the Chicago Peace rose bush blooms.  I've been pruning the spent blooms more timely, and there is a lot of new growth.  A vigorous bush, indeed!

I love petunias! I love the brilliant color varieties!  These have not done well in the side yard, though, and are dead now.  They just got cooked.  I will plant them in another location next year, maybe the front yard, which only gets sun in the morning.

 These are some of the pink cones that are in the side yard.  This is one of my favorite flowers!  A Missouri native, this plant does really well in the hot hot sun and oppressive humidity.  There are five pink cone plants in the side yard, and I haven't pruned anything; hoping they seed and spread next year.

This is a close-up of the pink cone.  I just love the orange/green center!  So beautiful!

This Aztec Cabaret is thriving.  I had originally planted it in the ground and on the first night, rabbits came and ate the whole thing down to the crown.  I transplanted it into a hanging basket, and it came back.  There are currently about ten clusters of these little vibrant red flowers.

 
 There are about two hundred tomatoes in the garden, in cages and protected by a chicken wire fence.  All green right now, but various sizes.  Some are the size of little baseballs, some are cherry-sized.  I have Celebrity and Big Boy varieties because I want to make sauce and soups with them, and those are good varieties for cooking.




In addition to the tomatoes, I have romaine, which is doing well, and some herbs.  The onions are completely buried under the tomatoes, which are going in a different location next year.  The herbs are okay, I have cut some fresh mint multiple times to put in some freshly brewed tea, and I have also cut some fresh chives for a stir-fry.  I pick romaine leaves regularly, wash them thoroughly, and have a salad for lunch.

The zucchini and bell peppers were a bust; will probably not plant those again next year.  I'd like to look for some asparagus roots because I love asparagus, but it is so expensive.  Maybe some peas or green beans next year, too.

I've entertained the idea of a fruit tree, but I think that will just be a dang mess with rotting fruit falling in the yard and birds and squirrels getting into the fruit on the tree.

4th recap

Forth of July was quiet here.

Jason and I went to Illinois.  My dad and I rode bikes for about an hour, and Jason chilled in the house with wienie dog.  The ride was wonderful!  The floodplain is gorgeous right now.  We've had a lot of rain here and the vegetation was lush.  Air temps were perfect and humidity was low.

After the ride, the three of us went to pool.  The water was cold but refreshing.  I wore my R2D2 swimsuit, and Jason wore hit Batman trunks.  Hi.  Nerd alert.   Buuuuut, I look super hot in the R2 suit.  After a dip, we basked in the sun.  Dad listened to his iPod, I did the NYT crossword, and Jason read from the Dark Tower Series.  Hi.  Nerd alert (again!) HA!

We came back to the house and Nancy called about meeting for dinner at Pi with her and Unlce Fred.  Dinner was great, Nancy and Fred are really great at telling stories.

Jason and I were at home and asleep by 11pm.  No fireworks viewing or BBQing, but that is fine by me.  It was a relaxing day, and tonight is a party at the cove.  Nato is in town, and both Jason and I are looking forward to watching the band perform.

Wiener dog digging

Attached is a video of wienie dog digging in the back yard.  He loves to dig.  He will dig until he passes out! 

I made a commercial

I made a commercial that is currently airing in Illinois.  I agreed to make it because I want the exposure and the portfolio entry even though I was slightly miffed about the circumstances.

Circumstances being that I had been on the people organizing this thing for about two months about putting together some promotions.  No response, so I let it go and focused on other projects.  Just under two weeks from the date of the event, I get an email about putting together a commercial.  There is not script, no photos, no material whatsoever.

I originally said no, but then changed my mind.  I went online to collect some facts, put together a rough script, make some cue cards, and drove to Ken's house to record the voice parts.  He did not want to read from the cue cards.  We did a total of eight takes, some of them were rambling for nearly a minute!  But I knew what all sound clips were needed for me to piece together what I wanted.

Came home, uploaded the footage, made some titles, Jim sent me some photos that (thankfully) were already clipped and masked, and pieced together the sound clips.  I used footage that I captured at the three most recent events, when I had my new HD camera.  It took me about two hours to put it all together, and I'm really pleased for what it is.

My only issue is in beginning, when he says he wants to talk about the #4 killer in the US, which is stroke, and then there is NOTHING mentioned about stroke after that.  I should have clipped that part out and just said, "invite you to the stroke benefit."  But, it's done, and I think that no one else but me will really notice because they are going to see it once or twice on tv and not be paying attention and picking it apart like I am/did.

first blooms

I bought a rose bush at the nursery by my house.  It was $8, and I thought, "Why not?"

I selected the Chicago Peace variety for the color of the blooms (yellow to pink) and because the label said, "Vigorous bush."

Jason and I planted it in the side yard, gave it some food, and kept it watered.  We initially piled mulch over the furcations, but once we started seeing new growth, we scaled the mulch back.

The roses are beautiful!  I did not prune the first blooms soon enough, and the bush rested for about two weeks before putting out some more blooms.  There is a lot of new growth, too.  I'm really pleased with the purchase.