Working in the Yard

I started this morning working in the yard. I watered all the plants. I picked up sticks, weeded the flowerbeds and put mulch in the backyard flowerbeds. Before I could get the front completely finished, it began raining. I fed and watered the animals too. Then just before the rain began we decided to give Slinky, the dog, a bath. After about three days, he begins to stink. So, twice a week, he gets a bath. What a dog. he really is high maintenance.

Then I baked some peanut butter cookies.

We went to the Red Cross volunteer banquet at noon. It lasted until about 1:30 then we helped clean up and took Kathy Newman home.

After we got home, we went to the grocery store. A very busy day.

Rose of Sharon in Bloom

This is my favorite time of year. The flowers around our home are in full bloom and something blooms constantly. These Althea or Rose of Sharon bushes were planted the year we moved here five years ago...all but the largest one. It was already here. There was no shrubbery around the house. It was just a plain house. A friend, Karan, gave me two of these bushes. They were growing in her walk and she wanted to get rid of them. Fortunately, they are some of the prettiest shrubs we have.

Every morning, I get up and feed Missy and Slinky and give them fresh water and then I begin watering my flowering plants. I make myself a cup of tea or coffee and sit on the patio and enjoy the birds and the flowers. It's a lot of work but well worth it. The one here on the lower right is just beginning to bloom. But these lovely shrubs will bloom for months and will grow almost anywhere.

The hanging baskets are on our porch area. Those are vining geraniums and asparagus plants.
Bob painted the porch floor yesterday so everything out there looks nice and fresh.

Soon the crepe myrtle will be in bloom. It's a later plant but is another one of those plants that will grow anywhere. They die back in winter but come up again from the roots and often grow as large as a tree as do these Rose of Sharon.

Cataracts

Today Bob and I went to the doctor in Bartlesville to look into the possibility of getting surgery for his cataracts. They have become bad enough that he has trouble reading street signs. The right eye is the worst eye. He will have surgery on it the first Wednesday in July and then a month later, he will have the surgery on the left eye.

Hopefully, following that procedure, he will at least be able to see better. His hearing is very bad even with his hearing aids but he does fine if he's not in a crowd or in a noisy room.

He made himself unavailable to FEMA so they won't call him up.

We went to the hospital's ice cream social on Friday evening and he enjoyed visiting with my cousin Sue, shown here.