Still have the diy chops; newly painted door looks great

Although past our sell-by date as efficient do-it-yourselfers, we were able to accomplish the following with our front door:
1. Determined that it was not real wood, but some type of composite.
2. Figured we would paint the weathered and sun-damaged outside, but but leave the wood-look finish inside, because it is still in good shape.
3. Picked a color we both liked without too much damage to our relationship.
4. Removed the hardware without breaking anything, and figured out a way to lock the door at night when we couldn’t finish the whole paint job in one day.  Hooray for hardware-friendly husband.
5. Carefully prepped the door with filler, sandpaper, and mild expletives.
6. Figured out a clever way to keep the paint mostly off the glass, and did a neat job of removing a few slop-overs.
7. Despite doing most of the prep work and all of the hardware tasks, gallant husband didn’t complain about the unequal division of labor.
8. Finished it up on the third day (not efficient, but still pretty good) and repainted the white door frame too.

Homemade garden art

A year ago my daughter gave me a 4x4 for Mothers Day.  How can I not love someone who knows me so well?  We had been admiring “art poles” at a local nursery, and threatening to make something similar ourselves.   So she bought a 4x4 for each of us to jump-start the creative process.  As usual, she had a group of three posts--painted in bright colors and adorned with birdhouses--installed in her yard within a couple of months, whereas I dragged my feet and only got mine put up last week.

It was great fun painting them but I didn’t know how well they would stand up to rain and wind, especially with a plant on top of one of them and a “bird bath” on another one. So far so good, even with two thunderstorms.

Now I’m inspired to get back into furniture painting, because it is so relaxing and uses a different part of my brain from the writing/editing work I still do part time.

Finally, it froze!

Loquat in bloom December 2.

In keeping with the weird weather trend, we got our first freeze on January 9 — pretty late in the season. It was a long, mild fall. In early December our loquat tree bloomed. We’ve lived here for 12 years and only twice have we gotten fruit from that tree.  Don't like loquats, so both times I put a notice on our neighborhood list and somebody came and picked them.  Anyway, according to Aggie horticulture, if temperatures stay above 27 degrees we will probably get fruit in late winter/early spring.  The tree itself is a nice tropical looking landscape plant that survives down to 10 degrees.

Loquat blossoms attracted butterflies and bees.

You! Show me your paws!

And you . . . is that tomato juice on your nose?

In order to catch our little animal friends destroying the tomatoes it would be necessary to monitor the garden 24/7.  Aren’t there spy agencies doing that sort of thing already?  Maybe we could hire them to spy on our raccoons, possums, squirrels, etc. instead of on us.  Imagine, spending our tax dollars on something beneficial!

Anyway they got my first three tomatoes of the season, but I rescued two others.  One was still mostly green but undamaged.  The other had a small chunk taken out of it.  I washed it, trimmed out the bad place, sliced it, and ate it with breakfast.   So far, nobody is bothering the cherry tomatoes on the tall plants, only the big juicy ones on the short plants.

Requiem for a Baby Squash

First there were five yellow squash plants, then two, then the last one gave up the ghost, leaving just one tiny heir, the baby squash in the photo.  Probably it was our usual spring nemesis, the squash vine borer (see this wonderful rant by the Redneck Hippie.)

Could our extemely strange super rainy spring weather be affecting the vegetable garden?  Don’t know;  I haven’t been able to find any articles addressing this issue. Our peppers are so-so, tomatoes and cantaloupes doing fine, squash a total loss.

Meanwhile, let’s have a moment of silence for the last surviving member of the Crookneck family, headed for a casserole this evening.

Apologies to Real Lizards

Entertaining, bug-eating friend.

As long-time science fiction fans, we call noxious prickly weeds ‘triffids’ and occasionally refer to people we don’t like as ‘pod people.’  A while back I read the results of a survey purporting to show that a substantial number of people believe our nation’s political and economic affairs are currently being run by lizard people. Instead of laughing, which I would have done 20 years ago, I thought, “Hmm, that’s a compelling image.” Okay, it’s not literally true, but metaphorically it seems right on target. Something rings false about a lot of what these people do and say.  It just feels like they might be members of another species–possibly reptilian.

The other day I spotted this lizard on our fence, and remembered that real lizards are our friends.  In some places they are invited indoors because they are efficient little pest control operators. They’re also fun to watch.  I now realize I owe the lizard community an apology for using their name to describe people whose bad behavior has cost them the goodwill of the citizens.

Spring!

Salvia greggii: overwintered nicely, now blooming like crazy.   This is a great landscape plant.  Hummingbirds and butterflies like it too.

 

Purple trailing lantana: four from last year coming back; three new ones to fill in.  They will spread over this area and be covered with purple blossoms.

Calylophus: looked ratty after winter.  Now getting full and starting to bloom.  Will be covered with yellow blossoms soon.  It was new last year; should spread some more this year.

 

Avocado tree: impulse purchase, maybe foolish.  This is a Lila, a self-pollinating variety that is supposedly okay down to 15 degrees.  More cold tolerant but less productive than the ones grown commercially down in the Valley.

Bolting lettuce: I was caught off guard by this (of course).  We had a few warm days but I still thought it would last another month.  Red sails and green oak leaf varieties still taste okay; romaine is bitter.

Butterfly: what kind? Looked it up online; it might be a red admiral.