Trying hard not to...

Complain, but good god, it's hot. We Oregonians don't do heat. We just don't. We actually LIKE the rain. So, 106 yesterday. Seriously? AC's can not keep up. People are feeling sick. You can't possibly consume enough water to keep you hydrated. This isn't Vegas. It's Salem. It's hot. It's humid and we don't have the lights, the buffets or the shows. <> I miss the rain.

Love this shot...

if I do say so myself.


I took it outside of the Bush Barn, the weekend of the Awesome 3000, or in my 4-year old nephew's case, the Awesome 300 (since the preschoolers only run 300 yards).

Just chillin...

On the neighbor's car antenna.


I had a pair of blue ones in my yard, but they were too busy to sit still for a photo. This fella let me get really close and he was happy just hanging out.

New Lawn...

We knew we needed to reseed our lawn and we wanted to go with something more ecologically sound than your average sod. So, after much research, I found Protime Eco-Friendly Lawn Seed. I let C choose which seed to go with and to my surprise, he chose the Fragrant Herbal Ecology Lawn (which is not what I would have gone with, but I did give him the choice, so that's what we bought). So, after a long May weekend of removing sod, filling with dirt, leveling, compacting and eventually sowing, we had ourselves a new lawn.

The neighbors were hesitant when we told them our plan because it was so different, but now they all love it as much as we do. I can home yesterday to find a lawn full of neighbors, because it is so soft and smells so good. We LOVE it.

So here it is, after about 4-5 weeks of growth, only watering about 2 times per week:


And here it is mowed on the left, unmowed on the right:

If you like well manicured, golf course grass, this is not the lawn for you. If you love mowing and watering a LOT less while still having a green yard all summer and doing better by the environment all while smelling a beautiful smell every time you walk through your yard, this is the seed for you!

Poor Flurry...

Our big fat Maine Coon, Sampson, is having issues. He has had an allergic reaction the last 2 summers and had to get a steroid injection. He feels better, but because he was so itchy, he licked obsessively and now he's lost all of his long, flowing rump fur. He's still got the short furs, but he looks so strange with what we are now calling a bald butt. It's growing back, but not quickly enough!

Here he is in his more flurry days:


And here he is when he learned I was posting about this embarrassing situation: