June 7, 2006

• spring is back?

   

  
  

  

  
  

  What a strange Spring we have had!

  
  

  These changes in the weather are enough to give anyone a headache.

  
  

  

  
  

  Me included, earlier today, but it wasn’t a bad one. 

  
  

  Anyway, for those of you who don’t live near me – since spring began back in March, first we had unseasonably cold weather, then it got really hot.  Then we had a long period of no rain — at the time of the year when we usually have too much rain, and when the young plants really need it most.  I had too hook up all my hoses and irrigation stuff far earlier than I ever do, and postponed planting new plants.  Weeding was tough, too, as the soil got so hard from the dryness.

  
  

  Then, we had some rain.  That is a good thing.  And stuff started to grow really nice.  (see photos in my last blog)  But I hurt my leg and couldn’t get nearly as much yard work done as I had planned. 

  
  

  And then — we had a heat wave fit for July!  Memorial day weekend into the beginning of June brought us temperatures in the 90′s!  With high humidity, too — the ol’ New Jersey double-whammy.  The end of last week the heat was broken by some major thunderstorms, which turned the outdoors into a steambath as soon as it stopped raining.  Total yuck.

  
  

  What a difference a few days make — this week has brought us back to the weather we should have been having in April.  Cool and wet.  This afternoon it only reached 61 degrees, and it has been going back and forth between cool and overcast and heavy rain, with all variations between, for the past four days.  Great weather for sleeping.  It would be ideal for working outdoors if it wasn’t so wet and if my leg would actually get around to healing.  But sleeping is probably what I need to be doing now anyway. 

  
  

  

  
  

  All five animals and I snoozed for most of the day, and it felt good, until I woke up with the headache I mentioned at the beginning of this blog.  But I took some Excedrin and it’s gone now.  I guess we will all return to the bedroom to pick up where we left off, which was with Angel on the bench at the foot of my bed, Ziggy on the pillow over my head, Dolly in her bed on the right side of my bed and Pearl in her bed on the left — all sawing off our various sized ZZZZZsss   (and Tommy somewhere out in the other end of the house — the female critters don’t allow him into my room for some reason)  We are all such creatures of habit.   

  
  

  Bernie even took a long nap when he came home from work.  Now he is awake and hungry.  I got some dinner started for him (broiled ham steak, stovetop stuffing and baby green peas) but I won’t be eating that until later since I had such a late lunch (of a leftover cheeseburger from the grill last night — reheated in the microwave — yum)

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  Yard and garden update

  
  

   

  
  

  Sorry — no rose pictures this time around.  The wierd weather got them too.  They bloomed really nice for a day or two then it got really hot and they went kablooey (yes — that is a legitimate botanical term, hehehe)  And then it rained and knocked all the petals off what was left of them.  But they will take a break for a little while and then bloom again later, on and off all summer — so I hope to get pictures eventually.

  
  

  We have been having a helluva time with lawnmowers this year.  We have two of the push kind — one self-propelled mulching one I use for edging and the small sections of yard, and one lightweight one that I use for doing the edges of the creek and other hilly places.  And one riding mower, which Bernie uses for all the large areas of lawn.  We started the season unable to get either pushmower started, but then finally got them to start using large amounts of starter fluid sprayed into their aircleaners.  But the self-propelled mower’s self-propel motor cable broke, so it was just a regular mower (and a heavy one at that)  plus the little rubber bulb thingie used to prime it for starting cracked and was useless (part of the reason why it was so hard to start)  so it was sidelined while we waited for the local repair shop to get the parts, which they got wrong twice before getting the right cable.  Fortunately Bernie was able to do the replacement by himself so we didn’t have to pay them and wait even longer, but still no primer bulb thingie.  

  
  

  Meanwhile, the starter rope broke on the other push mower, leaving us with just one riding mower, until its battery died.

  
  

  Bernie got the starter rope fixed on the one, the cable on the other, and started working on the lawn the other day when he was off from work.  The lawn is getting seriously overgrown because of all the rain we have had, and really needed mowing, so we were pretty relieved that it looked like we were finally back on track, but yesterday something happened to the riding mower.    I think the sparkplug got fouled, but because it kept stalling out and being restarted, then the battery died.  And it started raining again.  Hopefully this weekend we will be able to sort it out and maybe get the primer bulb thingie fixed on my mulching mower – the one that I use the most, but only if I am able to start it!

  
  

  Ah well, life in the ‘burbs goes on…

  
  

  You know its summertime here when the biggest concerns involve lawnmowers and gas grills.  Mosquitoes too, but so far not a problem with them (just wait till after this rain ends, though!)

  
  

  

  
  

   

  • 7:08 pm
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