...farewell sweet MJ, we'll miss you...

We lost sweet MJ, [Midnight, Jr, after his daddy...] yesterday. I'd been watching him for a couple of weeks, as he got skinny, but he was still his normal, loving self... getting along with everyone and pestering me for bits of my dinner... until a day or so ago, when he started throwing up, then not eating... yesterday, he didn't want to drink or be held...

I had been trying to get a signature picture of him with the tip of his very pink tongue showing, but had to settle for capturing only his one white whisker.

He was such a sweetie, even when he had to go to the vet and would purr so loudly, even the vet remarked how sweet he was. But yesterday, he wasn't purring anymore and didn't want to be cuddled, so I knew it was time...

He's at rest in the garden under the plum tree with his daddy and all his littermates...

Rest well, sweet MJ... you've left an empty spot in my heart and on my lap...

...if you'd told me, I wouldn't have believed it

My first post was 4 years ago today and if someone had told me all that would have happened in these last 4 years, I wouldn't have believed them...

I won't give you a moment by moment account, just a few significant current situations...

Today, I made my 18th Chapter 13 Bankruptcy payment with 18 more to go...

I live with 5 remaining kitties and a dog...

I believe that my physical health is improving, due to continued weight loss and working towards getting more regular exercise, despite the ravages of arthritis and age...

I live on a very tight budget, without TV, Internet service or being able, for the most part, to repair or replace items that break, wear out or get stolen...

I continue to see God's goodness in providing for those things that I really need and to trust Him with everything in my life...

I'm learning, day by day, to live with less and to do without things that I might want, but don't really need and can't afford...

I don't know where I'll be a year from now, when I'll be closing in on my 65th birthday and all the financial fun that it will be, finding the cash to pay for the SS Supplemental insurance that will replace the medical I've had from the school district, but I know that God will provide what I need and if I have to cut back again, He'll show me how... Until then, thanks to all the friendly folks who have stopped by these last 4 years. Hope you got something from reading my posts beyond just letting me run-on about myself. Take care and Godspeed.

...tomatoes, violets and avocados, oh my !

I've been watching these blooms through the heat wave and I think at least one of them has set a tomato. This is a hopeful sign...

because now that it's cooled off, there are several clusters of buds blooming...

but there are only 2 tomatoes left on the vines, which have yet to be harvested and enjoyed...

At this point, most of the branches have only the stems left where I've gathered the sweet summer bounty...

The volunteer asparagus fern has a sibling...so if I thought one was amazing given the heat wave and the frilly look of the fern, 2 are quite remarkable...

Inside, the new Af. Violets are settling in quite well...

they are enjoying their new home and view of the changing creeper leaves, along with the avocado pits I've been attempting to grow into plants for a while now...

The avocado pits are all showing some kind of root growth...

with this one showing multiple roots, where the others tend to show only one big one...

This one is the oldest, a couple of months now, it has a large central root and long ago had the beginnings of a sprout that never came out from inside the pit...so I thought it was dead...

that is, until I moved it to place the new violets the other day and look at what I found... a sprout, reaching to the late summer sun. Maybe there's hope for them after all this time...

Perhaps for me too, "in old age, I bloom again..." Only God knows and He is good.

I have always loved African Violets and have kept a few, flourishing for the most part, on the shelf just below my kitchen windows where they get filtered southern light, decent humidity and I generally remember to water them. They are also safe there from most marauding kitties, though the late Gracie found a way to get up there and wreak a few.

My financial shortfalls have cut back on my plant purchases though and I was down to only 4,[there is ample room for 8-10], 2 of which hadn't bloomed in a long time, but at $3-4 a plant most of the time, I had to pass by the Af. violet displays in the grocery, because as much as I love them, they were just too expensive.

So as I sorted through the survivors, a thought came to me that if I could find a few distressed ones for $1 or so, perhaps I could feed my desire for beauty without being financially irresponsible.

So yesterday, after making sure that my SS check had arrived in my bank account, I filled my car with gas,[$43.01 for 10.8 gals...], and went to SMart, on my way to get my hair cut. I had a hard budget and a list of needs, but I also had about a $5 cushion since the gas had been less than I had budgeted for and I could use the $8 change from the $20 I was using for my hair cut for some of my groceries.

As I walked into the store, I saw a stock cart sitting in the middle of the floral section with 7 plants on it, 6 being distressed looking African Violets. I picked up one and saw this sign...

...so I asked the clerk who was puttering around the plants if they were really $.99. He said they were. As I was choosing, another lady came over to look at them. We had a conversation about the care and nurturing of AVs. She took 2, I took 4. I have seen "distressed" AVs before, but never this nice at this low a price. I was thrilled.

This frilly mauve one,[it's darker when in normal light], was probably the nicest with the most buds yet to bloom of the 4 I took.

This one is the nicest of the purple ones...

the color is a bit better in this shot...

This one is really more red than mauve...

this shot is a bit blurry, but the color is more true...

This purple one is more "leggy", has less blooms and leaves...

it looks better here, though the color is a deep purple rather than a blue...

Here it is in its new home... watered, fed and enjoying the light...

and doesn't the shelf look happy to have residents again. Four lovely plants for the price of 1.

Now if only some of the avocado pits that have roots would actually sprout a stem with leaves...

and to cheer them on, the creeper is starting its Fall show a bit early.

...the heat begins to break, then the relief finally comes

On August 15, we had our first day of under 100˚ in a week, although 97˚ doesn't feel so much a relief when then nightly low is only 67˚... it would take until the 17th before the nightly low dropped down to 58˚, indicating Delta breezes and marine layer penetration before the relief was really felt.

The morning of the 15th was very clear, with a bright blue sky as opposed to the clouds of the heat wave.

The Morning Glories were even more in bloom...

The browned Magnolia blossom from before was now looking much the worse for the heat...

By the 17th, it was fried...

The early morning sky on the 17th was full of clouds, but these included marine layer and the air was lighter, damper, with a light breeze...

As I came to a corner, I noticed something in the street...

Closer inspection showed some sort of bird seed, which was soon confirmed by...

The rapid arrival of several Mourning Doves and a group of Sparrows, who would scatter at the approach of a car, but return quickly as it passed...

I managed to get quite close to this curious dove who gave me the once over...before returning to its breakfast...

Returning home, I noticed that the creeper, high up in the oak tree, that had been turning, was even more red and amazingly had not really dried-up from the heat yet, though they have begun to curl... Can Fall be far away?

...still too hot

Clouds are moving up from Mexico, causing some cloud cover this morning and perhaps the break in the string of 103˚ days. The last 2 nights have been the the most uncomfortable, each one getting less marine air so the low temp has been only about 67˚ and the humidity is getting very low, drying things out. It's also increasing the chances of thunderstorms, especially in the mountains. Today was supposed to bring a cooling change in the Delta, beginning the cool down we need, since it's been a week of this. I should be grateful though. In the northern Sac Valley, areas such as Redding and Red Bluff have been having highs of 110˚, with no cool down in sight for them.

The heat has given me a few garden surprises here... a baby asparagus fern "volunteering" in the cherry tomato pot, the hottest spot around...

And these tomatoes are blooming, blossoms had been dropping right and left as well as ripening tomatoes...

crisping branches even though they love the sun and have been kept wet...

The weeping cherry is looking better, thanks to a strategic watering yesterday morning...

and only one of this rose cluster, hiding in the shade, has been crisped. After the heat abates, I'll trim all the old blooms and overgrowth out of the roses. That should help them have another good bloom before winter.

The top of the creeper on the pergola has been burned, but then it has the most direct exposure and the lowering of the humidity has not helped it.

As I walked for the 5th straight day, I saw that the Morning Glories had exploded with blooms. Of course, I'm not out in the heat of the day, so they may close up for protection.

This young robin seeks shade in thick trees during the heat, but is out in the early morning, "coolness"...[67˚ instead of 103˚...]

This cat has found some shade, even in the morning cool...

A few days ago, this magnolia bud was just starting to open. Now, the heat has burned the edges...

As I got back home, the clouds were moving north with some speed, creating an overcast that promises a good possibility of a cooler day today...

An hour later, as I left for the church, it was quite a bit more overcast, and now as I write this, 2 hours later, it's sun, peek-a-boo time. So here's hoping for a break in the weather!

...103˚ for three days straight

It's been hot here... today is the 3rd day where the high is expected to hit 103˚. Around midnight, it drops to around 75˚, so I can turn off the ac and open windows until about 9 or 10 AM the next morning, when I close them up to maintain the longest period before the ac kicks on again.

However, I've seen much worse in my 60 years of living in the Central Valley. The worst I remember here in Mudville was in 2006 when we had a heat storm of about 8 days in August of 110˚-115˚, oppressive humidity and high pressure holding the "lid on". It never cooled off at night. The low was in the upper 80's. Then, it "broke" and the lovely Delta breezes finally started up again, bringing cooling marine air from the San Francisco Bay across the Delta and down the channel finally refreshing us.

So this time has been quite manageable, especially with the "cool mist" humidifier and the humidity monitor that help me keep from being dehydrated by the blowing of the ac.

Outside however, things are not quite as happy...

The Meyer Lemon tree has quite a few shriveled lemons, in various states of dessication.

The cherry tomatoes are happily ripening in the heat... these were green only yesterday...

But the new blooms are burning-up or not setting well in the stifling heat.

The allyssum, dianthus and lobelia have been scorched, but have been watered well and should recover with cooler temps...

The completely overgrown rose bed, with rampant asparagus fern, volunteer trees and spent rose blooms will be cut back when things cool off, otherwise they would be too stressed and I can't afford the water bill that saving them under those circumstances would create.

I just watered the weeping cherry 2 days ago, but set a slow sprinkler on it this morning for about 30 minutes to make sure it survives.

The fern "pup" from my Grandma's Boston fern, is doing well...

as is the ancient fern itself which almost died this past dry winter/spring... When I get around to re-potting it, I may be able to put the "pup" in as well...

The creeper is weathering the heat fairly well... a few crispy edges here and there, but not the full-scale, "die-off" that I've seen when the heat has protracted spells or it's much later in the year...

Still, with this south-eastern exposure, leaves could begin to drop if this heat doesn't begin to ease-up tomorrow as predicted...

The early "turners", will be the first casualties... there are always creeper leaves turning red once we get into August, but they don't last at all in the heat...

finding themselves on the ground way too soon... a victim of the sun...

'Way high up in the big oak tree, where they get the coolest Delta marine air in the early morning, a patch of creeper leaves has turned even while some trumpet vine flowers still struggle to hold their blooms in the heat. The lower trumpet vine blooms are all on the ground...

Continuing around the block, the small apple tree planted a couple of years ago that died during a very dry period, has come back from the roots and seems to be thriving, even in this heat.

Morning Glories don't like the heat, but these are in the shade until very late in the day and have been encouraged by the automatic sprinklers...

Water being a luxury this lawn has not had. This house is across my back fence and has been empty for quite some time, though lately, workmen are there daily so either it's going on the market or some one's moving in soon... This is the lamppost/tree I have referred to in the past as the "Narnia tree"...

These lantanas further down the street always remind me of the large bed we had at the ranch. How they loved the full summer sun! These seem to also love it.

This is only my 2nd trip around the block in the last 2 days. It's been about 2 years since I was strong enough or pain-free enough to make the trip and this low wall on the far corner of the block is a perfectly placed resting spot before I proceed on around back home.

One of the things I've really missed besides the fresh air and good exercise has been seeing and greeting the neighborhood kitties. Yesterday, a fluffy, well-groomed orange and white, flat-faced Persian greeted me and allowed me to pet her. These 2 were not as friendly, but at least didn't flee until I captured their picture...

This lawn seemed a bit parched, but not the wild violets clustered about...

The magnolia tree on the corner is often covered with blooms, but at this point, there was only one left, quite high up, which once opened, probably won't last long. Most of them have already bloomed and gone into seedpod mode.

Most of the sycamore trees, and they are the main, "street tree" in this area due to their drought-tolerant nature, are getting that faded look. Mature leaves haven't been too zapped by the heat, but there are many immature casualties on the ground.

This podocarpus is fortunate because the homeowner who planted it, installed a way to deep water it,[note the 2 PVC pipes sticking up from the ground...]

This street tree, NOT a sycamore was not so drought-tolerant and beside being almost destroyed by the heat, it's been taken over by mistletoe...

which really hates the heat as shown by the dead mistletoe littering the sidewalk...

I join all the flora,[and other fauna...],in Mudville that is eagerly awaiting the reappearance of the cooling Delta breezes... and the more normal warm days that drift into cool nights... Good sleeping weather...