While we were eating breakfast today, it got real quiet in the dog department. Just like with any 2-year old, it's always good to check when things get too quiet. Sure enough, while we crunched our high fiber cereal, Chase was getting some much needed plastic chewing done! He found a pen on the end table in the great room and decided it needed to be chewed. Luckily this time we got to him BEFORE he had an inky face...but just barely. 
He likes to chew the end off and get the ink cartridge out...ummm, good tasting stuff, Maynard!
A rainy Monday with overcast skies and cool temps (59 degrees). Heaven after the 100 of last week! The flowers like it too.
This old apricot picker's bucket made its way to Oregon in the mid-1970's thanks to my mom. It was full of Agapanthas that remained in it until 2001 when I finally planted them in the garden here on Grey Eagle. The bottom of the bucket is rotted out but Mr. A pop-riveted in a metal pie pan with holes for drainage.
The main vine is a Thunbergia "Charles Star" which seems to like it fine in the bucket and is climbing ever skyward on the trellis.
After spending several hours on the computer working on Mr. A's latest book, a rainy day nap sounds fine to me and the pooch. Rough life being semi-retired.
When the weather guesser alluded to cooler weather this weekend, my thoughts turned to soup...homemade split pea with lots of goodies, to be exact.
And yes, it did get down to a bone-chilling 47 degrees last night, with daytime highs predicted in the shivering low 70's with possible showers.
So I fired up the crock pot and we enjoyed some soup in August.
We're thinking that it's gonna be an early Fall this year...the Sunset Maples are already starting to turn bright red and our red table grapes are turning pink. 
Split pea soup with carrots & celery, potatoes, mushrooms and of course a few dried tomatoes for extra flavor. Served up with crusty rosemary potato bread...some rib sticking stuff! We worked it off with a walk after dinner.
Just to prove that you're never too old to be a nut! And to prove that without 'lectricity we can still work in the office!
We "survived" the annual summer hail storm. We had picked lots of produce and wrapped the beans, tomatoes, squash, cukes and peppers in shade cloth, held down with clothespins. The shade cloth is left over from our trellis, used before the Wisteria took over. It is better than tarps because it lets the wind through but keeps the hail from damaging the crops.
This time the forecast was correct. The storm welled up in a matter of a few minutes...just enough time to get stuff covered. We were overdue anyway for this annual storm.
We Rogue Valley gardeners know we'll get one sooner or later. Unfortunately it was the grapes and pears that were hit the hardest in the Ruch area southwest of us. Hail up to 1" for them, only about 3/8" here in Medford.
Here is the last of the Honey Treat corn. It was the best I've ever grown!
I grew one eggplant in a pot...it has four sets! I just wrapped it with shade cloth after I picked the biggest one.
So we've had our "shot over the bow" that the Jet Stream will dip down from Alaska more frequently as we approach Fall and give us a bit of cooler weather, which would be okay in a normal year, but this year we have so many green tomatoes on the vine yet to ripen...
