A Very Wordy Wednesday

Wow.  It has been a week since I have posted, but I have a reason for it: heat exhaustion.  Last Tuesday I woke up and while still lying in bed with my eyes closed I could feel the room moving.  It was not a very pleasant day.  It did not take me long to figure out that my problem was heat-related.  So, I have been mostly indoors, with the AC running and plenty of liquid by my side.

It has not only been miserably hot here, it has also been humid.  And even when the humidity dropped, it was till too hot for my taste.  If I never saw temps above 75 F, I'd be perfectly happy.  As a matter of fact, I would rather shovel snow than deal with the heat.  

My garden is suffering too.  Last year, with rain nearly everyday, the astilbe were just gorgeous.  This year the flowers never opened.  There was just no way I could keep them wet enough.  It is so dry here that I would have to leave the hose running constantly it seems.  Even when it rains you can hardly tell the difference.  So, I finally went out and cut all the flower stems off.

Add to that my animal problem and I am about ready to rototill the entire yard.  The rabbits and squirrels have been just breaking off stems of plants and leaving them on the ground.  I know this because I have seen them out there doing it.

And try as I might to catch a rabbit in the live trap, I have never had any luck.  So much so that I even forgot one of the traps was still set.  It sits in a rarely used walkway behind a large flower bed.

I was out pulling some weeds early on Monday morning before the sun came up and out of the corner of my eye I noticed that the doors on the trap were closed.  Thinking I would find something dead inside since I hadn't checked it in so long, I noticed black and white striped fur.  And I really didn't want to find out if it was dead or alive.

I called my local animal service guy and he said he would come out and take it away - for a not so nominal fee.  Later that afternoon he arrived and transferred Mr. Skunk to one of his live traps. Fortunately, the skunk never sprayed so the trap did not need to be deodorized.  I guess this was better than the time the skunk was in the garage.  And definitely better than the time a skunk sprayed my dog.

The daylilies are about the only thing around here enjoying the heat.  Oh, and the sedums which do not require much water.  Everything else, including yours truly, is drooping.  Ah, to remember last November's early snow storm.