tractors

 
 
 
We went to the coolest tractor show last weekend. Since I'm still having issues with my blogger thingie, I'm not sure if all those codes I see above this will turn into actual photos or not. Please be patient. Eventually I will get this figured out.

tomato envy

 
There is supposed to be a nice color photo here of my brother's first ripe tomato. All I see is code. Soooo, I'm gonna hit "publish" and see if the photo magically appears or if you'll get a lovely series of code letters and numbers.

flags and flowers

now I can show you

"Dung beetles are powerfully addicted to fresh dung. Beetles are alerted as soon as a nearby animal lifts its tail to defecate and passes a little odorus gas."
Ok. I just thought this was so damn cute I had to buy it. Its only about 3" across and has three tiny legs on the underside. I sent it to my son for his 40th birthday and he immediately proclaimed it his "new wasabi bowl" and will "break it out at the next sushi party." (Oh! So that's what it is!)

what a little compost and sunshine can do

My brother planted his tomatoes last month. Can you say "Ripe well before July 4th?" Just look at these things! He does mulch the heck and by golly out of all his flower and veggie beds and he does have a lot more sunshine warming his garden than I do, but criminy, Its only May 23rd!

These fruits are already more than 3" across. I am SO hungry for a toasted tomato sandwich right now...made with REAL tomatoes....
and fresh basil....and fresh purple onion.....

I Know. I KNOW!

I'm not supposed to be buying more plants right now but I just couldn't resist this Ligularia tussilaginea 'Gigantea' (aka; Farfugium japonicum). For one thing I had a 20% off coupon. For another this seemed like a macho version of the delicate water Lotus "Nelumbo nucefera", not to mention much cheaper and much less demanding of water. Besides, its cute. And it can go to Oregon should the fates happen to tilt in that direction. (ie; is the buyer gonna cough up the money in less than three weeks...or not? Last we heard he wanted a several thousand dollar discount.. I don't bloody think so! Its not our fault he has drug this thing out for over a year. Not our fault that the market has tanked. I don't HAVE to move to Oregon, I just would like to. ) Enough about that.

Its hot here. Depending on which report one reads or which thermometer one looks at, it is 97°. or 98°. Or 95°. All I know is that its awfully friggin' early for July temperatures. Phoebe and I have been standing side by side in the doggie wading pool a lot today. The rooster just cools off with dust baths.

help!

I can't remember the name of this plant nor can I find all the little stakes I'd printed its name on and stuck about in the leaves. I keep thinking that

its common name is "measlewart" but I could be misremembering. It will grow in the shade but wants at least a few hours of sunshine to bloom. The flowers are little greenish star-shaped gals at the ends of the 8' long stalks. Maybe I'll go hunt for the name stake again..now..while its a very pleasant 70° outside.

Big mower

This is the "little" sweetie who helps me get rid of the tall dry weeds and the chasmanthe.

Needed: Herd of buffalo

In April the orchard was in full Sparaxil glory with occasional outcroppings of the pretty, lavendar Oxalis and great patches of the yellow kind. Buried beneath all this green glory were various balls from the grade school, cans and bottles, (sadly, also from the grade school), dead branches from the oak and olive trees and surely a vast population of Elves, Gnomes, Leprachauns, and the occasional Ogre.

By May the Elves, Gnomes, Leprachauns and Ogres had packed up all the flowers and all the green , leaving behind a veritable keep-me-awake-at-night worry about fire. So, Thursday morning the rake and I were out at the school fence by 6:00am and managed to fill two large "greens" cans with dried foxtails and crispy bedstraw. That stretch HAD been mowed several weeks ago but there was a ton of dead grass stems and seed heads in the fence line. The juicy blister on my right paw allowed me to stop and tidy up for my real job. You know, the one that actually pays money?

Friday morning the mower and I spent an hour rolling back and forth between the trees, stirring up clouds of foxtails, dust, and tiny peices of dried Sparaxis. The big mower and I run outta gas about the same time. (By "big" mower I mean this thing has bicycle tires and a "self propelling" gear..another blister issue...and a 24" cutting deck. It can eat a lot of grass in a short time.) It would be better yet

if I had a riding lawnmower-with-bag so that all this fuel could be sucked up off the dirt. Our parents used to have the orchard disked every spring and then they would make ditches along each row and water the trees. The trees have been on their own for several years now and staying alive on winter rains. They are also obviously way out of control in the pruning department. I was elated to notice a 10" Alligator Lizard scurrying away from the noise and bluster of the mower. I was afraid that they had all dissappeared since I hadn't seen one in a few years. They should come down to the house and dine on the snails that the lone rooster misses.

Meanwhile, there are still two rows to mow if anyone is interested....150' x 25' each...........

Whole Earth Day

Oh those UCD Eggheads! Some day it would be fun to just wander the entire campus and "capture" all the sculptures. However, yesterday we were on a shopping mission. The University of California, Davis, hosts the Whole Earth Festival every spring; I believe this was my third visit to the event....certainly it was the most costly. (giggle) After kicking myself for at least 4 years for not buying a certain beautiful painted silk scarf, I decided that I was gonna buy whatever struck my fancy this year...hence, the wonderful bowl. (There's another wonderful ceramic from the same artist (www.VillageClayworks.com , Dublin, CA.) in my collection but I can't show it yet cuz its gonna be a gift. They also had mugs and tiny vases, and bigger vases, and plates, and little serving containers....all hand painted with these delightful

little birds or wonderful little dragonflies. This bowl is 8" across and 2" deep. Must have more!

Besides all the great jewelery, and ceramics, and painted silks, there were many booths selling tie-dye clothing, hemp clothing, and clothing made out of ... well, I'm not sure....sustainable cowhide?LOTS of Hippies and dreadlocks and bare, bejewelled bellies, and oh yes, once in awhile that strange odor of burning leaves...I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of some of the dancers. The live music was great. Its all very peaceful and festive and organic and earthy at the Whole Earth gathering. gulp..was it Whole Earth Festival? Whole Earth Day? Whatever, it was fun. I also have new earrings and a matching pendant as well as a cool, bent tine fork..meant to be a key chain fob but which has become a pendant. The gentleman manning that booth was wearing a beautiful tiedye peace sign t-shirt AND an Obama button. How could I NOT buy something from him? I'll try to remember to post pictures of the jewelery soon...

just a few photos

nothing much

While my computer was recovering from a stroke this week I rearranged my closet contents by color, finished "Alice Waters and Chez Panisse", started "Eat, Pray, Love" and was horrified to discover that I had failed to turn off a hose that had a spray nozzle at the end of it...water spewing 3' high from the split in the hose being my first clue.

Phoebe slew the Compost Rat last night. It was HUGE!

So now, obviously, my computer is working again, thanks to Friend Paul, husband of my Friend, co-worker/boss, Candi. Today I will be going on another Berkeley Adventure with Angela so I'd best get back outside to make sure everything is watered and that all faucets are turned OFF.

Toodles~

chicken talk

All the recent posts about keeping chickens made me post The Rooster. He was hatched here years ago but then escaped one fine day and moved in with some neighbors down the road. Last spring, Peabody-the-peahen went to that same neighbor's in search of a peacock but didn't find one. Instead, she brought this fellow home. Then I found Peabody a home with a peacock so she left...and the rooster is still here. Luckily, my neighbors don't mind him at all. (I ask often) My last few "Banty" hens became dinner for the raccoons. I haven't wanted new chickens only because of my possibly impending move. Will have to find a new home for this old rooster if I DO move. SOME day I do want a couple of hens again. Besides providing eggs, they are the BEST snail eradicators ever.

too much fun at the nursery!

I love shopping where the employees are free to express their exuberance! This would be at Windmill Nursery, Carmichael, CA. Next time I'm gonna ask him to carry plants to my p.u. while walking on his hands. ;>)

compost bins

Several years ago my sweet brother made this double stalled compost bin for me. Pretty handy because its easy to turn the compost by just forking it from one side to the other. It is all screwed together; screws being the only way to go. The bins are 3' x 4' x 3' deep. The spacers on the slidy-slat front are wine corks.

Phoebe checks regularly for our "Compost Rat".

I scored the nice plastic compost bin (from Gardener's Supply) from someone on Craig's List, thanks to Angela a couple of years ago.

It makes nice compost too IF I remember to water it.

Shades of Green

Easter Morn

Not a very good job of hiding the eggs but then, some of us can't see the obvious so this may still be a challenge...

Maud's sister, Judi, is wearing her Easter bonnet. Good thing she has some sort of hat on because her hair is a total mess.

Kaffir lily in almost full glory.

Potlifter

Before I forget, AGAIN, we saw a marvelous "tool" at the SF Flower & Garden Show and promised to blog about it. I noticed when I got home that we must have come across him after my camera was full because I don't have a photo. However, YOU can go to www.potlifter.com and see it for yourself. It really does make lifting heavy things a minimal challenge...'course, ya still need two people but still. Check it out. The folks who invented it are really, really nice too.

I've been tagged!

Ohforcryingoutloud! Lisa Lynch has tagged me. Angela (Garden Bliss) tagged me last year but I failed to play along. Her "tag" was to list 5 things I was thankful for and I just couldn't limit it to 5 so gave up. Sorry Ange! In my 40's my life script was being written by Mel Brooks. Now, 20 years later, he has set it aside and I'm just bumbling along on my own.

1. ok. So yes, I too am a native Californian. Born in Sacramento. Escaped to Oregon when I was 21. Came back down here 12 years ago but have been trying to get moved back up there for at least the past 5. Oregon feels like home to me. Besides, I have a son and daughter up there. Also 5 grand-bunnies and a grand-cat.

2. I once drew cartoons for "The National Woolgrower" magazine, had a (not very good) cartoon published in Baxter Black's book, "Coyote Cowboy Poetry",and had my own greeting card business for a couple of years. No, I don't doodle any more.

3. I've raised horses, sheep cats, dogs, chickens, ducks, goats, calves, kids (as in children), and many gardens.

4. I am VERY computer-challenged.

5. I have been blessed with great friends my whole life. They all have well developed funny bones, are all slightly crazy, and are all wonderful people. Who could ask for more?

more stuff n nonsense

This is the pale green orchid that I bought at the SF Garden Show. Its a mini Cymbidium.

And this would be one of the Indonesian "throws" I bought from Dave at Morningstone Statues. He had me laughing so much that I nearly lost control and bought everything he had in his booth. Seems to me this would look cool up on a wall........certainly it would look better somewhere besides on an old SW saddle blanket!

And thiswould be my new little Dendrobium kingianum, which I also bought at the SF Garden Show. They used flocks of these in the gardens and I hear that they grow very well outside in SF.

SF Garden Show

This will be in fits and starts. For one thing, a lot of my photos turned out sorta blurry. Not sure if that was the photographer, the bad lighting, or the camera but probably a combination of all three.
But I wanted to get something posted before April...


<

Another Odd Pot

I'm thinking this must have been intended for a wastepaper basket for someone who didn't throw much away. Its about 18" tall and 5" in diameter. It ended up at the local Thrift Town and then in my hands. It was very inexpensive; $1.99.

A few holes were punched in the bottom for drainage and then...

it was planted. I'm thinking that instead of the big leafed Tradescantia, some Dichondra argentea "Silver Falls" would look better. There is a Huchera and some Chrondropetalum in there too.

This n that

This fabulous Cymbidium orchid is happily living in an overcrowded pot on the front porch of my friends, Karen & Brett. Now I'm gonna HAVE to have one of my own, dontcha know? I've had good luck with two of the three orchids in the house (a Phalaenopsis and a um, bigger one..."Dtps." and darned if I can remember what that stands for.)

Recently the little buck discovered the pile of cracked corn that was intended for the rooster. When he tired of the corn, he ate a few leaves and most of the berries off the near-by Nandina.

His mama had been busily deleafing the Texas privets, much to my delight. She then came closer to the house to see what
sort of potted things would make a good dessert and stomped a front foot at us (the dog and I) because we had the audacity to be on the other side of the window and taking pictures. I just hope they aren't leaving us any ticks...


The American and Lesser Goldfinch have been thick on the feeders the past several weeks. This is only one of their feeding stations. Foolish person that I am, there are a total of 9 Nyjer feeders scattered around the yard. Very good thing that I get a discount on my seed! (their seed)