I honestly don’t remember where I read it, but somewhere in my studies I’ve come across the statement that the right time to start taking eggs out to hatch is when the mulberry leaves are the size of a mouse’s ear. Without getting into a Monty Python skit about whether it’s an African or European […]
It’s that time. Everything is starting to bust out, here. The one garden bed that has been turned and seeded is coming to life with hundreds of tiny leaves. The lesson from these baby Shanghai Bok Choi plants, is that I need to learn to plant things on a grid. I’m a random sprinkler by […]
I get occasional back-talk from people who think that “silk caterpillars” would be more accurate… typically they’re about twelve years old and learning about phylogeny, but sometimes they’re know-it-all forty-somethings. Now, I have *real* worms; they live in a bin in the bathroom attached to my studio/office, and they eat our vegetable garbage. I got […]
My cousin Kathy brought us some of my Grandma’s old-fashioned strawberry begonias as a housewarming present. They started blooming a few days ago. They’re not showy at arm’s length, but close-to, they’re really lovely delicate little flowers. See the dog hair adorning the top of the flower? Welcome to my life. The plants are creepers, […]
I have been the proud holder of fifty-three USDA Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS) PPQ526 permits (Permit for interstate movement of pests or noxious weeds) for the past three years. Permits to send and receive Bombyx mori, to receive Saturniids… even one to import B. mori, but only from WorldWide Butterfly. It was […]
My parents got us this very cool weather monitor for Christmas. It has an outside unit and two inside units, and it tells the temperature, humidity, etc. And its “Weather Girl” feature helps show you how to dress. When it gets really cold (well, cold for Dallas), she has a calf-length coat and a scarf. […]
The tomatoes that Chris planted in the little peat starters are looking great! Their first true leaves are starting to appear – and they’re getting a little crowded. Soon, they would be to the point where they would compete for light and root space, and they would end up leggy and weak. So, sad though […]
I don’t often get into political or cultural issues in my blog – it’s yarn, and bugs, and the yard, and snippets of my life… pretty easy stuff. This post is a little angrier than most, because it hits a nerve with me. I’ve lived in Texas since I was five, and sometimes it’s an […]
One of the things that Chris and I both really like about the new house, is that it has a good space for a big vegetable garden. We’re at the stage where we’re trying to balance pre-season enthusiasm with the realization of how much labor it can be as things get big. Tomato and pepper […]
The knotwork necklace, finished. I’m hoping to get some shots in natural daylight, to see if they will make the weird coloring of these beads show up better. Ironically, the best way to see the color of the beads, is to force it out of focus. Specs: The weaving is approximately twenty-four inches long, but […]