What have you done today in the Garden?

Whoa Spector, rattlesnake! Yikes! We don't have them here in the Northeast. How careful do you have to be?

Willow, that sounds lovely, how you would watch the thunderstorms with your granddaughter. That kind of thing helps kids so much.
I have a childhood memory of waking up and seeing a tick right next to my head, walking up the wall. I of course screamed & my dad came & helped me get over my fear. He named the tick "Dick the Tick", and showed me how they always want to crawl upwards by putting him on a stick. I could make him reverse directions by turning the stick upside down, etc. That kind of thing really helps kids get over fears.

We got our potted tomatoes up on a table on the terrace to deter the chipmunks, but of course one found a way to jump to them. I am trying to foil them still... Chipmunks: 10. Cayuga: 0

 

LOL over Dick the Tick!

Rattlesnakes are pretty shy. As long as you don't corner them or step on them by accident, they will always choose to retreat rather than attack.

 

Good news...?

 

This is the hole left from
the microwave removal.


Here is the 60 lb disabled microwave on the floor, awaiting removal. The crew is catching their breath. Can you here them panting?

And here is one member of the crew. She doesn't look strong but she actually is.

Do you think I've shown you enough photos of her? Can you tell I love her?

 

lol,,, who would have guessed ?? lovely girl ! good helper ?

 

Where are you at, Cayuga? We have a place where 4th through 7th graders go every year, called..... Nature's Classroom. I work in a Montessori and my granddaughter is in one, as well. So the 4th through 6th grades go for 4 days and the 7th and 8th graders go at a different time. I, was one of only a few, who didn't let my granddaughter go. I felt that she wasn't ready to leave for 4 days. She hadn't been able to even spend a night at friends houses. But I regress, I saw the t-shirt.

 

I don't know if they'll be able to go this year at all.

 

Willow, I'm sure Nature's Classroom will
be cancelled this year unfortunately. I think our daughter went in 5th grade. She's 30 now. Amazing the old t-shirt still fit! She scrounged around for something to wear that could get torn or greasy from the microwave/exhaust fan.

We are in MA. I think the class went someplace in NH?

 

That tick story was something else. I think your dad was on to something by showing you how to deal with the tick. It is indeed an excellent technique in teaching kids how to not fear strange little things.
Your workforce looks serious in the foto's. They did quite a job with that thing they removed from the alcove. Y'know we have built-in appliances too here, but I have to say, they are a real pain to get at if they have to be worked on or removed to be replaced. Built-in things are more expensive than the non-built-in appliances over here. If I would have to design my own kitchen, I am not sure that I would go with built-in apparatuses.

Thanks a mil for those piccies and explanation. --Respect.
Also for your lovely and capable daughter.

 

SJ. Yes. Yes to all you said. I think the problem
with the microwave is that it is also an exhaust fan over the stove. I don't imagine grease and electronics mix very well.

 

I watered all the gardens this morning. Cut some herbs which are now in the oven on dehydrate. Lots of thyme and dill and a little lemon thyme and stevia. I'm hoping to get to the store for pine nuts so I can cut the basil and freeze pesto. I love pesto! I'll be grating zucchini today and freezing in pre-measured packets, for bread and pancakes this winter. I checked on my pumpkins. The first one is mostly orange with a little green, instead of the other way, the other two on that plant are still green. The smaller plant now has a pumpkin on it. They must love the compost! The larger one is clearly reaching for my granddaughter's pool. It's so far into the yard, I just mow around it, then trim the "grass" (mostly it's creeping charlie) by hand.

Cayuga, I heard from a co-worker that Nature's Classroom is reserving for March or April. But who knows what will happen. Here in WI they go to a lake. I can't remember if it was an hour each way for a total of two, or if it was two hours one way. When I was still up in the air about letting her go, I Google Mapped it.

 

Two more trees FINALLY showed up via FedEx yesterday. Lots of dropped leaves but otherwise healthy looking: Hass avocado and a "Fruit Punch" mango. I have some 20 gallon nursery pots on their way (hopefully). Once they arrive, all three trees (including the Haden mango that showed up on Sunday) will be repotted and placed in the "kitchen/transition" garden until I figure out where they will live.

 

wish i could grow avocado trees here ! but too cold in the winter and no place inside for a tree !

 

Well, my kitchen/transition garden got busy yesterday, when my septic tank failed and it turned out (who knew?) that it was located inside the garden fence! (When I bought the house, we tried to find the septic, based on the blueprints, but had no luck. [Partly because the blueprints state that the tank is six inches below soil and it was more like two feet below.] We *thought* we had a rough idea of where it was, but were off by several feet, apparently.) Lots of digging and moving of plants later, I have a clean and empty tank and a new set of risers, so I never have to go through that again! Today will be reorganizing and getting the shade garden reestablished (yes, that is where the tank turned out to be).

Amazingly, the guy who helped dig out the septic (and later put in the risers) and the guy who pumped out the tank made it through the day without getting stung, as they had to work right up next to my beehives, and the girls were NOT happy with all the commotion!

 

lol ! sounds like some of the problems we have in the sandy land of Texas !