We went for a walk around our new neighborhood today and found our way into a little nature space. A sign at the entrance said "Park - No Dogs Allowed", but inside therewas a knocked down sign that said "Nature Preserve No Trespassing". But it looked like it was 30+ years old, and was knocked down probably at least a year or more ago (the broken or cut edges on the sides were worn smooth)
Our landlord was looking at us funny through the trees, but I don't think he knew it was us for sure, it was quite far and we only knew it was him because we knew which house was ours.
All the tiny plants are starting up down there, even though there was still ice on the ground. I chose two that were prolific and brought a little stem of each to figure out what they are. There were tons of berries dried on the bushes, but I think that for now, I will assume that means those types are inedible, because otherwise they would be gone by now either from humans or animals. I don't trust myself to identify plants that well yet but I saw some leaves that looked like strawberry leaves, hoping they will become wild strawberries as they are right near the entrance to the park and not too hard to get to.
Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 11:04 pm
@Sunset and Hippie: Normally I don't spray anything; I'm a huge believer in encouraging natural predators, so I normally have enough birds, frogs, spiders (yikes!), ladybugs, etc. to keep pests in check. I also plant insect repellent plants (like lemongrass and marigolds) and use cedar mulch around the more vulnerable plants. Unfortunately, my whole area has been invaded by the Asian leaf miner fly which seems immune to my normal tricks. To make matters worse, the bug lays its eggs in the flesh of the plants leaves and the rind of the fruits making topical remedies useless. Using a systemic insecticide would render the fruit inedible. Because of the difficulty in treating the insect, the USDA has actually quarantined all the citrus in my county. Plants and plant parts (ie- fruit) are not allowed to leave the county. Actually, the double-whammy freeze-drought seems to have done in the bugs. I plan on trying spinosad if they come back.
Today (I'm going to pretend it is still March 6th) I cleared the weeds around the amaryllis. We let the weeds grow tall around them during the winter as a natural freeze protection. There are lots of buds already, and a couple are starting to open.
Today I also (re)learned that March 6 is the anniversary of the battle of the Alamo. I'm not sure how much Texas history is taught outside of Texas, but here the story of the Alamo is a very big deal. Anyway, I've been swelling with state pride all day biggrin
I didn't do too much yesterday because I'm feeling kinda icky. I have some sort of infection that's making my jaw and ear swell. Owie. I guess one could say I learned that infections sure can sneak up on you!
@dragon - I love that, we also try to encourage natural predators/use plantings to discourage pests. There's a praying mantis nest I want to check on once I feel better - we're also thinking of putting up a bat house. I looked up those leaf miners - what a tough pest. Poor tree!
I do, even though I'm just about as Yankee as you can get, know the story of the Alamo - though I didn't know it was on the 6th!
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Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2012 6:52 am
@ Dragon: I know the Alamo history, too---of course, I grew up watching westerns and "You can all go to Hell. I'm going to Texas!" is said here with amazing regularity. One of these days I just might do it! wink
You can try spraying with a food-grade oil as a physical barrier against bugs. I hate to use pesticides, but if I hadn't sprayed for Japanese beetles last year I would have lost every single tree on the place!
@ rilsin-b: You'd get shot for that around here! Or at the very least, chased by a very territorial dog! With very big teeth!
@ hippie: I've never tried loom knitting, although I'm intrigued by the little sock looms. Made my one-and-only pair of socks a couple of winters ago and I loved them so much that I can't fix the holes anymore! They just took a long time---I wonder if a sock-sized loom would be faster? I can crochet as fast as the wind, but knitting is a totally different story!
@ rilsin-b: You'd get shot for that around here! Or at the very least, chased by a very territorial dog! With very big teeth!
It isn't someone's property, it is some sort of park space razz
It probably belongs to the city or province. People clearly go there, as there are little tiny paths through the plants.
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 10:38 pm
@ Sunset: In a perfect world, I'll work for a company like GreenPeace, WWF or the government.
Ryu Kei Shou Kawazu
Today I found out how music affects psychology and health, its very significant though small effects for health, and high for psych/emotion.
Neat! Are you self learning or are you in a class?
@ Hippie Ladybird - What's loom knitting? I hope your infection has cleared up.
I've started up P90X again. I've been having shoulder problems from sitting at the computer too long. My shoulder is better already. I've also been introduced to Words With Friends, so if anyone has the app, I'm pirhan on there. :3
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:19 am
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@ Sunset: In a perfect world, I'll work for a company like GreenPeace, WWF or the government.
Ryu Kei Shou Kawazu
Today I found out how music affects psychology and health, its very significant though small effects for health, and high for psych/emotion.
Neat! Are you self learning or are you in a class?
@ Hippie Ladybird - What's loom knitting? I hope your infection has cleared up.
I've started up P90X again. I've been having shoulder problems from sitting at the computer too long. My shoulder is better already. I've also been introduced to Words With Friends, so if anyone has the app, I'm pirhan on there. :3
Im self learning, classes in college usually arent so interesting lol. Like soothing music for tense or stressed people, and hyper music for depressed or groggy people it improves circulation. And rap decreases health, I would assume screamo and metal do too, but I notice music outside of classical tends to be all one-toned like more of a projection of a feeling than a story like classical but I guess even classical can do that. Rap would also change peoples opinions on whats cool or tolerable so itd increase crime rates perhaps. Its sort of a shame african americans got equal rights just to use it on rap if it promotes their being in poverty still, though I suppose white ppl like rap too and that not all blacks are poor. And theres other types of music that could be the same for whites so *shrugs* maybe correlation doesnt equal causation is the case here.
Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:49 pm
Got back to the States late last night. I loved being in Costa Rica for 9 days but I was also happy to be back home last night.
Costa Rica was amazing! I got to see and do some many awesome things. I am looking to go back to Costa Rica for a semester in grad school.
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 4:02 pm
Ryu Kei Shou Kawazu
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:3 Yeah, things do get complicated. I think you'd like this book. It's a pretty easy read and it's incredibly interesting: Freakonomics. It's been out for a few years, so your library should have it. It takes one thing and corresponds it with another seemingly unrelated thing.
HorsesOfTheNight
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Nice! I'm really happy you enjoyed it. You'll have to give us a run down of what you got up to (and pictures too if you have them!).
-- Not much different here. We received 55cm of snow the last two days. Fantastic as we really needed it. Still doing P90X - did plyometrics today and I was surprised. I haven't really been active at all since November, so I think I did really good considering.
I also set up little bottle greenhouses. My plants really aren't doing well. I have ivy that still has scale (going on two years now?). It's either too cold or too hot and dry. I nabbed the bottles from the complex recycling bin. >:3
I also will hear about a job hopefully Thursday/Friday. It pays better than landscaping but it's an office job. Ew. But! It's pretty much solo and it's have large windows. And it's year round. So I wouldn't be stuck looking for another seasonal job come fall and I could do school work during my day. I just wish they'd hurry up so I can tell my landscaping boss who's hounding me about the upcoming season. gonk
Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:00 pm
Hi everyone, I'm still on antibiotics and still feeling a bit under the weather but at least that gives me for crafting time - or was I supposed to be resting smile
Loom knitting is kind of interesting. I used one of Michael's 40% off coupon to buy the Martha Stewart Kit and following the instructions that came with the kit. Here's what I'm doing now:
@sunset - I mainly like to crochet, but I find I really like the loom knitting, I am a slower knitter but zip around the loom fairly quickly.
Right now I'm working with a light weight yarn off and on today and here's how it is looking:
So I give it a yes for faster. I'd never knit it up that fast. Making it a bunting for my sister who's pregnant. She's due in about a month.
@ pirhan - Continued success with your P90x workout. That's good stuff, that workout. Those greenhouses look pretty cool, I'm inspired! I hope that job works out in your favor.
@ Horses - Costa Rica, oh I am a bit jealous. The diversity of wildlife is off the charts there! Just drop me and my camera off for a few weeks....
@Ryu - What you're studying reminds me of my sociology class. It was a great class, I enjoyed it more than I would've expected.
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Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:17 pm
pirhan
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:3 Yeah, things do get complicated. I think you'd like this book. It's a pretty easy read and it's incredibly interesting: Freakonomics. It's been out for a few years, so your library should have it. It takes one thing and corresponds it with another seemingly unrelated thing.
Yeah I do that sometimes when I think in depth about stuff on my own, like how different things can impact a persons developing brain, but in a thread about something like crystal formations being produced in space to study them better someone said it was a waste of money but I explained it to them with the brain example and said its really simple why they decided to do it in space.
Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:44 pm
pirhan
thanks for the item, it was completely unexpected.
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:42 pm
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thanks for the item, it was completely unexpected.
heart No worries. I just realized how big the thread got and we've had 1000 posts, so I had to do something!
@ Hippie Ladybird: So neat! Thank you for the picture. I'll have to take a look at some YouTubes. I used to knit, but didn't like it; this might be a good alternative.
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Calves are still sore from plyometrics (jump training). Did YogaX today which was good. I re-gooped my plants. My prayer plant top part closed itself off, so I cut it and regooped. The root part has a new bud coming out. The cactus stub has roots. I'm happy about that as I do like both plants, they've just had a hard year.
Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:33 pm
I saw someone online selling turnip seeds to sprout/grow to micro-greens, and realized that I have turnip seeds for some reason, even though I don't eat them. So I started a little plate on some soil to see if they will do their micro-green-ey thing.
My pea I was growing inside was looking a bit miserable and leggy so I took it out, and planted some of my cold-weather seeds in a big pot just outside my door, so that when it is their sprouting time I will know right away. (or at least, I am hoping it works that way! haha) I'm hoping to get a much more substantial pea harvest this year, last year I moved too late in the season and so they wilted by the time they were starting to produce.
My roses haven't died yet and it has been a month now, the stubby plant I was worried about when I split them up has 2 new baby leaves, and the baby stem that was just coming up when I bought them is going absolutely crazy! I had to cut it so it stopped growing taller because my "miniature" rose plant is at 12" in that pot now!
I actually learned this over the weekend from an MSNBC article, but was too lazy to post it at the time and now can't find the same article. emo Researchers in Europe have linked neonicotinoid insecticides to honeybee colony collapse disorder. Read more about it here.
Today I mostly caught up on my posting here. I have a few more photos of my garden, but I haven't got them uploaded yet. I'm also trying to prepare for the massive storm that is going to sweep over my area (and a large part of the US) tomorrow. My FB friends in other parts of Texas have already been posting about how awful it is. It is rare for so many of my friends in so many different cities to all post the same type of thing. *Sigh* If anyone wonders how I got to be so anxious about the weather it is because about two years ago while I was still in college a funnel cloud passed over my home. I lived in a travel trailer, and literally thought I was going to die. I prayed harder than I have ever prayed in my life. The funnel never touched down, THANK GOD! Long story short: I will never forget that feeling, and now always take the weather warnings very seriously. (Ironically, even before that happened I always stayed on campus or drove to campus when there was a tornado watch/ warning. There wasn't one that night. I did live in tornado alley. It was just one of those unexpected things in life.)
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