I could tell it would be hot and humid today just by looking at the morning sky. Could smell a slight dampness in the air, too. Parts of California will be seeing triple digit numbers this weekend; however, they’re only forecasting 90° here. Except for around Los Angeles and San Diego, California is in an extreme state of drought. We all seem to be cutting back on our water usage but then again, we’ve become used to it. Driving around the neighborhoods I see brown lawns AND yards that have been (smartly) planted with drought-tolerant plants. It’s too late to re-scape now because even “drought-tolerant” plants need regular, deep watering to help them get established. Perhaps we’ll see more re-scaping towards the end of the year because if done right (i.e., aesthetically pleasing) the results can be quite stunning.
Those of us who are confined to container gardening have it good. No water is absorbed into the surrounding ground, so less water is used. Since today’s gonna be a “scorcher” around here I got my ass out of bed at the crack of dawn to get coffee made and start hydrating the plants – indoors and out. While coffee’s brewing I take stock of the (new) CarnieVIL Central to see who needs water:
Then I check all the plants on the table in the dining room, doubling back to the kitchen to assess the carnies on the windowsill. I have a few plants outside the front door so those got a good soaking. By this time, coffee was ready!!!
Normally, my little four-legged shadow sleeps with me but apparently he spent the entire night worrying a cockroach. I found the poor thing in the downstairs bathroom on its back, half-dead. It had crawled under the door to get away from Ramses’ paws. (No, I did NOT give it back to the cat. I humanely put it to rest.) His night-long rampage did not deter him from following me into the Concrete Jungle…
Fresh water for the bird bath: check. Clean and refill the Hummer Café: check. Sweep up bird seed and dirt made from the squirrel rooting around in my Arabian Jasmine plant: check. Give plants a drink: check. Extricate Ramses from a cubbyhole he shouldn’t BE IN: check. All the other houseplants were watered last night so it’s time to finish my coffee and face the rest of this beautiful day.
and time for Ramses to catch some ZZZZ’s
Before you go, be sure to read the update on Steve I posted this morning.
(There’s a really cute video.)
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House M - 