Coffee

[ducks4you]

"... I just became a duck..."

Do you like puddles...like me?!?

 

[Zeedman]

mosquitoes in February!? i see one on the window outside right now and i killed one inside the house last week. we have had some frosts recently so i don't know how they've survived those.

That reminds me of my snow spiders.

The warmer weather has awakened a mid-winter surge of box elder bugs, which are really good at getting into the house. Most of them come into the basement, so I try to keep that door closed. But they fly & follow light, so if I leave the basement door open, I soon find them flying around lights upstairs. And landing on anything near the light (like me).

 

[Zeedman]

Do you like puddles...like me?!?

Not particularly, and I avoid them now. But when I was walking along the road on Whidbey Island, I might walk through a puddle on purpose - just to keep passing cars from doing so & drenching me.

 

[flowerbug]

We toured around Mt. Ranier this last September. Funny, it was Sunny all day!

Mt. Rainy er?

 

[flowerbug]

That reminds me of my snow spiders.

The warmer weather has awakened a mid-winter surge of box elder bugs, which are really good at getting into the house. Most of them come into the basement, so I try to keep that door closed. But they fly & follow light, so if I leave the basement door open, I soon find them flying around lights upstairs. And landing on anything near the light (like me).

we have the boxelders, plus stinkbugs and squashbugs and then the chinese lady bugs which all want to be inside where it is warmer when the weather changes from warm to cool. and then in the off-season any time the weather warms up they come out of hiding and often are seeking moisture and light.

it's much better here now than before when i hadn't caulked a lot of gaps shut. instead of a few bugs here or there it was a constant barrage of hundreds. i'd use a small vacuum several times a day to get the bugs off the windows or whever else they were congregating.

unfortunately the way the ex-step-dad built the house he did not think about what all those cracks in the siding meant for harboring bugs and providing them with ways to get further into the house. when i did the stain on the outside of the house two falls ago i caulked shut a bunch more cracks but there's still a few left i pretty much cannot get to because i don't wish to demolish things that are already in place.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

we have the boxelders, plus stinkbugs and squashbugs and then the chinese lady bugs which all want to be inside where it is warmer when the weather changes from warm to cool. and then in the off-season any time the weather warms up they come out of hiding and often are seeking moisture and light.

it's much better here now than before when i hadn't caulked a lot of gaps shut. instead of a few bugs here or there it was a constant barrage of hundreds. i'd use a small vacuum several times a day to get the bugs off the windows or whever else they were congregating.

unfortunately the way the ex-step-dad built the house he did not think about what all those cracks in the siding meant for harboring bugs and providing them with ways to get further into the house. when i did the stain on the outside of the house two falls ago i caulked shut a bunch more cracks but there's still a few left i pretty much cannot get to because i don't wish to demolish things that are already in place.

For some reason this year we are having to use the vacuum to get ants out of the cabinets. Some days there are not any and then all of a sudden they are all over. I almost think they are looking for water because they get on an area where I have towels with dishes drying on them.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

DD and I are trying to decide what to plant and ordering things. I cannot remember the name of this catalog I used to get. It sold trees and plants. They would have a sale where you could buy like 25 asparagus plants and then get 25 more for 1 cent. We are going to both plant strawberries. I am not sure why I am going to put myself through that again lol, but I am.

 

[flowerbug]

For some reason this year we are having to use the vacuum to get ants out of the cabinets. Some days there are not any and then all of a sudden they are all over. I almost think they are looking for water because they get on an area where I have towels with dishes drying on them.

if they are repeately showing up in some area you can bait them. use some Terro liquid ant bait poison or use any other ant trap and see if that takes care of them. usually the best thing to do is to not remove the worker ants that are gathering the poison bait.

 

[digitS']

The Year of The Dragon

Good Morning. Yes, the fruit is grown and enjoyed in Asia. Wikipedia tells me, however, that Dragon Fruit is native to Central America!

I wonder if DW knew that when she decided to buy one, recently. Cut it up and have 2 small pieces in my bowl of peaches along side the cold cereal with banana . Oolong in the cup .

Maybe this is a good time for sharing how Asian cooking can contribute to our gardening. We are certainly into the simpler parts of that. I have out my Chinese cookbook, which is mostly good for inspiring photos since our home cooking only involves the simplest versions, as previously noted. Too early to think of stir-fries! Even if I am up late on a Sunday. I'll see what I can think of as the day progresses. How about you?

Steve

 

[flowerbug]

...I'll see what I can think of as the day progresses. How about you?

Steve

mired in digits' ? number crunching... making good progress but it isn't gardening related other than it supports my gardening habit.

breakfast was very simple here, bran flakes, half milk and half water, warmed up in the microwave. i needed a very low calorie breakfast with flavor - oatmeal encourages me to add other things like peanut butter, butter, brown sugar, etc. and i have to cut back for a bit longer (until it warms up a bit more and i get back outside more often).

yesterday's lunch was much more interesting as i made some grilled ham and cheese sandwiches on pumpernickle and multigrain breads. for me plenty of yellow mustard too.

dinner today will be onion mushroom soup. included a slice of bread and butter plus some tangerines (those sure do hit the spot in the middle of winter). snacks were carrots and peanut butter and some blueberries and a few cookies... hmm, i see where those extra calories are sneaking in...