2008 Vacation - Around the Yard

June was a good month for getting everything off to a decent start.  It was a cooler month with more precipitation
than what we normally see.  It all looks pretty good.  Need to double-check the sprinklers and timers before
we go on vacation, and attend to some other things but first, a trip around the yard.  

This time around in the interest of gas conservation we are staying in Nevada for the most part, with a stopover
in Bishop and then back north home.

These Sails really cut down on UV rays	Someone else likes the shade too
A young Scrub Jay	The Cactus patch is out in bloom.
Opuntia Basilaria Sp.	Sometimes the bees in these blossoms act intoxicated.

One thing I found during cactus inspections  was that a number of the larger plants were rotted out in the center - the
roots were gone.  I think what happened was that I may have over watered them last year, hence the rot.
I took the opportunity to thin things out, move them around, import some from the west 40 and take some cuttings.

Cholla in bloom	New pads on one of  NotoLover's donations.
Opuntia Basilaria	The oldest Cholla
Cholla	Another NotoLover Cacti - Really putting the pads out
This one I found at the bottom of  a bucket a couple years ago.  It was about dead.  It has a very interesting color and is virtually thornless.	The flower here is off of one of the new additions.  A very large opuntia.

On to the Roses

Moving on to roses,   Jan's Wedding	Pink Peace
Common Red Rambler - many blooms this year.	Black Magic - a deep red rose.
Tropicana - quite old	Mr Lincoln - the all time favorite
Darlow's Enigma - going gang busters this year	Cassie - named after a Columbine student
The other once blooming rambler.  It gets a yearly haircut.	Darlow's Enigma .  The container is 8x8 feet.

The roses came on strong this spring.  Major problems with suckers coming out of the root stock on Tropicana and
Mr Lincoln.  There was only one loss this winter and that was replaced with a yellow rose, which looks like it might
be suitable for the climate.  

Angel Face,  Chicago Peace and Home Run  made it through the winter.   Angel Face has had a couple blooms.
Chicago Peace has had one or two blooms and Home Run is living up to its name.

Moving out back:

Dragon Fly on Mormon Tea	Fruit on Desert Peach
We have a couple mounds of these out back.  The plant itself is singularly unattractive and I have been tempted more than once to dig it up.  Nice blooms in the spring though.	These are elderberries on the elderberry tree.  Not quite what I expected.  The fruit are sweet and slightly tart.  It would take a whole lot of these to make a bottle of elderberry wine.
Hedge Apple Plant - I don't think  this is suited to the area,	Red Yucca

Adam's Needle Yucca	Red Hot Poker

Moving on to chairs, time to get serious for a moment.  When considering your next dog, pay some attention to the
skin.  Make a call to your local vet and and ask what breeds are likely to give you the least amount of problems in
Nevada when it comes to sunburn, skin conditions and tumors.  If the dog spends most of its time outdoors and is
a sun god like TC on the right, is there enough hair on the dogs underside to provide adequate protection for the
high desert sun.

Dark haired dogs like the cairn on the left don't have as much to worry about.  Give them a trim in the summer and
they still have lots of hair.  Catahoulas like TC on the right, especially the red leopard variety,  will probably end up
costing you $$$  if you like the dog and want to keep him around for a few more years.

TC started having 'proud' skin on his belly probably around the age of eight years.  Every year thereafter he has
developed at least one bad skin tumor.  Tumor and skin removal has been averaging  $400.00 - $600.00 a year
depending on the size of the tumor and the amount of skin to be removed.

This year prior to vacation, he had to have another one removed. One month ago we noticed what looked like a
large reddish colored zit.  30 days later the 'zit' was about the size of a quarter and looked like a big reddish donut.
One day later I got him in to the vet.  This was a $440.00 visit.


TC, one day after surgery.  This surgery wasn't nearly as invasive as last years.  Notice the reddish blotching on the
skin.  This is not razor burn from hair removal.  This is prime candidate skin for more tumors.

TC was originally an abbreviation for  'Teeth and Claws', from when he was a pup.

Anymore it is short for 'Tumor Control'.

I like Catahoulas as a breed.  They are tough, smart, long lived dogs but if I get another one,  I am going to do some
serious checking about the amount of hair on the undersides and probably go with a blue leopard next time.

Loose Ends

The Crab out in the indian burial mound is still alive and has put on six or eight inches.  I hope this one goes.	Swiss chard and Romaine have been a dinner staple for a couple months now.  The Romaine is just starting to bolt.
The wild flower patch is looking really pathetic so I planted a few annuals and while we are down in Bishop,  I'll see if they have any good deals on Yarrows.	The burn pile is already large.  I haven't done any major thinning out back in about 10 years and some areas were getting difficult to walk through so I pulled a bunch of sage brush and did some major pruning.

It is getting time to hit the road.  I can't do much more damage here.  This time around I opted for a Subaru Forester,
a hybrid SUV which is supposed to get great gas mileage.  That would be helpful.

Down at the end of Johnson Lane,  I saw something you don't see every day:



This is a yellow headed blackbird.  They like the marshy areas.


We stayed the night in Fallon.  It was very hot and to the north was the pall from the California Fires.

The cheapest gas in town was $4.29.   This will be an interesting trip.