Midnight Run: SC2

On a whim last night, Zachary and I headed to the 24 hour Walmart at midnight to pick up Star Craft 2. Zach has been eagerly waiting for this game for years. We got to the store about 15 minutes to 12 and headed to the electronics department. The store was pretty dead, but a few pacing anxious males where milling about the department. Not surprisingly, I was the only female around. At 12 sharp, they sold us the game and we headed home. We started the installation process and while waiting, watched an episode of Wipeout on the DVR. Meanwhile my alertness was fading and I fell asleep before the game could be played. And I also missed which contestant won Wipeout. :-( Zach’s zeal kept him awake and he got to play it a bit before heading to bed. He says it’s great. I’ll try it this evening when I am more awake.

Holy Hail

This is a cell phone pic of some hail that fell last night when it stormed. We were lucky to not get hail when the thunderstorm moved through by us. Zachary's boss took this picture, he lives about 20 minutes to the north from us and the storm dropped golf ball sized hail.

I think it's time get the Itteh Bitteh Committeh in action.

Wet Produce

Latest pickings from the garden lately: cauliflower, broccoli, peas, beans, and lettuce.

The weather has been abnormally wet around here lately. It is the normal sticky July temperatures, but paired with almost daily storms, producing rainfalls that drop several inches rain in a hour. Blue sunny skies return after the storms blow through, but Maggie is not pleased with the daily thunder rumbles. Neither is my wet basement.

I took a few pictures of the tiger lilies and day lilies in bloom before the latest storm chased me indoors this evening.

Rain Garden

This past weekend, we helped put together my parents rain garden. It is a terraced garden that utilizes rain water run off from the house roof that is filled with native perennials.
The planting space is about 41 feet long and 8.5 feet wide.
After laying out the bed, we had to sculpt the dirt to shape the four terraces. It sorta looks like a bumpy water slide.
Then we added mulch.
Here it is mostly planted. Zach is going help finish up tomorrow, adding erosion barriers on the mounds along with more grasses. There is over 300 plants planted, with about 25 different species of wildflowers, sedges, and grasses.

Spotty

It was one of those weekends were the weather changed hourly from sunshine to storms in a matter of minutes and back to sunshine again. Besides getting another wave of game boards complete, we managed to make it to the Iola Old Car Show. As soon as we got the gates of the car show, a storm blew in and down poured, sending us and the other show goers to the nearest dry refuge. Within minutes, the storm passed and we headed out looking for food and cars.
Model T.
Beer battered deep fried cheese curds. Mmmm... Pair this with a chocolate shake and life is good.
Zach was determined to find some wind this weekend. Zach and I went for a sail Friday evening with mild success. Light winds and clear skies. Sunday had promise of stronger winds, with a chance of rain. The wind got him launched on Sunday, but once he was away from the dock, he lost his wind.
And the rain followed him back to shore.

Fireworks at the Lakes

Yesterday Zach and I spent the evening at my parents' house on the lake to enjoy food and fireworks. Zachary, inspired by our recent sail, assembled my Dad's small sailboat to examine the rigging. If the holiday boat traffic on the lakes wasn't so busy, he would have been out on the water.
Besides some family and neighbors at the house, our friends Kate and Jim joined us too. Kate was determined to catch something, and she did. That would almost make a fish stick. She did later catch a nice sized bluegill and sunfish.
There is an annual tradition of a pontoon parade on the lakes. It is usually about a dozen decorated boats filled with beer-fueled cross dressing men, like above.
I was pleasantly surprised with 2 floats this year. They get an A for effort and creativity in my book. Diver pulling a duck behind.
A BP oil spill themed entry. That is supposed to be an oil slick behind the boat.
The Cloverleaf Lakes Association put on great fireworks show this year. It's funded by donations from the residents and its always a nice show.
As usual, I was playing with my camera during the fireworks. Got some interesting effects with the long exposure.

Garden Update

So far the square foot/raised bed gardening experiment is working well.
The cabbage and broccoli plants are growing larger than I expected, but with a little leaf trimming and staking, they aren't overwhelming their neighbors, yet. I am enjoying the ease of weeding in the boxes. I spent more time weeding around the boxes on the outside, than weeding amongst the plants themselves.
We have already harvested radishes, a cutting of lettuce and spinach, and a few heads of broccoli.
The potatoes in the large rectangular bed are growing like crazy, looking healthy and blossoming. This is our first year trying potatoes.
The mulberry trees around the farm are also bearing fruit.