With the heat wave that seems to be sweeping much of the country this week, please remember not to overdo it if you’re working in your garden or on the lawn.

What are the signs of heat stroke?  Dr. Weil’s Daily Blog reviews warning signs including:

• A sudden change in your mental status - confusion, hard time speaking
• All sweating stops
• Rapid and shallow breathing
• Racing heart
• Headache
• Red or flushed skin

If you experience any of these symptoms, call 911 and get inside or in the shade immediately.  Try to cool off including removing your clothing, spray or pour water over yourself (or a person in trouble) and then fan yourself or them.

Before you ever reach that point, though, be sure you have plenty of water with you.  Take frequent breaks … work five or ten minutes and then rest just as long (or longer).  If you don’t have to go outside in the miserable heat, don’t!  The weeds will be there tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.  Get to the yard or garden work when you can, but don’t hurt yourself over it!

Photo from Buncombe County Egov site, June 2008 issue.

Maybe I’m slower than others in my neighborhood, but I finally saw lightning bugs this week. Thousands and thousands of them.  When one accidentally gets in the house - unlike flies, mosquitoes, crane flies, or other bugs - I don’t swat them.  I try to catch and release these winged wonders.  I think they’re beautiful.  But my cat thinks they’re delicious.

Here’s what Aunt B. said about lightning bugs,

Last night, we sat out in the hammocks, catching up, and watching the lightning bugs. I’m still not convinced, completely, that they are lightning bugs. Their lights stayed on for too long and none of them seemed too interested in each other.

But in the end of her post she talks about the loss of a teenaged son of a friend.  Had it not been for the Internet, I would’ve never heard about it.  Instead, we’re connected and share somehow the Mom’s grief across the nation.

I hope a summer night watching lightning bugs will somehow someday someway help bring some peace to his mother.

Photo by DaveDeHetre via flickr creative commons.

From TheoGeo,

Unless you live on a hundred acre farm (okay, maybe one acre is a lot, too!), it doesn’t have to cost a lot to maintain a lush, green lawn.  The frugal trader over at Million Dollar Journey offered some real tips on how much it would cost to maintain the lawn yourself rather than hiring a landscaper,

Here are some of the costs of the materials from the local hardware store (like Home Depot).  Note that the materials are for a standard 50×100 city lot (in NL).

• Lime:  $5.99 per bag x 4 (2 applications, 2 bags per application) = $24
• Fertilizer: $16 per application/bag (3 applications) = $48
• Aeration: I own a 2 prong aeration tool, and only used in compacted soil areas: $20
• Spreader: $35
• Total: $127 first year, $72 per season after.

When he compared the price of a landscaper who charged about $400 per season, the $127 total price is pretty tempting.

I love walking around my yard with my camera.  Here are some photos from today… just for a fun Friday diversion.

and….

Have a great weekend!

You may or may not have heard, but in the middle Tennessee area, we experienced the 500 year flood in early May.  There was loss of lives and loss of property (in the billions), but never loss of hope. The communities have really come together to support each other - strangers helping strangers, people showing compassion and love rather than greed and barbarism.

That is the good that has come from a bad thing.  Also good are the beautiful flowers in Aunt B.’s yard that really blossomed hugely because of the satisfying drink of water they got.

Another interesting item I read on Aunt B.’s site was about what survived the flood,

Places that were unweeded suffered little loss of soil, if any. Places that had been weeded and fretted over? That’s where I lost soil. Large amounts of it.

I think this just proves that weeding is not only the worst part about gardening, but that weeds serve a useful purpose–they hold your soil in place.

There are flower weeds… maybe we should plant those in our yards when monsoon season returns next year.

Petunias are a hardy, yet beautiful flower that are ideal for early spring planting.  If the weather gets chilly, they can survive but petunias also do well on sunny, warm days.

Make sure they have plenty of water, but water in the morning or evening when the sun isn’t dangerously hot.  Petunias can be re-potted for planters on the porch or can be replanted directly into the ground.  What’s most important is they are in a sunny spot - the more sunshine the happier they are!

Vino y Queso wrote,

Nevertheless, just like every year I am still a little in awe that we made it through winter, and everything is green again. So look instead of listen for a while.

Yes, green is what we like.  And the photos! Perfect! Thank you sharing, Saracita.

I went today to put flyers in a box for one of my sellers today.  They’ve already moved to Atlanta, so I didn’t think they’d mind me taking a couple of lilacs from their gorgeous lilac bush.  The smell in my office is to-die-for!  The smell is almost as beautiful as this photo from scenes from my hood,

or these gorgeous pink flowers…

Have a fabulous weekend!

Genius comes in many forms and the latest is in the form of a hanging fruit basket combined with an herb garden.  From the kitchen section of Apartment Therapy,

This design concept from Måns Salomonsen is not just good-looking — it’s very clever, too. The herb garden on top absorbs excess moisture from the fruit, and then as it this moisture evaporates it cools the area below — helping the fruit stay fresh longer.

Brilliant!