Yard Stories

Good Morning - taking time off from my normal Brewer blog over at Grinders Warehouse to fill you in on what I've been up too! But first - speaking of the Brewers if you have not seen this from last nights game it's amazing! ALTHOUGH not actually the smartest thing but . . . it worked. Coach Roenicke I can see is saying "ummmm. I would rather see a SURE out".

http://youtu.be/diL08dPutDs



Anyway - more on the Brewers at Grinders Warehouse.

On to some bigness!

We're looking into getting our carpet cleaned and figure MAYBE just buying a carpet cleaner would be cost efficient - anybody have any recommendations?  We have a dog that since he had a stroke a few years ago and is now deaf has a little pee problem.  Anyone?

Also - I'm now on Twitter  @RodMelotte    (What does #news mean, the "#" is confusing me).  One person asked why I was not using an alter-ego like my hero Tony Plush,  Well . . .I AM!  You guys have never actually seen the REAL me!   I'm totally different.

In other deep thoughts - why do TV reporters always stand IN THE WATER when reporting on floods.  I saw one woman up to her chest in 4 feet of water yesterday and I'm like all "yea, I get it, deep water, I understand the concept"  and then this morning I saw a guy with with big boots on standing in 1 inch of water like come on, that's the best you can do?  Man up dude!!

Yesterday I finished the landscaping job Elwood and I started Saturday before . . .before . . . before I had The Meltdown.

You see every spring Brian (Elwoodd) and I go on a nursery tour.  He has it all mapped out on what little plants are where so first we stopped at Johansens Nursery, looked around for Coreposis but did not find what I was looking for then on to the Flower Factory south of Madison and it was COLD and spitting rain.  We got a bunch of stuff, Sweet Autumn Clematis,  Coreposis (Moonbeam), and some other things only known for their Latin name which only Elweed knows! And lastly Jungs!

We stop at Eddies Bar and Grill in Sun Prairie** for a huge lunch and finally get to my place about 3:00.

**Note - if you ever have a chance to have a Youngs Double Chocolate Stout IN CANS - get it - AMAZING BREW!!!!

We're moving things around and it was starting to be like dominoes!  Move this to their and move that to here.  We wanted to plant the Moonbeams but had to move a few plants which went to another place already occupied and to move those we had to move something else and so forth. 

By the time we're ready to take a real break it's like 6:30. So we open another beer and I light up a victory Cohiba cigar.    Halfway through my beer and cigar  - BAM - it hits!  HOLE CRAP - I can't even stand up, I dizzy, got the spins and sweating, my heart is pounding, I got gas or what feels like it and all systems are starting to shut down!!

I go lay down for a while and . . . long story short - I hurled and hurled and hurled for an hour and DJ thought I was going to die or something.  Man I was totally down for the count!  It was a nightmare.  It was like having serious spins from getting drunk but throwing up was not helping - it was the nicotine with my heart pounding and I just could not focus!   Meanwhile Elweed is hungry and does not know how to light the new grill (** new grill story later).

I got better - FINALLY!    Anyway - here are a few documentary photos of the rockery we work on.  The first shot of of the north end of the Rockery, that is Phlox Subulata "Emerald Blue" that is blooming

Here you can see the Emerald Blue with the Periwinkle under the deck. That is really filling in the area under the deck that use to be all weeds.   That green area between Emerald Blue and Periwinkle is Georgia Blue which will be awesome when it flowers and is spreading wonderfully!  You can see the tiny flowers in the photo below this one. The plant will be covered with tiny blue flowers.

This is what I was working on yesterday - we put in this rock walkway last year and using some Thymus Praecox "Red Creeping Thyme" which we grew I separated and planted in the open areas (after fixing the dirt). 

And this just started blooming 2 days ago. One of the many Saxifraga.

Everything is about 2 weeks behind last year.    I also planted two Black Eyed Susan Vines on our front yard light!  They are annuals and I put two in late late last year and loved them so - we shall see how a full year goes - this is what they look like.

More as things bloom!

New Grill - I got rid of my rusty propane grill and purchased THE PERFORMER!!  It's a charcoal grill - HOWEVER - here is the thing.  Do not use briquettes. They are full of crap you don't want in your body- get lump charcoal.  The stuff is awesome.  It's 100% wood, very smoky (like a smoker) gives a GREAT flavor, burns faster so you can go from lighting to eating in a half hour and has very very little ash.

I even found a place that reviews all the lump charcoal.

The Lump Charcoal Database  - I have Cowboy Lump Charcoal just because it's what I found but Manards has it at half the price (like $3 for a big bag). Now I'm looking other kinds of lump charcoal . . . I'm obsessed with lump charcoal.   

The ONLY problem I see is that if the wind is going the wrong direction you end up smelling like a camp fire.
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Have a great Tuesday - I think I'll have go to the farmers market tomorrow in Madison.

Cheers
Rod