First of the garden today. We have spinach, mustard greens, and arugula that were started in a hot frame. The arugula is getting flower buds, so time to eat it. Fresh salad tonight.

Tess has started her spring acclimation to the new grass. Just 30 minutes a day for now. She's already getting used to the idea that she has to walk out there like a lady and not try to drag me by the lead rope. The first three times, she came right in even though it had only been a half hour. Today we entered the next phase, where she doesn't want to come back in. Unfortunately for her stubborn streak, though, I've learned her weakness. Twirl the loose end of the lead rope in the air a couple of times so it starts to hum and somehow she decides maybe to come along after all. I think she knows I wouldn't hit her with it after all these years, but it's a game we have to play for a few days.

Still battling the cold that started a week ago today. Thought it was weakening yesterday, then last night I was sure it was headed into bronchitis. However, at the moment it feels OK, so maybe that was a false alarm. *crosses hooves*

I'm usually bad about remembering birthdays, but because I got a couple of private messages today I was on the right page and saw these, two really good friends. So...

HAPPY BURFDAY to AEROFOX and AVON_DEER!

Tags: garden, horses
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: awake

Busy day, soggy weekend predicted.

There's got to be a big lesson in that silly business about United Airlines "rumored" bankruptcy causing its stock to tank, losing (undoubtedly) millions of dollars for investors. But when the truth comes out someday, will we learn that it was a deliberate manipulation? Someone better look and see just who was shortselling like crazy as the stock went down in flames...

So the GOP is all up in arms about Obama's statement that "you can't put lipstick on a pig" but of course, the barrage of screechy negative ads emanating from their general vicinity doesn't exist.

Face it folks, the US economy is in the crapper, and it wasn't 9/11 that did it, but rather the idiotic monetary policies that started during the Reagan administration. It's time to raise interest rates back up to where they belong even if the corporations scream bloody murder because they can't finance their executive jets and thousand dollar a plate luncheons any more.

Went to the garden to check whether more zucchini had inflated overnight. None had, but the pole beans are coming in with a vengeance. I hadn't taken a container with me (who needs a bucket to carry a footlong zucchini or two?) so brought back as many beans and snow peas as I could carry in my hands, which was actually quite a lot but didn't exhaust the available supply. Oh, and exactly one okra pod. But I'm sure there'll be more. Had stir fried veggies and rice for supper. *pats tummy*

Tags: garden, politics, weather
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: full

No, I didn't finish the entire set of exercises, but only the first nine. I will finish the others though, because they are progressively more interesting and have actual application in the creation of handwoven, unique clothing.

It was a busy day but a lot of fun. In the last half hour, Margaret had us loosen the tension on the looms and unwind the finished fabric so it could all be seen. Then we went around the room to examine and discuss the variety of results and the different approaches taken by different participants. I'm pleased to say that mine compared quite favorably with the rest, and I was not the only one who didn't finish. Only one weaver reached the fifteenth exercise.

I promise a photo of the finished sampler soon. It's interesting enough that I won't be letting it sit for long.

Brought all the tools and the loom back home, with Gary's help, and unloaded 171 bales of hay that have been waiting since last Sunday. Went out to check the garden and brought back a handful of snow peas and two oversized zucchini. Fortunately we know what to do with these guys, and while it may not be pretty for them it will be tasty for us. ;p

Tags: garden, weaving
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: accomplished

Amazing. The Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica, is a serious pest in North America (for those who didn't know about it.) It's a large, handsome looking beetle that is native to east Asia and Japan, where it has natural enemies that keep its population stable and controlled. Once introduced to America, though, it ran wild. Few native species care to eat the beetle, though I've heard rumors that raccoons will dig up the larvae from under lawns and eat them (eewww, no accounting for raccoons' taste, but I knew that.)

Anyway, last week I noticed a large population of these pests on some wild grapevines near the vegetable garden. They eat leaves, leaving only the skeleton of veins behind, so the damage they do is quite apparent. I started looking around, and sure enough, they have attacked our blueberry bushes and some of the apple trees. They are noted for their resistance to pesticides, but I don't use chemical pesticides anyway. The larvae (and thus the adult beetles) can be exterminated from an area over a period of several years by applications of a bacteria spore to the soil. Like BT on most moths and butterflies, this bacteria causes the larval stage to die, but takes years to establish itself well in the soil. Gary went somewhere and came home with a couple of Japanese beetle traps instead.

I checked and found that some garden experts say the traps are ineffective. They catch only a small percentage of the adult beetles, supposedly, while attracting many more to the area. However, today I observed that the beetles are still there and I want to give my squash and tomatoes a chance to live. So I went and got one of the traps and read the rather vague directions for setting it up.

It consists of four vertical plastic vanes at right angles to one another, with an hourglass shaped plastic bag that hangs beneath them. A sticky pad containing fruit and floral fragrances and some kind of sex attractant is attached to one of the vanes just at the bottom. The scent draws the beetles in and they crash into the vanes, falling into the plastic bag and presumably not being able to find their way out before they suffocate or dessicate or something.

I peeled the cover off the scent pads and affixed them to the trap, which was already hung on a post about ten feet from the infested grapevines but on the far side of their trellis from the garden itself. This just happened to be upwind of the beetles I had noticed.

I had to duck out of there in a hurry. It was like being mobbed by a swarm of bees. I had no idea there were so many Japanese beetles in the area. They are about the size of bees, so you can hear them flying and see them quite easily, especially when there are hundreds about. They are clumsy fliers and apparently when drunk on sex pheromones, they don't look where they are going. Sure enough, they fly right into the yellow plastic vanes and fall into the plastic bag below. I could see the bottom of the hourglass shape starting to swell even as I watched. Standing back and watching the sky, I could see the flight pattern, just as I'm used to seeing bees fly. That little postage stamp sized patch was drawing bugs in from at least half an acre away. I think I'll have to go out in a short while and tie that bag shut at the hourglass waist. A second bag was included with the trap, and I figure any that I seal into the bag and throw into the trash will at least not escape. Anyone want half a pound of Japanese beetles? No? Speak up before they're all gone...

Tags: garden, wildlife
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: impressed