He said, He said

We have a new little girl living in our cul-de-sac.  It doesn't bother her at all that only boys live around these parts.  Pete came in from playing the other day and said, "Girl are too hard to play with.  They're so bossy." 

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We had our annual termite inspection done on the house and we had the bug guy take care of the ants by the back door.  He let me know that while under our house, he came across a snake skin and it wasn't a black snake.  He believes it was from a water moccasin (we live on the water) and he laid the skin just inside the crawl space door to warn anyone entering to be careful and look for snakes.  Pete and RePete speculated on what other type snakes it could have been (BN had to kill one recently and the fascination with snakes is high right now) and RePete asked, "Do you think it was a black mama?"  He meant mamba.  

Be Free My Friends

A friend gave us Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars and I already feel bad for them.  They are in these little plastic cups with mush to eat and tiny air holes in the lid.  Here soon, they'll attach themselves to the lid and  make the chrysalides.   Then we have to tape these lids to the top of a butterfly cage and wait for them to emerge.  Their little lives will be a mere 2-4 weeks.  In that cage.

But I'm gonna set them free.  After they emerge and my boys get to see them, we're gonna go out back and let them go.  The paperwork says we're not supposed to but I just can't help myself.  

It's gonna be a glorious day.

Until then, we will continue to watch them eat and poop and produce silky strands.

I may even try to get a stills video of the metamorphosis. 

To be continued...

~R

Rolando

When BN went back to school after getting out of the Navy, he went to work for a man named Rolando.  Rolando had special gifts.

This is our grill.

 This is a tree frog that I have named Rolando.  When I saw him hiding under the grill cover, being perfectly still, hoping I couldn't see him, I immediately thought of Rolando the Boss.

Rolando the Boss once told BN that he could make himself disappear.  He was never able to show this to BN and he gave BN the heebie jeebies anyway so thankfully, a wonderful internship became available and BN moved on to bigger and better things.

Not only does Rolando the tree frog live on our grill and scare the poop right out of me every single time I remove the grill cover, but I think he hides there because he it makes him feel invisible to the rest of the swamp creatures.

Why he's chosen our grill to reside instead of the huge wooded area and marsh behind our house we'll never know.  And other than the immediate bowel release he causes in me, I'm glad he chose us.

~R

The Fruits of Our Labor

We ran outside everyday to check on the progress of this watermelon.  We use the vertical method to grow viney plants and this watermelon became so heavy, the vine was choked off and the watermelon fell off before it was ripe.  We cut it open to find this..

It smelled heavenly, but was so bitter.  No sweetness yet.  It was such a disappointment.  So I decided to make hammocks for them.  My dad calls them diapers but I read this can help with the issue we had and so far so good.  Can't wait for the first one to be ready.

And cucumbers have been coming out since the first of July.  They are doing so great that I had to send four home with my dad the other day.

The exposure in my house is not conducive to indoor plants but I do have three that I bring in in the winter months.  The one in the front and back right are both from the tops of pineapples.  I planted the one in the front about three years ago and the one in the back right about a month ago.  My MIL has one she planted about three years ago and it has a tiny pineapple growing from the center.  Of course she can grow something from nothing, so I don't have high expectations for my pineapple plants.

The one on the left is a peanut plant.  We went to the Peanut Fest here in Suffolk last October and the boys were given a peanut plant.  We brought it home and BN cultivated and babied it over the winter.

Out of curiosity we dug around in the pot this past weekend and found some peanuts!  BN tasted them and they weren't quite ready.  I'm thinking since the peanut festival is in October, that's probably when peanuts should be ready, so we'll check again in a couple of months.

~R

Our 2010 Garden

This is our second year growing a garden.  And while this year hasn't been anymore profitable in terms of vegetables consumed, I think we are learning bit by bit as times goes by.

I did not start the composting bin as I wanted.  That's still on my list of garden-type things I want to do. We did change the location.  Last year's site was constantly in peril.  Boys, basketballs and gardens do not a stocked pantry make.  And that ancient Chinese proverb, out of sight out of mind, er, okay so maybe the Chinese didn't say it, but not being able to see the garden from the house made it easy to forget watering on the super hot days of summer.

But not this year.  This year, I can see the garden from both kitchen windows and the rear glass door.   With that door right off our laundry room, it is no wonder I can never forget the garden.  I spend a lot of time in the laundry room.  sigh.  Anyhoo, we can also see it from the upper deck and the lower deck.  Here's how it looks from both angles.

You are welcome to biggen these, although the lighting was horrible when I took these with my point and shoot, but please don't leave comments about the sad grass.  This is the first year we've had grass since we cut down a buttload of trees last fall and we are proud of it, no matter how pitiful.

I know there is some other proverb about not airing your dirty laundry but since this is clean, I'm free to share it with the world.  We also switched from untreated lumber, which the termites LOVED! to concrete blocks, and weed paper and chicken wire for the base.

What we're growing:  (all seeds are from Heirloom Acres Seeds)

• Eggplant - currently growing, no fruit.
• Watermelon - many fruits growing, none edible yet
• Cucumbers - haven't had to buy one since the first of July - yipee
• Zuchinni - RIP
• Broccoli - RIP
• Roma tomatoes - one tomato so far, bushes are beautiful and flowering
• Cherokee purple tomatoes - no fruit, but beautious and flowering
• Cantaloupe - currently one fruit on the vine - anticipation!
• Asparagus - shoots above the ground, have no idea if anything below ??
• Lima beans - huge flowering bush, one bean, was so excited and then it turned brown and fell off

We also planted strawberries, lettuces of all kinds, spinach, green beans and peppers all of which never showed up for the party.   We'll try the cold varieties again soon when we plant the pumpkins.

Tomorrow, I'll show pics of some of the fruits of our labor. 

~R

Dragonfly Whisperer

RePete was so excited about his new friend.  This little fellow allowed RePete to carrry him (I am assuming it was a he because I doubt a she would have stayed long on his dirty little hands) all over the yard and around front to show me.  RePete has such a gentle touch with nature and it shows when he helps me in the garden.

~R

Distracted Much?

Yesterday, I drove the boys down the road a piece to the headquarters for the Great Dismal Swamp.  I wanted to get a map so we could all (including BN) go for a bike ride this weekend.

The ranger was great.  Very helpful.  Actually, she was too helpful, because one minute I was getting a map of bike routes and the next, the boys and I, armed with a combination lock, were taking the driving tour.  In fact, Gilligan's Island comes to mind because it was three hours later that I deposited the aforementioned lock on the park rangers desk.

Swamp was used as part of the Underground Railroad

The ranger said it was a 20 minute tour.  It's quite apparent that she doesn't know me very well.  I love nature.  I love adventures.  I love looking at nature during an adventure.  And that's what we did.
Here's a few SOOCs.

Beaver dam

This how the drive looked when we entered. And no I didn't stop driving to take this.

According to the park rangers, the black bears have been bored lately.

My fearless black bear hunters. 

Proof of the elusive black bears. 

I told the boys these guys were waiting for our car to break down.  I was only half joking. 

The lake spans 2-3 miles and is only 7 feet at its deepest. 

RePete tries out the binoculars.

I caught Pete adding liquid to the lake.  He's saying, "Hey!" in an "Aww Mom" sort of way.

~Robinella

What!?!

~R