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I spied this insect on a tomato plant and am wondering whether this crazy-cool summer has made the insects mutate.
It’s ladybug-size. And I have seen a good number of baby ladybugs feasting on my aphid smorgasbord lately. But it wasn’t until I got this pic with the closup lens that I was sure of what I was seeing. So is this a ladybug or some evil marauder?
I learned the other day that groundhogs, those marmots we mostly only think about in February, eat dandelion heads (be sure to click that link—it’s a great photo). Why isn’t somebody renting them out at this time of year when the lovely little lion-heads are transforming into seed shooters and threatening neighborly relationships everywhere (or at least in my backyard)? Think about it—they would be a cute, green … er, brown, organic alternative to ChemLawn.
I’ve advocated using ipe—a hardwood—for exterior wood projects. Here’s a progression that shows how the color properties change when it’s left unsealed.
The first shot shows our deck just after it was finished in 2004. The steps and main deck are ipe. The skirting and pergola are cedar. The handyman hero is bushed.
Close-up of fresh ipe, with critter lounging.
A couple of years later with basking tabby.
And last year—4 years after installation. Note that the cedar and the ipe grey out similarly.
I’m not much of a collector (unless you count salvaged windows and doors or Roper stove parts), but I will admit to a weakness for old, embroidered tea towels. And it struck me this morning that my favorite one visually sums up that all-overish malaise with which we so often greet the new week.
You know, there you are just trying to keep the house clean enough and the next thing you know the dishwater is burbling, you’re naked except for a bit of webbing at your waist and jingle-bell booties, and you’ve sprouted feverish antennae! Pray to the heavens for mercy and there it looms: Monday—oh yeah, that explains it. They don’t make petunia basins the way they used to either. Sigh.
That Monday creature is a twist on the cutesy kitten tea towel.
As much as I enjoy kittens, I can’t muster much enthusiasm for this quaint incarnation anymore. I’m afraid my tastes have been twisted now. And I seek out the misunderstood creatures more readily these days. Let me know if you know any who are looking for homes. I’m not just open to martians, either.
Here’s another of my unique companions.
There’s a new creature in our house …
Little Boots/Caligula/Cutlet continues to eat everything.
And I’ve been munching tomatoes at every turn.
Which I’ve been picking not-quite-ripe because of the squirrels’ insane—nay, irrational—appetite this year.
The huge ones they take chunks out of turn to slug bait post-haste. It’s grotesque, but good for the compost (I keep chanting to myself).
In variety news, the Brandywine x Stupices that I’ve been growing and the ones a friend raised are displaying notable differences. Mine are more Stupicey, though some are broad and Brandywine-shaped; and all of mine are pinkish red, whereas hers are more bright orangey-red and kind of ruffled around the top. Some of hers even appear before ripeness to have bicolor streaks. Both our sources are an F2 I got years ago from Carolyn Male, so somewhere in here we should be choosing to refine the strain. Except that I’m still debating which variations are preferable.
One plant is producing various shapes. I’m a neophyte at this crossing of types, so I’m just winging it here.
I’m looking forward to cracking open this Harvard Square, which was the favorite at our tomato tasting last year. The ripe fruit is the same color combo you see here. I don’t usually go for greenies, but this one’s got that bicolor intrigue.
This morning my office experienced my new-kitten lateness.
This little guy (we think) first appeared last night, gnawing on the other outside cats’ food. He scampered away when I approached but then peeped back out and got interested in me when I unleashed my high-pitched kitten noise (eeeeeeeeeeeeeee—I read somewhere that kittens will respond to that). And he appeared when I went out to water plants this morning, so I did the crazy cat-lady thing and fetched him some canned food. Had to hold off the other cats so he could eat it. But they all seem to get along pretty well, except when there’s treats to scramble for—Ebenezer hissed at him then.
The man of the house has dubbed this critter “Little Boots.” That is what Caligula translates as. Um, gulp.
Mr. Ebenezer has been fully enjoying the cover crop of hairy vetch on the tomato bed. When he’s not kicking back and feeling invisible (though his distinctive coat still gives him away), he has a knack for hunkering down and creeping along like a ninja stalking prey.
And the front flower bed has been hosting a strange species—the Acuminata Tulip, an heirloom variety that dates to the early 1800s.
It is, quite apparently, ant season, since this is what happened when I watered the houseplants:
Though I am a nature lover and a person who is usually rather accepting of the chaos of life (how else could I deal with the flux and frenzy of old house projects?) and averse to poisoning everything in sight to eject pests from my path, I do think something needs to be done when the number of insects I see in one space rivals my ability to count them. So I plonked down the Terro, and there are far fewer now, one week later (pics above are from last weekend). Terro is just sweet stuff laced with borax, so it’s not toxic to bigger beasts.
Then there’s the ladybug that did a belly dive onto my keyboard while I was computing the other night …
It looks like our girl is going to have to get put under sedation and have her teeth worked over. She’s had to wear this “Elizabethan collar,” as named on the bill, since Thursday. (Yes, that is the 70s-ified part of the house.)
And she was on pain meds until they ran out today. OK, so I’m telling the story backward. She was freaking out about something in her mouth, twitching and pawing at it. And so we took her in last week. And the doc looked her over and saw some lacerations on her lip and gum that we had noticed too. But he didn’t think the problem was with her one tooth that we’ve been watching for a couple years—and that another doc told us would either have to come out or would fall out on its own soon.
And she was fine while on the pain meds, but they ran out this evening and she started pawing and freaking out again. So I guess it’s back for a serious exam in the morning. Augh.
