Around the house & yard....

It's been hot here, but not as HOT as some other parts of the country. I mean, it is summer - NOT my favorite season. Stu has stayed busy working in the yard. One day was devoted to pruning back the rose bushes of the front of the house. They were way too overgrown and since we have aluminum awnings for the two front bedroom windows arriving soon, we needed to gain access. If the bushes don't recover from a late in the season trim, we'll plan evergreens next year. I helped one morning, working until my arms just couldn't lop anymore. Above are the bushes before trimming, below is the after. Gulp!

One advantage, besides being able to install the awnings when they arrive, is being able to use the pressure washer to clean what was behind the bushes! Stu then continued on and used it clean the sidewalk, too. Said it worked great. I will be trying it on the back deck and outdoor furniture soon.

The lawn mowing has been constant with the little bit of rain we received giving it a jumpstart. Stu loves his zero-turn, even mowing the pasture with it. He still uses the small hand mower and weed-wacker for trim work. We decided to keep the lawn tractor after we bought the zero-turn mower. It gets used a lot to pull around the yard wagon as well as a way to move our Blue Boy (for dumping the waste water in the RV) around to the side of the house where we have a septic tank connection.

This time around, he was using it to pull the large pipe that we had replaced with a smaller dimension in the culvert for the Backend of Nowhere Garage driveway. He is planning on constructing a French Drain system to get the water further down towards our pond and away from the buildings. Next week, he hopes to rent a trencher for a day and start the process.

When I walked out to get a few photos, the temperature had dropped to a comfortable level and the #2Doods were in a playful mood. I shot this little VIDEO - just before they slammed into me and knocked me to the ground. No permanent damage, fortunately. LOL!

The yard is looking much better overall, thanks to Stu's hard work. We've got Japanese Beetle traps back out. First trip out afterwards and the #2Doods weren't sure about them. Cooper barked and circled while Murphy stayed back till Coop got close enough to sniff. A couple shouts of "not yours" and "leave it" and from that point on, they just ignored them. They are collecting a lot, but the infestation was so bad, Stu also sprayed the trees.

Not sure when we will take down our Independence Day buntings and sidelight window covers. The window covers are giving us much needed shade from the afternoon sun. Going to find some heavy fabric we like, get seams sewed, add grommets and make it a summer covering for the windows. For now, we'll just continue to be patriotic.

After the last heavy rains, I noticed these unusual mushrooms growing through the mulch in the flower bed outside the garage. Dainty and pretty, I took a few photos and nicknamed them "gohost mushrooms. Later I researched what they actually were called: Inky Cap Mushrooms.

"Most of the species have black spore prints and gills that liquefy, at least partially, as the mushroom matures. The resulting "ink" provides the common name for the inky caps, and can actually be used as writing ink. ~ http://www.mushroomexpert.com/coprinoid.html"

Ciao for now!