May 25-May 26 2011 Acres and Acres

More rains last night, but not much.  My brother came up with a friend of his and took David and I out to eat. It was nice.

The caterpillar was still around this morning but wasn't on the plant anymore.  Frog is still around too!

The wormies are happy still.  Treelings look okay.  I know that's not proper terminology, but I like the way it sounds. I wish had acres and acres.  I would plant an orchard, have some chickens, some goats, a great vegetable garden. I'd also make sure there was adequate plantings around for rabbits, squirrels, deer, birds, and other wildlife. I would have a blast. 

I'm going to try to remember to stop and pick up some mushroom fertilizer on the way home.  Someone suggested it for my trees.

I don't think I mentioned it before, but they had a tornado down in Denning and Altus a day or so ago. Four people were killed and I think 33 injured. Donation sites are popping up all over the place to help with Joplin and the smaller tornadoes.

May 23 2011 Tornadoes

Last night a tornado wrought havoc on Joplin, Missouri.  National Public Radio this morning reported that 70% of the town was flattened and the death count was at eighty-nine. Last count this evening was 116, again from the NPR news. City-data.com claims that Joplin's tornado activity is historically higher than the rest of Missouri and is 161% above the national average.  I'm not sure where they got that information though or if it's even true. Joplin's public library has a digitized collection of photographs from a 1971 tornado. West Siloam Springs is also said to have been in the path of this 2011 tornado on its way to Joplin.

Here on the homestead, we got just under 2 inches of rain since last night and it's about 60 degrees. There's standing water under the skinny magnolia, in the spot where we turn around, under the big tree out back, where the gas and water lines are, and in some holes the dogs dug. Did I mention the last winds that we had snapped the tops of my tall blueberry bush?  The blueberries are gone of course.  Oh well. And the catnip and bronze fennel may not have survived David's mowing yesterday.  Again, oh well.  I need to plant the mint out there.

Once it dries out, I'll plant the rest of the trees out front. It will eventually give us more privacy from the street.

Couldn't believe it, but that caterpillar is still out munching on the passionflower vine.