archives
categories
story collection
tags
- 12 Days of Christmas
- balls flying in my face
- Beg-A-Thon
- Bob
- book pile
- cats
- clip art
- dahlias
- digestive system
- enough about the roof already
- eternal overachiever
- everyone is stupid
- fukoladola
- getting stuff done
- Have you got a bad back?
- how to
- I hate shopping
- I made this
- leave me alone
- movies
- Ndns
- neighbors
- New Yorker
- nostalgia
- not writing
- other people's kids
- Percy
- pie
- plogic
- Priscilla Recipes
- pumpkins
- recipes
- revisiting old things
- soccer
- squirrels
- Star Wars
- things I hate
- things that aren't really free
- tomatoes
- tragedy
- travel
- wildlife
- wildlife cam
- World Cup
- writing
Category Archives: garden
Squash Bugs Ruin Everything
This year the pumpkins did terrible. One of the problems was the critters–raccoons?–out there who managed to put a big gouge just about every single squash–no matter its shape or color–that came on.
Meanwhile, I got squash bugs.
I didn’t even know what they were. I was out in the garden and rolled over a squash and there were bugs EVERYWHERE. This general shape but some of them smaller and even very small and some were grey and there were A LOT. Like scary lot.
I fired up my web search and there were people all over SW WA complaining about squash bugs.
I don’t know the origins or if there’s a reason this year was worse than others of if it’s always been bad and I’ve just been lucky.
But: BOO!
So I have pulled almost everything and put it in the refuse bin. I’m hoping I have better luck in the raised beds next year and I might try to plant pumpkins out front again.
Remember When October was a U2 Album?
Hi! Happy October.
Every October I am surprised by how busy I am. Every time.
Here are some quick updates: I had to cancel my Atlanta trip because there was a hurricane at the same time I was supposed to travel. I am graduating from crowns and getting my first implant later this month (that’s a teeth thing). I am *this* close to finishing my first fan fic (Polin, Bridgerton). If you don’t know what that means you are unlikely to be interested.
Everyone else: drop me a note and I will ping you when it’s up. As soon as I’m done with that I am writing another romance. Don’t hold your breath because I am super distracted by a million other things so I’ll be lucky to have a first draft by this time next year.
And: I bought some raised beds.
I have been re-habbing this corner of the yard for a couple of years and this year I decided to just buy the dang beds and get them out there because I was close enough.
I planned to buy two and see how I liked them. But then the website did that thing where a big pop-up ad told me it was a holiday weekend special and it was 40% off if I bought 4.
You know how everything looks smaller when you actually get it? I said: Sure! I’ll get 4!
Look how gigantic they are. They are, I think, 12 pieces, each individually wrapped, plus 60 (?) fasteners. It took me 2 hours to assemble one. I have 2 up and I more or less leveled them and started throwing some garden refuse in there. I am so pressed for time before the season ends, I plan to hold back the other two.
I can either assemble later or I might try to sell them. We’ll see. I’d like to give the main garden patch a nice rest next summer.
They are pretty though!
And anyone who is thinking: oh, look. A faucet. That will be so handy for your drip irrigation.
Nope. That faucet has never worked. We’ve had at least 3 people come out and look at it. It’s a mystery.
Posted in doing it wrong, garden
Tagged writing
Comments Off on Remember When October was a U2 Album?
How Many?
Massive raccoon tour group traveling through SW Washington this summer. I’m surprised I never heard them. We sleep with the windows open in the summer. You think it would be tough to move a family of that size without anyone hearing.
Side story: I’ve been mildly distressed about how dirty the bathroom sink and bathtub look. I’m only a medium housekeeper but I couldn’t figure out how they were getting so dirty.
Then I realized it’s me. I’ve been doing some big projects in the backyard and I get filthy from head to toe. This afternoon I was scrubbing my feet in the shower and watching the dirty water draining away and realized: that dirt is me.
Posted in garden
Comments Off on How Many?
Raccoon World!
I knew there had been activity out there because the water in the bucket was dirty and the pollinator water dish was nothing but dirt.
Look how many have been out there. I think this is a mom and her almost grown babies. I’m not an expert in raccoons so don’t quote me. They are cute but so destructive. All my pumpkins have been chewed on.
They even tried to steal the camera. I guess they don’t like being spied on. I need one of those signs to warn them they are on camera.
Everything Is Stupid
As per every time, I have no time and no energy and I’m trying to quickly post and everything is broken and doesn’t work like it used to.
I would love to post a photo but my FTP is all messed up and I vaguely remember I have to do something different but I can’t remember and the things I tried didn’t work.
I would love to embed the video above but somehow I can’t find my DumbTube channel. I have been clicking and searching in a calm and sensible manner and all it does is give me Bridgerton clips which is great because I love Bridgerton clips but that is not what I am doing right now.
My story is that I went to Chicago back at the beginning of June. I thought I didn’t have anything to post because we didn’t do much except visit with friends.
Then I remembered DOH! We went to an all romance bookstore in Chicago called The Last Chapter Bookshop and for fun I went to see if they have pen name’s book. It’s a very tiny and well curated bookstore with very few self-published books. But they had three in my series!! I was very overwhelmed and happy and a little emotional to find a book I wrote at a real bookstore.
They encouraged me to sign my books and put them in the front on the signed books table. It was a huge day for me!
Meanwhile: I have so many things going on right now including but not limited to: giant garden bounty that needs attention daily, a possibly dying outdoor beer fridge, a neighborhood association situation, sports, dry hot weather, uneven public transportation and summer traffic meaning longer trips home.
I have a long list of things to catch up here but I need to figure out the photo situation and DumbTube situation and will try to update more later.
Also, I think my story comes out in Apex tomorrow. Here is the link to the main site. My story is called Loss Prevention and I hope to pimp it more later.
Posted in doing it wrong, garden, sleepless in Vancouver
Tagged everyone is stupid
Comments Off on Everything Is Stupid
The Bounty is Upon Us
I was in a long line at the store and the guy next to me sighed and said, “June was a long month.”
I said, “For me it went by fast. Usually July is a long month. Then it’s August and then it’s Christmas.”
He sighed again. “That sounds about right.”
Meanwhile, the raspberry situation is out of control. We have been eating them for breakfast although Bob was mixing them with all the usual fruit. I said, “I don’t want to keep wasting my time with apples, I just want berries.”
I made jam and I made a tart. Actually, 2 tarts but the 2nd one has all the berries.
They are slowing down but the blueberries are coming in and the marionberries. Marionberries are super prickly so they are not super fun to pick. I want to ask the women at the farmer’s market who sell giant trays of berries if they feel like they toughen up after while. It seems like the first time I pick I am covered with scratches but now I dig around the middle of the patch and I feel it but my skin is fine.
We have company this week and I expect to make a berry pie or cobbler to keep ahead the deluge.
These are from heirloom seeds that my sister-in-law gave me from Fort Vancouver.
This is 2 weeks ago. I ended up leaving the peas on a little long so I didn’t get those sweet early peas. When I did finally harvest we had a ton of those, too. We are in the process of eating a big bowl and I blanched some and stuck in the freezer.
I’ve also dug some potatoes and we’ve had lots of lettuce. I’m keeping an eye on the bush beans next.
Deer are Jerks
Here is a giant deer helping itself to my peas.
Honestly, it can have the peas if it leaves the trees alone.
I didn’t even notice the deer had been out there at first. There no turds and I didn’t notice giant divots everywhere from their delicate yet lethal cloven hooves.
Then when I saw the clips, I thought: well, at least they got the memo about not turding all over the place.
But later when I was watering I found turds all around the dahlias.
I am not honored to be the safe place for the deer to poop.
Here are two of them fully enjoying my new plum tree! I can’t even watch the whole video. This was very upsetting. They chewed on the nectaplum, too and a little bit on the apple tree including knocking one of the 7 apples I have left after their apple blossom massacre.
What can you do! Nature! I have “learn about deer fencing” still on my list but it just seems like a pain in the butt. We have to move it to mow and do yard work. Or maybe there’s a way I can just protect the trees? The people at the garden store are incredibly nice so I will ask them but also this is one of the things on my list that I never seem to be in the mood to deal with. Watching the deer ruin the trees is the price I pay.
Early Morning Scramble Before Going to Bed for the Day
These two are hilariously always active. Sometimes twenty or thirty clips a night. They either barely move or else they sprint across the yard.
I woke up around midnight one night and I was in the kitchen for a drink of water and I saw the motion light go on. They look much bigger in person.
Posted in garden
Tagged wildlife cam
Comments Off on Early Morning Scramble Before Going to Bed for the Day
Quick Garden Update
I’m pretty excited about what’s going on in the garden except the part where the deer ate all the apple and pear blossoms. Well, not all of them. There are 4 apples and 6 pears. I counted. I took The fig tree is also not as impressive as I would have hoped by now, but still good.
Look at these blueberries! This plant only had about 6 last year. The branches are bending under all the berries. There’s an equally loaded plant on the other side of the yard. Plus a third plant that always has a lot of little ones.
This is the general garden looking pretty good. Lots of potatoes. Some greens. Peas and bush beans. Pumpkins. Sunflowers.
Also the raspberry patch is super loaded. It’s going to be good.
Posted in garden
Comments Off on Quick Garden Update
Home Grown Tomatoes
Sorry for the terrible photos. I kept forgetting and and when I’m doing this my hands are dirty and I have gloves. I have to take off the gloves and grab the camera. And I did a super half-assed job of it.
Please contact a manager for a full refund.
I have put 5 tomatoes in and all of them came from seeds I saved and made the starts on my windowsill.
They get really tall and skinny. I used to try to plant them like this and had a lot of fails.
Then I discovered this one trick! If I was good at social media I could make a movie of my face very confidently telling you about this like I invented it.
But I’m not and I didn’t. Someone on Reddit described it.
I take almost all the leaves off and dig a trough. The long stem goes in the trough and just the last little bit is above the dirt.
Ta da! I have had great success with this method.
I planted one in the backyard and the next day it looked comically wilted. But a few days later it perked up. It still looks a bit scraggily but I think it will make it.
I had another smaller plant I put in the backyard.
I came out the next day to check on it and it was nothing but slug trails and dirt. The entire plant was gone. Dang slugs!
I don’t keep track of what I start but I think they are all smaller sized tomatoes. It’s been awhile since I had a huge crop of tomatoes. I intend to put a couple of raised beds in a corner I am currently rehabbing and think that will help. But not ready yet.
