A Lilac Hydrangea

 I have saved the hydrangea (the above photo is about 5 years old). This is the color I get when I add nothing to the soil. Not pink, not blue, just lilac.  I prefer blue so I add sulfur. If you want more pink, add lime. 

My hydrangeas were whittled down to nubs by a well-meaning nephew. Who also happened to whittle down my lilac tree to nubs. I managed to save both of them. It was probably the absolute best thing for them. So I won't have blooms for a couple of years. They are still alive. He has a degree in Natural Resources and Conservation so perhaps he knew what he was doing. Nah. His work lets him travel all over. Currently he is somewhere in the state of New York testing water for a crew. It's probably a fracking company or something similar and the water can't have a certain amount of pollution or chemicals in it.

I am still on my reading kick. For some odd reason I am hooked on books about serial killers. Currently I'm reading "The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers" by Harold Schechter.  When that subject gets to me and I need a break I switch over to a Jackson Browne biography by Rich Wiseman. I also like to read autobiographies and biographies. Browne is one of my two favorite singers from the late 70's and early 80's. Bob Seger being the other one.  Vern Gosdin pulls a close third from my life in Virginia in the mid 80's. And Neil Diamond gets an honorable mention.

 I throw in a fiction story now and then. I get my recommended book titles from Goodreads. I do not like Fantasy, dystopia, zombie, vampire or science fiction. Mystery is my favored category for fiction. I also can't handle romance very much. I'll tolerate it if it is in the story but only if it is not the main part of the plot.  Don't get me wrong. I love romance as much as the next person. My best friend and I joined the Harlequin Romance Book club and we shared their books. I laugh at them, now. But we were 14 years old. 

The bearded dragon is doing well. A new UVB light and he sheds about a week later. I figure a new bulb (like tanning booths) is strong and gives him a beardie sunburn?  So he sheds. Just my thoughts, don't know if it is actual fact. I am learning more about the water turtle. She is not friendly (my daughter rescued her from a negligent friend of her beau). She does like the splashy bubbles from the filter to hit her shell. Earlier today I thought she was kicking the hell out of the filter. (I had changed the carbon filter inside and I figured I made her mad). But later I saw that she enjoys letting the bubbles massage her shell. My daughter said some turtles like to have their shell scratched/rubbed. I rub it but all she does is try to get away from me. At least she quit hissing at me. She knows who gives her blueberries and strawberries and apples. And worms. I share the beardie's worms with her.

Shells

 Where are the shells?  Does the Mother eat them?

Good Weather, Bad Weather

 Went to the park yesterday to visit with some family. We had a small (quickly threw together) picnic. One of the little ones dropped their sandwich and this squirrel grabbed the piece of bun. And this is how s/he at it. Stretched out upside-down on a tree. We think s/he was showing off.

The weather was beautiful yesterday. Currently our weather for one week can be summed up as such: run the furnace for 3 days, run the A/C for two days and two days open the windows. 

Books:

 Hell's Princess by Harold Schechter.  Non-fiction. True story about female serial killer in Indiana in late 1800's early 1900's.

Before She Was Helen by Caroline B Cooney. Fiction. I actually enjoyed this one. The writing style.

Blood and Money by Thomas Thompson. More non-fiction about a socialite from Texas possibly murdered by her doctor husband.

And, The Babysitter by Liza Rodman.  True story of a young girl who hung out with a  motel handyman during the summer breaks between school and it was discovered that he was a serial killer of young women in the Cape Cod area.

Update on the water turtle. Discovered her shell "pyramiding" (not sure of the spelling there). Anyway, the shell begins to lift and separate from the body because the turtle is getting too fat. Uh oh. Perubee hangs her head in shame.  It was only greens for crying out loud!  Some apple, carrots, greens, squash, lots of blueberries....How can she get fat from that?  So, I have to sit at my computer and watch her "beg" for food. I give her two tiny pieces of vegetable or fruit a day, now. It's hard.

 On the other hand - the beardie is eating his greens more than the squash and carrots.  I guess their tastes change like ours. The fun thing is -- it is dandelion season. The bearded dragon loves the flower part of the dandelion. I've tried to get him to eat the greens, but he does not. We do not treat our lawn with any pesticides.  Once I rinsed the flowers off but they drooped and looked all wilted and he didn't eat them. When I put them in there when they are nice, plump and yellow he goes right for them.