Good Morning All. 73° and partly cloudy, supposed to get up to 97° this afternoon. Yesterday was 94°. FWIW regarding the sugar in the homemade spaghetti sauce, I use about 3/4 teaspoon per quart of sauce if you try it. OK, so my wife gets this thing called an "Echo-Dot" from the kids for Mother's Day recently. It's really annoying hearing her yell at that thing and that thing responding! LOL Among many things, she can tell it (Alexa) what to put on the grocery list and then use her phone in the grocery store to listen back! It also plays music on demand. I told it to go to hell and it responded that I was not being nice.
Didn't get to the train shed until late yesterday as I was quite busy. Along with the grocery/beer trek, I spent $$$ at Home Depot for three current projects that kept me busy yesterday. Toilet renovation was one of them...need I say more?
Gene - No rattlers around here, environment is not right. We have what's commonly called "rat" snake or "chicken" snake, same thing different names. There's one that lives under the floor in my barn that's over 8'; they prey on the local field rat population, and are also a natural predator of other snake species.
Chet - My garden is 35' x 50' now, somewhat reduced from when it was supporting three kids as well. I actually have two seasons here, early Spring (Feb. - June and Fall (Aug. - early Dec.). I enjoy it not just because of the fresh tasty produce, but also for the exercise and the opportunity to be with "Mother Nature". Those vultures in my avatar watch me from less than 35' away! Due to space and environmental issues (insects and heat), I do not grow corn. That being said, the man who leases the property south of me just across the road, planted 60 acres of field corn there this year. Brave soul! The last two years were too muddy to plant, (got his very large tractor stuck twice), and the year before those two, the local grasshopper population ate every leaf off his plants and stunted the ear growth.
Louis - I don't eat as many tomatoes as my wife does, she eats two or three a day just like apples with a dash of salt. I do make that tomato salad though.
Garry -
What do you do with so many tomatoes?
Well besides eating a lot I/we make a lot of spaghetti sauce in the harvest season and freeze it for winter use (uses a lot of those onions I harvested last week as well), I freeze a lot of blanched tomatoes for use in cooking also during the off season. Being as this is Texas, we make salsa at least once a week and use the frozen ones to make it when fresh ones are not available. During heavy harvests, I have also made catsup in the crockpot. The rotten ones I threw at cars with opposition political stickers on them.
Sherrel - Unfortunately that's not that kind of "weed". Those grow elsewhere! It's actually ragweed that was too big for the weedeater and isn't convenient for the tractor' It will be cut by pruning shears when I get to it. Otherwise they grow 15'+ tall.
Phil - Great statement.
Ken (D&J) - It appears to me that you are already married to D&J!
Curt - It turns into a brown jungle around July 4. By the way, I feel the same about the "transplanted Texans" around here. Many leave anyway after experiencing the hot summers and the tornado season!
Ray - Hey! Thanks for pointing out where the rules are. Not many though.
Mark - Bless you for the wreaths. I place only one every Memorial Day, on the grave of a man who worked for me and had a fatal heart attack after going home one afternoon. Sadly, his widowed wife has admitted to me that she had not been to the grave site since the funeral, 12 years prior. She occasionally would call me at work as late as 2015.
Johnny - Thanks, but being retired, I don't get holidays or days off any more.
Everyone have a great day and a great holiday weekend. Take some time to remember why this holiday exists.
Willie
