Wolf's Den

Needless to say, this nearly ripe heirloom tomato will be riding to Michigan with us- that is, if Max stops being a crotchety ol' bastard and stressing me out by acting like he's sick.}:(

Sometimes, simple things can lift a spirit. Like these 6 sparrows giving themselves a dust bath on the back hill, courtesy of Caena digging. Sometimes I think she's trying to bring the hill down on us.

The birds seem to love it though. Flipping themselves around, shaking their wings, burrowing out little wallows in the fine grit that's been dug out of the slate and shale by an exuberant puppy's digging.

Yes, there are six Sparrows. Trust me.



The first time Mark saw one out there, having a dust bath, he thought it was injured. He'd never been privy to these strange ablations by the birds. Usually they do it out in the gravel of the driveway, and while he's at work.

He called me to the kitchen, wanting me to see, thinking Caena had actually gotten a bird.

She hasn't ... yet. But she has cornered one before. Poor thing died of fright, despite my trying to herd it to a save place where it could rest.

Anyway...



Scenes like this can really make a person smile sometimes.

No matter how stressed I am over heading to Michigan at the end of the month, taking Caena on a 10+ hr drive, the longest she's ever been on, to a place she's never been, with a dog I don't even know will get along with her, and persons there that I'd rather NOT know I was in Michigan as they've already bugged my mom back in May about wanting to get a hold of me AGAIN. Look, after 30 yrs, get it through your head that I don't WANT you in my life, ok?

No matter how depressed I am that my sales have tanked, partly thanks to the economy, but mainly thanks to Etsy screwing with the SEO/meta titles and tags and knocking nearly all shops out of search engines due to blacklisting because of tag stuffing. Among other things.

No matter how depressing it is to read that yet another friend has lost a beloved pet. Yeah, really starting to hate this year.



And yes, there's still six Sparrows. It's rather like a seek and find picture, isn't it?

Sometimes I wish I was a bird. Not a care in the world. Dust baths, free bird seed when the squirrels don't eat it all. No bills to pay, no family to want nothing to do with...

And all the free dog hair to line your nest with that you could want when that strange human brushes said puppy of half her fur, because she's blowing coat and now it looks like someone shaved a dog out back...

Only a half grown puppy that likes to run after you and scare you to death. As if she'd ever be able to catch you. She's quick though, that puppy. Well, most of the time anyway.



Sometimes she's just lazy.

Banana Peppers, nearly ready. There's a few more just starting, as well as a few Bell peppers starting. Yes, the near one (left) had to have a rock put against it, as it was getting top heavy.



Not the best photo, but it was really bright and I couldn't really see. Somewhere in there are 1"=2" Green Beans, Bush Type. TONS of them. (Look towards the center)



Maters! Last count, there was 13 Heirloom Tomatoes in various stages. Now? I need to recount, as I think there's more.



Tiny grasshopper on Black Prince Daylily. I've been hand pollinating these, as I've seen few bees lately. There's lots of seed pods started. I'm hoping to get quite a few seeds to share in a few months.}:P

Still no Zucchini or Squash.}:( Need to look uo hand pollinating of both, as I think that's what it's going to take.

Zone 7a in the US.

So here I am, sitting at my computer. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch something small climbing up through the Clematis (which isn't doing as well as previous years on that end, no thanks to Caena) on the side of the porch towards one of the suet feeders...



I tried to get a photo of him ON the feeder, but I think he saw me in the kitchen where I had left my camera, because he immediately climbed down again and sat here long enough for this shot before climbing all the way down...



Where he again paused to look at me before scampering off to where ever the chipmunks have been hanging out all this time. It's nice to know they're still here and that the 8ft Black Kingsnake a few years back didn't eat all of them or chase them off.}:)

I immediately went out, filled the feeders and scattered lots of sunflower seeds and various other seeds for the birds, squirrels and now, chipmunks. Even if it is raining, they still have to eat after all.

I hope my little visitor comes back again. He was cute.

Maybe next time I'll be able to get clearer shots, instead of through the screen door. Heh.

I hear Carolina Wrens now.}:P

When I feel absolutely stupid and know I should have known what something was but was wrong anyway.

Today is one of those days and while I know he didn't mean to make me feel stupid- how was he* to know I'd taken Horticulture/Plant Care in high school nearly 20 years ago?- I still felt really dumb for assuming that since one Tree that was taken down years ago was a White Oak, the rest were too.

Well, they weren't. The ones taken down yesterday were Red Oaks.

So I stand corrected, I admitted my mistake and we carried on. But I still feel damn stupid for not remembering my Trees. Hey, I knew it was an Oak, after all, I guess that's a point in my favor.

But he cannot convince me that what I believe are in fact Elm Trees, are Chestnuts Trees. For one thing- there are several of them, and quite large, well mature ones, and I've NEVER , in the 8 years of living here, seen Chestnuts.

There are a few Chestnut Trees down at the park. I'll take a walk down there this week, and compare the leaves.

But I still think he's wrong on those Trees, at least.

So why doesn't that make me feel better?


(And I know for damn certain that the Tree in my Avatar[ on IJ] is a Sycamore)

*Neighbor's brother- although, you cannot convince me that they are brothers either.

Rites of Spring German Bearded Irises. This surprised me. I wasn't expecting my Bearded Irises to bloom this year, after only splitting and transplanting the majority of them last Summer/Fall. Yet, the Rites have sent up 3 flower stalks and Celebration Song has a flower stalk up too, and should bloom in the next day or so.



These are from the 'clump' of Royal Knight German Bearded Irises that I had bought 2 Springs ago. They didn't bloom last year, but went nuts this year. Not as tall as the older Royal Knights I transplanted, but lots of blooms, nonetheless.



The 3 Clematis vines on the fence went gangbusters this season. I do believe this is the most blooms I've seen on them in years. The ones on the porch are bud laden as well. One of the 3 that I originally planted at the top of the hill survived and may bloom this year. With 2 White Oaks coming down out back this week, and a few others planned soon, there'll be more sun back there and I'll be able to grow more plants up there as a result. The Wisterias will be transplanted up there soon.



Last Spring, I'd brought back 3 Lady Slipper Orchids from the MiL's front yard, in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. She tried to get me to take more, as she has hundreds, but I wasn't entirely sure they'd even grow here. I only brought back 3, with as mush native soil as possible. 2 came back up this Spring, one bloomed. I don't think the other is doing well, honestly. But hey, given I wasn't expecting ANY, one with a gorgeous bloom was better than none.

So, I said I got a new camera.

I cannot stop going WOW over this photo.



This one was taken with the old camera. 6.1mp Sharpened, contrast upped a bit, dpi upped to 300 from 250.

But this next one...



The ONLY things I did, was add my sig and shrink the photo in size. NO other retouching was done. As is from the camera. The new 10.1 mp.



THIS is why I wanted a new camera.

So I moved the compost out of the temp bin into the actual composter I bought.

Either I'm building a worm farm, cause it was chock full of them, or I'm doing something right and it's going to be some damn good compost.



Yes, there are two worms there. One is easily 7-8" long, the other was about 4".


Asked Mark if the fact I was holding thse babies in my hand to get a good size related shot was something strange to do, and he said no, it's normal for you.}:P

For me, it's the abundance and variety of beneficial insects...

( Many photos.. )

A Hummingbird Moth visited my white Buddelia bush today.



And I only know what it is, because of following lord_whimsy's LJ. I've learned alot about various insects and such, courtesy of his LJ.

I've never had one visit my garden before, so I was quite thrilled. And naturally, had to share.}:P

Also... the first Tiger Swallowtail of the season..



Now, to edit the daylily photos, and such. Heh.

New, Used and Rare bookstore down in Grandin Village is going to get me into serious trouble.

Not only was I able to replace the 2 books in the Flux and Anchor series by Jack Chalker, I got the original covers, and an original Ace books printing of The Hero and the Crown to replace the one I lost.

I also found at least TWO Black Stallion series books I'm missing, in hardcover, looked original.

Mark found an entire series that he didn't know there was more of.

Found a couple John Norman books, one I KNOW I'm missing, but not sure. Need to check for the other.

Yeah, that place is dangerous.

So is Plan 9 music store. Yup.

We'll be going back down there next weekend.


Coolness- Had my first ever Hummingbird Moth on the Buddelia bush, with the season's first TigerSwallowtail and numerous Bumblebees.

Was having a Not So Good Day. A friend on LJ is losing his long time companion and dog, Baxter, to cancer. In fact, today was Baxter's last day as it's gotten to the point where quality of life isn't there anymore.

Tried getting photos of Dante-Inu's Memorial Scarves, in the sun, like I do all my photos. The sun proceeded to wash the brilliant reds and burgundies out to rusts and oranges. }:/ Only so much can be done on the computer to color correct them, without better photo editing software.

The Boys wanted to go outside, so I sat on the front porch for a few minutes, while they chewed on the lemon grass and cat mint. Then I saw him, her, it...



This is the third, and by far, the largest, Praying Mantis baby I've found on the Black and Blue Salvia, volunteer Sunflower and Sweet Basil. The other two, were roughly a quarter inch in size and haven't been seen lately. Hope this one didn't run them off. LOTS of bug carcasses on the leaves of the B&B Salvia. Probably courtesy of this guy. Who was kind enough to pose for me while I snapped a few shots before leaving it alone again.


What a nice pick me up. Thank you, Nature.

Went to the Farmer's Market today. The Iris Lady was there again.

I picked up FIVE new Irises. FIVE!!!!(Hey at $4 each, when online/in catalogs, they go for $10-20.00, that's a steal and they're local grown). Schreiner's was the only place I found excellant photos of most of them-

Apollodorus

Avalon Sunset

Fall Fiesta

Supreme Sultan

And Kentucky Derby.. that I haven't found a photo of yet, but it's a rich coral-peach color, with apricot tones.

Now I need a 'black' Iris, and a red toned one, and I'll have at least one of every shade.

This is what Immortality will look like next year, when it blooms.

We then went to Riverside Nursery, with the Bro in law and sis in law.

There I picked up a Black & Blue Salvia, a False Indigo, 2 Nasturiums, and a 4pk of Black Beauty Bell Peppers.

Came home, did some gardening. Potted/planted new plants, repotted the Japanese Red Maple, added dirt, about 2 inches worth to the potted Witch Hazel, planted the Curly Willow Tree, as it wasn't happy in a pot anymore, brought that thing from North Carolina as a tiny seedling started from a cutting. It's now nearly 4 ft tall.

Because the front bed decided to try to eat my mechanical pencil, I ended up tearing out more variegated vinca, ponytail plant(nasty thing, I HATE that plant) and ivy searching for it.

I'm getting to the point where I need to map out where each Iris is, and it's name, otherwise, I won't remember it in a year or so.

I also perused Schreiner's and found others I want eventually. After I build the extension for the 'L' shaped brick bed, transplant the Siberians, and build a the Daylilies a raised brick planter on the otherside of the driveway. And dig out my pond.}:P

Want List-

Black Star
Bewilderbeast
Batik (The Iris Lady has this occassionally, so I might be able to get one from her, locally, this year.)
Count Dracula
Hello Darkness
Men In Black
Night Game
Obsidian
Paint It Black
Pagan Dance
Partial Eclipse
Secret Service
Swazi Princess
Aggressively Forward
Anvil Of Darkness
Backwater Blues
Before The Storm
Black Dragon
Broken Dreams
Dakota Smoke
Dragon's Fancy
Dynamite
Earthborn
Fort Apache
Footloose
Fortunate Son
Gnus Flash
Luxor Gold
Medici Prince
Michigan Pride
Play With Fire
Red Hawk
Rogue
Silverado
Spartan
Vigilante
War Sails
VooDoo Child


Mind you, I certainly don't have the space for all these WANTS, but, someday I will.}:P And I may get a few of them between this year and next, as I keep working on my gardens.

As an aside- my Detroit Red Wings won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, against Pittsburgh Penguins. 4-0, the game was a SHUTOUT. Take that, Morlith! }:P

My Japanese Irises have started blooming. I'm thinking the Siberians won't this year, as they are too crowded and need transplanting as soon as I get a new raised bed built for them. My final German Bearded bloomed first this past weekend, while I was out of town, but still had both open and unopened blooms/buds so I could get good photos this week.

( Continue )

Happy Mother's Day to all you who fit the category, be it human or animal 'children'.


Royal Knight German Bearded Iris, May 2008

My poor Irises took a beating. Especially the Rites of Spring ones. Titan's Glory, Royal Knight, Celebration Song, Fire and Ice, and the lavender Naturalized ones all weathered last night's severe thunderstorms, high winds and torrential downpours quite well.


Rites of Spring, with 13 open and nearly open blooms. BEFORE the storms.



The same Irises and a now fully opened Celebration Song, after last night's storms.

They are rallying back, and several more have opened today, despite many of the ones that opened yesterday, being nearly flattened. Poor things.



This is Celebration Song. This poor guy is being crowded out by Rites of Spring, and only has 2 flower stalks compared to the 6-7 that Rites has.


Fire and Ice German Bearded Iris. This was my first pure white Iris. I have another, Iceberg, that's an extremely pale blue(and should be blooming in a week or so, I hope), and I picked up another, all white, including the beard and throat, this year, called Immortality. I don't expect Immortality to bloom until next year, especially since there's no flower stalks on it.(Actually if you look below and to the right of the flowers, you can see Immortality's leaves.}:P)



The blue Japanese Irises have flower stalks coming out now, the variegated Japanese ones should be sending out theirs soon too. Still no stalks on the Siberians yet. But they always were late bloomers(no pun intended).

My veggie garden is a bit beaten up, but still doing good. Got some peas that apparently were in the compost that have sprouted everywhere. I'm slowly transplanting them near the green beans , so they'll grow up the headboard.}:) Lost a cucumber planting, still have 2 others, so not too worried. The corn I replanted has sprouts sticking up about an inch now. Hopefully the squirrels will leave them alone. They have the rest, for the most part.

This weekend, barring more thunderstorms, the front bed will be cleared and preparations for redoing the pond will resume. I WILL have my pond back this year.

Day two of Dante having a good day. Last night, she looked at me and she looked like her old self- not tired, but happy and enthused about things. Went up the stairs with n o problems all day yesterday, and again today(I'm usually right behind her, in case she slips). The only thing different, is that we upped her food, by adding canned ( Wellness 95% meat, grain free, figured we'd give it a try, as I know she likes the Neura 95% meat), and she devoured the entire bowl last night. O.o She's really good at making me second guess her.

I've lost count of how many blooms the Rites of Spring German Bearded Iris has now. Somewhere upwards of 8 or 9, I believe. I just counted, there are TEN open flowers with at least half as many opening in the next few days. Got a cream colored one from my Mom in law in New Jersey,I've lost count of how many blooms the Rites of Spring German Bearded Iris has now. Somewhere upwards of 8 or 9, I believe. I just counted, there are TEN open flowers with at least half as many opening in the next few days. Got a cream colored one from my Mom in law in New Jersey,, correction, that would be my Fire and Ice Iris getting ready to open. Celebration Song is about to bloom, Royal Knight and Titan's Glory are both still going strong. The 'naturalized' light purple/lavender ones, also brought back from the InLaws in Jersey( Pine Barrens, no less), has also bloomed and is blooming still.


Temple Bells by *WolfSilverOak on deviantART

Dante is having a good day today. Got up readily, went up the stairs with no issues, that sort of thing.

went "BOOM! Here's a Flower!" today...



Titan's Glory, German Bearded Iris. First of the season to bloom in my garden. There's another bud nearly ready to bloom on the second stalk it has up.

My Irises, the German Bearded ones for now, have all sent up two to three flower stalks. Too bad they're getting divided and moved this year and won't bloom next year. But I guess they are making up for it with their sheer profusity. Yes, I made up a word. Deal.}:P





My other Clematis vines along the fence have bloomed finally.



The white ones on the side of the porch are starting to bloom as well.




Weds, I came home in time to see one of our psycho ninja squirrels making off with roughly half a block of the bird suet. He strolled away up the hill with it, nonchalantly. Then sat up there, giving me the evil eye, while gnawing away.



See? Evil eye. (Actually, I used a flash with this shot.}:P)

The Boys enjoyed a brief excursion outdoors, while I was photographing the Titan's Glory Iris. While Max chewed on the grass...



Aries sampled the Catnip. This is why I was left alone most of the day. LOL

One final shot...



Simply beautiful.

Since Nature decided to finally give us a break after 3 days of rain, I took advantage of the nice day to get my seedlings and more seeds in the ground.

( Read On.... )