Monday, July 5, 2010

This morning around 4:40 am.


I´m sitting here feeling a bit sorry for my self, but still sort of happy and content. I found some fresh corn on the cobs in the grocery store on my way home and bought three of them.We seldom find that out here on the countryside so I just had to grab the chance when I had it (I don´t think it´s especially common in the big cities either, but there´s a better chance to get them there anyway). They tasted sooo nice, but naturally I scalded my tounge :-) Well, it was worth it to be honest :-) By the way, do You know that corn is a grass?







I´m pretty sure thunder will pass soon. The normally peaceful but very annoying forestflies were almost agressive when we were out walking after work. They didn´t even fly away when I waved the leashes in the air and there were so many around my dogs that they turned back home after a while. hen the flies are like that thunder usually is close. For some reason the flies didn´t care about Bertil at all. But he on the other hand was nervous and miaued all the time. I think the fox might have been close again.










It´s still rather warm here, but now it´s closer to normal summer temperatures here. One of my tomatoe plants is finally flowering, so I might actually get some tomatoes this year. I found some fun looking tomatoes in the grocery store also today. I´ll save some seeds for next year, it´s always fun to try new sorts :-) I´ve started to look for intersting seeds to buy this comming winter. Since it looks like my black walnut passed on to a better place I will ofcourse buy new ones. But as You might know my favourite seed firm is Gardens North in Canada. They sell seeds from trees/bushes that can make it in my climate and those seeds are usually picked from plants growing as much north as they can. Those seeds sort of has a built in ability to make it in a harder climate than seeds taken from the same sort of tree that grows much more south. Plants can be amazing sometimes.








Well, my tea is ready and so am I :-) Now I´ll get out in to cyberspace to visit You all!
Have a great day now!
Christer.

23 comments:

Susie på Stjärnarve... said...

Vilka fina bilder du tagit!
Här har flugorna varit för jäkliga i flera veckor nu - men inte får vi något regn inte. Skulle gärna se att det kom en 10-15 mm nu, för det är så vansinnigt torrt att trots att man vattnar hela dagarna (har en bra brunn till trädgårdsvattningen så bevattningen får vara på 2-3 timmar på varje ställe) så är det snusttorrt i rabatterna dagen efter. Det börjar också synas på växterna som slokar på dagarna.

Anonymous said...

Is that a bumble bee on that flower the size of a VW? Don't tell me. I hate those flies too and we only get them when up in farming communities. Even with our one and two acre parcels here where I live we really don't see much of them but the horse lovers get them all the time in North County. Super photos today Christer. I should take a picture of my mobile tomatoe plant, yellow, doing very well. My hanging tomatoe plants all died.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hejsan Susie!
Tack skall du ha!

Flugorna är ju vanligen otrevligt irriterande, men idag var de värre än någonsin :-) Ingen åska än dock.

Jag har ju bara sandjord i trädgården, så växter med korta rötter lever alltid farligt här :-) Så dem stödvattnar jag nu, men de hinner ju knappast hämta sig innan det är dags att vattna igen :-) :-)

Ha det gott i torkan!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
It´s actually a Bumblebee beetle. A clever way to get away from attention from birds :-) But the flower is barley 1,5 inches wide :-)

Yes it would be great to see Your mobile tomatoe! So the hanging ones died?! To little water or what happened?

Have a great day now!
Christer.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Christer, we would really like to have some of the rain you are getting. Again, this will be a hot week with no rain in the forecast. We always hear about the possibility of a thunderstorm lately, but then nothing happens (sigh). We do have some tomatoes now but not many ripe ones. Still lots of cucumbers and zucchini and beets now and beans too.

No, I didn't know that corn was a grass - learn something new every day. Thanks!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Beatrice!
Still no thunder or rain here, but it has been rather cold now. Perhaps this is all we get, but I do hope for some rain during the night since I mostly have sandy soil here.

You do have a great year for cucumbers and zucchinis :-) :-) I never got the beans into the ground I´m afraid. It was to cold and wet here.

Have a great day now!
CVhrister.

Anonymous said...

Is there such a thing as too much water? While we were on house tour it rained here everday and then once the sun came back the tomatos started to wilt and I put some plant food on it and it showed some signs of life but no tomatos starting up from the dozen or so flowers. Then they wilted completely in one day. The leaves turned brown and no amount of water would bring them back.

Wenche said...

hej
Hoppas du håller Bertil ,min favorit, inne på natten, nu när räven finns i närheten.
kram

Oldfool said...

We have been getting fresh corn for several months and for some reason this year it is really sweet. I love corn and have been having it nearly every other day.
We have corn growing in the garden but in the past haven't had much luck. We did get some small tender very sweet ears last year but only a few. I didn't even cook them just ate them raw. It's like eating candy.
The corn that SWMBO is growing is multi-colored corn sold in the fall as ornamental for Halloween. It it makes ears we'll eat it.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

Hmmm...I began my comment when you had just finished it..within seconds...I began to write and got interupted...
I have NO idea what I said...but I am certain I commented on the photo's of Bertil and the dogs...

Yep, California is pool country, to be sure. However, those that have them..seem to seldom use them. Before I married my husband, they had a lovely pool in their back yard and he finally broke it up..himself! He then dumped it in on itself, filled it with gravel..sand and dirt and planted grass on top. I never go into that back yard when it is hot that I don't think of how lovely it would have been had he kept it. MEN! LOL Ah well, I know they are lots of work..but..still..

We here in Southern California still have not been hit with the very hot weather...and I am a wee concerned because this could mean it will run later into our Fall...and that IS upsetting.

The pond. Can you take more photo's of it close up. I keep trying to peek around photo corners to see it. :)
Mona
p.s. Corn is....grass?? Really?

jaz@octoberfarm said...

hi christer....i love corn on the cob. there are so many different kinds these days. i grew up eating what we called 'cattle corn' because it looked like what was grown to feed cattle. it was the kind that has the really big kernels and is chewy and a bit tough and not too sweet. most people now like the baby sweet corn but i still like the old kind. one of the best things i ever did with corn was to use the cobs when my kids were teething. i would cut the corn off the cob and give them the cob. they could hold it easily since it was rough and did not slip out of their hands. it tasted good and the roughness made their gums feel good. it was the best teething remedy i ever came across. another good use for the cobs is to use them to make stock for soup. there is so much flavor in them that if you simmer them they make a great stock. joyce

Kat said...

Christer,
We get black flies in June, and they are the worst. I remember walking the dog and the two of us being attacked by them. I used the leash to keep them from biting the dog. I was nearly in tears.

We get sugar and butter corn, the sweetest of all. It has light yellow and white kernels. It is so delicious.

Cindi Myers said...

It's kinda funny...I haven't had any corn on the cob this summer, yet. And it's funny because I live in Illinois and work in Iowa and there's corn EVERYWEHERE! There's actually a cornfield NEXT to the vet clinic I work at! Hmmm, I'm going to have to go get some corn!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
Yes to much water is a common death for many potplants. First they look dry and sad, so we water them a lot. Strangly enough it doesn´t look happy at all, so we water some more and so on. The plants drowns in quite a short time actually.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Tjänare Wenche!

Bertil har en helt annan åsikt om att vara inne på natten :-) Så det är han som får avgöra var han vill vara, oftast är det ute.
Ha det gott!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Oldfool!
Our summers are to short for most corn to ripe properly here- More and more can be seen on the fields not to far from here, but that is sorts grown for animalmfood. So the ones we can get here are imported.

The only time I´ve seen mulicolored corn here is when it´s used as decorations.
Have a great day now!

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Mona!
It´s much the same here with people having pools, they very seldom uses them :-) But here it has to do with our weather, who wants to take a swim in the pool when it rains :-) :-)


Strange really that You haven´t gotten the heat yeat! Perhaps that means You´ll get a real cool and nice autumn too!


I´ll try to remember more photo´s of the pond, but there´s not much to see there yet :-) :-)

Yes corn, wheat, otas and rhye are all different grasses. Corn is just simply the best to eat boiled :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Joyce!
The ones I bought reminded mostly of that old kind Yoy write about, not to sweet. I just love them :-) We can get fresh mini corn to use when we wok our food too, but that´s not the same.

Two great ways to use the cob :-) More people should know about the teething thing! I would certanly have loved it back then :-) and I had no idea they could be used to make stock to soup! Must try trhat some time.
Have a great day now!
Chriuster.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Z&M!
I had posted a comment to You, but suddenly it just dissapered!!!??? Happens way to often nowdays!

Yes there is such a thing like tom much water in potted plants, especially after a period with little ater. They look a bit sad so You water some more. They look even sader and You water some more and finally the poor plant drowns :-) :-)
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi everybody!
ASomething strange is happening here. Every time I answer a comment to You an old comment dissaperes????? So now I don´t write any more answers until I know what´s happening here!
Sorry about this!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hejsan Wenche!
Bertil har mycker bestämda åsikter om när han skall få vara ute eller inte, så det får bli som han vill.

Ha det gott!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Joyce!
I nthink it is something like cattle corn we can buy here, not to sweet and they are deliciuos. There are these "mini corns" too, but those are mostly for frying I think.


Smart idea to use the cobs when teething and I had absolutly no idea that they could be used to make stock from them. Must try that sometime!
Have a great day now!
Christer.

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

Hi Kat!
I definatly have to check what these black flies are! It sounds as if they would fit in to our groups of flies perfectly :-) :-)

It´s strange that I love living here when I hate these flies so much :-) :-)

We only have one sort of corn here really and I think that is what Joyce calls Cattle corn.
Have a great day now!
Christer.