Down With Disease

So, in keeping with the crappy crap going on around here I thought I'd post about the fact that my garden decided it needed to get in on the act.  I've always done pretty well garden-wise and have rarely been plagued with armies of pests or disease the way some other bloggers seem to be, or make out to be anyway.  So I guess my luck has run out.  Ha!  Oh, it's not awful but it can be discouraging.
The first thing I noticed were the tomato plants.  They looked kinda, sorta wilted, but I knew that could not be the case.  Then the leaves started curling up and twisting excessively towards the top of the plant.  The odd twisting is what really told me something was bad wrong.

Later, it was obvious that the plants were stunted and the leaves began to get a purplish color in the veins.  A little investigation turned up that this is, appropriately, "curly top disease."   Apparently, this little leafhopper spreads the virus by only briefly landing on the plant and biting it.  As far as I have been able to determine there is no treatment once the tomato plants are infected.  Fortunately, the little leafhopper does not hang around long, preferring to eat other weeds, so it's common that only a section of plants may be infected and it does not spread plant to plant.  Only the bug can spread it.
So, all of my tomatoes that we bought and planted are infected.  Thankfully, that was not a huge amount this year.  Some of them have still produced a few tomatoes but they say they will not taste very well.  the saving grace in all of this (hopefully) is that I had a LOT of tomato volunteers come up in the garden this spring, apparently after the bug passed through.  And thankfully, I did not rip them all out when weeding!  So...we have been transplanting all those starts to rows and hopefully we will still be able to get a decent tomato harvest.  Now, I only have a vague idea of what variety those starts may be but it will be good enough, as long as I get some home-grown tomatoes.  They are going to come in late...but better than not at all.

I think I also told ya'll about the squash volunteers too.  They are doing really well but I was wondering for a while if perhaps they were sterile hybrids that got in somehow.  I don't plant hybrids but we may have inadvertently bought some in the off season and threw the scraps in the compost.  They are now producing some type of squash vegetable, although it remains to be seen exactly what.    And I don't try to can or freeze it so no problem there either.  This picture is old btw, and all the plants there are HUGE now.  I'll try to get some more recent ones.

We've also been attacked by the potato beetles; first time for that too and most of my raspberries have died.  I got the cabbage in WAY too late and it's all gone to chicken feed.  One interesting fact in some of this is that I also noticed that this was the first year I did not plant oodles of marigolds in amongst my tomatoes and such at the same time the crops were planted.  Coincidence??  Maybe.  But I went and bought 2 big packs of marigolds yesterday.   I was trying to get those planted this morning and a thunderstorm came up but they need to go in soon!

And, it also seems my biggest forsythia has some type of gall?  About half the shrub is covered in this stuff with no leaves.  I haven't taken the time to investigate it yet; maybe some of you know what it is?  And if anything can be done?  I was going to prune the hell out of it and burn the prunings.

But all is not lost.  Most of my flowers are doing beautifully this year and we are going to have loads and loads of blueberries and possibly figs.  The second planting of corn is doing great and so are the peas and green beans.  Even my watermelon looks promising.  My cantaloupes did not come up that I planted (old seeds) so I bought enough for 2 hills, so hopefully we'll get a few melons.  The asparagus harvest was not too bad this year and it's spreading and growing.

And the baby chicks are doing really well.  Mama Hen takes them out every day and seems to so enjoy having her babies.  Our new little Silkies are also doing well although they still keep to themselves and are kinda hard to photograph.

So, I guess all things come and go in seasons and proves the old saying of "never put all your eggs in one basket!".

Doctor, Doctor

Well, I'm a bit behind on posting, once again.  I have had several personal, family matters to tend to around here and just haven't accomplished much of anything this week.  My mind has just been too pre-occupied with other stuff to be able to put together a reasonable post on any financial matters.
Hopefully things are straightened out for now and I can get back to the subject we were talking about in a day or two.
Until then I threw together this little collage of my resident dragonflies, or snake doctors as old-timers used to call them.  I personally still like that name.  It seems every year I have one or two new varieties show up and I have been trying to photograph them all.  I have counted about 8 separate type but only photographed 7, I think.  I have no idea what their actual species names are so if you do feel free to let me know.  The one up top with it's butt in the air is the smallest, at about 1 1/2" long and the lower one on the post, with the spotted tail, is the largest I've seen, at about 4 1/2" long.  I love them all!

Of course you can click on the photo to enlarge it and get a much better look at them.

Get It While You Can

I guess this is just a little photo update of what's going on around here now.  Whole different set of plants blooming now in the driveway flower bed.  The daisy-like flowers in the foreground is Feverfew.  I need to pick a good supply of the flowers to dry for tea.  It funny 'cause last summer these disappeared but I guess the seeds survived in the ground and came up this year.

I FINALLY got a clematis vine to bloom!  It's not very big but has lovely flowers on it.  I'm not sure why I have such trouble with these.

Most of the garden is doing quite well.  On the right you can see the first bits of the peas and green beans coming up.

The broccoli has done much better this year; larger heads and all.  I have harvested about 4 quarts of the stuff so far.  Ate two and froze two.  I still have about 6 plants that I have not touched.  I may pull up some of the ones I've cut and use the space to plant some more hot weather crops and leave a few broccoli to produce the occasional side crop, if it will.  I'll sow another crop towards fall to try to have some for the winter.

The raspberries are doing great!!  Fingers crossed!  The birds have been rough on my strawberries and I had to put netting over them; may have to do the same with these.  I'm not much on preserving raspberries so I'll probably just gorge myself on them fresh!  It's a fine trade-off to me.  Fresh, plump berries for a few weeks as opposed to mushy, mediocre berries all year round.

Good bug or bad bug??  He didn't seem to be eating my plant; just kinda hanging out.  Beautiful design work on 'em.  Maybe a warning symbol to birds not to eat?

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird have raised one brood already this year and have started on their second!  I moved their nesting box into the fenced garden area after those damn raccoons ate their babies last year.  Now all those coons will get is a handful of hot wire if they try to get at them.  The bluebirds really seem to enjoy this area, even with us occasionally working in the garden.  And they patrol the garden regularly for bugs to feed their babies and themselves.  The garden is really starting to deliver the goods and all the critters like the birds and worms and such are very active in it.  I think I'm almost as proud of the garden as I am of the house.

In The Meantime...

Lots of pottery making going on! Not that I have a tremendous amount of orders but there is a reason behind it all.


Lots of corn harvesting going on too! I think I have picked around 50-60 ears so far. This is astounding to me because I have never had a successful corn crop until this year. We have been enjoying fresh corn on the cob and creamed corn but I have been trying to freeze a good amount also.

And all the ears are so pretty with NO worms!! without a drop of even an organic spray. They are not huge ears but they are decent and very tasty! This is Silver Queen, my favorite! Nomnom!!

And this is Chigger Queen!! She has been so hot lately, poor thing. All her hair is falling out. I have been brushing her, to help her shed. Maybe it offers some relief. She is always such a happy dog with such a good attitude. She is happy to be with you no matter what you're doing, although she really enjoys going on walkabouts. But she's a young dog; happy, happy, happy. Just wait 'til she hits menopause! Then she'll be crabby, crabby, crabby!! Haha!! maybe not.

I have to tell ya'll about this! The other day I was starting to work on the last little bit of siding on the gable end over the door. There were two small boards tacked up in the high part of the gable (for some reason) that I needed to pull down. We must have been using them for a temporary support or something. Anyway, so I get the ladder and climb up there and I'm starting to pry this board off the wall. I'm about 16 feet above the deck on this extension ladder also and they are really not my favorite thing to work off of. So, as I jiggle the board a little prying on it, this creature runs out from behind!! Now, how a spider as fat as my fingers could squeeze it's self into a crack that you would have trouble slipping a piece of paper into, I don't know but it freaked me out. All I could imagine was this spider, as I popped the board loose, would sense it's secure hiding place leaving and fling itself through the air onto anything it sensed was a stationary object; that being my head, neck or shoulders. If any of you remember, perchance, the caulking gun incident, you can imagine where my thoughts are going on this. It was not going to be pretty. I mean, look at that thing! It has HAIR!! Nothing that can be classified as 'bug', spider, what have you, should have hair!! It's not right! Let me also remind you that that is a 2 x 6 board that it is pictured on also, so you can see the proportions there. That scene from "Aliens" kept playing over and over in my head. Jack would come home to find me sprawled on the deck with Mr. Hairy suctioned to my face. I finally summoned all my courage and with one mighty swipe sent the board flying through the air while the octopod hairball fell straight down, thumping on the deck like a sack of flour. It gives me the willies just thinking about it. But you know what's even creepier? That thing fell near the front door. I kept an eye on it every time I would go in and out but after several times I came out and noticed it was gone...Had it jumped through the open door as I passed? Or just slipped through the deck boards to go under the house? Hhhm. Hey, where's Grendal? She was just here a minute ago...

BugABoo

First of all, it was dead!! I assure you, I would never have a bug like this in my hand if it were still kickin'. Yet I feel a certain strange affection for these critters. I guess because they are so 'southern', even though they exist all over the world. I could not imagine our sultry summers without the song of these, seeking their mates. And you have to admit, they are so intricately designed. Their wings fascinate me. The delicacy belies their ability to lift such mass.

Well, I'm still working quite a bit and today were heard more rumblings of discontent and instability in our company. Our new company logo stickers for our hardhats came to our job today but only one foreman elected to cover our old sticker with the new. It's a sad time.

After a couple of comments I received recently I know a few of you might be wondering about this fellow I have gone out with some lately. I haven't said much for several reasons. One, I don't know whether he would mind me writing about him, even in a completely anonymous way and I guess I am remaining a bit more stoical about this one. If 'once bitten is twice shy' then what are you if you have been chewed on most of your life? lol! Perhaps a bit too skeptical. Well, we'll see what we'll see and he is fun to do stuff with at any rate. He is a good bit older than me so that is one of my main concerns I guess and feeds my inclination to be doubtful. However, I think it's always possible to learn and enjoy the experience of life with a wide variety of people. Just enjoying each other's company is the main thing.

Buzzin'

The dragons are still heavy in the air here. I just love having so many. They are so cool. Last weekend I was sunbathing a little on the deck and one lit on my right shoulder. I could just barely see him if I turned my head but he didn't seem to mind; he stayed there for some time. Fortunately, they cannot walk around, because that might have felt creepy but I could feel his little feet touching me. That was okay.
This one was one of the largest I've seen here. I would guess his wing span was about 5 inches. Well, that is a 4x4 that he is on and his wings were slightly wider; maybe 4 1/2". I loved the shadow he cast. I thought it was very interesting that his wings would cast such a dark shadow in contrast to their delicate transparency.
And for something else with about the same brain power..... Ernie is definite proof that ignorance is bliss. Happiest damn dawg I've ever seen.

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering; the (horrid) guy I went out with was not the one from the job that favors the Switchman. The Switchman lookalike is married. This other guy was someone I met here in my little town.

Bits And Pieces

Well, I have gotten squat done on the house this week. To have done so well last week, this week has been a bust. Between all the rain, trying to cut the grass, intermittently fix the push mower, having my computer repaired and just general loafing, I have not accomplished much of anything. A day or two of that is okay every once in a while but a whole week is inexcusable.
While mowing the grass, I scared this guy up out of the weeds. I know it was at least 6" across.
What a face!
I have prepared part of the foundation wall for waterproofing, which I hope to do next week as it dries out. I ran some siding but am waiting on Allen to bring the big ladder back so I can reach the eaves on front. I have to completely finish the north side before I can turn the corner to the west end, because the scaffolding etc. is attached to the west wall. I did do a little more clearing with the excavator earlier in the week before the rain started.
Here you can see the "eyes" a little. Such a pretty creature.
I must kick it into a higher gear on the house and I also have people calling me wanting side work but I'm really trying to avoid that, as odd as that may sound. I don't want any side work; I want to work on MY stuff! I do have two jobs that I have pretty much committed to but they won't be too bad and I'll make pretty good on them.
Found another one of these. I just happen to look down between my feet and saw this. I sit at that spot all the time and never noticed it before. No, I don't think it means anything; just kinda odd.
Oh well, back to work; that's what I know best anyway. Hopefully, I will have something on the house to show you soon.

*The Dave Clark Five

Dragon Attack

I noticed this year that I seem to have an abundance of dragonflies here and among those, a pretty good variety of species. This morning, while I was out enjoying the somewhat cool air and a cup of coffee, the dragons were putting on quite an air show but I managed to capture a few images of some of them resting.
In trying to identify these, I found some interesting info on them. In many cultures, they are considered evil, an accomplice to the devil even. I remember when I was a child, it was common to hear the older people, here in the South, refer to them as 'snake doctors'. Purportedly, for their habit of following the reptiles around in order to assist the snake if it was injured. I was fascinated with this idea and often thought I might be lucky enough one day to spot a 'snake doctor' with his patient. Alas, I never did!
Despite being blessed with 6 legs, they do not have the ability to walk. But they love mosquitoes! I remember seeing one not too long ago, perched on a rock in the flower bed, absolutely stuffing his face with a large mosquito in true Cookie Monster fashion. It was great! I never was able to locate a good source for ID so I have no idea what these species are. If you know feel free to inform the rest of us.
I have often wondered why we love the dragonfly so. I have a small birdbath (that I made) with a dragonfly inscribed in the bowl and several stained glass ones that adorn some of my potted plants. Is it their alien beauty? Do their bright colors attract us, even appeal to our greedy subconscious with their jewel-like vibrancy? Or is it because, when they nod to us with those enormous eyes, they seem to know something we don't? Something ancient that we, as a species, have never been privy to because we just wouldn't get it.
I think that somehow, when they acquiesce to sit next to us in the garden, it simply makes us feel that just maybe, there is a little hope for us. Maybe, we with only two legs aren't so bad after all. Maybe one day we will finally understand.


*Queen

Get On Top

This past weekend it was time to clean the clerestory windows, so up on the roof I went! Huh? What's that? You thought this post was going to be about something else? Hmmm. Nope, just window cleaning. heehee....
Anyway, you see, back in the summer when I had the clerestorys open for such a long time, the aggravating little mud daubers filled up the little grooves on the sides of the windows where the support bracket for the panes slides up and down. I appreciate the enthusiasm the daubers show for nabbing spiders and caterpillars but I think they are determined to fill up every single nook and cranny on this house. Some of which I need. So, some of the windows would not close all the way. Since the only comfortable way to reach the outside of these windows is from the roof, I decided just to make a cleaning event of it.

Next year I believe I will fill those grooves with backer rod after I open the windows for the season. I believe the daubers will then overlook the groove and at the end of the season it can just be pulled out and the window closed. I am going to have to permanently install some screw eyes or something similar in a discreet manner along this wall in order to attach a life line when I am up here working. I have a lot of work to do here still and it does get slippery sometimes.

I really liked this shot of the inside of the house because it shows just how much sunlight is shining in the house now. I still think I could have gone with at least one more window but I'm not sure where I would have put it. Anyway, I'm happy with the amount of sun in the kitchen and living room. Plus, it adds a very airy and special glow to the rooms. It just makes you feel good. I am somewhat frustrated that I cannot get back far enough to show the whole room at once. One of my friends that visited lately had the comment that she was surprised how big the kitchen/living room was because you could just not get a feel of it on the blog.
This photo was taken right in the middle of the cleaning frenzy so please overlook the mess.
We have just been kinda piddling at work lately (we only poured 18 yards of concrete today) so I have had lots of energy when I get home for things. I have worked on some stuff in the garden, which I hopefully, will show you soon. I also harvested the last of my peas and peppers and a good amount of catnip. I believe the frost is going to get them tonight.


*Red Hot Chili Peppers

Stick It Out

We did not get enough rain at work this week to warrant a 'rain-out', so we are enjoying a 3 day weekend now. I hate the 10 hour days but the weekends are nice. I worked on the small side job in Birmingham yesterday and will go back today for a short while. Next weekend I should finish up so that will be great. I will make enough money off of that job to do something fairly substantial around the house or something.
I got home about mid-afternoon and set about trying to get the outside of the house back to some semblance of an occupied house. The grass has grown up so that it looks deserted around here. My goal for this weekend is just to cut all the grass and maybe try to get the garden cleaned up some. What meager bit of garden is still there is producing, so I'm trying to get what I can out of it. Of course, I pick this weekend to mow now that gas prices have gone through the roof and I need 5 gallons to finish this dang yard! Well, not that much but probably close. Serious thoughts of fencing part of the yard and getting a cow are going through my head. It is absolutely disgusting that these gas stations are allowed to run the price up so over this storm. We are not even going to get any rain off Ike and yet it has induced near panic at the pumps. Now, I realize the refineries in the Gulf have had to shut down again and a small jump in prices are to be expected, but our governor actually had to declare state of emergency here to insure that gas stations would just not blatantly take advantage of the situation. By the time I left my house and made it to downtown Birmingham yesterday, prices had shot up near $1.00/gal. more. Buying an electric mower is also a serious thought right now.
I also have some pottery drying in the basement that I need to attend to today. I am really wanting to do maybe one or two art shows this year just to get out and be around that community again. The shows closer to Christmas generally do better and there are a couple of decent ones not far from the house. So, that might be fun. I'll try to show some pics of the pottery as it progresses.
Well, got to get to work! Hope ya'll all have a good weekend.

*Rush

Higher Ground

I was finally able to start on that side job I spoke about a few weeks ago; the one repairing the temple-like structure in Birmingham. Lightning blasted the crap out of this thing so I get to patch it up. This is the view from when I was standing on top. I'm tied off with a harness and safety cables so it's not a big deal. It's a little trouble to haul 10lbs. of non-shrink grout up there in a bucket but other than that not too big a thing. Great view of Red Mountain also. Fay has started making her presence know here so I was not able to work on the temple today and won't tomorrow. It was raining when I got up this morning and has been just a slow, drizzly day. I suspect the rain will get harder tomorrow and might stick around until Monday or Tuesday.

While I was at the temple I found this creature on the ground. Yes, it was dead! What is this thing? A hornet? I never imagined they were this big. This thing was huge! I held it so you could see the scale as compared to my fingers. Is this some new imported thing? I have never seen a hornet/wasp thing of this size here before.

This is a view from behind so you can see the markings there. It's wingspan was at least 2.5". Thankfully I did not see any more alive or dead. It gave me the willies. Can you imagine something like this coming after you?!

I received my bathroom light fixtures that I had ordered and installed the wall fixtures today. I would have installed the ceiling fixture but it was mixing one important part so I have to call the company Monday and get them to send me the part. Bummer; I was so wanting to get all that done but it's OK. The wall lights look great. I'll try to post a photo soon. If I would try just a little harder I could get the bathroom completely finished. Most of the items left to do would not cost hardly any money as I already have most of the materials etc. I just need to get my act together. I have been using long and hard work days as an excuse to lay around on the weekends. I have been tired lately and my regular job has been pretty rough for the past 3 months but I need to get a move on. I've just kinda lost my motivation a little or something. I'm distracted. Anyway, I'm going to make myself throw tomorrow and get some creative mojo going. Hope everyone in Florida is OK and not flooded.


*Stevie Wonder and later, Red Hot Chili Peppers. Either version of this classic is great!

Little Wing

I found this fellow on the fence around my garden the other day. I have no idea what species or anything so don't look to me for any kind of ID. I would call him furry moth because he really had hair or something on his back that looked just like rabbit's fur in it's coloration etc. I really wanted to pet him because he looked so soft but knew he wasn't going to like that so I left him alone.

Work on my house has just about come to a standstill lately due to the heat and humidity here. The brief afternoon coolness we were enjoying a week or two ago has vanished and been replaced by sweltering heat so heavy, it literally seems to weigh on your body like a damp, clammy blanket. Of course, work at the job goes on regardless and despite warnings from the weather stations to stay inside during the hottest part of the day but you can bet by the time I get home I don't feel like doing a whole lot outside. We are accumulating a large crew at this new job and several of the carpenters have been on inside jobs for some time. We are not given any chance to acclimate to a new job in situations like this so some of them are having a bit of a rough time this week. I will try to get some photos of the job just because the formwork is so big and I have actually never worked on one like this before. There are so many carpenters on this job that is amounting to a reunion of sorts for me. They are all a great bunch of guys and some that I have not worked with in years, so that part is fun and, of course, lots and lots of stories and catching up to do! Stay cool if you can!

*Jimi Hendrix

Cover Me

Siding update! Well, I have turned the corner, so to speak, and have run both the north and east sides as far up as I can reach with the current scaffolding. Here, I need to put my flashing above the windows and door before I can go any higher. On the north side I am completely finishing the siding as I go up, painting and all, so that I don't have to rebuild the scaffolding, so it is taking a little longer. Allen came and helped me this weekend so it went some faster. We had a little excitement Saturday though that I could have done without. We were on the north side working and I started noticing a bunch of these little bugs flying everywhere. Not that unusual; but after a time there was a lot more. I walked around to the east side to go in the house and there were hundreds of these little things everywhere and they looked like flying ants. Allen said it appeared that they were coming from the east and then it occurred to the both of us; we were in the midst of a termite colony swarm. I ran in the house and they were coming in under the door and seemingly through cracks in the windows too. If you don't live in the South I will tell you that nothing strikes fear in a homeowners heart down here like the word "termite". Maybe "tornado" but it's about the same. So, we spent the next 2 hours vacuuming termites out of the house and spraying and caulking, anything to get rid of those horrible creatures. No sign of them today.
Someone had asked about how I was running the siding around the windows since I had run the trim first. The siding is just cut out to the profile of the window and trim and then very carefully lifted into place and nailed. This is a piece waiting to be installed.
This is the same piece installed. If you are careful you can get a pretty tight fit. I will caulk these joints and paint and you'll never know the difference.
I have several plugs on the deck and around the house that I had to accommodate. When I was running the circuit, I just drilled a hole in the exterior wall and roughed out about a foot of wire in the approximate area I wanted the plug. I did not set a box yet. When I started running the siding I then could see where each piece was going to hit and could then put the box in the wall making sure that it was going to hit fully within one piece of siding. You don't want it to hit in between two pieces; it makes putting a cover on a royal pain. The siding is nailed every 16" on the studs. When I located the studs I just plumbed a line all the way up (that's the black line on the Tyvek) so that I would know where they were as I was nailing. I am using 4d galvanized nails with a small head for the siding. I am using 8d galvanized casing nails (no head) for the trim. You have to be careful with galvanized nails. I think that it is easier for your hammer to slip off the nail as you are driving it and hit the board. It's bad because if it slips off and you hit your nice, (expensive) cypress trim and leave a pecker mark, it will cause you to talk very ugly for a few minutes, so be aware of this.
Just for the record so that everyone does not think that I am a complete moron, I wanted to make a note of something. Pablo left a comment on the last post saying I should write a novel because I had a good theme in that post. I asked what that theme was; I wasn't sure. Well, I know what the main theme of the post was but I have noticed that a lot of the comments I get are not about what the main topic was, since I tend to ramble at the end of a post, such as now. That post had several ideas in it so Pablo could have, theoretically, been speaking of one of the others. Ha! I'm still dense and it takes me a while sometimes to think about things.


*Bruce Springsteen

Latest Buzz

Progress on the house is still going fairly slow so I thought I would just show some other stuff that I have been curious about. You know, they say that the European honey bee is on a fast decline and I have not seen a whole lot of them in my garden this year but I have seen tons of these bees. I have no idea what kind they are and thought some of you might know. These are about 2-3 times the size of a regular honey bee, notice the very large, green eyes, and they have very distinct, black stripes on their hinies that, due to my poor photos, you can't really see. They are very active and sometimes even seem to bully each other for a flower. Then at times, there might be 3 or 4 of them on (or in) a flower and seem to just be napping. I don't recall seeing these type before but that could just be due to my own inattention.
This is a view of the same bee from above so you can see that big, black spot too. They are not fat like a bumblebee; they have the streamline build of a honeybee, just bigger. Is this a mason or orchard bee?
I liked this spider because he just seemed to be melted and poured over that flower, it was so hot. His little legs just flopped over the edges of the petals. He did not seemed to be concerned about not being camouflaged on something green either because he stuck out like a sore thumb on that orange zinnia.
I think today was our 8th day in a row to be 100 degrees or hotter. They are forcasting Wed. and Thursday to be the hottest so far. We had a boy quit at work today; he just couldn't take it. We are setting concrete forms now and that means driving lots and lots of steel and wood stakes. I think this is going to be one of the rougher jobs that I have ever been on. I wish I could show photos of the job but.....
We are going to try to pour the slab at the house maybe Saturday if the plant is open. They are sometimes on the weekends if they have 80 yards or more scheduled. So, I've got to get that all ready in the next few days and I'll have photos of all the details on that. It will still be kinda slow until I accumulate enough money to start buying materials again though.

Update: OK, after getting off my duff and doing a miniscule amount of research, I think the bee is a leafcutter bee. You can go here, https://id408.van.ca.siteprotect.com/beediverse/catalog/gallery.php to see if you agree with me.

Watchful Eyes

This is Slim, my cherry tomato guardian. Can you see him? He's right in the center of the photo. I keep a cherry tomato plant on the patio right outside our little apartment and I came out one morning to see evidence of a tomato hormworm. Horrors!! I hate those things. It had eaten a couple of the ends off 2 limbs and pooped everywhere but as I scoured the plant from top to bottom, I couldn't find the worm anywhere. Then I saw Slim here, perched right next to one of the areas (and poop) where it seemed the nasty caterpillar had last been. I guess Slim had a good meal too. Anyway, he's been hanging around on the plant for the last couple of weeks so I try to make him feel welcome. Unfortunately, praying mantis will also eat beneficial bugs like honey bees but if he will eat tomato hornworms then he is fine in my book.

On the previous post I mentioned VOCs and Pablo asked what that was so I thought I'd provide a little information to all on that. This is a very simple definition I found.
VOCs (volatile organic compounds) are the fumes that you smell while you paint, and sometimes several days after. A VOC is an organic chemical that becomes a breathable gas at room temperature. Some examples are benzene, ethylene glycol, vinyl chloride and mercury.
VOCs in paint usually come from additives to the paint, such as fungicides, biocides, color, and spread ability agents. High levels of VOCs in paints can cause headaches, allergic reactions, and health problems in the very old, very young and in those with chronic illnesses.
Concerns about air pollution and hazardous waste have greatly reduced the use of oil-based paints which can release high amounts of VOCs and contain toxic solvents. Alkyd-based paints and latex paints are much safer, but some still have high levels of VOCs.

One of the things I am trying to accomplish with this house is to build an environment using all natural materials wherever possible. You know, untreated wood, stone, natural fabrics etc. I'm trying to severely limit the amount of plastic which will be in the house, which are another source of VOCs and other nasty things. Besides that, it has no soul. Carpet, plywood and some paints also emit formaldehyde, a carcinogen, so no carpet anywhere in the house. Now, I have used plywood but as of now there are just no other sources available in this area for an alternative product.
Most of my family laughs at me for being concerned about such things and actually taking these steps but just by coincidence, I'm the only one who does not take any prescription medications whatsoever, is not overweight, can work the hell out of most anybody and am often told that I look younger than I am..... if they don't see my gray hair! And I have a happy personality (most of the time.... hush Allen!) Now, whether this is due to just eating healthy and staying active or to avoiding these products I mentioned also, I don't know but, you know, it doesn't hurt. To me, if you are surrounded be natural, inviting furnishings you just feel better.
I am continuing to work on the ceiling finish and priming walls today. I will try to have more photos soon. I am trying to make good use of my time off but I always feel like I'm not doing enough. Allen has been working his butt off under the house leveling out the dirt so that we can pour a slab under there for my studio. I'll get photos of that too.

Wire In The Hole!

We are waiting on the metal roof to be ordered so we decided to work on some interior stuff this weekend. I tried to think of everywhere I could possibly imagine wanting an electrical plug. That is harder than it seems. I think we did pretty good though so we set a bunch of plug and switch boxes and started running wire to them and making circuits. This is just all standard stuff right now; heavy duty stuff will be later such as my kiln, the washer etc. I keep wondering if I have forgotten something though. Do any of you have any kind of unusually placed plugs or switches that you have found to be indispensable? Maybe something people would not normally think of? I have put several in the pantry for dustvac, etc.
We also framed in this gable end and sheathed the attic side. This side (the living room side) will be covered in a very nice plywood (maple or something) instead of sheetrock and stained different colors. I know this is going to be hard to imagine but I'll try to explain the best I can. We will use some really nice looking fasteners to attach the plywood (so its ok if they show) and each sheet of plywood will maintain its borders so we will not try to patch them all together, like you would sheetrock. It will be a little industrial looking I think. Then each sheet will be stained a different color. Kind of muted, natural blues, greens, reds etc. Then there will be a really cool shelving system overlaid on this made of squares and rectangles of various sizes and these will hold my ceramic and sculpture collection. This was the BFA's idea and I think it's going to look great. I've got to figure out lighting for it now though!




I can barely stand to type looking at this photos 'cause these things give me the willies so! I guess the cool weather is causing many critters to look for warmer places and we found several of these nasty, hideous creatures in the house. Most of you know these are camel crickets but I prefer to call them spawn of the devil. There are not many things in this world that will make me scream like a sissy but these are one of them. I think this one was about the size of my hand but I smashed him before it could go for my throat which they will do, you know!