I think it's gotten bigger? Maybe?

I can't figure out how to get a weather widget on my blog. The one app that has it I followed the directions and it says 'copy the html in the box below and paste it into the edit'...whatever, no code showed up after I chose all the things I wanted.

Anyway.. it's overcast a little misty and might not break mid 70's today. Wonderful weather! I even have pictures of moisture on the plants!

Formatting pictures is wonky too. I will use exactly the same actions as previous entries and I get this.

Sigh.

Anyway, I picked the tomato that was ready, another on the way and the zucchini may be stalled out. Previous one was twice this size after I pollinated it.

 

So if it doesn't double in size in the next day or so then it will start turning yellow at the blossom end. Come on guys get it together! I almost have enough tomatoes to make salsa or something. Three tomatoes and LOTS of peppers. Not enough nitrogen to really grow anything leafy like basil and too hot for cilantro though that's coming up in about a month. Might look into it after the next heat wave though.

One thing I wanted to point out was the azalea bush that is blooming again in our complex. From what I can see it's one of the Encore azaleas. They bloom more than once during the season, and by season I mean it blooms in the spring as it should then it gets another set of blooms like this in the summer.

 The flowers really are that bright pink, though this is a bit overexposed. It's going to bloom like this for a few weeks then rest and likely start up again when it cools down. Encore is the particular hybrid family and this one I think is called 'Autumn Jewel'. All of them are 'Autumn...xxx' because they were developed for colder winter areas azaleas normally only bloom in the spring and nothing for another year. These are cool weather triggered so technically it shouldn't be blooming now but it is because we had some cooler weather after heat which to a plant means 'hey it's fall! time to bloom again!'. Right, silly plants.

Something else that appeared the other day after taking Rocky for a walk:

Hard to tell but that's a katydid on the neighbors door. Another destructive little chewer that especially likes large flowers like hibiscus. They eat leaves too, but years ago there was a hibiscus bush near where I parked and when I left in the morning I saw two of these on a bright red hibiscus flower. I thought oh that's cool! Came home and there were holes all over the flower and some parts were really bit into. Well I grabbed them as fast as I could and tossed them as far as I could, didn't stomp on them. Still have a hard time doing that.

For someone who grew up with an expansive yard and wild areas to explore, I have always loved having nature around me. The idea of living in an apartment building in the middle of a city makes me cringe and feel closed in. I've got to have trees and bushes even if they're planted and planned in a landscape it's something. My guy, Jon grew up in Harlem in New York, he loves the city but he also had Central Park as his backyard. The idea of people not wanting something green around even if it's houseplants seems very wierd and psychotic to me. 

I bring this up because I am still hoping some day to have my own place, I've been looking at mobile homes for sale because that's cheaper than an actual house. Most of these are geared to older people that don't want to take care of a yard and go to great lengths to put down rock and fake plants because they still want something 'green'. Even if it turns blue after a few years in the sun.When people came in to ask for weed killer I had to be very specific about where they wanted to kill weeds and how dead did they want them. The term I used is 'mobile home park dead' due to the almost universal use of decorative rock surrounded by the red scalloped brick edging found in so many places.

I'm being rather whiney right now due to having less money very soon. I still tend my plants and hope for better days for my crops and for me. Never give up on having plants. If you learn to take care of them and nurture them you will be one step closer to being able to care for others just as well.