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Pumpkin Harvest
These two pumpkins have been orange for several weeks now. I had done some reading about when to harvest pumpkins earlier this summer when I knew that the vines were setting fruit but I had to take a dive back into my reading to verify myself about the proper time to harvest. Being as this was my first experience successfully growing pumpkins, I wanted to be sure. So, I took Forest to the garden with me and we cut the pumpkins off the vines—me with my garden clippers, Forest with his Handy Manny saw. Now that I’ve had some pumpkin success, not without a scare from Harvey’s flood waters, I’m…
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While My Guitar Gently Weeps | Wordless Wednesday
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The September Garden
A view of the side yard garden from the front Stapelia gigantea Senna corymbosa Did it seem like September sped by with nary a time to take a breathe? It did for me. Harvey seemed to push us straight into September and the week+ off of work made it feel even more odd to start September. Chris was out of town for Forest’s birthday and Forest turned three and honestly, I’m not quite sure where the weeks went between that and Chris’ birthday which was just this last weekend. Lycoris radiata Gaillardia aestivalis var. winkleri Brugmansia The tug to do just a little bit less in the garden is great…
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September Lepidopterans
The lepidopteran show here at Tadpole Hollow is full swing. I thought I had a bunch of monarchs back in August but nope, the migration is really in full swing now. I have caterpillars and eggs out my ears and I’m doing my best to raise what I can though most are doing their own thing out there on the milkweed. Raising the monarchs are been educational and rewarding but also a little heartbreaking at times. Smaller caterpillars just up and disappear, probably chomped on by their larger counterparts because they don’t know any better, and I had my first case of OE that showed up in a chrysalis just…
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Life Lately | September 2017
+In My Head It rained earlier this week, the first time since Harvey. I think all of Houston twitched for a little bit. A few people I am friends with or follow online, one of them had their house flooded for over a week, weren’t so happy about the rain. I actually hadn’t driven beyond Tomball down to the south of us in these last several weeks so I hadn’t seen anything flood related other than what was around here and it was minimal compared to what happened in Harris county. I drove to Baytown last week to do some field work and saw several piles of trash that were…
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Friday Five | 10
It’s been awhile since I’ve done any of these but here are some things I’ve loved this week! Pod Save America’s interview with Hillary Clinton. I’m on the list to borrow her book at the library and I can’t wait to read it but this was a very satisfying show to tide me over. I just wanted to reach through the computer and hug her and it dragged up a lot of feelings I had from the day after the election. She would have been an excellent president. The latest two episodes of the With Her podcast. Yep, more interviews with Hillary. So good! This adorable, make-you-cry video from Serena…
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Oh, Florida.
This isn’t Craig Pittman’s Oh, Florida! This is I have no words for what is likely to happen to my favorite state, our friends, our former coworkers, our favorite places and spaces, and everything we love in Florida. Harvey was literally in my backyard and yet this feels so much more personal. It doesn’t help to see pictures coming out of the BVI of what Irma did there. I went to Tortola and Virgin Gorda with my parents and brother in 1996 for my parent’s 20th anniversary so those places have memories for me as well. I didn’t—couldn’t—watch the tv coverage from Harvey. I suspect I won’t be able to…
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August 2017 Book Report
I read five books in August! That’s what happens when I have an hour to read each night when I’m getting Forest to bed. Completed Deep Summer by Gwen Bristow: I was searching for historical fiction on Hoopla Digital and this sounded great. It wasn’t until I was a few chapters in that I had to stop and look up the book a bit because I was a little confused by the blatant use of the n-word and some other racial issues, as well as some awkward language/wording at the beginning. This book was written in the late 1930s and book covers have been updated which is why I didn’t…
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Happy September!
Let’s pretend this is a pretty fall vignette of Seminole pumpkins that I harvested freshly from the garden. In reality this is still a rather pretty fall vignette but all three of these pumpkins are rotting thanks to the floodwaters from Harvey. Instead of enjoying these fruits later this fall and winter I now have plenty of seeds to grow more vines next summer! The bright side, I guess?? There are still three pumpkins out there that looked like they might make it through but only time will tell. On Tuesday I thought many things might pull through but by Wednesday it was clear that was laughable and I ripped…
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Harvey Update
1000+ yr old Big Tree at Goose Island State Park near #RockportTx survived #Harvey2017. Some younger trees down pic.twitter.com/qqQAopQ2N2 — Texas State Parks (@TPWDparks) August 27, 2017 One glimmer of good news in this mess that is Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey—the Goose Island Oak survived! I have not been able to find any information on the Zachary Taylor oak but based on the footage I’ve seen around Rockport, I’m betting that tree is on the ground. I know Houston has kind of taken over the news with the flooding but Rockport and the immediate vicnity was hit very hard. It’s rather upsetting for me because, like many other Texans, it has…