plan changer

I finally talked myself into riding my bike this morning..filled the tires, found the lock, found my bike shoes, etc...put the dog into her yard...and soon heard a lot of barking.

This is why. This youngster was right outside the door..luckily it was backing AWAY from the dog. Obviously its a youngster and not quite sure what to do. Currently it is under the dog house. Swell. I can't put the dog into her yard due to the skunk. I can't leave the dog in the big yard due to the doe-with-fawn who has issues with dogs. I guess I could leave her (Phoebe, not Doereen) in the house but my enthusiasm for a bike ride is quickly dissapating..which is more than I can say for the aroma coming from the dog yard. (even without spraying, they don't smell so pretty good!)

The dog house weighs a ton so trying to move it to convince the skunkette to move is probably not a good option. Phoebe may end up going to work with me on Tuesday. ;>)

Such a cute little critter!

pansies & violets

These are what I think of when I hear "violets" . They can smell delicious and take me zooming back a few years to my childhood in an instant. They start blooming here in January/February and are most welcome. Some have that wonderful odor but others, though beautiful in colors ranging from white to dark purple, don't smell at all. Mom used to pull out the ones that didn't smell but it just seems blasphemous to me, the Total Violet Lover.
These are what I always called pansies or violas. I never gave it a thought that pansies and violas and violets were all related but then, there are stranger family members...just consider all the different looking Campanulas! They're all fun. Pansies come in such an assortment of size and color! What's not to love about them?!

When I was but a small lass, the minister at the Unitarian Church would hand each child a little pot of pansies during the Easter service. I remember bringing those home and Mom helping me plant them in a flower bed near the lath-house. That bed is now filled with Chinese ground orchids but I do think of the pansies every time I walk by and I do wonder if any of the pansies that pop up in odd places around here could be related to those of long ago.

So now I need to study up Lisa's http://fercryingoutloud.blogspot.com links and see just how related these two posies are..yeah, I know. I shoulda done that before I started this blog entry. :>) Hey! Its early! I just woke up!

Garden carnage

The newly dug and re planted front flower bed as it looked last week. Removed what had been lots and lots of fortnight lily and Mexican evening primrose, amended the soil with the compost from the bins, and planted some "new" posies. I thought (dumb me!) that even though the fence was an easy 4' hop for the deer, that they wouldn't venture into such a small area..its only about 12 x 12 for cryin' out loud.

This was a very happy dark purple potato vine that had wintered over nicely in Phoebe's yard. Its sharing a pot with some never blooming fairy wand. Apparently Doereen does not care for fairy wand.














This was a lush Jacobinia until hungry Doereen discovered its tasty leaves yesterday.





















And this was a nice start of a variegated Abutelon. (Hey! Where did the picture go? Am I the only person with gremlins in her computer?)
It was here just a moment ago. That's what I get for attempting to spellcheck? Arghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Its almost enough to make me want to go buy the deer a bale of alfalfa, haul it to the back, and hope that they'd be content. However, I have a "thing" about not feeding wildlife on purpose. (birds and squirrels beimg the exceptions) I don't think its right....I'll just have to stop pulling out all the privet babies and leave them for browse for the deer. The nice tasty flowers and foliage plants will go back to the dog's yard, and I'll enjoy watching the fawn frolic for the next few months. (I'm still wondering if there might be TWO babies...hidden in different locations)

Darling deer

Hey! "Edit Html" works! The little word at the corner was "rich text". I didn't realize it was a "toggle"!

Ok then. On to the deer. This is Doereen. Doereen was visiting the dog and I whilst I read and the dog ate popcorn in the back yard a few weeks ago. Now Doereen has a baby. Its not much bigger than my cat but can run like the wind...I inadvertently got too close to it a few nights ago and it bolted with a bleat. Mama is very protective. She just looks at me with concern but she gets rather uppity when Phoebe-the-Dog is out. This evening I can see its tiny head peeking out from the same spot in the shrubbery so I am avoiding that area...and at the same time, lecturing Doereen because she has taken it upon herself to prune the potted plants NEXT TO THE HOUSE (she has 2.5 acres of stuff to dine on..at THIS address!) Yesterday the lovely potted abutelons became leafless sticks and today she took it upon herself to severely prune the Jacobinia.

Phoebe has to be content with her yard, which is bigger than what new houses come with these days, and the inside of the house. She ventures out into the "big" yard only after I scout for Doreen and don't find her. Phoebs thinks Doereen wants to play chase. Phoebe loves to be chased. Just try explaining the damage little pointy hooves can do, not to mention, a deer weighing about the same as the dog, could easily smush and pummel her...to a dog. Or a human..which may explain why "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" plays in my head every time I venture out. Before the baby, Doereen would come within 3' of Phoebe without a challenge. Thank goodness Phoebe understands the urgency in my voice when I tell her to get back in the house and Doereen seems to call it a semi truce when Phoebe decides to hide behind me instead.

I'd love to get a picture of the baby but that will have to wait. I just don't want to freak the little thing out and have it clatter through the gate (again) and head for the busy road...which it didn't do, thank you very much Doereen for jumping the fence and leading the kid to safety. Of course, I had to leave the gate open all night so that Baby could easily follow mama back into the yard. I remember how lambs and ewes could find the tiniest hole in the fence to some neighbor's hay field but then could never find the hole OR the big open gate to go back home when discovered. I suspect deer are similar in their thinking.

Gotta go turn off two sprinklers. I left one on last night and didn't remember it until 4:00 this morning. My water bill will resemble the National Debt. Toodles~

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