Giant Mushrooms. UFOs?

Deb’s House Concerts

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Did You Say Hammock?

Deb’s House Concerts

Oh, Yes! I Love A Hammock!

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Building a Living Privacy Fence

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Privacy Fences

I’ve lived in this house for several years now, and I’ve toyed with the idea of building a privacy fence.  I had a privacy fence around my little back yard in Tulsa, and I loved it. It kept me out of my neighbors’ business, and it kept them out of mine. I could lie in my hammock any time of the day or night. I could mow on my schedule and not on my neighbors’ schedules. My animals could be outside with me and have the run of the yard without anyone complaining.

Growing a Fence

In Tulsa, the fence already surrounded the yard when I moved in. Here, my yard was surrounded by a chain link fence. I told myself it would be rude to move in and immediately build a tall, wooden fence. So, I did nothing. But, I still love the idea of having my own private space that’s just for me and not for people in ten other houses and two or three streets. I still kind of feel like it would be unneighborly for me to put up a big wooden fence. But, for some reason, I don’t feel like there is anything wrong with growing a fence!

The Beginning of a Screen

I’ve cropped a photo of the trees, because the ones in the middle also included the house next door. Obviously, my living fence idea is in the early stages. I can still see people next door, and next to them, and the next street. But, the little trees I (so unkindly) ripped out of the ground on the fruitful side of my yard are doing a good job of at least pretending to be a living fence.

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Early Days in the Enchanted Forest

Deb’s House Concerts

This photo was from the end of July. I had already pulled these little trees out of the ground on one side of my yard, all volunteers, and transplanted them to the lower side of my yard. It did not occur to me that they might not live through days with high temperatures in the upper 90sF, but they did (7 of 9 lived).

The Metamorphosis

This little section of the yard went from being grass, to having three blueberry bushes mulched in 4′x4′ frames, to having a row of little shrub starts to grow a hedge, to having nine trees. That’s when it was dubbed “The Enchanted Forest”.  By mid-August, the grass you see in this photo was covered by wood chips as the forest grew.

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The Beginning of the Enchanted Forest

Deb’s House Concerts

Back in the spring, I planted three blueberry bushes. I placed a 4′x4′ frame around each one. Then, I mulched inside the frames and put down wood chips outside the frames. Sometime after the middle of  June, maybe closer to July, I decided to create a hedge by transplanting the little volunteer shrub trees that were growing on the other side of my yard.  Here’s how they looked, all in a row.

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Garden Mid-August Night

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Blue and Yellow at Night

The blue and yellow chairs were left behind by the same person who left the bench under the magnolia tree. What luck for me. I took her cast-offs and decorated my enchanted forest.

What About Those Trees?

Since you asked, , they were growing on the upper side of my yard, and I pulled them out of the ground and transplanted them to create the enchanted forest. There will be more photos of trees later, when it begins to look enchanted.

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Garden In Progress

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Blue Chair, Yellow Chair

This is a garden in progress.   The garden area did not exist in mid-July, except for the bushes in the box frames. The photo was taken in mid-August.  The chairs face a green back yard, with pear and cherry trees, and a butterfly bush, surrounded by a fence of trees. Mmmmmm.

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Chinese Flowers

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Chinese Garden At Night

I don’t know what kind of flowers these are, but the people I bought them from were from China, and they called them “Chinese flowers”.

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A Dog Loves A Hole

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Crabgrass Is Amazing

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Learning From Crabgrass

As annoying and time-consuming as it is, crabgrass still teaches by example. Think of how tenacious it is. It is determined to live, and it takes a stand wherever it goes grows.

Growing Through A Log

I’ve been trying to clear out some crabgrass recently. I didn’t think to take a photo of the crabgrass growing under the bark and pushing the bark off of this log. But, look at this! This grass has grown through a hole in one end of the log, and it’s growing out of a hole in the other end. Now, that’s resourceful! Wow!

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Condemning the Planned Quran-burning

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A Few Quotes

from Yahoo news

“We are surprised and shocked at the extreme radicalism being displayed [by Jones] right now on this issue.”  -  Stephan Baar of the Christian Community of Cologne.

 ”It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort. It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems.” – Top commander in Afghanistan Gen. David Petraeus

 ”It’s regrettable that a pastor in Gainesville, Florida, with a church of no more than 50 people can make this outrageous and distressful, disgraceful plan, and get the world’s attention.” – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

 9/11 – “cannot be counteracted by an outrageous and grave gesture against a book considered sacred by a religious community.” – the Vatican

  ”idiotic and dangerous” – Attorney General Eric Holder

 ”Burning the Quran is wrong on every level. It puts troops in danger, and it violates a founding principle of our republic.” – Mitt Romney

 ”I do not think well of the idea of burning anybody’s Koran, Bible, Book of Mormon or anything else.  I don’t think there is any excuse for it. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” – Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour

 ”Any type of activity like that that puts our troops in harm’s way would be a concern.” – White House spokesman Robert Gibbs

 ”I appeal to people who are planning to burn the Quran to reconsider and drop their plans because they are inconsistent with American values and, as General Petraeus has warned, threatening to America’s military,” Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman

 ”boneheaded and wrong” but, “He has a right to do it.” – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

  ”I have hardly the words that somebody would do that to somebody’s religious book.” – Angelina Jolie

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Clothes Line Yellow Jackets

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Fresh air vs. Painful Stings? Hmmmm.

I don’t use that clothes line anyway, but I probably should. I don’t think I’ve felt or smelled sheets dried in the sun and fresh air in decades!

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Catnip Onions Pear Cherry Butterfly

Deb’s House Concerts

It’s like a class portrait in my back yard. The catnip is in the foreground, too close to the camera and blurry. The onions are right behind to the right and left. On the back row, you can see the pear tree, cherry tree, and butterfly bush.

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Catnip Bee

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Cats aren’t the only ones who like catnip. I was delighted to discover that honeybees and bumble bees all like it as well.

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Three Birds in the Catnip

Deb’s House Concerts

My tiny catnip plant, planted last spring, has gone wild. It is now taller than I am, and much wider, too. The bees love it. Sometimes there are 20 bees buzzing around, moving from flower to flower. On this particular morning, the birds enjoyed it, too.

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