I’m at the mercy of weather and squirrels

I was going to dig up my potatoes last weekend, but time management and temperatures in the 90’s dissuaded me. Technically the potatoes are not go be harvested until the first frost kills the plants, but heat had already toasted them. My delay was apparently noted as I discovered a freshly excavated potato in the top of one of the pots midweek.

Thanks, squirrelfriend.

Tonight the weather chilled out enough -high 70s- to set up for farming.

Between my rubber gardening gloves and my tarp, I feel a little like I’ve set a Dexter– esque kill spot.

I plant the seed potatoes then fill the top of each pot with flowers. That means all the dirt needs to go back in, because I replace any surviving flowers and add a mum for fall. The purple potatoes were happening midway down the pot. However several of the red potatoes were just under the surface layer of dirt and stretched on down.

All told it was a mighty harvest for my two pots. Ideally I’d love to add some sweet potatoes or blue/purple potatoes that are purple all the way through next year.

Now breakfast for dinner or future potato soup?

Webby Garden

Even though I slept late, 9 is late to me, the garden had saved many tiny, dewy spiderwebs that needed my attention.

I was quickly distracted by the four ridiculous caterpillars testing their fates against global warming and climate change.

There were some puffballs growing. My potting bench has sprouted shrooms! I literally treat the wood every summer. How can there be room for the shroom?

Fall is complicated. Much of the garden is on its way out, but there are other things taking over. The neglected thunbergia has sent feelers across the patio and the morning glory is strangling the butterfly bush.

Finally, my tour of spiderwebs. Each teeny tiny web housed a teeny tiny spider.

Ants Can’t Handle the Truth

Despite it being spring AND May, the weather has fluctuated from the 30s to the 60s and back again. As my yard and garden comes back to life, I’ve been making slow attempts at cleaning and bringing things out of their winter state. The temperatures plus the most insane time in the school year has not helped my progress. I’d certainly rather be gardening, but there are 20 gazilliion post-it notes and reminders that need my attention.

During one episode of shuffling around the patio, I rearranged and cleaned some ceramic pots. Days later, when I was briefly back again, I noticed that one pot now had mounds of dirt around its base.

It had been colonized. The pot sitting directly on the ground against my back patio window, practically inviting entrance to the house was full to the brim with ants.

Life lesson: ants cannot handle the responsibility, nay the temptation, of a pot sitting directly on the ground.

It was the only pot on the patio without those apparently crucial ceramic feet lifting it an inch off the ground. When I picked it up, ants poured out of the drainage hole. I rolled it over on its side to decide my next move.

I couldn’t murder them outright. They must serve a purpose in my garden. However I also wanted to use that pot without being swarmed and I did not want them building an addition into my house.

Ultimately I tipped the pot upside down in the garden, revealing hundreds of scurrying bodies and a collection of larvae. Hopefully the next tempting spot to squat will be more appropriate.

Zoom in to be either fascinated or grossed out.

Your Moment of Chipmunk Zen

MomBert has been out in her studio making stained glass goodness to keep herself busy.

She was FaceTiming with me when she announced that the chipmunk was back and was drinking from a crack in the concrete. I, of course, chided her for such shoddy chipmunk accommodations. My yard wildlife have heated baths and ground level bowls to sip from and quench their tiny thirsts.

The next day, I got a chipmunk update.

That’s pretty cute, but I asked for more: “Can you get the chipmunk a tiny table and table cloth with place setting?”

The next day. Chipmunk Zen.

Stay at Home Highlight

This squirrel.

Seeing this squirrel “swimming” laps in my yard was probably the highlight of my day. This is just another indicator that the “stay at home” order has not significantly altered my lifestyle. I would have been excited of this squirrel in any scenario.

While MomBert and my sister suggested that the squirrel was doing this because his NUTS were itchy (NUTS, it’s a squirrel! They’re so funny.), the internet suggested that it probably just felt nice and cool on his belly.

An Abundance of Sunflowers

An abundance of

Sunflowers, squirrels planted.

Gardener’s jungle.

This is the view from my kitchen window. Not complaining. It makes a fantastic privacy screen for that window and my little porch area. This is all courtesy of my squirrel gardeners.

Is Not Kitty

After being gone for a few days, I had to do a sweep of the perimeter and assess the garden. Somebody broke my super, fancy, thrift store, glass bowl birdbath in half, but otherwise things seemed fine.

I was in the middle of the yard, hands full of replacement birdbath, when I heard someone rustling through the flowerbed by the fence. My Brain was, of course, like “Kitty?”

But is not kitty.

I put everything down in order to take a picture of the skunk 10 feet away because I’m that asshole. The skunk waddled on under the fence, and I chose to wrap up my backyard activities.

By the time I got back in the house, Is Not Kitty had returned with a friend!

They dug around underneath the bird feeders and then got drinks! I decided that I could sneak back out to the corner of the garage to get these shots with my camera rather than my phone.

PRECIOUS!!!!

The next morning around 9 am, they were under the living room windows cleaning up that bird feeder. We were up to three! Three Is Not Kitties who would not pose together or relocate to a point where I did not have to shoot through the window screen.

My camera bumped the glass. Scary sound!

From this vantage they looked kitten sized, like Kitten Room kitten sized so maybe 3 or more pounds. Even though everyone on Facebook and the receiving end of my text messages were disturbed by the repeated visits, I felt that as long as they were cleaning up excess bird seed then the ants would not take up residence so profusely; and if grubs were for dessert, so be it!

Plus how could I ignore the adorableness? Two of the three decided to have a wrestling match in the hostas…again at a horrible angle for my camera. Just like with the cats, there were flailing limbs, exposed tummies, and shouts of “Mooommmmmmm! Stop it!”

All this action was worth putting the game camera out for a few days. Success!

Oh, Nature. You’re so pretty.

I forgot I hadn’t loaded some squirrel pictures from early November.

That day, it was finally warm enough and dry enough to winterize my yard. The sun was shining, the squirrels were frolicking, and the leaves of my Somerset Maple were at their best. I had to capture this little guy going about his squirrely business.

From a distance, I thought I had a nice picture of him hanging out in the perfect leaves. Oh, nature, you’re so pretty and serene.

In reality, I think I captured him…scratching his… nuts. Soooo pretty.

Squirrel & Sunflower

Oh, the things I wake up to out my windows. I can’t complain or begrudge the squirrels the sunflowers. They do all the planting after all.

I don’t normally see such red tummies on my squirrel squad.

Olivia Wigglebothum vs the bee

The rain keeps knocking over our sunflower jungle. This sunflower was trying to get in the house.