So .. I was going to post something good ...

... but (again) it was deleted.  So here's the gist:

Summer: good but busy.  20 year high school reunion in Natchitoches, Atlanta, Atlanta - North Carolina - the Carver Museum (AWESOME!), Kansas City.

Fall: good but busy.  Ngobots ROCKS, mosquitoes, basketball, LSU and the Saints, Panama City Beach, camping at Lake Fausse Pointe not once but twice.

And we went floundering.  Thanks, Robert!

Voodoo Gardening

I am not a Voodoo priestess. Just because I garden at midnight ...

Well, here's the story. I work. Full-time plus two side gigs. I have a kid who really does have to eat now and then. And a dog who needs occasional walking. And a couch that really is lonely.

And, most importantly, it's hot. H.O.T. We've been in the mid 90s for days, and it's only May. Humidity has already been as high as 95%, and that's without a drop of rain.

So, I garden at night. After dark. Often until the witching hour ... and yet, I am still just boring old, plain old me. No Voodoo going on here ... I promise!

Flowers

Yes, warm nights and warmer days. It wouldn't be quite so bad if the humidity weren't so high, but it's south Louisiana ... and that's just how it is.

Despite my neglect so far this year, my yard is in bloom. This hibiscus is in a pot, rarely gets watered, and still produces these lovely blooms. It's got a few ants on it now, but hopefully some cayenne will chase them away.


The day lilies, of course, bloom no matter what. In the past year, my Jungle Princess daylilies have endured a hurricane, record snow, and ice, yet the foliage remained green all year and they bloomed again right on schedule. What more could I ask of such a wonderful plant?


I was pleasantly surprised by my blanket flower. Sure, I'd heard that it would come back year after year, but mine was in the height of the Gustav winds and had zero protection from the snow. When little shoots started emerging from the ground, I was so hopeful that it was my blanket flower and not another weed, and YES! I was so happy to see the flowers in bloom. And some have even taken up residence in a nearby pot, but they will be planted in the ground shortly.


I was equally happy to have my dinner plate hibiscus come back after the year its had. I planted it last summer, and yes, the flowers are as big as plates ... maybe not dinner plates, but at least as big as a large saucer. There are no blooms yet from this year, but hopefully some will show their pretty faces soon.

Southern Spring

Early spring in the deep south is much like most of summer in much of the rest of the country. Warm days that peak in the mid - upper 80s, evenings that still dip into the 40*s on occasion, and violent thunderstorms. And this first full week of spring in south Louisiana? Yes, we've seen it all.

We need the rain, don't get me wrong, but it would be so nice to enjoy a gentle sprinkle rather than a deluge with lightning and house-rattling thunder. The chair in which I was sitting last evening was literally shaking when the thunder, well, thundered. Since we've not had rain in several weeks, there was not much standing, even this morning after two nights of torrential rains, but Choco's play pen (i.e. the back yard) was indeed a mud pit.

The biggest problem with our spring weather this year is that I waited too long to work on my veggie bed! I have been so busy with school functions and my jewelry business that I have had very little time to dig and weed and ready the bed for the spring planting. Sure, the seedlings are more than ready to go in the ground, but the bed is not quite ready yet.

Another sign of early spring is sports. My beloved Tigers and Lady Tigers both made the big March Madness dance, but both were eliminated after the second round. Outside, there's not an empty baseball field ... from pee wees to the colleges to the minors, Louisiana baseball is in full swing!

But the best sign of spring is that I am planning for another trip! Spring Break is the week after Easter this year, and Drew and I will be heading somewhere fun, as usual. The past few years have brought us out west, to the sandy deserts of Big Bend, to Guadalupe and Carlsbad, to the Grand Canyon, but this year will find us with a different kind of sand. This year we will go to Florida! Four nights camping in Pensacola, and then four nights at a condo near Seaside. Oh yes, we will certainly enjoy the powdery sands and warm waters of the Emerald Coast.

Soon, the days will get even warmer, the nights will be hot and humid, and then it will be that season we call "summer" ... and it may even happen before June 21st.