Picture: a closeup of some worms in my compost bin.
This photo is for the the three crazy people that I live with. They are at the table adjacent to where I’m typing right now, playing some kind of wormy computer game.
Me, these are the only kinds of worms that capture my attention. These critters live in one of the three compost bins on my back porch. They make the rich fertilizer that makes my plants grow so pretty and strong. :)
This flower is called ‘blue fairy.’ I think it lives up to its name quite well.
Today it was supposed to rain, but it never did. I planned my day all indoors, thinking that out-of-doors wouldn’t be an option. Now I’m feeling antsy and cooped-up. Too much studying, methinks.
Tomorrow I will plan to head to the gym first thing. To get out some of this extra energy left over from today. And then I will head to the garden to visit my new plants. :)
Update: The garden was gorgeous this morning. Lot of weeds, though, that I’ll need to attack soon. Oh, and my garden neighbor disposed of the dead gopher that’s been molderin’ under my favorite rosebush. Yay for brave garden neighbors (I was way too chicken to move the rotting carcass. bleh.)
Don’t forget to take the survey
A study in using the flash on my camera. How to show the vivid purples and yellows of this flower against such a dark backdrop.
And don’t forget to take the pilgrimgirl survey!
Some keep the Sabbath going to church;
I keep it staying at home,
With a bobolink for a chorister,
And an orchard for a dome.
Some keep the Sabbath in surplice;
I just wear my wings,
And instead of tolling the bell for church,
Our little sexton sings.
God preaches, — a noted clergyman, —
And the sermon is never long;
So instead of getting to heaven at last,
I’m going all along!
~Emily Dickinson
Because I don’t want to get pinched. :)
Usually I pick up any snails that I find in my garden and I throw them over the fence to do their slimy business elsewhere.
But this particular snail was so precocious, I decided to capture his image on film and let him be. For my kindness he smiled for the camera. :)
If you have a minute, click on this picture, go to flickr and click on the tab above that says “all sizes.” You should see this photo in a much larger size. And it’s amazing. Look at the ridges, bumps and colors on the shell. Examine each little lump on his body. See how his antenna are the faintest translucent blue color. And can you see the individual drops of water on the stem that he’s sitting on??
Suffering from a bit of insomnia last night, I decided to play with lighting and the macro setting on my camera to pass the time.
Came up with this very psychedelic photo of the inside of an iris that I’d picked in the garden yesterday. I love the way the light plays across the back of the flower as if it were a reflection in a pool of water.
For many years, daisies were my favorite flowers. When John and I married, he promised me that I would have daisies every day because they brought me so much joy.
Well, that promise was one that was quickly broken–probably at my own insistence because I’m such a cheapskate. But back then I spent very little time thinking about flowers. I was busy working three jobs, then mothering two children, etc, etc
Now I find myself spending more and more time gazing at flowers. Yes, part of it is because I have some freedom in my life right now that affords me the time for leisure, the time for contemplation. And I do try hard not to take that gift for granted. Because I’ve found worlds without end on the insides of flowers.
I’m no longer strictly a daisy fan. Rather, I enjoy the merits of whatever flower happens to cross my path on a particular day. Last week it was this bright pink gerber daisy, pictured here, that I put in a vase with a half-dozen of a similar hue. This morning it was a royal purple iris hiding under a little table in the center of my flower garden. What will tomorrow bring? Roses peut-etre? That would be lovely, as I do relish the scent of a tea rose…
There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
-Anais Nin
I am just thrilled by what happens when I use the macro setting on my camera. Aren’t the petite curled petals on this marigold just lovely?
Today if you saw some crazy woman pedaling a three-wheeled bike down the street and carrying a 4 ft.-tall tree in her rear basket, well that was me. I was on my way to the garden to plant my satsuma orange tree in the hole that GameBoy dug last week.
But prior to planting the tree, I was watering my pea seedlings when I had this odd sensation that I wasn’t alone. At first I thought I saw a cat out of the corner of my eye, but I realized that my mind was just playing tricks on me–probably just a hallucination from staying up too late last night studying.
Within a few moments, though, I realized that my sixth sense wasn’t entirely off. For their was an odd rustle in some weeds growing by the lavender bushes. And that rustle was soon accompanied by the appearance of a Jabba-the-Hutt-sized gopher, his reddish fur gleaming over his well-fed flanks.
**Let me just pause this narrative to remind you, gentle reader, of my RODENT PHOBIA. I say this in all caps, because those of you who’ve seen me encounter RODENTS know that such encounters make me shake, cry, scream, and become incontinent all at the same time. Let me also tell you that this particular gopher terrorizes a block of four gardens–a space of about 1000 sq ft–and that he’s been known to pop up and thumb his nose at all of us liberal pacifist graduate student gardeners as we work hard to grow our organic mesculun salad greens.**
So when Jabba reared his ugly head at me, instinct kicked in and I flung a few rocks his way as I yelled at him to GO AWAY. He popped back into his hole for a moment and then he quickly reappeared. I threw some larger chunks of wood as I brandished my hoe [Note: my hoe is painted a very jaunty bright purple color, but is nevertheless still good for threatening gophers]. Jabba-the-gopher just stayed there, staring me down with his beady little black eyes. In that moment I realized that he’s not all that much different-looking than TobyCat (sans pointy ears) and I had a momentary feeling of fondness for the creature.
But then my instincts kicked in again and more rock-throwing and yelling ensued. As soon as it seemed that he had retreated deep into his hole, I took the shovel over to that area of the garden and proceeded to dig through all of the surrounding holes and tunnels, making sure that the gopher would be hard-pressed to reappear again.
Then I kept my sharpest tools and a few good rocks close at hand as I completed my task of planting the satsuma tree. In the meantime I tried to dispel all thoughts of gopher cuteness from my mind as I plowed through a few more holes and tunnels before I left off my efforts for the day.
