Half Gone or Half to Go?
How does your garden grow? |
It has been a interesting year weather and garden wise and life in general. I find it hard to believe this is the last day of June. And not so long ago I was wishing winter would be over. Well, in all honesty it was over very late. A friend of mine said winter was bi-polar. So was spring. And June has been too. We had a killing frost on June 23rd. The temperature dropped to 23 and stayed there more than three hours. Even the hoses were frozen. It is the latest freeze I can remember.
So naturally I was happy to have my poly tunnel but I had stopped double tunneling a couple weeks before. So I lost eggplant and peppers and even freeze burned some of the outer branches of the tomatoes which were under a double layer of plastic and with a light on to keep them warm.
And the dry winter combined with a dry spring and we are now in a very serious drought. One which forecasters seem to think will persist even after the monsoon season. We are just beginning to get widely scattered rains - and hail storms. Nothing seems in moderation. The weather goes from one extreme to the other and within hours. But at least we are not getting triple digit heat waves here in the mountains.
Then there was Mardi Gras's liver problem. I thought she was just getting old and tired. After all this September she will be 14. Her vet suggested a blood test because of her symptoms of disorientation and staggering. And it turned out she had liver issues. She is on Milk thistle and vitamin E and a low protein diet with none of the protein coming from beef. Think your dogs are naturally beef eaters? Sheep and chickens and goats and rodents more likely. So I am now making her dog food, because wasn't it China that shipped all the artificial protein to the US for pet and baby food? And that was poisonous?
So in 2013 I have come to distrust the weather and the pet food manufacturers and all politicians. But the latter is another blog all together.
Tomorrow begins the second half of 2013 and the jury is still out as to whether this yer will pass muster or not. I have thus far won a prize for photography and sold several. And I am back to painting and entering them in shows again. And still getting in. I have finished three of the nine I want to paint before July is over.
Gateway by J. Binford-Bell |
It has been six months of changes. Some good and some bad. If I got my wish I would want the last six months of this year to be way better. How about you?
It's a rough year to date for you weather wise to say nothing of the worry about Mardi. It's interesting that her health improved with less protein and the addition of Milk Thistle and Vitamin E. That has to work for humans too. I read recently that boiling celery leaves and drinking it as tea is a kidney cleaners and eliminates unwanted proteins quickly and efficiently.
ReplyDeleteWinning prizes is always nice and lets you know that your work is good and appreciated. Well done on that and on the sales.
The first half of the year has gone far too quickly for me with focus on all things mundane and very little fun to take away from the everyday hassles.
Add to that I'm almost another year older and still nowhere near doing what I really what I want to do. C'est la vie!