Tree Dellinger: force of nature, tempest in a teacup.

Stinky Pee Plant!

2012-02-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

We had asparagus with dinner the other night. Ally loved it last year, but it had been months since she'd eaten any and I was holding my breath that she would still like it. Sometimes her tastes change and one food she disliked earlier will be her new favorite, while an old favorite food may be pronounced inexplicably as the dreaded "yucky." As luck would have it, Ally was delighted to have asparagus again and immediately announced that it looked like bamboo and she was now a panda bear for the rest of dinner.

We're very fortunate that Ally has a distinct fondness for many vegetables and will sometimes eat her weight in broccoli without any sauce on it. In addition to broccoli and asparagus, she also likes sweet potatoes, corn, peas, green beans, tomatoes, and okra. She tends to be less enthusiastic about carrots and will draw the line at pumpkin unless it's in the guise of pie or cake. (You parents of picky eaters, please don't hate us.)

But back to the asparagus. About a half hour after dinner Ally went to the restroom and discovered that her pee stank. She was far less aware of this unique side effect of eating asparagus last year, but at 4.5 years old, she's an observer of many different things. I thought this might be something that turned her against asparagus, but no, she seemed positively amazed by this. We explained to her that our bodies break down the asparagus into some pretty stinky compounds which then show up in our pee. You eat asparagus, you get stinky pee.

Poking around on Wikipedia today I found a mention of a recent genetic study that indicated that not everyone can detect the odor of "asparagus pee," even though the production of post-asparagus stinky pee appears to be a universal human trait. So the next time the subject of stinky pee comes up, I can explain to Ally that you eat asparagus, you get stinky pee, but not everyone can smell it.

I can't wait to hear from Ally's teacher when this discussion inevitably comes up in her classroom.

The Yurt

2012-02-15T09:14:00.000-05:00

Steve and I had wanted to visit the Charlottesville area for a number of years, but never really got around to planning the trip. We mentioned this at Christmas and Steve's sister offered us their time share points that were about to expire very soon, so we suddenly had free lodging right outside of Charlottesville. As luck would have it, this particular resort offered comfortable cabins and "luxury yurts."

Of course we opted to stay in the yurt. Really, we couldn't turn it down and consequently spent the next month giggling at the phrase "luxury yurt."

On our arrival the yurt looked very much like a circular tent with weatherproofed tarp on the outside. These are permanent structures with lit walkways and a lockable front door.

The yurts are elevated off the ground with a naturalistic fencing hiding the plumbing and electrical necessities. Steve immediately commented that you know there must be possums or raccoons living underneath there.

But the yurt did not disappoint. (You can tell I'm not a professional travel writer because I waited until the last day before taking pictures of the yurt. Try to ignore the luggage and towels strewn every where in these photos.)

Yep, it's a completely circular room with a full size sofa and reading chair, electric fireplace and TV, and a queen sized bed with dressers. There's a good size table for four behind the sofa and a full kitchen along one side of the room. The kitchen was fully stocked with dishes and cooking equipment. Behind the kitchen is a full bath with a generous shower stall.

Honestly, this is a much nicer shower stall than we currently have in our master bath.

The roof is a tarp over the support beams. There's even a ceiling fan and a skylight. I think this must get pretty loud during a good thunderstorm, or in the fall when the oak trees start dropping their acorns.

Behind the yurt was a small deck with wooden Adirondack chairs, deck lights, and a gas grill. I've stayed in nice hotels in large cities that didn't have as much to offer as the yurt did.

The resort was sparsely occupied but we did hear a fair amount of noise through the yurt walls (cars driving by, a rooster over by the stable). I'm not sure I'd like staying in the yurt in high summer when the resort was at high occupancy and the pool across the road was full of screaming kids. Still, I wouldn't turn down another stay in the spring or the fall if I had the chance.

Mid-winter Trip, 2012

2012-02-09T09:14:00.002-05:00

Steve and I recently spent a long weekend trip in the Charlottesville area. We ditched Ally and the dog at Grandma's in Roanoke and immediately celebrated our new childless freedom with french fries at McDonald's.

(Yeah, we don't get out much. We're working on it.)

During our trip we visited James Madison's home Montpelier. There's a walled formal garden on the estate that was renovated in the early 1900s by Annie du Pont, after the duPont family purchased the property in 1901. The garden is beautifully landscaped with sweeping beds, boxwood hedges, symmetrical layout, and marble urns and statuary.

The brick walls surrounding the garden, with the horse stable beyond it.

I'm not a big fan of formal gardens, but I do find them impressive in terms of the landscaping and the effort it takes to maintain all that symmetry.

Being the dead of winter, there weren't many plants to look at beyond the boxwoods and some other evergreens, but the statuary was impressive.

I'd like to have a pair of these urns, but they're not something you can just pick up at the local garden center.

And then it hit me....we have a pair of matching almond colored toilets that Steve took out of our house. I've been waiting to find the perfect project to use them in this summer! I was thinking about filling them with water and adding some goldfish for a water feature, but now I think I'll fill the bowls and tanks with potting soil and putting in some plants instead. I could have a tall, arching daylilies in the tanks with some nasturtiums spilling out of the bowl. Or maybe a mounding clump of coreopsis in the bowl and some sweet potato vine in the upper tank. The possibilities are endless!

The hard part will be deciding to position the toilets at either side of the entrance to our driveway, or flanking the steps to the gazebo.

Wordless Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, January 25, 2012

2012-01-25T15:32:00.000-05:00

Dreaming of spring....spring snowflakes (Leucojum vernum).

January 1, Me 0

2012-01-21T20:56:00.000-05:00

First Ally got sick. Then Steve got sick. I threw my back out. Then I got sick. Then I threw my back out again.

My lower back this time, but at least the muscles aren't spastic and agonizing. No, this is a kinder, gentler back injury that merely makes me walk around hunched over like an old man. I'm hoping that a day of rest (but not *too* much rest, as that causes the muscles to stiffen up) will suffice and let me stand up straight again.

January, I've had enough of you. You can go now. And somebody please tell me that 2012 isn't The Year of the Chiropractor.

Wordless Wednesday, January 18, 2012

2012-01-18T07:29:00.001-05:00

The Buzzards Have Come to Roost

2012-01-12T08:00:00.004-05:00

This is not a bluebird.

Turkey buzzards, also known as turkey vultures, and black vultures are not anything new where we live in southwestern Virginia. We often see a solitary bird or a group of several of them soaring up high overhead like prehistoric pterodactyls. Sometimes the vultures will land on the corner posts of the garden out back to sun themselves.

Normally we see fewer than 5 or 6 birds, but lately they've been more numerous. They often spread their wings to maximize the sun exposure on their backs.

Just down the road from us, the city of Radford has been home to a colony of vultures for several decades now and even hosts an annual Vulture Fest in early spring. But I'm beginning to think that some of those birds have decided to move into Plum Creek based on what we've seen out back over the past month.

These trees full of buzzards are located on the ridge behind us. I'd estimate there were about 50-70 birds in this flock.

Turkey vultures have few natural predators and are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. According to the Wikipedia entry on the turkey vulture, "Its primary form of defense is regurgitating semi-digested meat, a foul-smelling substance which deters most creatures intent on raiding a vulture nest." And it that was attractive enough, "Like storks, the Turkey Vulture often defecates on its own legs, using the evaporation of the water in the feces and/or urine to cool itself, a process known as urohidrosis."

Boy howdy, I'd certainly leave them alone.

Turkey vultures are scavengers of dead animals. Black vultures are scavengers as well, but they will also kill an unprotected newborn calf given the opportunity. Normally the vultures around our house don't gang up and harass the neighbor's cattle, but lately they've been making a nuisance of themselves.

One morning a gang of vultures flew in and sidled up to the cows, who didn't appreciate the company one bit.

In response, the cows bunched up together and faced the birds. The vultures edged in closer with their wings outstretched, then ran or hopped as close as possible. Sometimes the birds rattle their wings as they move towards the cows. Vulture feathers must be awfully stiff to make as much noise as they do. It's a rustling, rattling noise and far more unnerving to hear than you might think.

After lots of distressed mooing, this one momma and her calf decided to take matters into their own hands (hooves?) and charge the vultures.

The vultures scattered and flew off. The cows went back to grazing.

One of the cows has a young calf but the others are much older animals, far too old to be ambushed by a flock of vultures, so I don't know why the vultures do this. Are the birds really trying to attack the calves or are they just bored? And we've observed this behavior on several occasions now, so it doesn't seem to be just a random event.

In closing, Wikipedia states that "The Black Vulture appears in a variety of Maya hieroglyphics in Mayan codices. It is normally connected with either death or as a bird of prey." I'll refrain from making any comments about that Mayan Doomsday Prophecy again.

Wordless Wednesday, January 11, 2012

2012-01-11T10:29:00.000-05:00

New Year Resolutions, Back Pain, and the 2012 Mayan Doomsday Prophecy

2012-01-05T11:50:00.000-05:00

I noticed last week than many of the people I know on Facebook were posting "Good riddance to 2011!" type messages. 2011 was hard on a lot of people for many different reasons. There's a whole other population out there that firmly believes that the world is going to come to an end in 2012, but I'm not friends with them so I have no idea what their Facebook posts might have been around December 31.

2011 wasn't a bad year for me, but four days into the new year I managed to throw my back out. While putting on a shirt, no less. This doesn't bode well for 2012.

My new year's resolution for 2012 was simply to get my act together again and I was ready to do it. We had just gotten Ally back into her school routine after suffering two weeks of holiday craziness and a end of the year head cold. I was coming out of my post-holiday blahs and was actually looking forward to spending the first two weeks of the year cleaning up the house and clearing out some clutter. I finally had an idea of how I wanted to finish a quilt that's been languishing on my quilt wall since April. I wanted to clean out the refrigerator and a few neglected closets. Honestly, I was even going to start exercising regularly again.

But clearly the universe had other intentions for me yesterday. I felt an unusual muscle pain while getting dressed, but it went away after a twinge or two so I didn't give it much thought. It came back with a vengeance, however, and now there's a small area in my mid-back where a muscle has been in more or less continuous spasm since yesterday afternoon. It's tolerable if I take some Tylenol and sit still with a heating pad on my back. However, when I stand up, I've got to have my hand on my back to give the muscle some counter pressure or it will not shut up. And last night, while trying to sleep....words cannot really express that particular agony and the ridiculously bleak thoughts it brought me. At one point I promised the universe that I would gladly throw away all those leftover cookies on the counter first thing tomorrow if I could just get some sleep. Any sleep.

So much for a fresh start in 2012, but there's hope as I was able to get an appointment with our chiropractor this afternoon. I'm taking heart in that the Mayan doomsday prophecy doesn't actually mention anything about back pain in 2012, as far as I know. And I'm fairly certain that my back pain isn't related to timewave zero, Planet X, geomagnetic reversal, or any other New Age, mystical apocalyptical hogwash. Except I'm curious about that predicted galactic alignment, especially if if meant my back would also get realigned as well. I think I could use a little of that right now.

Wordless Wednesday, January 4, 2012

2012-01-04T11:18:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve Eve

2011-12-23T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hoo. We're down to almost just one more day until the big event. We've shopped, wrapped, decorated, baked, and cleaned for the past two weeks. One set of guests departed this morning and the second set of guests arrived forty minutes later. I think the coffee pot, washing machine, and dishwasher haven't been fully emptied for more than two hours before being run again.

I've got buckeyes, chewy ginger cookies, cocoa almond pinwheels, lemon pecan shortbread, cheese crackers, and brown sugar cookies on the counter, along with the remains of a pan of malted chocolate brownies that I made Steve to keep him out of the other cookies earlier this week. There's a baked ham and the makings of a big vat of white chili in the fridge for Sunday. I'll be baking a birthday cake tomorrow morning for my father-in-law's birthday, but I have no idea what we're having for breakfast beyond another big pot of coffee. After today's cookie extravaganza and tonight's dinner, I really shouldn't think of eating anything but plain oatmeal with skim milk tomorrow.

It's been a busy day with relatives visiting and cookie making and much laughter. Ally has had trouble going to sleep tonight, no doubt tortured by the anticipation of opening gifts tomorrow morning with Grammy and Papaw. Then we're in for another round of visiting, gifting, and over eating, followed by yet another day of visiting, gifting, and over eating on Christmas Day.

I am going to be totally exhausted by Sunday night, but in a good way. I hope everyone else is having a pleasant holiday weekend, no matter how you choose to celebrate it.

Wordless Wednesday, December 21, 2011

2011-12-21T17:09:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday, December 14, 2011

2011-12-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

December 8, 2011

2011-12-08T17:53:00.000-05:00

I just endured my third lockdown on the campus of Virginia Tech. The first lockdown was during the April 16th massacre in 2007. The second lockdown was earlier this summer when several kids visiting campus reported a suspicious individual, who was never found by the police, and the incident was thought to be a prank. Then today, a police officer was shot on campus and the shooter apparently killed himself a short time later.

I would like to think that the law of averages suggests that I, and the rest of Virginia Tech, shouldn't have to worry about another incident like these.

Nikki Giovanni gave a memorable speech during a convocation held on campus several days after the April 16 shootings. Her words have stayed with me since then, although I never imagined there might be a need to repeat them after another unsettling, inexplicable day of violence on campus.

Dr. Giovanni's words on April 17, 2007, were as follows:

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

No one deserves a tragedy. We are the Hokies. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

Wordless Wednesday, December 7, 2011

2011-12-07T07:00:00.002-05:00

Nearly Wordless Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011

2011-12-01T17:18:00.000-05:00

I blinked and discovered that it was already Thursday. Then I blinked again and it's December already. Sigh.

Wordless Wednesday, November 23, 2011

2011-11-23T20:49:00.002-05:00

The Blizzard of Oz

2011-11-17T21:43:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, my paternal grandparents took me to the Land of Oz and Tweetsie Railroad attractions in western North Carolina. I still have vivid memories of that trip, along with a very well read and tattered copy of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, which my grandparents bought for me at the Land of Oz.

As it turns out, The Wizard of Oz is one of Ally's favorite movies. When I heard about the annual Autumn at Oz event held on the grounds of the old Land of Oz theme park, I knew I wanted to take Ally there to experience it, too. Like in the old theme park, the Autumn in Oz actors play the roles of Dorothy and her friends and they escort you along the yellow brick road to key scenes in the book. You meet up with the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and vanquish the Wicked Witch of the West as you find your way home to Kansas.

So the first weekend of October we decided to take a short family trip down to Boone and Banner Elk, North Carolina. About a week before we left, the forecast for Banner Elk was sunny and mild, with temperatures in the 60s. Perfect! I had picked out a sweet blue and white outfit for Ally that she could wear with a pair of red glittery shoes for a great photo with Dorothy.

About three days before we left, the forecast had changed to sunny and cooler, with lower predicted temperatures. The event organizers sent out an email asking all the visitors to prepare for possibly cold weather. Um, okay, it would be too cold to wear the blue and white outfit but Ally could still wear those ruby red slippers.

The night before we left, the forecast had bottomed out to highs in the 40s with snow and sleet showers. The event organizers sent out another email reminding visitors that the event would take place as planned regardless of the weather, so please dress warmly. Well, carp. I immediately dug out an assortment of scarves, hats, gloves, and warm shoes. Banner Elk has an elevation of 3,701 feet, but Beech Mountain, the site of the actual event, has an elevation of 5,506 feet. We were going to freeze our Munchkins off.

We piled into the car Saturday morning with our cold weather gear and drove off to western North Carolina. In Boone we saw a car with what looked like an inch of snow on it. After lunch we drove up over to the little town of Beech Mountain. Snow flakes began swirling out of the sky. There were police officers in the road directing visitors to the entrance to the Autumn at Oz event. You know it's cold when the police officers have enough cold weather gear on them that you cannot even see part of their face.

We had tickets for the 2 to 4 pm time slot. We began driving up the road to the event around a quarter to 2 pm. It looked like we were driving up a back road into an old ski resort (which is exactly what it was), and then we came upon the line going into the event. All of the ticket holders for our time slot arrived at the same time and we crawled up the side of the mountain.

We had been driving up the mountain for about an hour when Ally woke up from her nap. She marveled at the snow sticking to the trees and ground outside her window and then informed us that she needed to go use the bathroom.

We didn't know how far we were from the entrance. There was no end to the line of cars in front of us (or behind us, for that matter). We didn't see any buildings for a long while, and then we only saw private residences. No bathrooms in sight, and there was really too much snow on the ground to contemplate peeing behind a tree. Then Ally announced, with an greater sense of urgency, that she had to go poop.

Desperate, we called the Beech Mountain Chamber of Commerce, the event coordinators, to ask if there was a bathroom nearby. They were exceedingly unhelpful and didn't even seem to realize that there was a major traffic jam trying to get into the event. Ally let out a whimper.

Nothing will instill panic in a parent like the thought of having a bathroom emergency. Since we were at a standstill, the line of cars having advanced only a couple of yards over the past ten minutes, Steve decided to take Ally and walk up to the entrance. In his haste to go find a bathroom he nearly left without a jacket, let alone gloves or anything else.

I got in the driver seat and waited. And waited. And waited. The line of cars continued to creep. About a half hour later I spoke to Steve on the phone. They had *just* gotten up to the top of the mountain and found a Port-o-potty. I would call them again when I got up there and parked the car.

Long story short, it was almost 4 pm before I was able to pull into a very small and very muddy field that served as the parking lot for the event. It took 2 hours to get to the top of the mountain! Thankfully Steve was able to take Ally into the event while they waited for me, so they had already met Dorothy, Auntie Em, and the Scarecrow.

Ally had even gotten to pet Toto.

Ally had been a trooper while waiting for me, but the weather had taken its toll. My poor child was wearing only a fleece windbreaker and a pair of tennis shoes in the middle of strong, gusty winds that kept spitting wet snow. I brought Steve and Ally their gloves, hats, and coats, but it was too late. Ally was cold and tired and ready to leave and go home about 15 minutes after I found them.

I had hoped for a fun-filled family outing but instead it was an absolute disaster. Thankfully Steve had the idea of ducking back into the event at the end of the yellow brick road so that Ally could have her picture taken with Dorothy and the others all together.

Right after that we headed straight back to the car and left. Really, it was our only option. It was getting late in the day, the event was closing down soon, and the weather wasn't improving as the sun started going down. Ally was upset and we were disappointed, but risking hypothermia simply wasn't worth it. So we drove down the mountain, had dinner at a barbeque restaurant, and then checked into our hotel in Boone.

The next morning Ally was very excited about having breakfast at the hotel's breakfast bar. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth trying to have a family vacation, or if we should just check into a local hotel for a night or two just so Ally can eat at the hotel's breakfast bar. At least we'll have vivid memories of our trip to the Blizzard of Oz.

Blah-vember

2011-11-14T17:35:00.000-05:00

So it's the middle of November and everything seems to be dried up brown or dead gray outside. The trees are bare, the grass is brown, and everything else looks withered and hard hit by repeated frosts.

Not my favorite time of the year. But October, oh October was beautiful this year...

If you're looking for me this week, I'll be under the covers trying to deal with the time change, lack of light, and the otherwise blahness of November.

Chilly Dog

2011-11-14T07:36:00.000-05:00

It's been a little cold here lately....

Wordless Wednesday, November 9, 2011

2011-11-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

Indian Corn

2011-11-07T19:45:00.000-05:00

My friend's husband grew the most beautiful Indian corn this year.

How's that for an ear of Hokie corn?

Pink, blue, yellow, cream, lavender, purple, gold, burgundy, orange, black. It's gorgeous. I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.

Some of the ears have striped kernels.

Other ears have freckled kernels.

Some ears have both stripes and freckles.

I'm already wondering where we can plant some next spring.

Ally, The Rainbow Fairy Princess

2011-11-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Ally decided she wanted to be a rainbow fairy princess for Halloween this year. For months she had told me that she would be a ghost, then a witch, and a superhero, and maybe Barbie. I thought maybe she was having a hard time committing to one costume, but then it dawned on me that Ally wanted to be all those things...on the same night.

I finally got her straightened out on the logistics of multiple costume changes on Halloween and she settled on a rainbow fairy. Rainbow fairy I can do. Nope, we weren't going to do a tied-dyed hippy rainbow fairy. Ally would be dressed up as traditional rainbow fairy with primary colors. I sewed some bright rainbow ribbon to the cuffs of a white shirt and found Ally's tights with the rainbow bands on the legs to wear with a denim skirt. I added some streamers to a wand, we got a sequined headband from the dollar store, and voila! A rainbow fairy princess was born.

As you can see, that's not the outfit she's wearing in this picture.

The weather changed and the temperature dropped into the freezing zone at night. The kind of weather that kills a cool costume and no one can tell what you dressed up as because you've got to wear a heavy coat over your outfit. Ally's skirt was too short for that kind of night temperatures and her rainbow ribbon cuffs would be hidden. Not enough rainbow would be seen.

Clearly I was going to have to change the costume so 1) you could tell Ally was dressed up for Halloween and 2) my daughter didn't freeze to death. I got some rainbow striped fleece material and made Ally a fringed apron-y skirt to wear over a longer, warmer pink skirt. I didn't find any bright, primary rainbow colors....the store only had some pastel, ombre shaded, rainbow material that was obviously more of a tie-dyed look than I had originally planned. On the other hand, Ally was thrilled to have more pink and purple in the ensemble.

Ally wore the fringed overskirt with a fleece jacket that fortunately had rainbow circles and flowers on it. Ally couldn't wear her fairy wings with the additional bulky layers but at least she didn't freeze. In the end many people thought she might be a Hippie Princess but that didn't faze her in the least once the candy started filling up her bucket. Plus, Ally got to wear the warm fuzzy boots that light up when she stomps on the ground, an added benefit when you're out trick or treating in the dark.

In the end Ally was perfectly happy with her homemade costume. She can wear the fleece skirt to play dress up anytime she wants. And that first outfit I put together for her? It wasn't wasted effort: Ally wore it to school last Wednesday and has asked if she can wear it again soon.

Ally did get to dress up as a witch for her class Halloween party the Friday before Halloween.

Cute, but it didn't have the panache of the Rainbow Princess Fairy.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, October 26, 2011

2011-10-26T15:16:00.000-04:00

A few images from early fall.

Pumpkin Update

2011-10-24T15:18:00.000-04:00

We grew close to 100 small sugar pie pumpkins this year, most weighing 5-8 pounds. That's a lot of pumpkin! I heard that there's a pumpkin shortage due to bad weather in the northeast this year but that's not the situation in Plum Creek.

And what do you do with that many pumpkins? We donated most of them to Ally's daycare center for their fall festival earlier this month. Those that weren't used there were adopted by a first grade class in Riner for a fantastic class project. The remainder of the pumpkins will either find new homes or be eaten throughout this winter. I'm hoping they keep well, but we'll still be eating pumpkin butter, pie, bread, and soup from now until spring!

We were at the Sinkland Farms Pumpkin Festival this weekend with friends and each kid got to pick out a pumpkin for themselves. Ironically Ally insisted on picking out a pumpkin that's virtually identical to the fifteen piled up on our front porch. Oh well.

If anyone is looking for seeds, I highly recommend Pinetree Garden Seeds at https://www.superseeds.com

They have a good selection at reasonable prices. I'd offer some seeds from the ones I've grown, but pumpkins are a bit promiscuous and will readily cross with other pumpkin varieties, so I couldn't vouch for what you might get from any of my seeds. In fact, my Jarrahdale pumpkins this year looked more green than blue and were much lumpier this year than in 2010. I can't wait to see what we get in 2012.

Wordless Wednesday, October 19, 2011

2011-10-19T22:30:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday, October 12, 2011

2011-10-12T09:44:00.002-04:00

On a Clear Day

2011-10-08T09:28:00.000-04:00

On a clear day you can see forever. (Grandfather Mountain, NC)

Buckeye Love

2011-10-07T09:30:00.009-04:00

We have a couple of buckeye trees on our property. I think they're all Aesculus flava, the yellow buckeye. Most of them are tall and skinny and not much to look at because they're growing on a steep ravine in poor soil with little light. I'd love to have a large one closer to the house because I think they're beautiful trees with attractive flowers in the spring, but mostly it's the nuts that I adore.

In mid to late September the buckeye down by our mailbox begins dropping its seeds. Sometimes I find the entire fruit, a smooth yellowish-tan oblong capsule that reminds me of a russeted pear, on the ground. Other times I only find the nuts that have been released. Either way, I can't help but pick up every single one I can find.

The fresh nuts are a wonderfully glossy mahogany and chestnut color with a broad tan "eye" indicating where the nut was attached to its capsule during its development. They do remind you of a deer's eye, thus the name "buckeyes."

Buckeyes are perfectly smooth to the touch, although not always perfectly round. Some are flat on their sides from where they shared their capsule with another nut. All of them are hefty, just begging for a slingshot. Unfortunately the nuts will eventually lose their glossy sheen and gain a more wrinkled texture after they dry for a day or two.

Even the empty husks are interesting to look at.

By the second week of October the tree down by the mailbox has finished dropping its crop of nuts. I might find a few more this week if I kick the leaves around while I check the mailbox, but I've already picked up most of them.

I've heard that squirrels are one of the few animals that will eat the buckeye nuts. They're too bitter to the taste for most animals. The fruit capsules are high in tannic acid, much like walnut husks, and the nuts themselves are toxic and can only be eaten safely after they've been leached to remove the poisons. I've no plans to try them myself and just use them for fall decoration. (But I'm still thinking about getting a sling shot.....)

Gather Ye Toads

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we found a big toad in our backyard.

The toad was so big that we decided it must be a very old Grandma Toad.

No, it's not a comment on either of Ally's grandmothers.

"Mom, you are in so much trouble with this one."

I did think it was a pretty toad, as toads go. Thankfully Grandma Toad didn't pee on me, like many of her kind seem to do. We let Grandma Toad loose over by the compost pile, which seemed like an ideal toad habitat. I hope we see her again next spring!

Wordless Wednesday, October 5, 2011

2011-10-05T17:48:00.000-04:00

Let's go, Hokies!

2011-10-01T07:16:00.002-04:00

Ally Draws My Portrait

2011-09-30T07:00:00.004-04:00

Ally's been really having fun doing artwork lately. She likes to draw at the dining room table while I cook dinner. I see a lot of construction paper, markers, glue, and glitter in our near future. Santa might even bring her a whole box of art supplies.

Earlier this week Ally came home from school and announced that she was going to draw a picture of me. She pulled out her supplies and diligently got to work. After about a half hour of intense concentration, this is what she showed me:

"Ta-da!" she announced as she gave me the picture with a flourish. "This is you with your fat stomach in a Hokie dress."

"Uhhhhh, what are those things on my arms, Ally?"

"Those are your bandaids 'cause you were bleeding."

This is the first time Ally has drawn a picture of me, so I should feel flattered. At least my purple legs are nice and skinny.

Wingstem and Goldenrod

2011-09-29T08:45:00.008-04:00

Yesterday I posted a series of pictures of yellow flowers. I included the perennial sunflowers in the garden, and the wingstem and goldenrod that grows wild in the pasture. I should have included the Jerusalem artichoke that's also in my gardens, but somehow I missed taking pictures of them in bloom this year.

All of these species have lovely yellow flowers. Both the perennial sunflowers and the Jerusalem artichokes (or sunchokes, as my maternal grandmother called them) are members of the Helianthus genus and look very much like small versions of the annual sunflowers.

Goldenrod and wingstem are also perennials and grow abundantly in our area. Usually their flowers aren't much to look at close up, but they color the roadsides and old fields with a sunny yellow in mid-September.

If you notice, the petals are very ragged on these flowers. I assume they unfold from the buds that way as I've never seen any wingstem with nice, neat petals.

Many people consider wingstem to be a weed species in trashy areas. You can read more about wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia, and goldenrod, Solidago canadensis, on the Virginia Tech Weed ID website. Just don't tell our pollinators that these plants are weedy: wingstem and goldenrod serve as an important nectar source for many insects in late summer, including the familiar honeybee and bumblebee.

Wordless Wednesday, September 28, 2011

2011-09-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

A Letter to Myself to be Read Next March

2011-09-25T08:00:00.014-04:00

Dear Self,

No doubt you've already gotten tons of gardening catalogs in the mail and you've been drooling over the possible choices for the garden since January. I'm here to remind you of a few things.

1. For God's sake, please reconsider planting more than 30-40 tomato plants next time! We had more than 60 plants in 2010 and we lost the battle of keeping them picked too early in the season. Yes, I know we planted that many just in case a tomato plague came around and wiped out most of the crop, but ya know what? Nary a plague appeared and the plants all did just fine. Pick a couple of varieties and then put out no more than 10 of each variety. Trust me, it'll be okay.

2. Yes, plant Sungold tomatoes again! Yeah, Sungolds are a hybrid but you can't beat that sweet taste. Be sure to get another black tomato, maybe Black Krim. Brandywine was good, but stingy on the yield. Tigerella was good, but they're pretty small. We want some larger tomatoes next year for sandwiches. Subartic Plenty doesn't have the flavor of other varieties, but you were still picking them in late September. Just remember to check the seeds you have leftover before ordering more!

3. Thou shall keep the tomatoes staked and the paths between rows mowed.

4. And put fencing up for the damn beans even if they are considered bush beans. They'll run all the way over to Radford again if you don't.

5. Remember you're gonna have to rotate the garden around this year. No planting the corn right where it was last year and the Jarrahdale pumpkins don't like being so far away from the sprinkler.

6. Yes, plant corn and okra again next year. And the tomatillos need more room.

7. And then we come to the peppers. Fooled You jalapenos are tasty and safe for the non-heat seekers in the family. The anchos are also good, mostly mild with only a little heat. You need to include a hotter variety for the salsa, though. Again, don't plant so many next time. They all did really well and they're prolific as bunnies.

8. Reconsider your fear of the pressure canner. You can't just make jelly out of everything, and you need a pressure canner to make just about anything else.

9. Speaking of which, repeat after me: I will not try to use those rock-hard, unripe little green tomatoes in any recipe from now on. Any recipe calling for green tomatoes is referring to green tomatoes that are soft and have lots of gel in them. The other ones are bitter and have an awful taste to them and you can't disguise that flavor no matter how much sugar and spices you use in that chutney, cake, or what have you. You might as well go ahead and tell your family and friends that you regret having inflicted them with that flavor while you're at it. Blech! I don't know why we didn't realize this sooner, but go forth and sin no more.

10. Unless we've signed up to grow pumpkins again for Ally's school, plant half the pumpkin patch with Jarrahdales and the other half with a pie pumpkin. We got over 100 Small Sugar pumpkins but the flavor wasn't nearly as good as we had hoped. Maybe try those Rouge vif d'Etampes pumpkins that look like Cinderella's pumpkin next time?

Really, that's about it. We had a great garden in 2011 and we'll probably have another great year in 2012. Some years the pumpkins are the star, some years it's the peppers that steal the show, but it's all good. Just remember to till early, apply the compost early, and then till again before planting. Stake the tomatoes, fence the beans, and keep everything picked to keep those yields coming in!

Regards,

Your Self

Pods

2011-09-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

I meant to post this picture this week for Wordless Wednesday, but the week got away from me.

These are the fruit of a Korean dogwood. They look like alien space pods. Even better, they're edible. Really. The USDA states, "Fruit quality poor to fair."

The one I tasted didn't have much flavor, which might be a good thing, as the Wikipedia article on the genus Cornus states that the dogwoods in the genus that includes the Korean dogwood are "...mildly toxic to people." Guess I won't be taste testing these again. (Sorry, Mom, but the USDA said I could!)

Fun and Game Cameras

2011-09-23T20:44:00.000-04:00

I gave Steve a game camera for Christmas last year. It's taught us a lot about the fauna around our house.

For instance, you get a lot of mundane shots when you set the game camera up beside the driveway.

This is just us in the car, unless a deer took it for a joyride one morning while we we're still asleep.

Sasquatch shovels the driveway.

A night shot of nothing.

Then the batteries died, probably because we took hundreds of shots of the cars going up and down the driveway. Months passed before we replaced the batteries and moved the camera over to the side of the yard.

Now we got hundreds of shots of Steve mowing the lawn.

Then we had proof that there is wildlife around our house. A crow.

Then, months after setting up the camera, we finally had photographic evidence of the deer that hang out in our yard at night.

'Cause, ya know, seeing them out there all the time in the yard and in the driveway just wasn't concrete evidence that we really had deer.

I think this may be a shot of our resident young buck. I recently saw him with his new antlers. He looks like he's a 4 pointer.

Another shot of Steve mowing our now dry lawn.

Then we moved the camera out back. We started getting more shots of interesting subjects when we set a bucket of water near the camera.

This may be a bird or a grasshopper flying close to the camera. I'm tempted to submit it to one of those cryptid zoology sites that show out of focus shots of Bigfoot and chupacabras. "It's clearly a flying rod!"

Another crow.

And then we got more deer.

Then the batteries died in the camera again. I'd like to get the camera set up again soon. This time I'd like to place it where we could take pictures of Sugar Booger coming and going. On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to know that there might be more than two bats out there.

Wordless Wednesday, September 14, 2011

2011-09-14T11:15:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday, September 7, 2011

2011-09-07T14:50:00.001-04:00

Holy guano, Batman!

2011-09-06T09:20:00.000-04:00

Late yesterday I decided to go ahead and can the tomato sauce I had been cooking down all weekend. It had scorched a little on the bottom while I wasn't watching it, so I'm not sure if you could call it "fire roasted" or not. And while I was going for tomato jam, it might be barbeque sauce or perhaps spicy ketchup. Context is everything, even in the kitchen.

To gear up for canning a vat of tomato product after Ally had gone to bed, I went ahead and drank a cup of coffee around 5 pm. I hardly ever drink coffee that late any more, but once upon a time in grad school I could imbibe a lot of coffee round the clock without any ill effects. I have fond memories of going to the JFG Coffee House in downtown Knoxville at 11 pm and getting a bowl of a latte and a slab of red velvet cake, followed by another bowl of latte, and then getting back to our little UT-subsidized slum apartment and instantly falling asleep when I got to bed at 2 am. And when I woke up at 6:30 am, it was like someone had thrown a switch and I was instantly awake, ready to churn out another 10 pages of my master's thesis. Caffeine was my drug of choice and it was largely responsible for me finishing my degree. (Of course, three weeks after I graduated I learned that I had no fewer than six cavities in my mouth, so perhaps my graduate lifestyle was more about survival than proper health.)

Anyhoo, I got my jam/sauce/ketchup canned and went to bed around 11 pm. I promptly realized that those little caffeine molecules were still careening around my system and they had no intention of slowing down enough to let me sleep anytime soon. Eventually I dropped off and landed into some weirdly fantastic dreams that seemed plausible in the dark but make no sense now. I'd dream, then wake up, fall asleep and dream some more. I remember jolting myself awake to a screechy female voice saying something that sounded like "I won't take the responsibility again!" and not being quite sure if it was from my dream or I had actually heard someone talking. Back to sleep again. Then I awoke to hear what sounded like someone running their hand over the screen door and immediately afterwards I heard that godawful soft whuff-thwup-whuff-thwup of bat wings in the bedroom. Oh, Sugar Booger.

Same scenario as last time: wake up Steve, scoop up the dog, evacuate the bedroom. Go out on the deck, open the screen door, and hope the bat flies out of the bedroom by morning. Steve went upstairs to sleep in the guest room and I shoved the dog down to the end of the sofa and slept there.

That screeching noise I heard? I think it might have been made by the bat. I also think that the sliding noise I heard was Sugar Booger pushing past the "fur" fringe on the edge of the screen door that normally would keep out bugs and bats and things like that. We'll be closing the sliding door at night until we can find a firm, rubber gasket to install on the screen door. Would I have heard any of those noises if I hadn't been hopped up on caffeine? Would I have been awake enough to figure out Sugar Booger's secret passage way? Who knows?

Clearly we're dealing with no ordinary bat. Also, sometimes a late cup of coffee can be an asset.

Bats in the Belfry

2011-09-01T15:58:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay, when I was wishing for a fresh start with September I should have specified that I didn't want coyotes at 4:30 am or a bat in the house at 5 am.

This morning, the first of September, we woke up being serenaded by a pack of deranged banshees. It's the second or third morning in a row that I think I've heard the coyotes, but I wasn't fully awake the previous mornings to confirm that yes, that unearthly howling was indeed Canis latrans. Several of them, in fact. Steve and I mumbled something about country life and were on the verge of falling asleep when a weird whiffling noise began swooping about in the air above the bed.

"Uh Steve?"

"What is that?"

"There's something in the room."

"A moth?" Steve suggested hopefully.

By then I knew exactly what it was but didn't want to say it in a way that might encourage panic. "Nooooooo, I don't think so. I think it might be a bat."

Being nearsighted as a bat myself, I was reaching for my glasses on the nightstand when Steve said he saw the creature. "There's something swooping outside the screen door. It's outside."

"Are you sure?" I could have sworn that the soft whuff-twhup-whuff-twhup noise of bat wings had been right above my head.

"Yeah. There it is again."

Reassured, I stop reaching for my glasses and laid on my stomach, hoping to catch some more sleep before having to get up for the day. Silence, and then whuff-twhup-whuff-twhup filled the air again.

You can only imagine the panic that ensued. "Bat! Bat in the house! It's inside! Grab the dog! How'd it get inside? Bat! Out! Get out of the bedroom! Out! Out! Now!"

Steve scooped up Oscar and we hurried into the living room, shutting the bedroom door behind us. We stood in the kitchen and discussed what to do next. I convinced Steve to just open the screen door that leads from the bedroom to the back deck and let the bat find its own way outside. There was no sign of a bat in the room when I checked it an hour later.

And then we heard later that there was another aftershock measuring 3.4 in magnitude outside of Mineral, VA, this morning at 5:09 am. That was probably just us trying to get the hell out of the bedroom before the bat escaped into the rest of the house. Or maybe the coyotes were trying to warn us of an impending earthquake and that's what all that howling and yodeling was about at 4:30 am. Who knew they would be so thoughtful?

So before anyone can start asking about the R word, yes, I'm aware that bats can carry rabies. Some people advise that any bat found in the house should automatically be tested for rabies. We probably would have if we had actually caught the thing, just to be on the safe side, but the mere presence of a bat in the house does not signify that it was rabid. The bat was acting perfectly normal for a bat that wandered inside a house. We were not attacked and we have no bite marks on our bodies.

As of August 11, 2011, there were a total of 391 confirmed cases of rabies among tested animals in Virginia, according to the Virginia Health Department's website. Of those confirmed cases, 16 of the tested animals (or 4.09%) were bats. (In comparison, raccoons, skunks, and foxes represented 48%, 25%, and 14% of the cases respectively reported in 2011 as of August 11.) Other potential health problems associated with bats include histoplasmosis and bat bugs, but in reality, I probably took a greater risk to life and limb by driving my car through Radford this morning.

How did the bat get inside the house? We're not exactly sure, but Steve did discover a gap under the fascia boards above the bathroom window which might have been the entry point. It's now thoroughly caulked up.

Are we letting Sugar Booger 1 and 2 still roost outside?

Yes. I like bats and I'm comfortable with them roosting under the eaves outside as long as we don't have more than 2-3 out there.

Are we going to bat proof the house? Yes, as much as possible. I don't want a colony living inside the house. But bat proofing is really just an ongoing maintenance job that began last fall when we decided that we didn't want the mice and flying insects spending the winter with us.

Are we hiring a professional company to do any of this?

Um, apparently not. (I should point out that this jerry rigged bat barrier is only temporary and not a permanent solution. On the other hand, MacGyver would have been proud even if this temporary fix does not involve the use of a gum wrapper.)

What will we do if we find another bat in the house tonight? Probably panic.

Wordless Wednesday, August 31, 2011

2011-08-31T15:48:00.000-04:00

The Dog Days of Summer

2011-08-30T08:42:00.001-04:00

It's almost the end of August and I cannot wait for the calendar to turn to September just for the psychological fresh start a new month brings. Yeah, the house will still need cleaning, the gardens will still be a mess, and my to-do list will be a mile long, but these will be "start of the month" things to deal with and therefore not so bad. As opposed to the rather depressing "things I didn't get around to doing the entire month" things they are right now.

After an uncomfortably hot July, the temperatures have become much more pleasant in August but it's still bone dry. Thunderstorms rise up and dance all around us before evaporating without any rain. Things are brown and crunchy, a dreary burnt landscape that makes you think more "nuclear holocaust" than "bountiful late summer." I'm about to yank out the struggling annuals and toss them all on the compost rather spend another moment hoping they might recover before cool night temperatures do them in for good. At least the compost pile would look good.

The last half of August has been more than a little stressful. Just in the past week we've dealt with an earthquake, a hurricane, a faulty sensor in the braking system of my car, and now my beloved dog has a suspicious growth on her muzzle. I'm off to the vet's office in just a few minutes to have it checked out. Most likely it's a benign growth and nothing to worry about, but this comes on top of having my house shake inexplicably, wondering if my parents will evacuate before the arrival of Hurricane Irene, and worrying if my car will actually stop when I try to brake down our monstrously steep driveway. I could use a pleasant change, a fresh start, a new month.

Come on, September.

Update, 9:40 am Official diagnosis: Oscar has an old dog wart and a bad scrape on her head, probably from where she's been trying to extirpate the voles in the flower beds out front. Whew..I can live with that.

Wordless Wednesday, August 24, 2011

2011-08-24T20:16:00.000-04:00

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, August 17, 2011

2011-08-17T07:00:00.001-04:00

I have several plants of "Sweet Million" cherry tomato this year. One of them grew so tall and so full of fruit that it bent the 5 foot tall 1 x 2 inch wooden stake over at the base. The bent over plant was threatening to take out another cherry tomato beside it, so I chopped it down and salvaged the fruit regardless of whether it was red or green.

All of these tomatoes are from one plant.

I have four other "Sweet Million" plants in the garden.

The tomato plant I cut down was the smallest one in the row.

Details at Eleven

2011-08-15T16:19:00.000-04:00

In an unprecedented move, the Department of Agriculture raided an unlicensed all-you-can-eat bean buffet in Christiansburg, VA, that had become popular with undocumented Mexican bean beetles over the summer. Citing concerns for food safety and the blatant disregard for the economic injury level, the Bean Czar authorized the removal and destruction of a dozen plants known as “Half Runners.” Each of the plants is thought to have supported a multitude of bean beetle families whose fate remains uncertain. Particularly cruel was the use of a small black and tan dog that routed the area after the removal of each plant. Survivors were heard moaning, "Yo quiero mi frijoles." Families of the victims have begun referring to the event as “The Gleaning” and are organizing a protest in response to the day’s event.

End of Summer

2011-08-14T08:33:00.000-04:00

It's that time of the year. We've crested over the summer hump and the heat has finally broken to where it even gets cool enough at night that we pull the quilt back up around midnight. The goldfinches are eating the seed heads of the coneflowers, chicory, and my scattered, mouse-planted sunflowers. We have a glut of tomatoes and there are baby pumpkins on the vines. School buses are back on the roads and over on campus there's the countdown towards the first football game. I'm ready for fall!

The Compost Pile is Half Full

2011-08-11T07:30:00.001-04:00

I see a big pile of stinky composting grass clippings cooking in the sun.

Oscar sees a thing of wonderous beauty.

Something to be savored and enjoyed to its fullest, all the way down to the dregs.

I see a dog who's overdue for a bath.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, August 10, 2011

2011-08-10T15:46:00.000-04:00

He's not exactly a harbinger of doom, but this just isn't anything you want to see in your backyard.

Hiking the Cascades, July 2011

2011-08-07T11:57:00.000-04:00

We hiked up to the Cascades over the Fourth of July weekend this year. Ally was a little trooper and walked the whole 4 miles. It's a beautiful place to visit and a popular hiking trail.

The rhododendrons were still in bloom.

There are lots of ferns along the trail. I like the ones that take root and grow out of the big boulders and rocks.

Ferns usually look lush and green, but they're actually very tough plants with leathery fronds.

Nope, there's very little soft and gentle about a fern. They make an awful substitute for toilet paper and you should always go for the moss instead, but that's another story that I'm not going to discuss today.

Sometimes you can even find a rhody sapling growing in the cracks of the big rocks.

Luna moth. This picture is a little out of focus. I really should have taken the time to get up close and take several pictures of it. That'll teach me.

We also so several of these guys, which I think are caterpillars of the pipevine swallowtail.

The falls had plenty of water in early July.

The water is usually very cold, but there's a swimming hole in the front of the falls where people jump in to cool off. We were content with walking around in the shallower part of the Little Stony Creek, which has a surprisingly forceful flow as it's channeled through a rock slot below the falls.

We took the fire road back down to the parking lot. There's a big outcropping of rock along the way with an eroded cave underneath it. The cave is very shallow, but it's cool and wet under there.

Shallow cave.

REALLY BIG ROCK.

Milkweed Patch, July 2011

2011-08-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Milkweed is a beautiful plant. The flowers are pretty and smell wonderful, plus you never know what you might find among the blooms.

I'm always happy to see honeybees.

A honeybee covered with pollen and coming in for a landing.

Bright yellow oleander aphids.

Big, fat, hairy tachinid fly.

Milkweed longhorn beetle, one of my favorite critters.

They play dead when startled.

Oh my....excuse me!

Wordless Wednesday, August 3, 2011

2011-08-03T07:00:00.002-04:00

Garden Update, July 2011

2011-08-02T16:57:00.000-04:00

Since I'm in denial that it's already August, I thought I'd post an update on my garden circa two weeks ago.

The garden gates.

Sweet corn.

Okra.

Green tomatoes.

Green tommy toes.

Ripening Tigerella tomatoes, a striped variety. You can see that I recycle strips of fabric and selvedge to tie up my tomatoes.

That green twisty mess in the foreground? Those would be half runner beans.

Funny thing about the beans...the description said that they would be mostly bushy so I thought "Perfect! Just what I need for my first attempt at growing beans!" And they are mostly bushy on the bottom. It's just that the half that's the runner part is trying to run clear over to Radford. (Note to self: You will fence the beans next year.)

One evening's harvest: patty pan squash, eight-ball zucchini, half runner beans, sungold tomatoes.

Young pumpkin vines in the pumpkin patch.

Young pumpkin vines yearning to escape the fence. (Steve took the fence down about a week after this picture was taken, and now the pumpkin vines are trying to join the bean vines over in Radford.)

The compost pile in all of its stinky, funky, ugly glory.

And now a reason to head indoors.

Wordless Wednesday, July 27, 2011

2011-07-27T07:00:00.002-04:00

Flower Fairy Princess

2011-07-25T21:32:00.000-04:00

Last week Ally's classroom had a "castle" theme, complete with dragon coloring pages, make your own crown, and playing a version of tags where the boys were dragons and the girls were damsels in distress. One day the kids were told to dress up as a prince or princess. Ally thought this was the most exciting thing ever and was in heaven the whole day.

Ally's costume had all of her favorite motifs rolled into one big pouf here. It's a pink, purple, sparkly, glittery fancy that's the epitome of a Flower Fairy Princess. While Ally declined to wear her fairy wings to school, she insisted on taking her motion activated magic fairy wand that lights up and makes "spell casting" noises. (I bet Ally's teacher just loved that by 10:00 am.)

Blackberry Summer

2011-07-22T07:00:00.005-04:00

It's been a banner year for blackberries. When we bought the house during the winter of 2009 I was excited to see lots of wild canes growing on our property, all along the driveway and around the edge of the woods. However, we went to Las Vegas in July 2010 and when we got home I was disappointed by the quality and quantity of berries on the canes. There had been a hot dry spell while we were gone and most of the berries were either hard and sour or dried up to mummification.

Not so this year.

The berries have been abundant to say the least. Not all of them are very sweet and some of them are seedier than others, but they're wild plants that we don't maintain other than hacking them back when they threaten to block the driveway. I'm glad to get whatever fruit they offer me. Based on the number of thorns that have pierced my skin while picking berries, clearly all the plants want in return is a blood sacrifice from me.

But I'm not going to complain about a few thorns. Not when I've been able to pick a few handfuls like this from my car window while driving down the driveway. That sounds like the ultimate in pick-your-own, but my friend Kathy simply drives her golf cart into her blackberry patch and picks them that way. Now that's the way to do it.

We also have wineberries that have done well this summer, too.

I think the little nipples left when the fruits are picked look funny.

Ally likes the wineberries best. She prefers to hold the bowl while standing in the grass while I pick them for her in the middle of the patch. (I suppose having someone pick the berries for you is even better than getting to drive a golf cart into the patch.) Ally will help me pick blackberries from the driveway and she might eat a few of them, but mostly she'll put them in the bowl. The wineberries are sweeter, so she eats most of the ones I give her. However, she'll even leave some of the wineberries in the bowl if she knows I'm going to make a dessert with them. I don't know where Ally gets this self restraint as I would have gleefully eaten the whole bowl by myself at her age if my mother wasn't looking.

Last week we picked blackberries and wineberries for a birthday cake for my paternal grandmother, who turned 90 last Sunday. My parents came in on Friday and helped pick, too.

I made my favorite yellow cake recipe and added two heaping cups of blackberries to the batter. When it came out of the oven I spread melted blackberry jelly over the top, then frosted it with caramel icing when it cooled. When I make it again (and oh yes, this will be made many, many times as long as there are blackberries in the freezer), I'll skip the jelly and just use the icing. The jelly make the icing slide off and it's really just gilding the lily.

I should have taken a picture of the cake but you'll just have to take my word that it's good. Really good. And it's even better after a day in the fridge. At least try this yellow cake and that caramel icing even if you don't have any blackberries. I make the icing with buttermilk so it has more of a praline flavor. (FYI, I don't care for the chocolate frosting included with the yellow cake recipe and I haven't made the spice cake with the caramel icing recipe. No need to when you can have this yellow cake and that caramel icing together.)

So instead of a picture of a cake, I leave you with a picture of four generations of Dellingers together. My grandmother did like the cake, but not so much as the idea that her son, grand daughter, and great grand daughter all picked the berries together just for her cake.

Middle of Summer, July 2011

2011-07-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

You know it's the middle of summer when sitting in a galvanized washtub full of water seems like a neat thing to do.

You know you live in southwest Virginia when your parents consider this "bath time."

Wordless Wednesday, July 20, 2011

2011-07-20T08:00:00.002-04:00

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, July 6, 2011

2011-07-06T07:00:00.002-04:00

These are feral horses on Shackleford Banks, off the coast of North Carolina. There are several small herds of "banker ponies" along the Outer Banks, some of which were thought to have arrived on the islands from shipwrecked Spanish galleons. Recent DNA testing indicates that the horses on Shackleford Banks are indeed Spanish mustangs, just like the legends say. Interestingly, the other herds of banker ponies appear to be a mixture of various horse breeds.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty....

2011-07-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

Last night our miniature dachshund Oscar practically exploded in a flurry of barking and whining in front of the door to the back deck. We've had deer out back for the past couple of weeks so I just assumed some were passing through to and from the woods and the neighbor's cow pasture again. But we didn't want Oscar's barking to wake up our daughter Ally, so I picked the dog up and walked out on the back deck. Oscar continued to bark and struggle in my arms in a way that made me think there might be something more than just another deer out there. There was quite a bit of rustling down below the deck so Steve got the flashlight and we swept the yard, looking for an animal. We didn't see anything other than some fireflies and the eyeshine of the cows.

Figuring it must have just been the cows next door, we came back inside where Oscar launched herself at the front door with another explosive volley of barking and whining. Whatever it was out back was now in the front yard. Oscar was practically vibrating with excitement and I'm surprised she didn't shatter into a dozen mini-mini dachshunds, all wheeling around our legs and barking their tiny little heads off. Steve scooped her up again and we stepped out on the front porch with the lights on and the flashlight in hand. We didn't see anything but Oscar struggled so much to get free that Steve had to take her back inside so she didn't get loose and spend the night running around the woods after the elusive intruder.

And a good thing, too. I walked out to the driveway with the flashlight just in time to see three fluffy, inky black tails held high scurry after a bigger, fluffier, inkier black tail held high. The three kits followed mama skunk to the edge of the embankment and down into our ravine, where they made a surprisingly loud ruckus for a long time as they crashed through the underbrush.

Back inside, it took a long time to console Oscar about not being able to chase off the kitties and she's still not speaking to me this morning.

Wordless Wednesday, June 29, 2011

2011-06-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

Summer 2011

2011-06-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

No, I haven't been posting much lately. Summer is in full force and I haven't got enough free time to do it all. We've been having fun, though. We've made it to the beach twice with family and friends. We're planning on picking blueberries later this week at Sinking Creek Farm and then hiking the Cascades trail next weekend. We've got family parties and reunions, afternoons in our little inflatable pool, and maybe a backyard camp out planned.

The vegetable garden is looking good. I've got a gazillion tomato plants along with eggplant, peppers, yellow squash and zucchini, okra, sweet corn, and half-runner beans. And pumpkins. With any luck it'll be a banner year for pumpkins, seeing how I just transplanted 75 of the little suckers last night. I put the Jarrahdales inside the garden with the deer fencing, and the sugar pies went into a new "pumpkin patch" we tilled about a month ago. These are smaller pumpkins in the 5-7 pound range that are great for cooking, but just the right size for decorating for the under 6 year old set. I'm growing them for Ally's day care center's Fall Festival this year. Ally even helped me plant the seeds. Steve put up some galvanized fencing around the patch yesterday to protect the young plants from the deer herd that's claimed the back part of our property.

The front flower beds also look good, at least from a distance. The rose campion, gloriosa daisies, lamb's ear, and lemon balm are colorful and um, vigorous this year. A closer inspection would show you the grass, shiso, plantain and other weeds that are taking over the beds. I'm learning that there's a very fine line between a loose, cottage garden style and something that you shouldn't turn your back on at night. Even the plants I deliberately set out have gone feral this season. I'll be spending a lot of time out there over the next week or so ripping out the bullies and getting the weeds under control. At least I'm getting some exercise and I no longer feel guilty about not getting on the elliptical machine.

At some point I know that the weather we're having right now will turn from pleasant sunny days with comfortable nights into hot, sticky, dry weeks that are miserable to spend outside. That's when I hope to spend more time writing and working with my Etsy shop. Until then, you can probably find me outside with a shovel in hand and cursing at the crabgrass.

Neighbors

2011-06-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Some of our neighbors are a little standoffish. We see them and say "Hi!" to be polite, but they really don't want to interact with us all that much.

And they tend to leave whenever they feel like you're invading their personal space. Nevermind that their personal space is actually our yard.

How rude!

Wordless Wednesday, June 21, 2011

2011-06-22T07:10:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday, June 8, 2011

2011-06-08T07:00:00.001-04:00

Trip to the Outer Banks

2011-06-07T13:50:00.000-04:00

Last month we were fortunate to spend a week at Southern Shores, NC, with my parents. We stayed in a nice beach cottage only 500 feet from the ocean. The weather was nice and mild and the real tourist season hadn't begun yet, so we pretty much had the cul-de-sac to ourselves.

We spent a lot of time on the beach playing in the sand and picking up sea shells.

Ally built a sand castle.

And doodled in the sand.

Seems like we spent most of our time stooped over to look at something.

We found sea shells.

And little crabs.

Oscar dug.

The ocean was too cold for swimming, but we spent a lot of time playing in the surf.

And when we weren't on the beach, we visited the NC Aquarium in Manteo.

We got to know the locals.

We played at the town park in Duck, NC.

We played in the pool.

Which was much, much colder than Steve let on in the previous picture.

And Ally mastered the art of riding a scooter.

Best. Trip. Ever!

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, June 1, 2011

2011-06-01T14:08:00.003-04:00

Ally is four years old today!

Beloved

2011-05-26T08:00:00.003-04:00

I have known this quilt my entire life.

My great-grandmother Granny Riddle made this quilt before I was born. She was an expert quilter and sewed made many, many quilts by hand during her life time. We have several of Granny Riddle's quilts, but this is the one I think of when I think of her and her quilts.

I have slept under this quilt and napped on top of this quilt. It was the quilt we reached for when we needed comforting while sick, it was the one to wrap up in on a cold winter's night, and who knows how many books have been read under this quilt?

I don't know the name of this 8-pointed star pattern, but no doubt Granny Riddle did. I suspect that some of the fabric came from remnants of clothes but I'll never know who once wore them. Was that my great-grandfather's shirt? Did my grandmother once wear a dress made of out of that fabric?

The colors of the quilt are still quite pretty, but the cotton fabric is faded and begun to fray and tear. I would consider repairing the binding but the yellow sashing is damaged, too. After 40+ years of hard wear, this quilt has reached the end of its lifespan. I'm sad to see it succumb to old age, but Granny Riddle made all her quilts to be used and I'm sure she expected it to reach this state in time.

Of course I wouldn't dream of throwing it away. It's still much too pretty for that and sections of it are still in great shape. I may cut off the damaged binding and outer sashing and then make a new binding for it as a throw or toddler quilt. I could fashion a table topper or wall hanging out of it. Pillows. Christmas ornaments. Pincushions. Upholster a padded bench.

Really, there are a lot of pretty things you can make from an old, beloved quilt. I'm not the expert quilter Granny Riddle was, but with a little effort and some love I think my daughter may be looking at part of this quilt when she's forty and wonder who wore the clothes that her great-great-grandmother used to make this quilt.

Wordless Wednesday, May 25, 2011

2011-05-25T07:30:00.001-04:00

May Day, mayday, mayday!

2011-05-23T22:25:00.000-04:00

I have no idea how today can possibly be May 23 when I distinctly remember yesterday being May 1. Apparently I have lost a whole month somewhere between yesterday and today. Much of it fell to the wayside when Ally had a fever and was out of daycare for two days, then she got better over the weekend but this was followed by me getting her cold. Then the following week Ally had another fever and was out of daycare for two days but I got better, then she got better, and then we went on vacation. Which is when I developed bronchitis and Ally got stomach flu.

I kid you not. There ought to be a law against getting two separate colds in one month, with a double penalty for getting sick during a week at the beach. Thankfully I had a mild case of bronchitis and Ally only got a touch of stomach flu so we were still able to enjoy our vacation despite the unpleasant production of bodily secretions (I'l spare you the details).

But now it's the first day back home and I'm at an utter loss to account for my month of May. Even worse, things seem to have gone to pot in the meantime. The house needs cleaning. The flower beds out front need weeding. My laptop has developed some unexplained hiccups. My daughter turns four next Wednesday and I haven't planned a single thing for her birthday. The vegetable garden out back has not been planted yet. I'm having a hard time thinking about our menu for the week. There are ants in the kitchen. I haven't updated my Etsy shop in a while. Someone one turned on the summer heat and humidity while we were gone.

So the month of May traditionally begins with May Day, but it looks like I'm going to end it with the distress call, "Mayday, mayday, mayday!"

Wordless Wednesday, May 11, 2011

2011-05-11T10:07:00.000-04:00

Another Walk in the Park

2011-05-05T08:00:00.004-04:00

Last week I revisited MidCounty Park in Montgomery Co., VA. Yes, the site of the vicious toad attack of 2010.

The trilliums were blooming. You can find both white and pink flowering forms, although I seem to have taken pictures of only the pink ones this spring.

Perfoliate bellflower (Uvularia grandiflora)

One February I'm going to visit the park in time to see the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) coming up through the snow. The emerging spathe can generate heat to push up through frozen mud in early spring. The spathes are an interesting mottled burgandy color but the flowers are unremarkable themselves. The lush foliage that emerges much later in warmer weather reminds me of hostas.

A botanical oddity, squawroot (Conopholis americana) is a parasitic plant that attaches to the roots of oaks and beeches. It lives entirely under the soil except for when the cone-shaped flowers erupt in the spring.

There are several types of violet found in the park.

I've always been fond of the yellow wood violets...

but these variegated purple and white beauties are gorgeous.

Dainty white flowers of something that I haven't looked up yet.

Rue anemone (Thalictrum thalictroides)

Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) is always a treat to find. There are both the green striped and the brown striped forms in Midcounty Park.

Wild ginger (Asarum sp.) has an unusual brown flower that's hidden by the heart shaped leaves.

I cannot seem to refrain from taking pictures of fiddleheads. I can't tell you how many I've got on file, but here's another one.

The liverwort (Anemone hepatica) had finished flowering before I found this patch, but the leaves are always beautiful.

So had the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), but the distinctive leaf is a dead giveaway for identifying this plant.

Another common spring wildflower, wild geranium (Geranium maculatum).

Wordless Wednesday, May 4, 2011

2011-05-04T10:30:00.000-04:00

Black flies and other natural disasters

2011-05-03T15:06:00.000-04:00

We get a lot of wind at our house. Our house is situated on the top of a ridge in an former cow pasture in Plum Creek and the wind just races up our little open valley only to plow into our house. Thankfully it isn't as bad during the summer...I think leaves on the trees might have something to do with that, but I dunno. What I do know is that I'm often cursing the wind during the month of April.

The wind died down on Friday. And, hello! It was almost May and the black flies came out.

I hate black flies. They swarm around my head and dive bomb into my eyes and get into my ears. Then they bite. And the bites itch for days.

So after cursing the wind all month, I wanted it to come back just a little. Just enough to keep the black flies off me.

Today the wind came back. With a vengeance. All 24 mph of it. Sigh.

Originally I thought I'd make a post where I whined and complained about the wind, the black flies, the yellow jacket and wasps that are swarming our back deck. Really, it's like one of the Biblical plagues out there.

But I'm just not snarky enough to compare my minor inconveniences to a natural disaster, not after seeing the damage caused by the tornado outbreak last week. There were tornados in Pulaski, VA, in early April, and then Glade Spring, VA, got hit last Thursday. That's a lot of tornado action for Virginia.

I think the storm that came our way was one of the worst I've ever seen. I looked out our back door at 1 am and saw nearly continuous flickering of lightening with very strong winds. Funny thing is, I don't think I heard any thunder, just flash flash flash flash lightening. Really eerie.

And then the news reports began pouring in from Alabama, Tennessee, and other southern states the next morning. The death toll is incredible, more than 300 dead, from a whopping 119 confirmed tornados between April 25-28. Thousands injured, towns obliterated, lives torn apart. The monstrous tornado that hit Tuscaloosa and Birmingham had a track that stretched 80 miles long.

So I'm just going to shut up about the winds that are currently gusting around our house right now. At least they're just gusts and hey, it's keeping the flies and wasps away for a little while.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_25–28,_2011_tornado_outbreak

You're Gonna Need an Ocean....Of Calamine Lotion!

2011-04-28T07:30:00.012-04:00

Okay peeps, it's time for a pop quiz on spring plants! One of the pictures below depicts poison ivy. Can you guess which one it is?

Is this the poison ivy?

Nope, that's innocent wild grape. Very young shoots of poison ivy will have a similar color and shiny leaves, just like this wild grape vine. However, poison ivy has sets of three leaves.

Leaves of three,
Let it be!

Is this the poison ivy?

Nope. This is Virginia creeper, an innocent plant that is frequently mistaken for poison ivy. But hey, let's count those leaves again! Virginia creeper has leaves in sets of five, not three.

So what about this plant? Is it poison ivy?

Yes, yes it is! See the leaves in sets of three? You win a bottle of calamine lotion!

And notice how all three plants (wild grape, Virginia creeper, and poison ivy) have similarly colored leaves that are very shiny when young? Later, when the new growth is older, all three plants will looker greener and won't have shiny leaves.

So in conclusion....when in doubt, count those leaves. Poison ivy has leaves in sets of three. Virginia creeper has leaves in sets of five.

Poor, poor innocent Virginia creeper.

Not so innocent poison ivy. By now you should recognize the set of three leaves that are practically snarling, "Don't touch me!" at you.

(And now I have the Coasters stuck in my head...."You'll be scratchin like a hound the moment you start to mess around with poison iv-y-y-y-y-y, poison iv-y-y-y!")

Wordless Wednesday, Apr 27, 2011

2011-04-27T07:30:00.000-04:00

The Easter Wrap Up, 2011

2011-04-26T10:43:00.000-04:00

I'm hoping everyone had a lovely Easter weekend. On Sunday we had an egg hunt with Ally, dinner with family, an afternoon movie, and time to chase bubbles in the late afternoon sunlight.

Then yesterday I had a temporary crown put on a back molar, an experience that was not pleasant to say the least. Thankfully I was able to get a good night's sleep with the assistance of some Tylenol and now I'm feeling much better. I can't eat any of those jelly beans lest I pull the temporary crown off, but those M&Ms and malted milk chocolate eggs are fair game. In fact a handful right now sounds like a good idea...just what I need to get me through the marathon of tomato transplanting, laundry, photo processing, and menu planning that I've got on my to do list today.

Anyone got a good recipe for leftover ham? Preferably something that uses a lot of it? And maybe those leftover dyed eggs in the fridge, too?

Happy Birthday, Aunt Joyce!

2011-04-21T08:00:00.015-04:00

A garden of flowers for you, until yours comes in.

Wordless Wednesday, Apr. 20, 2011

2011-04-20T08:00:00.001-04:00

Wild Kingdom in Plum Creek

2011-04-19T17:20:00.001-04:00

So after a fairly uneventful winter, the animal kingdom in Plum Creek seems to be out of control.

1. We have been infested with field mice.

2. I found my first tick in the shower this week. (Don't ask.)

3. The deer have mowed down the hostas along the driveway. (No big surprise there.)

4. I found the back half of Little Bunny Foo Foo on the driveway. (Maybe fox or feral cat.)

5. A wren got inside the house yesterday, but evidently found its way out before we noticed it. (Lots of bird poop.)

6. A bluebird knocked itself silly in one of the windows.

7. The resident groundhog has reappeared in the pasture beside our house.

8. Sugar Booger, the resident bat, is flying around at dusk again.

9. Steve saw a black snake in the lower part of our back yard.

10. Our neighbor separated the older calves from the momma cows last week, and the mommas are still very vocal about their unhappiness with this situation. At night. Late at night. (I blame the full moon for part of that.)

11. I found a cricket inside my shirt at 2 am this morning. A live cricket. In my arm sleeve. In our bed. I'm a loss for words to explain this one.

Yes, the bluebird did recover, but first he pooped on me.

Spring in Plum Creek, Part 2

2011-04-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

I love early spring when the trees are just starting to bud out. The foliage is still so small that it casts a shade of color to the light coming through the trees. Pinkish-red in the maples, plums, and redbuds; lacy white in the serviceberry (or shadbush trees) and cherrys, and greeny-yellow in the rest of them.

This ethereal mix of color and light doesn't last long, just for a day or two until the trees really flush out and the blossoms drop,

Add an incoming spring storm and you've got yourself a landscape.

Eat your heart out, Thomas Kincade.

Spring in Plum Creek

2011-04-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Spring has arrived in our neck of the woods. There are signs of it all over the woods.

Buckeye

Redbud

Mayapple (Does anyone else think this foliage looks like frog skin?)

Violet

And one reminder that life, even new life, is often short.

Deer vertebra

The Many Faces of Cinderella

2011-04-14T15:26:00.001-04:00

Ally is a big fan of the Polly Pocket-type dolls with the vinyl clothes. We found her a Cinderella doll of that type while we were at Disney World last month. Ally was immediately enthralled by Cinderella's extensive wardrobe, sidekicks, accessories, and copious amounts of glitter.

This is Cinderella. (Yes, she looks like she's had too much Botox.)

The problem with the vinyl clothes for these dolls is that it's very difficult to get the dresses on and off the doll. That's why they're made with removable heads. You pop the head off, change the clothes, and then replace the head.

And because Cinderella has a scullery maid outfit and her princess outfits, she also comes with two heads. One with a ponytail and the other with an updo.

Somewhat disturbing, no?

The best part is that Ally learned very quickly that changing Cinderella's outfit is somewhat of a pain in the butt for an almost 4 year old, and Mom and Dad weren't too excited about assisting with the many, many costume changes Cinderella needed. So Ally just started playing with Cinderella's heads sans body. She would pick up one head in one hand and the other in her other hand and play like they were having a conversation.

"No, I want to wear the blue dress," said scullery maid Cinderella head.

"But I need to wear the wedding dress, " said Princess Cinderella head.

You get the idea. At least it cuts down on the amount of glitter scattered everywhere.

An Open Declaration of War

2011-04-11T11:17:00.000-04:00

Dear Mice,

Yes, you're cute. Too cute for your own good.

I was able to let your occasional trespassing in the mudroom and basement go without too much dismay from me, but I felt obligated to take action when the scratching in the walls got to be too loud. So we put out the humane traps baited with peanut butter. We caught several of you and kindly liberated you in the wildlife reintroduction area of the town dump.

Then you got cocky and began to eat all the peanut butter bait without triggering the traps. I found this mildly irritating but I admit I was impressed with your ingenuity.

But now, I'm sorry, you leave me no choice. Leaving a pile of turds among the spoons in the utensil drawer is an obvious act of aggression that will not be tolerated. Your kind will now be prosecuted to the fullest extent that a spring trap will allow. Unless the dog gets you first, and she's gunning for you today. (If I were you, I'd take the spring trap.)

Sincerely,
-Me

April is the Cruellest Month

2011-04-07T21:42:00.000-04:00

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering	5
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.

-T.S. Eliot, The Wasteland, 1922

I've always thought T.S. Eliot got it right about April. It's hard to kickstart a new season after being housebound and nearly mummified all winter. It would be easier to stay inactive, inert, and dumb than trying to force yourself into all that fresh activity seemingly all at once. Winter lets you burrow and hibernate without expectations and judgement, but spring hurtles you into the raw open air with a swift kick in the ass when you least expect it, whether you're ready or not.

Spring is finally here. The spring peepers have been chorusing in the evening for over a month. The maples have set red winged seed pods, the spicebush are that weird greeny-yellow, the redbuds are turning pink, and the serviceberry is white. The bluebirds are skirmishing with the tree swallows, my rhubarb is a foot tall, and the yard needs to be mowed. Someone has been sampling my daylilies, the carpenter bees are at it again, and the male goldfinches are so bright they make your eyes hurt.

One day it's 78 degrees but drops to 36 at night, followed by a high of 52 and a low of 44, then a high of 45 and a low of 28, and finally it gets back up to a high of 68. Because seesawing temperatures are a hallmark of spring, along with that yellow film of oak pollen all over the cars. And the wind...holy cow, do we get wind here in the spring at our new house. I keep making the mistake of thinking that a high of 62 degrees will mean I can work in the garden that day, only I've forgotten that it will take at least late afternoon for the temperature to climb up that far and the relentless wind will blow at least 10 degrees off the high of the day no matter where it tops out. Nothing says "fickle" like spring weather.

All last month I kept saying that I'd be perfectly happy if the temperature would just climb up into the upper 40s or low 50s during the day. I didn't need much, just constant daytime temps in the 40s and 50s and some sunlight.

Well, I lied. As it turns out, I do very much need temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70s right now. I cringe to think of wearing heavy jackets and gloves outside, let alone keeping a heavy sweater on inside the house during the day. I want warmer temperatures so I can stuff all that heavy outerwear back into the closet for six months. I want some bright sunshine with a gentle spring breeze, and not that gale force wind that keeps ripping up our little valley to plow into the southeast corner of our house.

The calendar tells me it's April, and so do the spring peepers, redbuds, and bluebirds. It's time to put away all this winter foolishness of late snow flurries and sleet, night temperatures below 32 degrees, and the threat of heavy frost on spring flowers. Bring on the warmer weather....and don't be the least bit surprised when I get fickle and start complaining about the summer heat and humidity.

Nearly Wordless Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2011

2011-04-06T13:18:00.000-04:00

No, my peonies aren't blooming yet. I just needed a bigger dose of spring than what the weather is giving us today.

Hellebores

2011-04-02T20:54:00.000-04:00

Despite the nasty cold temperatures, wind, rain, snow, and sleet we saw today, the hellebores are a sure sign of spring.

Wordless Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011

2011-03-30T14:27:00.000-04:00

Random Images, March 23, 2011

2011-03-25T08:00:00.003-04:00

The Grass is Always Greener

2011-03-24T07:30:00.001-04:00

For some, the grass will always be greener on the other side of the electric fence. Even if there's already a pile of new hay right there beside you.

Wordless Wednesday, Mar. 23, 2011

2011-03-23T13:01:00.003-04:00

Jarrahdale Pumpkin

2011-03-21T10:02:00.000-04:00

The Jarrahdale pumpkins that I grew last summer are still with me, but their numbers are slowly dwindling. I'm down to two now after butchering one up last week. I must say that they've been great keepers but their beautiful gray-green skin has gotten wrinkly-rusty over the winter.

That's a quarter on top of the pumpkin for size comparison. These are chubby, lumpy pumpkins. And they're heavy for their size, too. They've got very thick, dense walls with a comparatively small seed cavity.

But they produce lots of seeds. I've been keeping seeds from the pumpkins with the best flavor and setting the surplus out for the birds. These pumpkins have a great flavor...sweet but with a depth reminiscent of butternut or acorn squash. Jarrahdale pumpkins are actually winter squashes, but the whole taxonomic debate of pumpkin vs. squash isn't something I want to get into today. Regardless, Jarrahdales are delicious and great for pies and bread. I especially like them steamed with butter and either salt and pepper or brown sugar.

I've got plenty of seeds now to grow enough Jarrahdale pumpkins for the whole county, so I'm going to try roasting the seeds from the last two pumpkins. And in about two months it'll be time to start the seeds for the next batch in the garden this summer. How's that for coming around full circle?

The Arrival of Spring, 2011

2011-03-17T09:57:00.000-04:00

It's finally spring. I can say this definitively not because the daffodils and rhubarb are growing, the bluebirds are back, or that the spring peepers are peeping. I know it's spring because Oscar is barking excitedly at the fireplace. In fact, she's spent most of the morning running excitedly from room to room, sniffling and snuffling in the corners, and then barking loudly to get my attention. As if I hadn't heard her the first dozen times. She can make an awful lot of noise for such a small dog.

This is a seasonal activity for Oscar, usually occurring in early fall and early spring. One day she wakes up and apparently decides, "Today's the day I'll drive my owners nuts!" Then she commences with the sniffing and the barking and the running from room to room. Upstairs, downstairs, up to the office over the garage, and then back down to the basement before wanting to go outside. It wouldn't be so bad except dachshunds weren't really built for stairs and sometimes Oscar gets scared and won't go up and down by herself. Then she really starts barking and whining until I help her. I go get her leash and clip it to her collar, which magically grants her the power of going up and down the stairs without any further assistance from me other than going up and down the stairs with her. It's cute and charming the first couple of times, but we've already done this three or four times this morning and I'm about to let her sort out her neurotic fear of the stairs by herself. That is, until I can't take the incessant barking and whining any longer.

Sure, last October it turned out that Oscar was chasing a mouse, but maybe we'll get lucky today and she's really chasing down leprechauns for St. Patrick's Day. I just hope I can get the leprechaun to grant me three wishes before Oscar gets a hold of it or we'll never find that pot of gold.

Is it up there?

Definitely something back there!

Yes, she's treed the leprechaun!

Wordless Wednesday, March 16, 2011

2011-03-16T07:30:00.002-04:00

Ferry Building Farmers Market, San Francisco 2009

2011-03-15T14:42:00.000-04:00

Steve and I were in San Francisco in June of 2009. I spent several days exploring the city while Steve was stuck in a conference at the Moscone Center. One of my favorite places to be in San Francisco is at the farmers' market in front of the Ferry Building. The vegetables, fruits, and flowers are just a riot of color and scents. I can easily spend an hour or so just wandering around, tasting samples offered by the vendors and drinking it all in.

I'd like to have a couple of those tomatoes and a handful of flowers right now on this dreary March afternoon.

Florida Odds and Ends

2011-03-14T12:49:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd list the remaining, random tidbits from our recent Florida trip.

I would rather sleep with my dog than my child. Ally has an annoying tendency to take up the center of the bed, regardless of the size of the bed, and will either 1) sleep perpendicularly to you with her feet on your leg or 2) randomly smear her hand down your face in the middle of the night to check that you're still in bed with her.
There's an odd assortment of things for sale on the side of FL-25/US-27 between Orlando and Lake Wales. We saw rugs and sofas, an old airplane fuselage, the expected produce stands, and goat milk fudge for sale.
Goat milk fudge is not nearly as exciting as I thought it might be.
Florida is awfully flat.
Orange groves smell heavenly.
We weren't planning on taking a tour of Celebration, the town designed by Walt Disney World, but someone woke up from her nap on the drive back from Bok Tower and began a lengthy discussion about how she needed to go poop right now. Celebration was the first exit we came to that looked promising in terms of bathroom accessibility, so we drove around a bit before ducking into a Stetson University building. Ally and I got several curious looks from bright young things dressed in business attire, but thankfully no one objected to us tourists using the bathroom.
Celebration appeared to be a surprisingly pleasant community with some interesting architecture. I've heard they pipe bird song out of the speakers in the downtown section, but hey...what else would you expect from Disney?
The substation for Celebration has power lines in a giant Mickey Mouse silhouette.
On our way out of Celebration we spied a smallish alligator sunning itself in the draining pool in front of an apartment building. No, it wasn't an animatronic alligator planted there by Disney to amuse the tourists. Alligators are far more exotic than the deer and cows we have in our yard in Christiansburg.
We also got to see a real, live lowrider in action on Fl-25. There was a sad, beat up Chevy Impala with torn upholstery and lots of Bondo in front of us at a light, and by golly the whole thing dipped and raised the front and rear ends until it was low to the ground. I have no idea why anyone would go to the trouble of putting in the hydraulics for that sort of thing in such an ugly car, but it was definitely something you don't see everyday in Christiansburg.
Florida is populated by bad drivers. Really bad drivers.
Ally is still talking about how she wants to go back to live in the hotel where we stayed.

Florida Trip, Part 2

2011-03-10T12:39:00.000-05:00

The day after our visit to the Magic Kingdom, we drove down to Lake Wales to visit Bok Tower Gardens. There were no crowded lines, no cartoon characters or princess, and no rides. It was just a beautiful day and we had a fantastic time.

Ally tried on a beard of spanish moss.

We looked at plants and flowers.

We smelled the orange blossoms.

We enjoyed the overlook.

We saw the Singing Tower.

We laughed at the funny animals on the top of the iron gates.

We fed the swans.

We fed the koi.

We chased each other with palm fronds.

We just enjoyed a peaceful day.

We even found an alligator on our drive back to the hotel.

Then we went swimming in the hotel pool before dinner. The perfect end to our trip.

Wordless Wednesday, March 9, 2011

2011-03-09T07:30:00.001-05:00