The Finishing Touches with 19 Days to Go.

My motto: Small steps for big feats...or big fetes. Little by little, paint stroke by paint stroke, nail by nail, the gingerbread house might be finished before Cappy gets off the boat. I still need to get the contractor to call me back so's we can get some lights fixtures installed and the new 37" HD tv hung on the wall. If...a big IF, I can get the inside finished (for this phase anyhow...the next step will be a huge shed/art studio at the end of the driveway...THEN the kitchen redo.) then I can then turn my attention to the yard, which has taken a severe turn for the worse over the Summer, due to my neglect. As it is, Cappy keeps reminding me that I need to get the garden planted if we are going to have any okra and yellow crooked neck squashes coming along. A lot of people have already had okra going, from early in the Summer, but we waited til now, but it's still a good time for crops to grow. One of the things that thrill me about this part of the country is that, instead of one growing season, there are several. I'm still at opposite ends of the planting season; when the other gardeners are putting their flower beds TO bed for the so-called Winter down here, I'm planting my petunias and 'shee-shee froo froo' flowers, which stay up and party while the rest of the neighborhood's iris' and geraniums, etc. are sound asleep. The neighbors' gardens are GLORIOUS in the Spring and Summer, while I hide out in the house, trying to stay out of the heat. And that's how I accomplish a ratty looking Summer yard and re-establish my reputation as a danged Yankee.