I NEED A GOOD BIRD DOG

I discovered that the culprits attacking my Asian pears are birds . The bites appeared to be what a squirrel or rat would make and if I hadn't seen it for myself I wouldn't have believed it was the birds. I had no clue that birds could be so destructive.

My Jojo is a rat terrier and chases them and the squirrels but the birds are so high up she doesn't pay attention to them. Cleo, the Norwegian Elkhound, doesn't pay attention to them at all.

The tree is rather small so I bought a net and wrapped it around and secured it to the trunk. If this doesn't work I will have to try some other suggestions. I've been reading up on it and some people go so far as to tie paper bags around the fruit. Then we'll certainly having people making remarks about our " bag tree. " I once tied rocks on strings to train the young Pear's branches and someone asked me what kind of tree it was. I couldn't resist and said it's a rock tree of course.

One of my friends suggested an electronic "bird in distress " device that is suppose to scare them off. If all else fails I'll probably try it .

WHAT CRITTER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ?

Asian Pears

For the past several mornings I have been picking the half eaten fruit from my Asian pear tree. I don't think the squirrels did this because they usually pull the fruit off the tree and run with it.

SO, I thinks to myself . I'm gonna catch that pear eatin' critter. My trusty watchdog Cleo must not have heard the creature or she would have caught it for sure. She hate squirrels with a passion.

SO, I set up my trap for this evening -all kinds of wind chimes in the tree to alert Cleo that this silent intruder is up to no good.

Can't wait until tommorrow to see what it was.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY

Welcome to Sweet Home and Garden Chicago . It's August 15 and I have two occasions to mark : Korean Independence Day ( above is their National Flower , Hibiscus Syriacus, which has been in bloom in my garden since early July) and Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day . So go over to Carol of May Dreams Gardens and let her know if you are posting.

Walk This Way

Can't beat Blackeyed Susans for the longest bloom time and little deadheading

Fast- fading Coneflowers

Waterlily

Butterfly Weed

Long-blooming 'Clare Curtis' Mum

Marigold and Fast-fading Bear's Britches

Lime and red coleus

These are a few of my favorite things. Sedum 'Autumn Joy ' is beginning its blush as well.
Dejavu. Aren't these the same flowers that were blooming July 15 ?

KARAOKE QUEEN

I believe it was the Koreans that invented Karaoke, or " empty Orchestra " as it is called. When I was growing up in the deep South we were used to singing along with the radio, in church, etc. I was even good enough to sing duet in church. Southerners love to sing. So do Koreans.

I discovered the Koreans love of singing after being married to one for a number of years and attending get-togethers that always ended in song fests. Then, along came Karaoke, which first started in bars . Then came sophisticated machines for home entertainment.

One holiday evening we attended a New Year's Party at a friend's home where everyone was Korean except for Moi. Sure enough, after dinner, the singing began , this time with the Karaoke machine. Soon as I went to the ladies room and came back I was told it was my turn. Caught offguard, I just picked the song I knew best - " Beautiful Brown Eyes. " As soon as I belted it out, the machine gave a fanfare and drew a yellow line across the screen that stopped at 99 . I heard whooping and hollering and some were jumping up and down .

What? What ? , I asked. " You've won !" was the reply. " Won what ? " $200 , the first prize. I had no idea there was a prize, if I had I would've been so nervous I know I would have messed it up good. No one has ever hit a 99 score in the four years the machine had been in operation, they said . Geez ! I was astonished. I knew there were better singers than me so I encouraged everyone to try to beat my score, but for the rest of the evening no one came even near. And believe you me the Koreans are damn good singers.

At the end of the evening, my hubby Simon and I sang together and got the next highest score - 98 !

I tried to look at my win very logically and came to the conclusion that the computer was not judging as humans judge , but by pitch. I had perfect pitch ! I'm not the best singer, but then I'm not the worse. I can carry a tune. Or , so , the computer thinks I can. I told our host if he ever wanted to sell that Karaoke machine, I'd be the first in line.

STAR VEGETABLES

Calling all braggarts with the biggest and best veggies. Kitchen gardens international is holding a contest for a video featuring your star vegetables and the first prize is $500 plus a lot of publicity.

For full details visit their website at www.kitchengardensinternational.org