Dog days

Dog days of summer here & my potted plants are thriving on lots of rain & sun. Inparticular, my newly acquired (for my bday in March) Staghorn fern - it's at least doubled in size since I brought it home.

I killed two while living in Athens so I'm pretty stoked it's doing well here. Not that I'm doing much differently with it - this just happens to be the perfect climate for these epiphytic plants. Much like orchids they attach themselves to trees & really don't need much in the way of dirt to survive.

When I see this:

I think of cooler nights, outside parties with a fire, wood smoke, dark beers, football, & Athens.

Bow season opens in matter of weeks. And for us that means fresh venison. It's our main animal protein source = wild, fresh, & local. And better yet, it's processed completely in house (I have to put props to Joe here - as I'm usually only involved when it comes time to wrap & tape). Since we buy almost no 'grocery store meat' - it's a time to stockpile for the coming year. By our calculations (and judging from our very empty freezer), this year we need 8-10 deer to see us thru.