Happy New Year!

May 2011 be your best year ever!

AAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!

One week ago, I became fed up with the jungle of zucchini plants, cucumber plants and cantaloupe vines.  The zucchinis and cantaloupes never materialized, while the cucumber plants produced more cucumbers than I'll ever eat and threatened to take over the entire garden.  I ripped them all out, leaving just a sweet pepper plant, strawberry plants, basil and oregano.

In their place I positioned a few trees I'm growing (an avocado tree, a Meyer lemon tree and three baby Royal Empress trees) and planted pumpkins (which are growing very nicely already!).  I plan to plant the Royal Empress trees at my sons' school once the weather is consistently cooler.

I could almost hear that sweet pepper plant sigh with appreciation once it was no longering battling with the other monster plants.  Within a few days, out popped eight peppers.  Here is today's crop.

Now you might ask, "Meg, why did you put the green peppers in a sparkling Orrefors bowl that you were given for your wedding eight years ago and have never used?"  The answer is quite simple.  I'm feeling fancy today.  I even put on makeup.

"Destination. Up Ahead. On the right."

Shunning telephone books as I do, it will come as no surprise that I love my car's GPS and have recently fallen in love with Google Text.  You just text a query to the numeric equivalent of GOOGLE (466453) and it immediately texts you back with information.  For instance, if you're hungry and want to find the nearest restaurants, you'd just text RESTAURANT and it will text you back with the nearest restaurants.

Pretty cool, right?  Except when it doesn't work. 

Like this afternoon, when I went to our local Blockbuster after picking up the kids from school and found it empty.  As in, no longer there, empty, closed forever.  I guess we don't go to Blockbuster often enough.  And maybe neither does anyone else around me.  After all, it's true we do most of our movie rental through iTunes now.  But the kids love the experience of walking through the video store, so I was determined to find one.

So I texted Google to direct me to another Blockbuster.  When it texted back, I was surprised to see the address - how could I have missed a Blockbuster so close to my own home? 

I was skeptical but punched the address into my GPS and set out.  A few minutes later we heard the familiar words, "Destination.  Up Ahead.  On the right." 

I snorted derisively as we pulled up.  Nice.

No Mincing Words In Texas

It's not a green message, but it's a good one.

What Is This? The Effects of Disease, Pollution, Or Chemical Defoliation?

This scene has been bothering me for a while.  I pass by every weekday to and from my sons' school and I always wonder: what is this?  If anyone can tell me, I'd greatly appreciate it.  It looks like someone's sprayed some sort of chemical in order to avoid the chore of manual pruning.  I see it along the railroad tracks that run parallel to the road, as well.  Not pretty.

Delicious Cucumber Straight From The Garden

My cucumber plant exploded in the last week with new cucumbers.  I plucked this one from the garden this morning and immediately had to taste it, given what happened last time.  Oh my goodness, it was perfect.  Not bitter at all and so delicious.

It is just amazing how much better fruits and vegetables can taste when they are so fresh, grown right in your own backyard.

Master Made Feed of Grapevine

Old town Grapevine, Texas, is a fun place to browse.  The stores are eclectic and are mixed in with good restaurants and wine bars.

Master Made Feed of Grapevine

Today, as I drove down Main Street, I noticed chicken coops sitting in front of a store named Master Made Feed.  The store doesn't look like much from the outside but I've been pondering having a few hens for organic eggs, so I ducked in.

chicken coops

Every time I forget that we essentially live in the countryside I should just take a little trip to this store.

I was given a warm greeting by a nice young man (I'm betraying my age here by saying that) who explained that they'll have chicks in February or March.  I asked if many people around here have chickens and he replied that they sold more chickens last year than in the prior five years combined.  People around here love having their own hens for fresh eggs.  I asked if the heat was bearable for them and he replied that it is, provided they have some shelter (a coop).

Here are a few of the other interesting things I saw there:

big stacks of salt licks

dried cow and pig parts

pig snouts, $1.09

Pig snouts.  Well, at least they're not going to waste.  Ranks up there with dried pig ears.

saddles

gnarly animal traps

baby quail, $2 each

EcoMeg Versus The Black Widow Spider

What can I say? I have two small boys, so everything is about super heroes versus villains.

Yesterday, while enjoying some backyard swimming with my kids, I discovered a spider had built a web under one of our chaises.  At first, I only saw the seemingly abandoned, raggedy web hanging beneath the chair, collecting leaves.  As I tried to pry it loose I found it was amazingly strong - as if it were industrially made.  The alarm went off in my brain.  I'd read certain nasty spiders built untidy webs.  So I turned the chair over to give it a thorough cleaning and there it was: a black widow spider, likely a female given its size, markings and the proportion of its body to legs.

I called the boys over for a look, snapped a photo, then dispatched the spider to its maker.  As much as I respect nature, there is no place in my house or yard for poisonous critters, especially with children around.

I was surprised to find this here for two reasons: 1. I keep my house, garage and yard clean and tidy, and yet this managed to evade me for long enough to set up shop, and 2. black widows usually like dark places, yet here it was living on my pool deck.  We've had some unusually rainy weather, though, so my guess is that it migrated to higher ground.  The good news is that black widows are not typically aggressive.  When you come across one, it tends to run away rather than attack.  Just don't put your hand or foot near one or you may need to make a trip to the ER.

Daily Photo: My New Visitor

My three-year-old pointed out at the bird feeder this morning and shouted something about Nemesis Squirrel.  He has trouble with the word "Nemesis" so it comes out like "Nemenisis," which is very cute.

So I take a look out the window and see that for the second time in a row, Nemesis Squirrel has opened the bird feeder, pulled out the big cake of bird seed/nuts/dried fruit and dumped it on the ground below.

Grrr.   Which immediately had me thinking, "I've gotta get a pair of cat handcuffs and I gotta get 'em right away."  Ok, I'm dating myself here.  Anyway, I need to find one of those squirrel-proof feeders before the Cardinals and Blue Jays abandon us.

I step outside to confront Nemesis, only to find that most of the cake is gone and the only critter still munching away is a cute bunny rabbit.  Almost made me forget how mad I am at Nemesis Squirrel.  Almost.

Daily Photo: Nemesis Squirrel Robs The Birds

Meet Nemesis Squirrel.  Again.

Meet one of the pretty, unsuspecting birds enjoying my bird feeder.

Oh, who's that creeping up and scaring away the pretty bird?  It's my NEMESIS SQUIRREL, who has discovered yet another food source in our backyard.

He thinks he owns the place.  I can't say he's wrong.

Eat up, squirrel.  Eat up.

"I got to get into this dude's pelt and crawl around for a few days. Who's the gopher's ally. His friends. The harmless squirrel and the friendly rabbit." (courtesy, Caddyshack)

I've got my eye on you, Nemesis Squirrel.

Daily Photo: The Foul-Mouthed Gardener

I check on my vegetable garden every other day to ensure adequate water, harvest where appropriate and troubleshoot.  Today I noticed that one of my bok choy plants had been decimated and a few chunks had been taken out of a few tomato leaves.  This is significant because I have the entire thing covered with mosquito netting.  There are very few ways bugs can get in.  But get in they did.

I fumed as I unfastened and lifted the netting to investigate.  I pruned the injured leaves and watered heavily, looking for and suspecting beetles.  Nothing.  Then, out of the corner of my eye, curled up just next to another bok choy plant: a fat caterpillar.

 
The nerve! It thought it wouldn't be found, blending in with the wet soil and the leaves. "What the!?!"  It is a good thing no one was around.  As I launched it like a rocket across the yard, I let it rip. "Bite me! Son of a biscuit!"

And then.  And then?  I found another one clinging to one of the tomato plants.

"Motherfudgecake! Frickety Frick!" and that one went flying too.

And I felt better.

Daily Photo: Bad Weather Rolling In

People don't believe me when I tell them how rapidly weather can change here in north Texas.  When I moved here three years ago, someone told me an old saying: "If you don't like the weather here, just wait."

Here's a photo from the other week of a storm front moving in.  As I sat at a traffic light, that storm line literally marched right across the road, the clouds churning and darkening as it traveled.

Daily Photo: An Entirely New and Improved Waste of Money

No offense intended for the makers of Huggies, but really.  Really?

Daily Photo: Today's Interesting Finds at the Grocery Store

No words.  Just giggles.

Crab flavored seafood sticks.  Forgive my ignorance, but isn't the main point of sushi to eat fresher, healthier food? 

If I wanted to eat dirty rice stuffed into a chicken, I think I could pay less than $12.99 for it.  Ba Dum Bum.

Mommy doesn't need to drink a glass of cheap wine.  Mommy needs to get to the gym.

Daily Photo: Our Backyard Lizard

Spring is here and so is our backyard lizard.  He and another lizard buddy can typically be found sunning themselves on one of our HVAC units. 

Daily Photo: Radishes

I plucked these from our garden before dinner this evening.  Delicious!

Daily Photo: A Rainy Sunday Afternoon Well Spent

I spent this afternoon running a 5k in support of the local school district.  Road races are a really fun way to get the blood pumping.  Go to http://www.Active.com to find a race near you!

There's Something Putrid in the Garden

Drainage is a big deal in North Texas, for two reasons.  Firstly, there's a lot of clay in the soil.  Water tends to sit on top of clay and is very slowly absorbed.  Secondly, when it rains here, it pours.  Have you ever noticed what happens to a dry sponge when a lot of water is dumped on it?  At first, the water just runs right off.  The sponge doesn't start to swell immediately.  Put these two qualities together and if the lowest spot in your landscape is up against your house or key elements of your garden, then your foundation or your landscaping may be in trouble.

After watching a few trees really suffer due to poor drainage in our backyard, my husband and I got out there in today's driving rain to do something about it.  First, my husband cleared a trench from a major pop-up bubbler toward the street, then he cleared some backed-up (and quite rotten) leaves, etc., from the pipe to allow more water to flow away from the garden.  After that project, we began to inspect other bubblers around the perimeter of the house.  One, I noticed, was full of water but the water was only trickling out.  A possible sign of blockage.

Daily Photo: Nemesis Squirrel

The squirrel from hell still visits me each morning.  I think I might actually miss him if he stopped coming around, despite the havoc he wreaks.

Daily Photo: A Sad Discovery

 

Early yesterday morning, there was a lot of hysterical chirping outside of my younger son's window.  Later, we found that the wind had knocked a nest from the tree there.  There were several broken eggs scattered amidst the flowers.  Very sad.