the little wild kingdom

[flowerbug]

found a bit more glass yesterday and got that picked up and then finished weeding and clearing one garden so it is ready to plant (i'll have some thyme to bury in that garden too as it was trying to take over from the neighboring small garden).

then watered the peas (all up and growing) and first beans (just coming up).

after that it was weeding the small skinny garden inside the fence along the south side. the garlic in there looks to be doing ok so far. as i was weeding noticed some Virginia Creeper starting up the fence so had to weed along there on the outside, but that was ok because i also had to go back behind the fenced gardens and weed that pathway.

that was enough for yesterday, today i hope to get the grass mowed again and whatever else i can do. temperature and breeze will be perfect.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Work is picking up but sounds like your weather makes it pleasant!

 

[flowerbug]

Work is picking up but sounds like your weather makes it pleasant!

it is now cool and rainy for the next three days, mid 50sF for daytime and down to low 40sF for nights. not too likely to get much done outside. the next forecast for any UFO sightings will be Saturday.

 

[flowerbug]

i did get the livetrap set for the groundhog. i made sure to chain it to the fence so it won't get dragged away by something else (raccoons) or roll down into the water. not sure the groundhog will go for the bait with the change in habitat i did next to that spot where i placed the trap.

apple slices, peanut butter and carrots. i'll admit i ate some of those as i was putting them in the bait pan.

then the other part of the "behind the fence operation" got going. i needed to remove a honeysuckle bush and some grape vines. took about an hour for just the one bush and those grape vines and then i found another grape vine to trim and in the process of throwing all that over the fence and hauling it away and pulling some stalks off the rhubarb i found some poison ivy and when tying the fence door closed i noticed there was even more poison ivy right there, so perhaps now i know where Mom and i may have picked it up a few times and not known where it was coming from. so i pulled that out of there and came in and washed my hands and put all those clothes in the sink to wash with soap a few times before they go into the laundry. and now that i'm laying here and taking a break i think i forgot to close that gap in the fence well enough so i'll have to go back out there and do that when i get back up. i also found out the maximum number of times i'll wash my hands if i think there's poison ivy sap on them (13)...

am i going to get anything done for the onion patch i was hoping to plant tomorrow? the mystery continues... it's only 3:30pm, there's a chance...

p.s. working near the lilac tree and in the honeysuckle bush (both in bloom) really pissed off my lungs.

 

[flowerbug]

there were baby killdeer out back today that were just hatched. only one of the four had left the nest when i was out to check on the peas and beans back there.

i got to sit and talk to the babies in the nest for a few minutes in a calm voice and then i left them alone to be with their parents. cuter than all get out.

 

[flowerbug]

yay! uploads worked... things were broken at the other end but they got the fix in and now it works.

i mentioned this weed in my thread on TEG and how big it could get but it is successful also because it can adapt and still be able to flower and make seeds...

Field Pennycress - tiny thread...

Morel (something ate it soon after this picture was taken)...

the whole mulched area is a few inches of crushed rinsed limestone over black plastic, whatever dust and bits of stuff that comes off the pine tree is all that's there, a very thin layer of not much but it gets enough moisture dripping off the roof and the east exposure seems to be what they like so that it will sprout a few mushrooms.

Old pics from 2007 of the crocuses in the north garden

and then if you get too hot and want to think cool thoughts...

https://www.anthive.com/project/winter/

 

[flowerbug]

progress has been happening, but cool and rains at times has slowed me down again - i work around it as best i can - like yesterday i was able to weed along an edge of a garden some and there are usually other projects i can do while the gardens dry out.

we did get the replacement stained glass for lighthouse so i need to install that after things dry out enough and i find the time for it.

today is down for weeding a small garden and getting some cosmos planted in there and then whatever other weeding i can get done in other gardens. i'm trying to get ready for planting and i'll pick one inside the fenced area first but there's plenty more to choose from.

 

[flowerbug]

i'd mentioned to Mom that until i was done planting beans that i wasn't really available to help her with projects until the gardens were planted. i've already been pulled away from planting about a week extra due to the glass being blown out of the lighthouse and other things she's needed help with, which is fine and it is what i'm here for, but they are not emergencies and so the gardens are not getting planted...

yesterday Mom came back from her caretaking and said that she hired someone to come help her with her project that she's started (which i had no plans on doing at all) that she never said she was going to do up until the day she decided to do it (which was also the day we picked up the garden starts for onions, tomatoes and peppers).

the front gardens have a few rows of lavender plants that are old and woody so she wanted to take all of them out and replace them with some other plants. we picked up ten plants for that and now we need to have wood chips brought in for those to be replaced. i think we may just end up having a pallet of bags delivered because she can handle those a lot easier than having to shovel them from a pile into the wheelbarrow. so that's likely the plan for the woodchips, but first the lavender plants need to be removed and she's not able to do it all so the person she got ahold of will be here to help her out with the rest of it.

i would get to doing it eventually but it won't be for a few weeks yet at the soonest.

it is pretty humid and wet out at the moment from the rains we've had but i hope i can get out today and get the last of the peppers planted.

 

[Mini Horses]

It's hard to coordinate two lists, from two people with their own thoughts & priorities . Hiring might be a real good thing for her! It gets done or you learn discussing "wanna plans" first.

 

[flowerbug]

i can talk to her in detail about plans, she'll say sure, i'll get half-way through a project and she'll say she doesn't like it, i'll stop working on it and it will sit there and then eventually she might complain about it and i'll then finish it how i planned on doing it from the start or not... i never know... just life at this point.

i try not to argue about things with her because it really doesn't accomplish anything and is a waste of breath, time and energy. 20+yrs now i've been living here and i haven't given up yet, but this past late winter was a challenge - i'm glad we got through it.