Grrrrrrr...Report from the Garden

I am so frustrated today.  After 3 days of rain (over 4 inches of water in the rain gauge), I headed out to the Way Back to see how our garden had fared.  Well, everything seems to have survived all the rain...tomatoes look taller; peppers are perky; zucchini seems to have grown a foot since I last looked.  But a couple of crops have succumbed to some varmint or other. 

I no longer have any peas on the vine...nor do I have any sweet potato slips either.  Something devoured all 18 (!) sweet potatoes...just sheared them off at ground level.  That photo is one I took last week, just after I'd planted the second row.  Hard to tell what it is, I realize.  Just trust me when I say, all you would see if I took the same shot today would be two empty, damp dirt rows in front of the stakes that are surrounding the strawberry patch.  At least the pea trellis will soon have new residents in the form of the new cucumber vines from those seeds that are pushing up through the soaked soil.

I've battled the bunnies before, never getting any green peas to grow in any previous gardens, so I was not so surprised to see the damage done on those veggie vines. You would think rabbits would be a bit cautious when setting up shop on the same property with a brace of hounds...but you would be wrong.  Anyway, I've never grown sweet potatoes before, so I checked all my gardening books (my library is growing weekly, I might add...:) only to discover a notation that deer like sweet potatoes.  I don't think deer visited our little neck of the NC woods...no tracks that I can see.  No, I still think it's rabbits.  Now, why it took "them" a whole week to discover a tasty patch of sweet potato vines is beyond me.  But, "they" sure have mowed 'em down now.  Sigh.  Maybe Home Depot still has some slips for sale?  I'll have to check...

Otherwise, we are enjoying a brief respite from the rains, when no work can be done on the weeds that have popped up in the last few days until the soil dries out a little.  Meanwhile, I've been repotting some of the indoor plants that N/M/E received for her birthday:  a dish garden with pothos, palms, and prayer plant; a peace lily; and an aglaonema "Silver King." 

And, because we had a wet weekend, Mr. T checked off one of his "Rainy Day" chores:  install a new light in the kitchen.  If you've been to our house, you know we struggle with the low level of lighting (the previous owners must have been bats...or otherwise light-sensitive...:)  -- lots of ceiling fans, not a lot of light from the inadequate fixtures.  The lighting in the kitchen was so poor that I couldn't read my cookbooks without walking into another room and using a table lamp. 

No more. 

Now, I can see everything!  I can see all those fingerprints on our cabinets...and on our new three-door refrigerator...yikes!  Yep, we got a new fridge (love it!) and a new dishwasher (love it, too!) a couple of weeks ago...thanks to an instant rebate program from the state of North Carolina on Energy Efficient appliances.  We weren't planning on getting replacements until we updated the kitchen in a couple of years, but what the heck?  Couldn't pass up 30% off from the store and a freebie extra 15% off from the state, now could we?  Certainly don't miss those mis-matched monsters that the previous owners left for us.  No sirree...I'm having way too much fun generating crushed ice.  Now, if I could just find an energy efficient stove, so I could replace the sad one that came with the house...no such thing, but doesn't stop me from wishing...!