Life with the Two Crazy Dogs

It’s summer, not officially yet, but I am already not into the weather.  The temps have been so far warm in the shade and in the sun, it’s hot.  Honestly, it has been quite okay so far with temps in the 50’s F in the mornings and on some nights we get free air-conditioning.  With the warm/hot weather these days, the plants are popping up in my garden.  The perennials (hostas, dahlias, lilies, roses) came right back up.  I got rid of all the annuals last fall. 

The rabbits were out in full force.  I went to Bachman’s a tad too late to get the rabbit scram granules.  Those buggers had already gotten to some of the lilies’ leaves.  Since I put the granules down around the plants, it has been good.  It kept those cotton tail rabbits out of the plants.  However, the boys are loving the smell of the granules.  They kept going to the garden to sniff the plants and not sure what else they did out there til I had to yell at them to “Get outta there!!!”

I had to go to Pahl’s Market for flower supports.  When i was at Pahls, I so wanted to get as many annuals as I want but the pocket is telling me not to.  Look at all the flowers in their green house, all ready to get rid of them.

The next thing I so want for my front yard or patio is a water fountain thing surround it with a bunch of plants.  I like the froggie water fountain which is $200. 


Anyways, the flower supports are for the Dahlia plants since the boys have been laying on them and the plants are now lying flat on the ground instead of erect!  The dahlias are blooming good though, I cut the blooms and placed them in a vase.  What do you think?  Might bring this vase of flowers for SD tomorrow.

I told DB about those pesky little bastards eating my lilies.  He said on our Channel 11 (KARE 11) Grow with KARE, they have an article on getting rid of pesky rabbits eating our plants. 

So, DB made the concoction of two tablespoons each of cayenne pepper, chilie sauce (we used Sriracha chilie sauce) and Elmers glue.  Dumpped all in the blender and poured his pesky potion to 3-quart water. 

Out I went and sprayed the plants.   I started out at the front yard.  My fingers were about to go numb from squeezing the squirt bottle, and I still have the entire back to do.  By the time I got to the backyard, the squirter broke.  Yippe-kay-yey SOB, I had to go look for another squirt bottle but instead I used a measuring cup and started pouring the concoction on all the plants. 

I still wonder why those skinny rabbits eats the leaves of the lilies and not the Hostas? Moreover, there are a ton of grass for them to maw on.

Yesterday while I was squirting the concoction to the lily plants on the front yard, I saw the rabbits got to some of the front ones, too.  DB said if were living out in the country, our freezer will be stocked up with rabbit meat!  I so want to get the pellet gun out, but we are living in the cities, no can do.

The rabbits have been eating my lilies.  These lilies are situated on the far end of the backyard.  Look at what these suckers did to my lilies???
 

The rabbits ate all the leaves and flowers.  They are suppose to look like this!  Celaka!!!

On a happier note, the lilies on the front yard are much better. Them rabbits have not got to the lilies yet.

Thursday afternoon 3:05 p.m. after work, it was too hot to go for a walk. Instead, I brought my text book out “Essentials of Contemporary Management”. I flipped to the page I dog-eared and was started reading and “ding dong”. Followed by “rolf, rolf, roooolf”, and of course, I jumped. Each time the boys bark in the house, it makes me jump, literally. Good thing my heart is still in good condition.

Anyways, I turned towards the front of the house and saw the big brown truck, UPS truck. I went to the door and the guys was still scanning the barcodes on the boxes - 1 big box and 3 small boxes. What the heck are in there? The first thing that came to me was what did he buy now?? Opened the door amidst all the “rolf, rooolf” and saw that the boxes were addressed to me. WTF???? They were from California. Well, the facial products I ordered came and I didn’t order anything else, what are in those boxes.

Thank the UPS guy and hauled them boxes in and were sniffed out first by the sniffers. When all is clear, I opened them up. I thought I should wait till DB gets home, hell no. Got the letter opener and slit them boxes up to a ton of packing peanuts in the big box. Then to the 1st small box……a Canon AS630 digital camera. I didn’t order that. Opened up the last box which was the lightest. Found nothing except a piece of shipping invoice and a rolled up bubble wrap. What in the world, I thought. Looked again, crap….there is a 1G memory card wrapped up in a big piece of bubble wrap.

Opened up the package and took the camera out, checked it out, wondered why did he get this for me?? I told him I was looking for one but didn’t expect to get one that’s FOC. I rummaged through the big box and there was a tripod, camera case, and rechargeable batteries.

I didn’t even hear “Helloooo, I’m home!” I was too busy fiddle jacking with the camera, the boys didn’t hear their old man either because I had the fan blasting at me and them. As soon as they hear him, they ran to the door, tails all wagging 90 miles an hour.

So, here are the pictures I took with the camera.

Took some of these pictures last weekend but forgot to post them on my last post.

Coopster and Riley panting like a freight train….it was 82F in the house!

Memorial Day weekend started off with babysitting Riley. This time we had to pick him up from his home in Savage on Friday afternoon. As usual, he was as hyperactive as ever. We had a shadow the entire weekend. However, I have to say he was much better than the first time he was with us.

When we got home from Savage, we had our dinner and I got ready for my concert at MN Orchestra Hall. Met up with Simmie and we went to the Orchestra Hall together. The performance was so-so. Music was too modern. We left after the 2nd performance.

Then she took me to Dakota Club which is a jazz club. I heard so much about the club and now I get to see it. We hung around for a bit and went to Fallafal King for a late dinner. The fallafals were so good, I could eat a ton of them. For some reason, I enjoy eating Mediterranean food. Oh, I almost forgot about the hummus. They were appetizing that I wanted to eat more, but then gotta think about how late it was already. Can’t go to bed with a heavy stomach – “fat ngok moong” (nightmares). Actually, that’s a lame excuse….it’s more like being vain!

By the time I got home, it was about 10:45 p.m. and I was wired for some reason. I know I should be tired but I guess it was way passed my bedtime. I went to bed at midnight and woke up 6 on a Saturday. Pathetic, but I needed to. Took the three boys to the dog park and spent about 1.5 hours there till the sun was beating on us. When I got home, changed and DB and I dropped off his truck at the garage for oil change and I hit the grocery stores for my weekly duties. Each time I go to the store, I will drop by the nursery for more plants, what else. I didn’t get any this time.

Once I got home and put away the groceries, had my lunch and went out again to get my passport pictures taken at Sears but then, couldn’t do it right away because no frigging appointment. Made an appointment for 1:30 since I only have 1 hour to kill, I proceeded to Blockbuster to return the DVDs I received from the mail. Good thing about this Blockbuster Online Access is sure is handy. I can return the DVDs to the store and pick up any movies that are on the queue. I don’t have to pay for the rental since I am paying a monthly fee for the membership. I rented “The Red Violin” since it has Joshua Bell playing the solos, and “Water”, a Hindi movie about young girls in India back in the 1930s who are widowers and according to the Hindu system, they can marry the husband’s brother, if he wants to. If not, the girls’ parents have to take them to the widower’s house to live for the rest of their lives.

Obviously when I got home, I didn’t get to watch my movies. I have my babysitting duties to do. I took the boys out for their walk, then called Simmie and made our arrangements to meet for Joshua Bell concert at the Ordway.

On Sunday, I went to Mernards to get landscaping lights and some other stuff for DB’s executive bathroom. Then I itchy backside I bought Windex outdoor cleaner for our windows. I saw my neighbor did it and it looks so damn easy. Next stop…..the nursery and bought more plants. Their plants are dirt cheap. I bought 5 Hostas and 5 German sage plants, and a bag of Miracle Grow potting mix and the total came to $48 bucks.

Couldn’t wait to get home and plant them. When I got home, DB was already working on the front yard trimming bushes (shrubs) and I vacuumed the house. Didn’t want to do it coz I want to plant my stuff. Finished vacuuming, headed out, and started digging – digging out rocks. I was a squatting, kneeling, bending over, sitting, digging for four hours. I was so darn tired I wanted to sit on my butt and watch my movies.

SD, her BF and his son, Zack, came over for dinner. We sent her to the store to get brats and buns since I bought corn on the cob a week ago from the farmer’s market. We finally sat down to eat at 8:15. I was famished I could eat more but I over starved myself. DB and I were glad they left shortly after.

One thing good about having them over is they will play with the boys, this time three boys, till they knocked out. The boys were so tired they didn’t even want to go out for their night potty. YES!!!!

On Memorial Day, I finished cleaning the bathrooms and had a good whiff of Lysol Mildew remover. I kid you not, that thing was strong even though I had the exhaust fan and an oscillating fan in the bathrooms. For the rest of the day, I could not smell anything except Lysol. Wonder if I can die of inhaling Lysol fumes in the long run.

Right after I was done cleaning the house, I went out and finished transplanting my plants. Planted the lilies and the rest of the hostas. I was already aching from the day before from all the bending, squatting and kneeling.

Riley’s owner came around 3-ish while I was watching “The Red Violin”. There were total distractions from the boys coz they wanted to go for their walk. It was so hot and humid out, I rather stay inside and enjoy the coolness in the house. DB was so glad to get rid of Riley. He was such a pest this time around. No more babysitting at least till I’m done with school.

After our dinner, I just sat on my ass and watch “Water”. It’s a good movie, very sad, though. I thought my dam would open up big time; it did but very little. I would definitely watch it again, and same goes to “The Red Violin”.

Holiday weekends seems to be more tiring for me. Going back to work was a drag. This four-day week seems so long.

My gerberras I bought couple of weeks ago are growing. The five lily plants are still sitting on the patio waiting for me to transplant them .

This is the strawberry plants I bought at Mernards 3 weeks ago. When I saw them in the store I was thinking to myself, “Hey, why don’t I get two plants, a big barrell and will have berries in the fall.” That’s what I did. Got the plants and the barrell and extra dirt. Soon after I got home, DB asked what is the barrell for. I told him it’s for the strawberry plants I bought. He proceeded to say, “You know you won’t get strawberries this year. The berries will produce next year.” The first thing that I spitted out was “What the hell??? Why didn’t you tell me??” Of course he didn’t know because I tell him I was going to get some in the first place. Then he said, “Strawberry plant multiplies itself, and when there are fruit on the plants, you need to get some sort of a netting to put over the plants to prevent the birds from eating the fruits.” Alrightie then, Mr. Gardener. Remind me again next year.

Yesterday while I was on my walk along Parkwood Dr, there is this little thing the lady stuck on her garden of freshly planted perennials “Grow Dammit”. I thought that was hilarious. I hope with the long awaited rain we had today will help with the growing.