Sunday, August 21, 2011

8-20-11 Weekend. Garden dried up but never a dull moment with the local wildlife!!

   
  Been pretty quiet in the garden this summer as almost everything has dried up. The summers are harsh here. We were soaking everything down deep twice a day and the plants but in spite of our efforts they were barely hanging on even under the shade screen. 
After a couple $40. water bills and no produce we finally had to let most of it die off.

 About mid July we finally decided to cut off watering the plants that were barely hanging on let alone producing anything. So we let everything dry up except the 
tomato,pepper, carrot and cucumber plants,  and the herbs.
  A about mid September  there isn't much of a garden

to say anything about so as you might have noticed I have just been posting about the 
critters we find in the yard... (Or critters the pets find!).

   Well THIS has been an eventful week! Have some excitement to share. Scarey excitement!

  It all started last week when I let the dogs inside at 1am last Thursday morning
and noticed that Dozer's muzzle was twice the size it should be. 

 I thought he might have been bitten by a snake so I woke Robert. I didn't have any benadryl so I also woke a friend who had some. I felt bad calling in the middle of the night but I knew whatever got him  that benadryl would help.. 
  
He didn't act as though he was in 
pain but was uncomfortable...

   Thought it might have been from a snake but was told it could have been
a scorpion or wasp as well.  

Didn't know for sure until this morning when I was working on the new enclosure for my Ball Python.

   I have been working on it all weekend... 





       I was standing behind the cabinet unplugging one of the power tools from the extension cord and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a familiar pattern between the wall studs of the back patio...

Just 2 saw horses from where I was standing , right next to the house! ...



My first thought was that Robert had took one of our
dead rattle snakes out of the freezer and set it there to scare me.
(We do that kind of stuff to each other)





Nope, this one still had it's head attached !!...


 I called for my husband until he came out of the house.
He thought I had injured myself with one of the power tools!
 But could have been worse than that! ....

                                                           It was a Mojave Green!...


 

That is a 9x12 baking dish to the right ...
 PS Dozer is fine now. Was uncomfortable for a couple days. Gave him benadryl 3 times a day and the swelling was completely gone by the end of the second day.

We let Dozer out to  look at it after it was "made safe" and he didn't want to go near it. -

 Confirmed that was what bit him.   Ok where's the Tums!

Second thought,
 Never mind the tums,
 I'll have a Rum and Coke, light on the ice Lol.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Found this BEETLE in the HOUSE!!....


Last week Robert found this beetle on our living-room carpet !,,,,


100_5573.jpg
   Looked like some morph TICK from outer space!  Robert put it on my desk so I could try to find it's ID online.

 Couldn't find it in our insect book or on the internet so I posted it on my Face book; "WHAT is THIS"?... hoping someone else would know.

100_5571.jpg

      Than it started moving on my desk !


 I told Robert "AH!, It's MOVING!"
  He thought I was joking at first.
He picked it up and it played dead again!


 Sooo, in my search I put "Beetle, plays dead"...

Than I got an accurate ID. Lol
It is a "Blue death-feigning beetle"



    Found there is a web site that SELLS them!  
people BUY them  for pets !     Only 8.$!! ...
http://shop.bugsincyberspace.com/Blue-Death-feigning-Beetle-Qty-Discounts-bic977.htm



I'm in the wrong business, I'll have to look for more!  


 Now I have it in a container with
aspen shavings and a piece of a tomato.......





Not sure now if I'll release it of keep it as a pet. Lol

   Maybe I'll name it RINGO!!


Sunday, May 15, 2011

5-25-11 Garden Progress Update




How about a peek at how 
Grandma Jo's garden is coming along!






  



   Looking down the alley south of the main garden area we planted watermelon, , potatoes and squash. Than along the fence I planted sunflowers  and  an assortment of shorter flowers in front of them...


From the house looking towards the pond...



Looking from the house out towards the alley and our  parking area




   And than in the bath tubs are sweet peas, beets, spinach and squash starts that need transplanting and broccoli. Finally have pea pods  but not many. I have snacked on almost half of them and have 4 or 5 left. They were from an old package of seeds so I was lucky that any of them grew.


Beets in the foreground and lettuce and spinach to the left. To the right is bush beans- not doing as well, might need more sun.
In the distance to the left are 4 tomato plants, bell peppers and squash by the house...


* Sunflowers, still have a way's to go ...


Tomatoes!! .....


 My first BEAN!!!....



 Squash...
  Looking at my earlier posts I can see a big difference but it sure does seem like a lot longer while waiting for everything to grow day by day.

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Sunday, April 3, 2011

FROM A BUGS eye view! ~ Garden progress 4-3-11 ...




  




 It takes a lot of patients to wait for "the fruits of your labor" when planting a garden from seed.
Days and than weeks pass. And we keep looking for the sprouts to peek out from the earth. Watering bare dirt religiously,  every day, hoping the seeds you bought on sale at Dollar General aren't DUDS!..

Waiting.... 

 And Waiting...



 Until finally, if you look really really close you see a speck of green breaking through the soil!..


Just when you think you are going to have to pay
 top dollar for a better brand....

The discount brand comes through..


And all the work and waiting is rewarded...
Something to show for it..


Bush Beans


Summer Squash 






Mesclun
(Salad Mix)


Bell Peppers



Bush Beans




Spinach



Watermelon

Russet Potatoes


Viola

 Rose




Grapes







Sweet Peas