The end of summer is near.

With a chill in the air last night after we harvested and took out some plants because they were at the end of their seasons, Chris and I fired up the chimnea and sat in front of the fire for a couple hours.


This signals that summer is nearing an end. Prematurely?

You see, Summer here in NorCal usually lasts through September, and often is warm still into October. But it has been getting rather chilly at night, and the days are around 90-93^o, which although average, is cooler than we are used to.

Looks like we can look forward to a cold winter.

We were actually relatively quiet because it was so peaceful in our neighborhood last night - no barking dogs, car noise, airplanes, or screaming kids. It was hard to form a thought because of this peace. I wish I had this feeling more often!

But we did make a list for Home Depot so we could get the free six month financing deal. Haha! Of course. So this morning we purchased:

Black & Decker Alligator Loppers: "They worked better than I expected them to." - Chris. He made short work of the photinias in the back. Did I mention we have new big plans for the back? A new post upcoming!
Epoxy Flooring Paint: For the garage. Matches the cabinets.
Muriatic Acid: To etch the garage floor before the epoxy? I dunno, it's what the directions stated. Not to thrilled about buying something with "acid" in the name.
Scrubber head for end of roller pole: To scrub the garage floor clean. x2
Roller pole: So we can both scrub the floor at the same time. (We already have one)
Paint roller covers: So we can paint the epoxy on the floor.
Hand axe: Would have been helpful last night when Chris was chopping wood for the chimnea fire.
A couple metal files: For tools that need some renovating.
Cloth masks: For when you really want to cover your nose.

When we have time, we will do the floor. Not sure when that will be exactly.

Update on "assassin bug"

It's not an assassin bug, but instead a Katydid. We found an adult clinging to the screen as our cat tried to bat it around.

When we guessed it was a katydid and did a visual search on whatsthatbug.com, we found that what we thought was an assassin bug is actually a nymph katydid. After not finding anything online that would indicate that they are harmful in the small numbers we have, we let them live. Bird food? This adult was missing a leg. Perhaps.




Too bad the hummingbird that I fought with over the bee balm won't eat them. Then it could serve as food for something.