Corn!

There are several fields around us that are usually planted in soy beanc each summer. But this year corn was planted. Now we have a living fence around part of our proberty. Thats okay. We can't see out but no one can see in either. I was surprised at how tall the corn got. A good 7 or 8 feet tall. I have raised corn now and then in my gardens but it was always just a hand ful of seed making maybe 20 or so stalks. And what I grew was a good eating corn for corn on the cob. This corn is probably for use as cattle feed. That means it won't be harvested until it has dried completly. That means we will have our corn fence for several more months. 

Corn is actually in the grass family. The pollen at the top of the plant falls down onto the corn silks and each silk goes to a single grain of corn on the cob. As each grain of corn grows the ear of corn fills out until the grains are full. Then you can pick corn that you are planning on eating. If you want it for other uses you can leave it longer. 

Edge of our yard on one side.

Corn pollen.

This is our road into and away from our house. Glad this field of corn is only about a quarter of a mile long. I know there are places where the fields and miles long but not around here. 

 

August Flowers

August is my birthday month. I turned 70 this time. There have been times I never thought I would get this old. And sometimes I wish I hadn't. But putting those thoughts aside. My flowers decided to celabrate with lots of beauty. My favorite color is blue. The wild chicory is a  gorgious shade of blue. We have a bunch on the edge of the road that have been blooming away. They open first think in the morning but are usually gone by noon. The stem they grow on has very few leaves that are hardly big enough to see. Chicory is a kind of daisy and in the herb family. It has been used as an additive to coffee but I have never tried it. 

Little sunflower

Angle wing begonia. I had 3 nice begonias this year. This angle wing has done great. Also had a couple of others that came from a bulb. The angle wing is red, and a nice pick one, and the other one is a pale pink with darker pink edging. First time I have ever had begonias.

My hydraina was here when we moved in. It was planted in front of the front yard water spiket. I thought of moving it but was afraid it would kill it. It was only about a foot tall when we moved it. I haven't done a lot to it except pruning it some. This year it is about 6 feet tall or sort of that tall. It is so heavy with the blossoms that most of the stems are leaning over. The clusters of blossoms have been big and eash one has thousands of indiviual blossoms on it. What is so nice about hydrainas are that the blossoms dry on the plant and last for months. Every time I go to turn the water on to water the plants in pots that need an extra drink I have to duck under the hydraina limbs. They don't have a lot of sent but what there is is pleasent. 

The crape myrtle was, also, here when we moved in. It was already a good size and is bit bigger now. A beautiful color somewhere between a bright pink and a red. I can see it from the kitchen window when I am doing dishes or cooking. It blooms for about the whole month of August. 

These are a common wild flower we see at this time of the year.

My caladium bulbs did well. The leaves have been really nice. One had a flower but it disappeared before I got a photo of it. I think something ate it as there was nothing to be found just a few hours after I saw it. My hosta is hiding under the caladium leaves. 

Had a couple of visitors to our yard. This deer stopped by for a few minutes. 

I know we have snakes here but I don't see them that often. But one day this black rat snake was hanging out in the yard. It was fairly long. First photo is of the head and then one of the body and tail. I left it to go on its way. We have lots of mice for them to eat. 

 

Random Thought #8

 Any one alergic to tomato vines?

     Every time I go out and look for ripe tomatoes I come in with my eyes and face iching like heck. Alxo, hands and arms. I don't remember having this problem when I first started raising tomatoes back in my 'teen years. 

     I wonder why as we get older we develope so many alergies to things that we didn't have when we were younger. I, also, have become lactos intalerent in the past couple of years. 

   I have heard that it is because we are so clean and healthy in this day and age and our body needs something to 'argue' or 'complain about' or 'fight' with.

   Regardless I don't like it.

Random Thought #7

 What happened to spell checker?  Mine seems to have disappeared. Have checked all setting and it is no where. Any suggestions?

   And what about all the times I start to write something in an email, or a post on my blog or a story I am writing and it suddenly disappears. Where did it go? and why? I didn't touch anything on the keyboard. 

Random Thought #6

I hate chiggers. 

   Which is worse chiggers or mosquitoes? At least I can see and hear mosquitoes. And what did people think was bitting them back before microscopes were invented so we could see the chiggers?

Random Thought #5

 Why Do We Name Our Pets What We Name Them?  

      I realized today that many people that have multible pets name them simular names.

     I have noticed that people tend to to this with their children, too. One person I know had a name starting with J. She married a man with a J name. As you have guessed they named all their children with J names. Another family I know did this with D names. 

   A friend has had 7 dogs. 3 had names that started with R. 2 had names that started with S. 

   On considering I counted that I have had 13 dogs in my life. The names were very random. I did find 2 had S names, 2 with B names and 2 had T names. All the other names had different letters starting the name. When my family and I named them I do not remember ever thinking about what letter the name started with. We just wanted to make sure the name fit the dog.

Skippy, SSkippy, Boots, Bonnie, Tag, Sandy, Kelly, Bow, Chase, D.D., Nicky, Codee, Tuffee, Ziva

I found about the same with my horses. I only named the first 2 horses. The other 4 came with names and I didn't change them.  Star, BlackJack, Sundance (Sunny), Bonita (Nita), Stormy, and Traveler. 

But ----------

When I looked at all the names of the 25 cats I have had I found that acidently I had used S names 6 times and T names 5 times and C names 4 times. I have no idea why. It just happened.  

       Tom, Smokey, Tiggy, Nusance, Rowdy, Ginger, Cotton, Spooky, Stormy, Ricci,Teaky, Spot, Skiggle, Buddy, Danny, Corky, Jade, K.C., Murphy, Wiley, Tinkie, Cassie, Chantilly, Silky.

   I noticed that my son hasn't payed any attention to how he named all his cats and horses, either. I did notice that for a while he named several cats and a couple of horses with just letters. K.C.,    O.C.   C.W.   and CAT.

We did think about it when we gave our son his middle name that was the same as his fathe'rs middle name, and the same as both of his grandfathers, and a couple of my uncles. Which makes me think about the thought that a lot of names are used for middle names but not so much for first names. 

Danny,ig

      

Tom, Sm

Bu

  

My Random Thought #4

     Why does Walmart and Amazon make it so hard to order. There is so much on there that is totally not needed. I don't want to know what other people bought.  Nor do I need so many suggestions of other simular items. And why if I put in toothpaste is there all kinds  of glues listed. Or worse why a cell phone. 

And why are so many other smaller companies that are even worse to order from. 

Okay, I could just go to the store but it is so much easier to order from home especially for the older person that has trouble walking through the store as I do.