Some success, some sorrow

The baby bunny died yesterday. Not sure why. It was energetic but not very hungry in the morning before I went to work. When I got home it was dead. Maybe infection to the leg wound. I had kept it in the box lined with cloth in the house, so it didn't get too hot. From what I've read, abandoned bunnies don't usually survive, though.

The missing bunny is holing up in the neighbor's storage tent in his back yard. Tried coaxing it out but it's skittish, as rabbits tend to be. Just have to keep trying.

Having some success with soil condition. Even in the extreme temps we're having, the soil is now retaining some moisture. Enough that I don't have to water every day as I had to for a while. Hence, I could skip watering today. Things are still coming up in the garden, though the heat is having a bad effect on some plants.

After harvesting the Romaine, I noted lots of holes in other plants. Seems I displaced a large aphid infestation. Haven't wanted to drive off the butterflies and ladybugs but something had to be done. Garlic apparently drives them away, while tomato leaf spray only affects aphids. Not enough tomato leaves to treat the whole garden. So, I mixed up a batch of combined tomato leaf and liquid garlic extract in the sprayer and treated the whole garden. I could see the aphids scattering as I sprayed. I was sure to treat the trenches, cardboard and underside of leaves as I went. Left out soap from the solution, not wanting to burn plants. Did that yesterday and today the plants seem to be recovering nicely. The butterflies don't seem to mind the mixture much, after all. They're still fluttering around.

Got on the roof yesterday and built the shelter for the swamp cooler. Covers three sides and the top. Made it from wood pallets. Tried to paint it white but had bought spray paint and it didn't work so well. So I'll have to get up there sometime and paint it by hand. Works well, shades much of the cooler but allows air flow to get through. Think I will add a piece of plywood to the top to limit more sun. Whole thing can just be tilted for access to the cooler.

I also put up some makeshift awnings over the two largest back windows. Just blue tarps attached to the roof at one end and roped and staked at the other end. Keeps the afternoon sun out of the windows but still lets light through.

Okay. Off to bed at a decent time for when I have to get up.