Meet Carl.

Anyone who has read my blog knows I am not a fan of spiders.  Ask Husband, and you will probably know find out that he had to put screens in every vent of the house, as the little monsters were getting in, and freaking me out unmercifully.  I have screamed my head off when I am... ensconced... in the bathroom, and one is near me, so he can rescue me.  

No, I am not fond of them. 

So, you will know why the following is not my normal reaction.  I just planted my window boxes for the season, I have geraniums, zinnias, and a couple colors of wave type petunias.  I put them up, and saw that there were little bugs on the geraniums.  

Greaaaaat.

I was kind of tired at that point, and figured I would deal with it later.  

The next day, I noticed a small spider.  Fortune smiled, it was on the OUTSIDE of the window.  Industriously making a web.  Right on the geranium.  Meh, wash the spider AND the bugs off later.

I came back to the window a few hours later, and the spider was busily catching the bugs, and disposing of them.  I was also noticing, oddly, that he (No, I don't know spider biology, it was just a convenience to say he) was sort of neat looking, for a spider, sort of stained glass like.  I watched, the sun actually sort of made his tiny legs glow as he moved, like some sort of tiny jellyfish spider, to mix a metaphor.  

I decided to wait on the arachnid/bug removal.  I started watching the little guy.  He built up his web, which, while not in a great spot for me, did allow me to see he was busily downing little bugs with alacrity.  

We had wind come up, and it was pretty bad for the little guy, I saw him 'run' under the leaves, and hang on for dear life.  Finally let up, only to have a passing rainstorm splat him, knocked him off the web a couple times, and I thought he'd maybe be drowned.  Nope, just hung on.

I decided if I was going to be nice to this little critter, he ought to have a name.  I thought about Boris the Spider, but he wasn't like the song, and Boris seemed a little over the top.  Charlotte crossed my mind, but I had thought of him as a he... 

Carl.  

So, here is Carl, helping with garden maintenance.  I am less freaked out, he is getting dinner, and we are both okay with it.  

 I still am a bit unnerved, but we shall see what happens as time progresses.

Sproing!

Spring is tentatively saying hello.  We didn't have any frost last night.  In fact it's supposed to be mid 80's by Sunday.  So I watered everything today, and took a few pictures.   

Dianthus.  I wanted to use this for my background,

but the file is too large.  So enjoy here, I guess...

Peas.  I need to get these out somewhere soon. 

I half expect to come out and have it invade...

Peas everywhere!

A something that I received from a friend.

She didn't know what it was either.

It likes sun, and has red blossoms when it blooms.

I doubled the blooms on my lilac this year.

The shade tells you why it's not screaming along...

A small sample of my tomatoes...

Not counting the ones from seed.

Peppers, Zukes, and a Crookneck.  

We have new seasonal renters again...

Man, they attack each other, dive bomb, 

and generally make a big old racket.

Then the babies show up, and flying seems to be 

daylight to dusk... 

H. Home Improvement...

H

I consider this spring home improvement, at any rate... :)

Bleeding Heart.

Muscari? Meh. Blue whatsis...

(And a Dandelion trying to photobomb...)

Some tulips just coming to bloom...

Even a baby hosta!

Now I just need to do some spring cleaning to get it in shape...

(Home Improvement)

Well, it's March 1st.  Or one-eth, if you want to be funny.  The weather people said we have passed the normal frost date.

Uh... Huh...

I remember it snowing on April 20th before, and while it is not QUITE freezing, we awoke to this:

Just enough snow to be kind of pretty (and cold, and wet, and sloppy... Ahem).  So, I guess we shall see what the next few days foretell for Puxywhatsis Pete's predictions.  

Stupid rodent, anyway...

In the hopes that spring will eventually BE here, I planted about 25 kohlrabi in peat pots, and about 6 long season tomato plants, which are now toasting tootsies on a heat mat.  I am hoping the early start will allow early(er) harvest.  The kohlrabi are for a friend of mine, he requests them, and last year, when I had a nice row for him, and a couple set aside for me, (that I forgot to mark), I see Husband and him walk out of the garden with ALL of them.  I am going to cure that, (hopefully) this year.  I am planting green kohlrabi for said friend, and I am planting RED kohlrabi for myself.  I am also thinking of planting my kohlrabi in a planter tub, where it's in a completely different spot than the ones I am raising for him...  

Yesterday was sort of blustery, with spots of sun, then wind, rain, and snow crossways, then dark, dark, clouds.  The weather was fitting, as it was my bosses' last day.  We all came in early for a meeting with the new boss(es, they seem to work tag team for some reason...), who were the OLD bosses' boss...es.  (Okay, I hope that sentence is semi-coherent, it sounds a lot better in my head than it does on the screen...)  

So, we showed up, not quite sure what to expect.  The bosses that were leaving were not there for most of the meeting, when they did show, they were getting ready to go, picking up papers and getting things together.  The new boss introduced himself, and we had a question and answer session.  It went rather well, I have worked with the one boss before in other capacities, and he is pretty straight forward, and refreshingly, he's one that, if he doesn't know, will say, "I don't know, let's find out."  That is such a nice thing to have, rather than filling the air with stuff and nonsense, in my opinion!  

We had cake and coffee. (We also had the great Cola Caper.  I had brought in a small Coke, and another gal had a bottle of Root Beer.  The two of us are known for not drinking coffee, and usually having sodas or, in my case, tea.  There was a quart soda cup on the table, and all eyes turned to us.  We both held up our respective cups, and shrugged.  The big soda was never claimed, I suspect it might have been forgotten by a deputy when leaving...) 

The bosses didn't eat, I think it was one of those 'gut' things, neither were acting like they were hungry, big surprise...  I was sitting down, just taken a big bite of cake, when the new boss asked me about my book.  Urg.  I motioned, then managed to get the bite taken care of.  Then I told him he'd make a great waitress with that timing.  He laughed.  

He is quite interested in the idea of my writing, and has offered to look over what I have written, so I am quite pleased.  A bit nervous, too, as I am NOT a cop, and while this is true, I don't want it to be where someone in law enforcement would laugh themselves sick at my errors, either...  I worry too much, I guess.  To wit: he'd asked how much I had finished, I told him about 8-10 pages, somewhere around there, but I kept writing, then not liking what I wrote, then starting a section again, then again, and again.  He looked at me, and said, "That's what editors are for, just write."  (As did Mom, later... Do I sense a trend?) 

Then I said goodbye to them as they left, hugs all around, and I managed to get out of there without crying.  Sniffing and sounding like I was going to, but I managed to keep it together.  That was the last thing I would need, come onto my shift with 'rat eyes'.  Ick.

In other news, the new avatar is up for the month.  This month's St. Patty's picture with BTK makes me think of a cross between a WW1 Dough boy, and Alex from Clockwork Orange.

Milk, anyone?

Sorry, flying my Geek Flag again...

Husband decided that I am doing well enough losing weight, (???) that he has set a date for us to go to Alaska.  So, I have a while yet, but we have several things that need to be figured out before we can go.  Everything from passports (we need to get them), to cell phones (can we use them?), to the tea I like, (should I take it with me, or can I get it at port?) 

I still don't know if I will be down to 150, my goal, by then, but I guess it gives me a definitive "point" to strive for.  I don't think he realizes that it took well over a year to lose 20 pounds and keep it off, but I know what I need to do, and if I don't manage to break something else, I should be able to get back to regular exercise.  I am walking some, on the road, which I don't like. (One of the neighbors has a Doberman, and it does NOT like me walking past "its" house.  Why, oh, why do I seem to have dog troubles so much???  I think I was a dog catcher in a previous life...) 

I don't have any good shoes right now for walking the hill, and Husband doesn't want me to, until it dries out. A lot.  So, I walk the road.  It will do, I guess.

And The Challenge.  I managed to get a letter out most everyday the mail ran, except for about 2 or 3.  I took a lot more than 24 addresses, however, so I am still writing letters!  I found out some won't write back, after February, some will.  I think I will just finish with the ones I have left, and go from there.  That way, I know I did what I said I would do, and write the people I said I would.  I have received several responses, that was very nice, and a few that sound promising as pen friends.  And I found I really like using fountain pens.  So, I consider it a general success.

Llama is putting on a little weight, and she now knows that she is going to be fed in the chicken house.  The only problem with this is, I walk in, and have to move her out of the way, as she then stops in front of the feed barrel.  Which is where I need to be, to feed her!  This also aggravates the chickens, who seem to think they should be fed too, for some strange reason. And they don't really like playing "Dodge the llama feet".

Ah, the life of my critters.

Here for a bit, anyway...

I have been on the go a bit, so I just have had time to check in, yep, it's still a computer, then run off to the next bit of goofiness that defines my life.  Some good, some annoying, the usual. 

I decided to treat myself.  I spent a little more than I should have, (that's not hard, when I am around flowers), but I made a plan this year.  I planted perennials in the window boxes.  Here's the little project in the window, and one that I will probably put on the porch.  With some luck, I will have them grow back, and I won't be replacing them so often (not all are perennials, but enough that it will fill in some.)

(Please ignore the fact that the boxes all need washed, I started this in the evening, and didn't really look too closely.) 

In other news, I am having the worst luck in the llama addition department.  I saw an ad on Craig's List, emailed, got a response with a phone number. 

Called, left a message. Zip.  Then emailed, double checking. Zip, again. 

I am not going to beg to go buy something!  So, I continue looking.  And yes, I do want to "increase the herd", for those who were asking.  So, I will just go back to looking at news ads, and see what's available in the farm ads... I know there is a local auction nearby, too.  Haven't been to an auction in a while...

I managed to get the front pasture relatively weeded. (Much, much more to go.)  I will have to work on it little bit more as I can get up the hill.  I saw the neatest looking tool, it's called a weed wrench, and I do so want one.  When you have Scotch Broom TREES, this looks like the tool to have.  But, I have loppers, and a saw, and so, the battle continues.  (messymimi:  where I used to live, the 2 major exports were said to be poison ivy and rocks... I have found two tiny sprigs on the top of the place, so they will be summarily executed when I get up there with my loppers...)

I am pleased, most of the seeds I started are actual little plants now!  I re planted some peppers, and put in some more tomatoes, so those are needing to get caught up, so to speak.  (I even planted a HOT pepper, I guess to share, 'cuz neither Husband or I eat them, I just wanted to see what it looked like.  But we have enough neighbors and friends, it shouldn't be a big problem.)

Taurus is still sitting!  If I figured it right, she should be having chicks about the 22nd.  This will be nice.  I have a place all set up for her.  Now I just need to get her and the babies to be convinced that is the place to be!  This might be easier at night.  Let's just say, Taurus bites, and hangs on.  I usually want to wear gloves when I am working with her, and now it will be even more so! 

And lastly, I think I forgot to weigh last week.  That was when we were taking Auntie G back to catch the plane, and so I spaced.  Soo, I weighed today, and lost .4.  Works for me!  I am not entirely sure how, other than I think I weeded so much that I hurt my eating muscles! (grin)  Or at least the pick-up-to-eat-stuff muscles!

So, there is today's gumbo of little short blurbs.

Wellll, THAT was odd.

Oh, and Happy Friday the 13th, everyone!  I am a confirmed triskadekaphile, a somewhat rare species...

For some strange reason, my last blog entry went away... (Don't blame 13, it happened 2 days ago.)

So, I will try this again.


First the good news:

Taurus is still sitting.  The roosters are annoyed.  Taurus doesn't care.  (Large grin...)

The bad:

This is Scotch Broom, (at least that's what I know it as), and it is a VERY invasive plant in this area.  I have spent the better part of the last two days trying to get the stuff out, as I just ignored it last year.  Not the best plan...  (Aspirin.  Need many aspirin... Owww...)  We need to do this mostly mechanically, as we have an extremely high water table, and everything flows DOWN to the pump. Plus, I really don't want to use poisons around the animals.

And the HUH???

This is, I think, gooseberry.  I will go to the extension agent later, and see if I can get a confirmation... I certainly hope it is.  Gooseberries are a native, so I wouldn't have to get rid of all those.  For some reason, they all showed up this year.  Birds, I suppose.  Thorny little things, those plants.  Below is a close up of one of the branches.

So, just another day in the "gee, what's this thing?" area of my life...

Hoping for the best! Stayonstayonstayon...

If you will note, I haven't blogged since Sunday.  I have had some computer problems since then.  Scratch that, it technically wasn't my computer, but the Internet provider thingy.  Let's just say, I would get on the 'net, start to do something, ka-WHOMP, no speed.  I mean, dial up would have SMOKED the thing.  Which of course, when trying to put large files like pictures on, just don't work.  So, other than a couple light hearted instant messaging chats with a friend a day or two ago, for the 20 minutes it was working, pbbt.  I came back, though, oh, I will do x and x, and blog... And couldn't even get on my homepage! 

Now I realize that not everyone is waiting breathlessly for every missive I jot down (Hi, Mom...), but it's still nice when I can actually write the missives, and read OTHER PEOPLE'S missives!  Which I wasn't able to do either...  So, in short, I am hoping that they have solved the slug slime slow computer speeds, and I can start to catch up on my blogatating...

I didn't go to the substation for my usual dose of deputy chat 'n stuff.  My Auntie G, who was here for 2 weeks, was flying home today, and so I took the day off to go and see her off and away.  I think it was nice of her new husband to give her a trip up here to see her sis, and I was able to see some of her hobbies.  She makes jewelry (try and get a pic up soon of a bracelet she made me).

She came over and saw the place, Rudee let me know he wanted to be her best friend.  I think most of the county probably suspected he wanted out, to be her best friend.  I hope she's able to come back to visit soon.  (Hey, Auntie G, if I put Mountain Dew in the fridge, you will visit, right???)

In other news, the good, the bad, and the huh?

The good news, Taurus is still setting.  The boys aren't happy with this.  Taurus does not give a fig what the boys think...  (Good for Taurus!)

My nest. My eggs. Leave me alone!

The bad news, I have a lot of weed cutting to do.  See these lovely yellow flowers?  They are on the plant called Scotch Broom here.  This is an extremely invasive plant, and we had let it go last year. 

NOT a good plan. 

I am hoping to get out and start cutting down these this week, as it is much easier to find with all the little yellow beacons, and it's supposed to be dry, more or less, the next few days.  (I really wish I had goats...)

This next item is the huh?  I took a picture of one that is by the fence line.  I thought, oh, no, another invasive.  But, after doing some looking, I am thinking, hoping, (and going to check at the extension office)...

It might be gooseberry!  I found out that gooseberries are native, so that's a plus.

This is a close up of the leaves.  It is sure a thorny old thing, though.  I had wondered why such a succulent looking plant wasn't eaten by deer/cows/horses, but don't think they want to mess with the long spikes on it.  I have read that gooseberries have lots of thorns, like blackberry bushes, so I will have to find out if I am on the right track.  It would be nice to have a little variety in the berries 'round here!

So, another day in the never ending cycle of hmmm, what's that thing in the backyard?