garden

Invasion!

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Rather than continue the almost endless saga of rebuilding and fixing walls (I think its boring to keep talking about it), I haven’t written anything for a while.

In late spring I planted a bunch of veggies from seeds and had high hopes — squashes, pumpkins, chili (hatch, poblano), tomatoes, just a nice variety. The plan was to let the plants grow big enough to show off and to share my dreams of what the harvest would be like. I took plans and precautions to ward off every bug imaginable. I developed a watering system to ensure my beloved greenery would never lack. The soil was mixed with all my mulch that had been carefully developed and mixed with the local soil. Well, reality check.

When not looking my beautiful, little plants were invaded by mice and squirrels. I mean, not just nibbled or chewed on, but munched down to the soil!!! I now have three tomato plants left.

They are in pots, on top of a table that would be hard for the critters to reach, and the area around the table is booby-trapped! I was pleased and hopeful that I will now at least have some tomatoes. And — these are heirloom purple tomatoes, so I’m excited.

There was one consideration I overlooked, however. Although I did not want all of what was left being decimated, I did not wish harm to the critters. I did not realize that I inadvertently created a deadly booby-trap. Next to the house I had blue barrels in which I collect rain water. One of the barrels was almost full.

It appears that one pair of squirrels tried to climb onto the roof to try to take a lizard leap onto the table and fell into the barrel. They were unable to get out and drowned. They left a little squirrel behind, so now I have another mouth to feed. Egads, I almost feel like I’m responsible for two innocent deaths. If it weren’t for the fact that they destroyed all my other plants, I might feel guilty.

Temporary Hiatus

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With the weather having been so cold, then wet, then cold, then super windy, then rain… we took a break from working on the house. Doesn’t mean we quit working altogether though.

We’ve been planning how to do things, what things to focus on, what materials are going to be needed and in some cases, pre-buying the materials as we have the money. It can be overwhelming sometimes when we consider our To-Do list.

One day when we were in town we stopped by a thrift store to take a break from appointments. Thrift stores are wonderful — its amazing some of the things we have been able to find. There have been new appliances, electrical fixtures, kitchen utensils, and, of course, the occasional “I can’t believe this!” type of find in the clothing section. On this particular day I found something that made my jaw drop.

For those who don’t know me — I collect frogs. Have been doing so since my teens, but I look for the rare and unusual. The mass-produced clay frogs found at every department store will not please me, but the weird always will

On this particular day I found the ugliest frog item that I’ve seen in a long time. I loved it! Had to have it!! And I even justified the purchase by having the perfect use for it. What do you think?

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So what am I gonna use it for? This rare, exotic vase is going to hold my wooden spoons in the kitchen

With the weather warming up next week, we plan on starting on the garden so while Jim is doing the heavy construction stuff in the house, I can putter in the dirt. Am digging through seed catalogs now, so I’ll report back on what I hope to plant in my next update.