It's Dry Out There

It is dry, dry, dry. I've been watering every couple of days or so, but it just seems to disappear by the next day. We're in drought restrictions for the summer, now, so I can only water enough to keep everything alive at the moment.

Just a few minutes ago, though, the wind kicked up and some dark clouds are building. The bamboo - dry and crinkly as it is - is leaning over almost double out there. Hopefully we'll get some rain out of this, but lately it seems everything just skips right over us and dissipates in the air. You'd think, dry as it is, we wouldn't have mosquitos, but it doesn't seem to have deterred them any.

There's a new generation of baby barn swallows peeping out of the nest in the eaves this weekend. The previous set still perches in the porch eaves at night, hunting the bugs attracted to the porch light.

There are a few things blooming. I couldn't get a decent photo of the lantana, which is blooming its little pink and yellow heart out, but here are a couple of photos from the garden today.

There's Only so much Mowing one can do with a Weed Eater. . .

I do own a lawn mower. I'm stating this for the record, because if a stranger were to look at my lawn right now, they wouldn't be able to tell. I've been the proud owner of a Black and Decker electric mower for about a year and a half.

I've read complaints that electric mowers just aren't as efficient as gas powered mowers, but it's never been an issue in my garden. My yard isn't big to begin with, and I'm frankly not picky about mowing. So long as I can see to walk through the grass to get to the flower beds safely, I'm good. In my opinion, a lawn isn't something to be worried over. At best, it's utilitarian; at worst, it's taking up valuable planting space. Also, with gas prices getting so high and that brown haze we've been seeing around Central Texas increasing over the last few years, I was happy to find a mower that could do the job as well as I desired cheaply and without added exhaust. The quiet engine was an added bonus.

A few weeks ago, my mower stopped dead, halfway through the front yard. It just stopped. There had been this rattling sound when I'd first started it up for the season, but I hadn't been able to locate the source, so it wasn't exactly a surprise. I just didn't think it would be difficult to get it repaired. Then I started looking for a repair shop.

None of the small engine repair shops around here will touch the things. I finally located a repair shop whose owner directed me to the local Black and Decker service center -- who knew they had one? Not I. Local, by the way, is a relative term. It's in North Austin off Mopac. I'm -- not.

Anyway, long story short, my poor lawn has been without a mower for about a month. That's right, a month in prime Central Texas growing time. Which is why, every so often while waiting for the parts that have been on back-order, I've gone a bit wild with the weed whacker. I'll have my lawn mower back next week, though, and all will once again be right with the world.