Sunny spot

I should move the cat towers around more often. The new real estate prompts a flurry of activity: scampering, scratching, rolling, and chasing each other off. Most importantly, napping on the tower in the main bedroom is now happening on a regular basis. For years I have had the tower in the corner next to my side of the bed. The cats would get on it occasionally, but my goal of getting them to sleep on the tower instead of the bed was not achieved. Location, Bob said, it's in a corner, not in front of a window. Well, it was next to a window, but it wasn't the right window.  So I moved it to the big front window, where there is a good view of the front yard and the street and into the branches of the live oak tree. Now it is a premium (purrrremium) spot during the day. Nicky napped on the tower yesterday and right now Bonnie is there. Daisy is on the back of an armchair in a sunny window downstairs in the front room. Mack likes the small cat tower half way down the stairs. Nick likes the porch. They all shift around from time to time, and it seems the new location in the bedroom is a big success.

Yesterday was the longest day of the year. We are having a bit of cooler weather this week. Summer is when I have time to get a lot done in the garden. I have been leaving huge amounts of pruned branches, weeds, and vines at the curb for yard waste pickup. The compost pile can't handle it all. The men who pick up at the curb have been very good to me, taking everything I put out. I limit the amount of stacks and put everything else in containers, especially things with thorns and unruly vines. The branches in the stacks are all neatly trimmed to four feet or less.

Last weekend there was a big storm, and there was so much brush out on the curb all around the neighborhood that they didn't even get to my street for collection until the next day. Some people just got a little note, with the guidelines for curb pickup, if they had thrown their branches into a huge long messy pile. I was discussing this with someone who also does a lot of yard work, and he agreed it is important to package the brush neatly for the convenience of the men who collect it. He said he practically gets out the tape measure. If I am in the yard I wave and say "Thank you!" He said he takes cold bottles of Gatorade to them. Now that's a gesture of gratitude that means something to person working in the heat. Next time I was at the store, I purchased the drinks. So yesterday I was unloading the groceries from the car when the yard waste truck came down our street. I ran into the house, grabbed the Gatorade, and walked to the end of the driveway. I waited while they finished with the brush piles across the street, then gave them the drinks. The driver was nonchalant, looking a little surprised as he accepted the bottle and thanked me quietly. The man riding on the back of the truck gave a big grin and a big loud thank you. I'll try to do it again soon. There is so much to do, trimming up the lower branches of the bushes that have suddenly gotten really big, and pulling the last of the English ivy and other mess out of the front flowerbed.

Shopping trip-up

I made an additional quick trip to the grocery yesterday. I paid for my purchases and headed for the door. As I went to put the shopping basket back with the others, I noticed a nut bar still in it. That's odd, I thought, and I put it in my bag with the others. Heading out the door, I realized, wait a minute, if it's in the basket it didn't get rung up, and if it didn't get rung up, I just shoplifted it from the store, and I'm not comfortable with that, and they probably have security cameras. I could get arrested for stealing a nut bar.

I turned around and went back into the store and gave the nut bar to one of the store's assistant managers who was standing right inside the door, near the customer service desk. He happened to be a young man who had cheated on a vocabulary quiz in ninth grade and cried when I conferenced with him in private about the incident. We have greeted each other civilly several times in the store during the past few years. "This got left in my shopping basket, so it can go back on the shelf," I said. He smiled and gave a big nod and said, "I'll take care of it."

The arch trellis

I have written before about the arch trellis in the back yard behind the bird feeders. Last November, I dug up the Mermaid rose that had been growing beautifully on it for years. It just got too big, and the huge thorns were a problem. I moved two clematis roots from other parts of the yard, one on each side of the trellis. They grew well, happy to have more sunlight, and made it to the top of the trellis by midsummer. While the top of the arch was bare, the red tailed hawks and Coopers hawks perched there frequently. About a month ago, my husband said he would really like to have the Alachua red climber rose in a place where we could enjoy it. So I got two more red climbers from the nursery and we dug up the clematis, with some regret. The clematis had grown well and looked pretty until it got a bit scraggly. However, I admit the rose will bloom most of the year and be green through the winter, and it has very small thorns. So, back to having a rose on the trellis.

I considered moving the clematis roots to another part of the yard with other trellises, but it was just going to be too big a job. So I chopped them up (back by the compost heap, where the rest of the garden couldn't see what I was doing) and put them out on the curb with the rest of the yard waste for collection. They smelled of cinnamon at the heart of the root ball. I still have the two original clematis roots that came from my mother's garden, growing on another arch trellis in the front yard.

The main job this summer is finishing the clearing of the front flower bed by the driveway. The last patch has English ivy, smilax, Virginia creeper, and skunk vine. Then there is the invasive passion vine to deal with, and the continuing battle with invasive vines and ardisia in the woods. Things are a lot better back there, but there is still work to do.