The weather finally broke today and all I can say is God bless us southerners. It's been an extended period of heat and drought for those who don't know how to stay cool, and even those of us who pay out the wazoo to do so. Today, September 11, is the first time it's been decent enough to venture outside and play, and boy did I ever. Me and the dogs enjoy the out of doors more than anything but the extremes of temperature just give us a fit.
I've got this banged up grill that a friend left here that works just fine with instant light charcoal to cook enough meat for a day or three. We fired it up this afternoon and slapped on some chicken and sirloin, plus a pack of jumbo hot dogs. Food fit for a king, ya'll. It's nice to walk the yard again taking in the sights and sounds of early autumn. My total yield on apples this year was two, and the horses got one of 'em sliced up, eaten straight from my hand this evening.
A few years ago Mama and Daddy gave me a pot of autumn clematis for my September birthday. I planted it up against the wooden fence that surrounds the propane tank and boy did that sucker take off the next year! It seeds and flowers with such gusto that I've shared it with many others since then. Prune it hard in early spring and it will delight you from April 'til October. This vine needs something to climb on, so give it some support. If you're an in-the-box kind of gardener, you'll wear yourself OUT trying to keep it off of neighboring vegetation. The only other vine, other than kudzu, that takes over with such a vengeance, is Virginia creeper. Oh yeah...and trumpet vine. And grapevine. And poison ivy.
Y'all be careful out there, ya hear?