Category: Gardens

Garden Damage and Critters

Every morning this summer the gardens have been damaged. Loads of digging.

Flower Damage

Digging in flower pots.

Four squirrels have moved in.The squirrels have eaten my potted plants, vegetables, and herbs.

Plant Damage

This was a pot of parsley, clover, and chard for my house bunnies.

Missing Bean Plants

Where are the bean plants?

One squirrel sat on a wisteria branch and ate the top of my Norfolk pine.

Are they the ones digging up plants and the patio?

Skunk Damage

We decided that the squirrels needed to be relocated. We set up a humane trap. Placed a cracker with peanut butter inside and waited.

I heard the trap snap close. What did we find? The cracker gone and the trap empty.

Two of the squirrels are quite small, so it could have been one of them.

We put another cracher spread with peanut butter in the trap. Nothing happened.

Last night we forgot to close the trap.

And this morning we found this–

Skunk in Trap

Yep, that is black fur with a white stripe.

We are fortunate to live in a city that has an animal control service. They came and removed the skunk.

What did we learn? The trap is too large for a squirrel. And if we use the trap again, close it or remove it at night.

Work in Progress: A Small Link to the Past

I was in the process of making a piece with grass that would have the coded message, A Small Link With the Past. As a test, I bound some grass to a piece of hardware cloth. The grass was a bit prickly, but I quite liked it.

Grass Piece

The plan was to bind grass to hardware cloth to make 3 pattern blocks…

Blocks for Pattern

then bind the blocks together to make a pattern.

Pattern

The pattern with the code will have 117 blocks, 81 will have the addition of a code component in the center square.

When I decided to use the 1/4″ hardware cloth the grass did not work. Instead, I am using Tecoma stans pods that have been soaked in a solution of glycerin and water.

Tecoma sans Pods

I wrote a post about collecting the Tecoma stans pods 12 November 2015.

Cream wool yarn will be used to complete the blocks.

Link Blocks

I just noticed when I shot the photo of the blocks, the one with the cream wool center should have been rotated for the stitch work to be vertical.

Unfortunately, making blocks in low light while listening to political news resulted in several mistakes. In order for the pattern to work properly, the grain of the pod must be bound vertically.

The right block works, the left one does not.

Link Block Mistake

The dozen that I consistently stitched incorrectly can be used for a different project. It will be easier, and less time consuming to replace the mistakes than to take them apart and rework them.

There is another issue with changing from grass to Tecoma sans pods. Grass fits with the idea of linking to the past, a childhood memory. Tecoma sans pods does not.

So, how will the pattern work as a connection to memory, or a link to the past? The pattern with the code will be a portion of the piece. Grass, hardware cloth, and wool will be woven together, most likely with the word memory in code, and the pattern with code will be bound to it. That is the current plan, but things can change during the process.

Rescue Cactus

Every time I hike the hills at the end of our street, I pass by a cactus. The blooms of the cactus are white, large, and gorgeous. A month or so back this is what I saw–

Cactus and Fence

What were they thinking??? Sure it is nice to add a privacy fence, put what about the cactus?

I found some broken pieces on the ground. So, of course I scooped them up and brought them home. This is how they look today–

Cactus

Some of the pieces are scarred from their previous home, but they are all thriving. Every piece has new growth!

The Last Day of the Agave

I knew the agave would eventually be removed, but knowing and being prepared are quite different. For over a year, I watched the agave grow and change. Some days there were stunning changes, other days the changes were subtle almost imperceptible. The agave became a favored haunt for several birds–crows, doves, jays, hummingbirds, and a hawk.

Agave

Hawk in the Agave 26 December 2015

Agave

The Agave 24 March 2015

Agave

The Agave 19 October 2015

Recently the tilt of the agave increased. Could a strong wind have blown it over?

The folks arrived Monday morning to remove the agave.They mentioned that the sap from the agave can be a skin irritant, actually can burn. Funny that agave can be used as a sweetener. With lots of plants, their parts can be toxic when not respected and used properly.

The workers were quite organized and worked efficiently. After each cut the agave parts were tossed into the truck.

Agave

Agave

The First Cut

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

Agave

The Lovely Fiber of the Agave

Agave

Where the Agave Once Stood, A Small Agave Survives

That little plant makes me so happy!

Grass Piece

Cut Grass

Cut Grass

Cut Grass Prepared for Piece

Prepared Grass for Piece

The grass is similar to velcro. It sticks to itself, to fingers, to clothing, and to the bamboo crochet thread that I am using.

Grass Piece in Progress

The first grass was bound to the bottom of the hardware cloth covering 5 rows.

Grass Piece in Progress

Next, five rows of grass were bound horizontally from right to left.

Grass Piece in Progress

The piece in progress.

Grass Piece in Progress

The cut grass project has 150 bound pieces:
75 (5 bound pieces over 15 columns) and 75 (3 bound pieces over 25 rows).

Grass Piece in Progress

Cut Grass Piece Detail

This is what the grass looks like in the garden today. Unfortunately, the grass that I used does not seem to be changing to the gorgeous colors like the grass left to dry naturally in the garden.
Grass in Garden