While there are many good things to be said about professional pet sitters, depending on how you currently feed/maintain your cats, you might be fine with a neighbor popping in once a day. If your cats are free-fed or eat dry food, a neighbor could stop by just once a day to check on them, give them fresh food and water, and clean the litter box. This is coming from the person who had her mom move into her place for a week when I went to Omaha in August, so I'm certainly not advocating neglecting pets. However, if your cats eat dry food (or you have a neighbor or friend who can stop by more often to feed them wet food - or even just set an automatic feeder), it's certainly doable without a professional pet sitter. Not knowing where you live, it's hard to give suggestions, but I'm currently in an apartment building in an urban area, and sure I could find someone to watch my cats in a pinch. If I lived in a rural area and wasn't 100% sure I had access to a reliable pet sitter, I'd probably board my cats. There are a lot of factors to consider. Do you have a neighbor or even a neighbor's mature kid(s) who could take care of them for a nominal fee? When I was only ten or so, I was walking dogs and pet sitting for our neighbors (this was in the 90s, so not exactly the "olden days"). Heck, I even did it for free. I was just an animal nut. Even so, I'd still make sure parents were 100% on board if you considered using the services of a minor. However, your dollar stretches a lot farther with a neighborhood kid than with a pro. I live in an area with a very high cost of living, but I know pet sitters are much cheaper in other areas. It might not be as expensive as you think. If any of your cats have health problems or require medication, I'd highly recommend going the route of a professional pet sitter. There are other options, and it sounds like you've got plenty of time to figure out the details. Dad isn't your only option. This sounds like what might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you, and I'd hate for you to have to worry about your pets while you should be enjoying yourself.

I tended to some roses today, but that was the extent of my yard work. May squeeze some more in, but it's doubtful. Electrician looks to have another full day of work Monday. He found some interesting things in my walls that made it take more time. Plumber moved the gas line from previous gas dryer to new gas range (I've got to check the specs...looks high and looks like it sticks out quite a bit) and moved the one supply line for the washer over as needed. But...I think it's too tall. But that should be easy enough to cut down if needed. I emailed GC, plumber didn't fix sink plumbing yet. Supposed to get new angle stops etc. GC's wife called and said that's no biggie, it'll get done before cabinet install, or even after. I said since they're leaking, I'd prefer it was before. She didn't know they were leaking, so it will now be before. My big accomplishments for the day were nailing down almost all lighting issues, I think. I bought the recessed lighting things (I don't know what they are each called...the attach them in the ceiling part and the plug them into that part...but don't call it a bulb), a few dimmers, one receptacle with usb holes. I ordered a few more lighting/switches related things on Amazon and should be here Sunday. And I emailed and talked on the phone with Environmental Lighting and got a plan for my UCL. I'm sure I could have pieced together something less expensive, but I understand this and can install it myself, so that'll be a savings in itself. Also, I confirmed that I need one less outlet for the UCL installed, so that will save. I 'adjusted' a few things re: the electrician's work. The GC had drawn the outlets smack-dab in the middle of the backsplash. I had him move them down and over on either side of the range. I didn't ask the one in the middle of another wall to be moved, though it probably could be. I may end up asking about that if it wears on me this weekend. And I also asked him to install an outlet in the utility cabinet so I can charge my hand vac, Braava, etc. Tacos just arrived. :)

Amy, I do not want for this to be another 2015 so just stop all that crazy talk. The idea it could be is just horrifying and I'm not really expecting it to happen (or maybe I'm just hoping it won't happen). Really, though, the ground has been heavily saturated since last September, so I don't think it would take as much rain in May this year to leave us in the same terrible condition that 24+" (highly variable across the county that month, but 24+" at our place) left us that year. I really think we're almost there already. Every time it dries out at all, more rain falls. I have onions in the highest raised veggie bed at the top of the garden that are starting to rot just because they never dry out. There's nothing we can do at this point but wait it out and hope for the best. I have had multiplier onions set seed---maybe 6 or 8 years ago---and a couple of the seeds sprouted, but not many. I'd just blame all such oddities on this year's weather. Rebecca, It is the early stage of some sort of disease. Based on the tiny spots on some of the leaves, it could be septoria leaf spot or bacterial speck or bacterial spot. It is too early to tell. I'd just remove all those yellow leaves to prevent it from spreading. You cannot cure the plants once they have it, but treating the remaining foliage regularly with a fungicide would be the way to slow or stop its spread. You could use Serenade (Bacillus subtilis), copper or GreenCure (or a homemade baking soda spray) if you want an organic fungicide. If you prefer synthetic, Daconil or Fungonil would be the lowest impact (you can harvest the same day you spray with them) or either Maneb or Mancozeb, and those both have a 5-day pre harvest interval. Nancy, I hope the lake doesn't get to your daughter's house. Having the water just 8' from the deck would make me extremely uneasy. I'm laughing at the nickname Fluffy Ruffles. We have had more cats survive a snake bite than die from one, but much depends on where they were bitten and how much venom was injected. Ranger is the primo survivor, having survived (via very expensive vet care including being hospitalized for a week) having her face largely paralyzed by the venom. Her eyes remained paralyzed for almost a month but the vet let her come home after a week, telling us he did not even know if the paralyzed eyes would improve--there wasn't much in vet medical books or journals about such a thing.....and he is a cat specialist, so if this was a common snakebite thing, he would have known. Shady is our longest-lived cat snakebite survivor. He is close to 19 years old and was a year or two old when bitten, so he might argue he is the primo snakebite survivor here, but he never was as sick from the snakebite as Ranger was. It is hard to guess what your tiny flying creature is, but it sounds like a predatory wasp, so definitely a good garden helper. It is horrifying to hear that cat scream when your cats are out. I'm glad your cats are okay. Our worst cat scream wasn't even our cat screaming. It was my first cougar encounter, outside, alone, well after dark, calling our old daddy cat, Emmitt Smith, to come inside on a January night. We hadn't been here but a couple of years and didn't even have an outdoor security light (though we quickly got one after this). Anyhow cougars have an incredibly distinct roar that ends with a sound like a lady screaming---I heard it on TV growing up all my life because one of Fort Worth's nickname was "The Panther City" so in the 1960s and 1970s a lot of local businesses used panthers in their TV commercials. So, I called Emmitt and got a cougar roaring back at me. I was petrified because it was so dark it could have been 20' from me and I couldn't see it. I slowly backed up to the house and opened the door, calling Emmitt one more time. He didn't come. Tim was inside the house watching TV and never heard it, but the next day, two neighbors named Bill and Betty who lived 3/4s of a mile up the road stopped by to see if I as okay. I asked how they knew---they said they heard it and figured from the sound it was around our place. They wanted to be sure I knew what it was. Emmitt showed up 3 or 4 days later, after I'd given him up for dead, with a hunk out of his back....like he had been skinned. His hair never really grew back in that spot and he looked like a half-bald cat for the rest of his life. Foxes also make a screaming sound, as do bobcats when fighting. All of those are sounds no one should ever have to hear when their pets are out in the dark. Jennifer, Nope, I am trying to get rid of it all. After about ten years of overdosing on it, I'm just trying to clear that bed and put it to good use with plants that will produce a harvest the whole growing season, not just for a couple of months of it. It is really hard to get rid of asparagus though, as the roots grow together (at least ours have) into one long impenetrable mass. Onions prefer something higher in nitrogen. Blood meal would work if you have that, but any fertilizer will do. They really aren't all that picky. The thing with nitrogen is that the number of leaves and the size of the leaves determine the ultimate size of the onions, so lots of leaves and lots of big leaves are the goal. Those leaves will give you your onions. Once the onions begin bulbing up, they literally are drawing in the energy from the leaves, a process that continues long after the neck softens and the leaves begin falling over. This is why we leaves the leaves to turn yellow and brown on the plant....their stored up energy is flowing into the bulbs to feed them. Brown spots on tomatoes or potatoes or anything else wouldn't surprise me at this point---higher moisture years generally mean tons of viral, bacterial and fungal diseases, and the older the plants get, the more susceptible they are. I'm seeing reports of brown (or purple or maroon) spots on all sorts of plants right now---it is just that kind of year and it only will escalate as we heat up. Beans are very disease prone, but I ignore diseased leaves (I'll pull them off if those leaves obviously are dying) and still get a great harvest. One key thing to remember is that edible plants are not ornamental plants and often will not look that great at various stages in their lives---that is okay---they don't have to look good to produce a harvest. I hope you enjoyed your nap. Oh, I just saw your comment about Peggy. I am so sorry. Are you positive she is actually gone? If there's no sign of her body, she might have had something grab her but then she got away and will show up. We have had that happen before, and sometimes it takes a scared hen a day or two to come out of hiding and show up. No gardening here today...lots of wind and rain. We have the girls here, so after a late, lazy start to the day (a really late breakfast) we went to see the movie A Dog's Journey (sequel to last year's A Dog's Purpose) this afternoon. It was so good, and Lillie and I hardly cried at all (except each time the dog died.....which is over and over again as it is reincarnated into new bodies to continue its journey). The ending was beautiful though, and the skies were trying to clear off to the west as we were arriving home. I mean, no blue sky or sunlight, but lighter, higher clouds that weren't dropping rain. We have 1.75" in the rain gauge, so there will be no gardening or yard work tomorrow either. Monday is supposed to get pretty dicey, weather-wise, so I don't know if any work will get done. The Convective Outlook for Monday has a large portion of OK in the 'Moderate' risk area for severe weather, and Moderate in this case is worst than it sounds, as the scale (from least to worst) is: Thunderstorm, Marginal, Slight, Moderate and High. We rarely get a High risk day anywhere in the USA---maybe a few times a year, and Moderate always is serious enough to be of concern. I'd like to think I can go out to the garden Monday morning and harvest, maybe weed a little, talk to the drowning plants before Mother nature dumps more rain on them, or something. I think (hope!) the rain will be late in the day, but with this weather, who knows? Everything is lush and green if you just stand and gaze across the countryside, but if you look up close, there's a lot of leaf spot diseases on lots of stuff--I don't just mean in the garden but in the fields and yard and all that as well. Dawn

I think I'm going to try and find some shallow cut glass vintage/antique dishes to display my roses in. I like their sparkle. To experiment with different types of glass I took the following photos today. I don't actually have any antique cut glass bowls. This one is a modern clean cut dish. Center is Iceberg. Starting at 1:00 and going clock wise, Winnipeg Parks, Iceberg, Livin Easy, Candy Land, Winnipeg Parks, Fred Loads. This is also a modern piece but mimics what I am looking for. Left is Calico Gal, top is Iceberg, right is Amiga Mia. Bottom is Candy Land. This gravy boat has some variations in the glass which are nice. Flower is Neil Diamond - very fragrant. This is just a plain glass bowl. I kind of like the weird fisheye effect of the photo but in person it is just a dish. Top Candy Land, bottom Fred Loads. They all look good with flowers in them but the ones with more character look better when sitting on the shelf empty. I'm going to keep my eye out for vintage/antique cut glass bowls.