Posted on July 31, 2022July 31, 202207/31/2022 garden and neighborhood A Texas dandelion was open in the backyard prairie after a refreshing 1/10th inch of rain! Waaaaalk plzzzzzz We stopped to look at the vegetables on the way out to walk and this magnificent little jumping spider was on guard! On our walk today, near the sidewalk there’s some unmowed area near a creek. Around this beautiful and native silver leaf nightshade you can see a lot of non native and invasive Johnson grass. An American bumblebee was visiting the nightshade. It has a lovely flower. Mom has one that volunteered in her garden area. The plant has pretty flowers as it crept onto the sidewalk, but turned out to be a non native invasive species called Tribulus terrestris.
Posted on July 22, 2022July 22, 202207/22/2022 our first and only apple We looked at the William’s pride apple tree today and the apple was missing!! Concern. We found it on the ground. Sadly, the bottom half was rotted. I forgot that William’s pride is an early variety, so we should have picked sooner before it fell. However, we cut off the bad part and the rest was quite delicious! A nice texture and magnificent smell!! Gram was less impressed than we were.
Posted on July 22, 2022July 22, 202207/22/2022 new and complicated tomato We realized we should think about when green vernissage tomatoes were ripe. They are supposed to have green flesh so this has turned out rather complicated. These ones are good. The green between the dark green stripes has a hint of yellow and translucency. They taste nice and the flesh isn’t mealy. These ones are too soft. They are darker (I don’t think the picture shows well) and have some very soft spots. I tried one and it was bland with a mealy texture. This tomato is too soft. These green vernissage are all ripe except the very bright pale green one that has a thumbs down on it. Bonus: Briar examines the topped up jar of bisbee gray cowpeas.
Posted on July 22, 2022July 22, 202207/22/2022 more popcorn and the judgement of cats upon it I think the latest glass gem popcorn (right) was harvested at a better time. The colors are brighter and the kernels are looser. The plant stalk was completely dry as well as the ear husk. Tuqu wanted to rub her face on it. Gram was only mildly intrigued. Shackleton went under the bed to avoid responding to our survey. Briar only had eyes for Shackleton.
Posted on July 19, 2022July 19, 202207/17/2022 pay attention A third mydas fly kept hovering about 6-8″ away from this mating pair. Eventually they all say down. The third one continued to stay nearby. No bugs! No phone! Only chase dog!!!
Posted on July 17, 2022July 17, 2022Window weirdo Shackleton pants in the plant window. It’s 103 F outside. I’m going to put a thermometer in there with him. He has an entire air conditioned house and he chooses here. Update: it’s only 90F in the window, not as bad as I thought. However, the sun has also moved far enough west that it may be shadier. Anyways, still a goofy decision for a fluffy polar explorer.
Posted on July 16, 2022July 16, 2022Catch-up on dinners Couscous, roasted chicken, and roasted okra from farm share. Noodles with sauce, I forget what kind, but it has garden onions and garden purple bell peppers in it. Cheesy grits with farm share tomatoes, roast chicken, and roast okra. Briar knows about the roast chicken. Mostly farm share veggies here, I can’t remember if garden onions involved? Not sure if Shackleton is here for the chair or the chicken smells. A veggie and chicken omelet with couscous and cilantro. Veggies included garden onions and garden purple bell peppers.
Posted on July 10, 2022July 10, 202207/10/2022 eeeee!! Five Coryphantha sulcata from Montana!!! Eleven in this tray. You can see the roots!! Another one with roots. “What are you doing to my favorite window perch?” Five in the last tray. A few here were somehow upside down. We’ll see if they make it! One upside down in a pot with plastic wrap. I think the food containers with clear lids are the way to go. Seven days from planting to sprouting. About 50 seeds, 23 up so far.
Posted on July 9, 2022July 10, 2022Supervisory bonding time Wednesday around 4pm, Gram began snuggling the back of the dog. She’s had an undignified two weeks in an inflatable cone to keep her from bothering incisions for benign sebaceous cyst removal. So, she’ll be fine, we just have to make it ’til stitch removal. I think she’s learning the rule: you do not disturb the cat. Gram moved to a much cozier cat-sized spot. By 6pm on Thursday he made himself at home. Two hours is a new record for them! He hasn’t been snuggly since last winter. Thursday we discovered him snuggling his big sister again. Friday: “oh hey it’s Big Sister…” Go for it! Happy siblings. I hope this becomes regular. They’ve always played a lot but both have been a bit jumpy around snuggles before. I accidentally interrupted it by taking the dog outside, but I brought her back in with a sun-warmed tail and that was quite acceptable.
Posted on July 9, 2022July 9, 202207/09/2022 afternoon Shackleton asking to go out. It’s too hot for him though. A single bloom of ironweed has opened. An American Snout was interested in the water spray as I watered the potted plants.