Where does the time go?

I would love to say I'd been superbusy with this or that. But it turns out to just be an awful lot of this'n'thats (and an unhealthy dose of Farmville) but I can still come up with some updates.

First of all, the little lost fluffy dog we found in February has surprised us. She was adopted by William and Rachel in Fresno, after we gave up hope of finding her owner. Apparently, she was a week or so pregnant by the time we found her and she has given birth to five healthy, adorable puppies. Whoever daddy was, he must have looked a lot like Ms. Polar Bear, because her puppies look just like her. She couldn't have picked better people because Will and Rachel are delighted with them, as anyone who's Facebook friends of theirs can attest. Lucky girl.

Next, and nowhere near as exciting as puppies, my garden is starting to produce. I've been harvesting lettuce and other greens. I've eaten all my broccoli raab. I've learned that I should plant these kinds of things earlier in the year (and I'll probably have a better time of it in fall, too). The dogs have helped, such as it is. When they dug out the bed I had in the backyard, they seem to have spread radishes far and wide. I have so far found five radishes that managed to tough it out and grow in the most difficult of circumstances. Who knew a radish was so determined? Forget The Landscaping Ideas of Jays, next time I'll just ask Sasha's opinion.

Finally, I am working on the design for my first Yudu screen project, loosely based on these photos from the Desert Botanical Gardens. I just love the idea of those poppies and bluebells together. (The images are large size so I can print them off the internet later. Our printer is too cheap for nice prints)

Garden Time

One of the things I looked forward to in this new house was the possibility of a garden. The majority of the yard is slated for a native/wildflower sort of scheme (though I'll have to make sure and avoid anything with feathery/stickery seeds. They felt up in Cyrus' fur like crazy). But I picked the least clayey (it's a real word), sunniest part of the yard for a veggie garden.

In preparation for starting work on this section, I've been doing what I always do before I start a new project...

Check out people's blogs. And put about 30 library books on hold. This made me realize how lucky I am, gardenwise. I know, I live in California where you're supposed to be able to stick a stick in the ground and it'll grow. I am not sure I'll be able to garden that well, but I'm referring more to seasons. Granted, the summer is pretty hard to growing things. But while most of the garden bloggers are bemoaning the inactivity of January, February and March, gazing at their brand new seed catalogs or new seed packets in impatience, I can start up with anything that says "Plant as soon as the ground can be worked" or "Sow 2-4 weeks before your estimated last frost date". (By the way, did any of this matter a month ago? No. Welcome to my hobby-gathering.)

So, I did receive some of my seeds a few weeks ago. But I've been waiting for a fence to protect the veggie patch from the furry tornado that is the dogs. Matt took care of that today (Yay, Babe!), but unfortunately that was after the following pictures were taken. I'll post that next time. But I can sow my peas (Sugar Sprint Snap Peas), the free carrots (Nantes, we'll have to see if they can take the clay), the Broccoli Raab, the Bok Choi (for Matt) and the radishes.

Hopefully I don't kill everything. I did already plant some sprouting garlic that volunteered in my pantry. It's doing well. The greens are about 8 inches tall after 3 or 4 weeks. The dogs knocked one over, so in the picture, they are protected by the lawn chair.

Anyway, here is what I'm working with, as of the end of January. This is a poorly stitched together "panorama" of the vegetable patch area. Notice that the dogs (Sasha) has pitched in by digging holes for some drought-garden-friendly buried watering jars. Good dog, Sasha.

Here are my foes. The round, scalloped-leafed weeds are commonly called mallows and aparently a sign that your garden has rich soil (I think that's what I read on the internet, anyway). The clover lookalike is actually goatshead/puncture vine. Evil. Mallows, who cares. Puncture vine must be eradicated. Have you seen Cyrus' feathering?

These, I'm not so sure about. I think the lighter ones are...um... those plants whose seedheads look like little swords (and little kids make scissors out of them) and the dried seeds have the little tails that wind around and around into a corkscrew by themselves. You can tell I know this one from childhood. Other adults I've asked don't even have a glimmer of recognition in their eyes when I mention this. Where did they grow up?

And the ultimate nemesis: the cutworm. They are everywhere in my yard. Every weed I pull up has some of these guys curled up around its roots.

New to the Zoo

I believe one dog is too few and is destined to be lonely, especially when few families can make it on one income. Matt feels the same about cats. Although Quincy gets along great with the dogs (he frequently pounces on Mya or Cyrus to initiate play), there are stretches of time where the dogs are outside and Quincy is left by himself. Plus, let's be honest, Matt wanted two cats to begin with. So, without further ado, we welcome...

Moira.

Who can resist that face? Moira came to us from the Manteca Animal Shelter. I don't know how they do it, but they manage to lower the adoption fee on animals that have been spayed or neutered. I know the procedure is an expense for the city/county just like it is to us regular citizens, but I think that is a wonderful way of encouraging ownership of altered animals. We need more programs like this, less of the "mandatory spay/neuter" type.

Anyway, Moira, a.k.a Sugar Bell, had been previously adopted by a woman who apparently had not run the idea past her husband. When he got home, he made her take the cat back to the pound. Although there is a delay on owner surrendered pets before they can be adopted out again, the lady at the shelter allowed us to take Moira home. As corny as her name was, it totally fit her personality... this kitten is pure sweet. I think the shelter employee was just happy to see her go to a good home. So were we.

What does Quincy think of all this? I think he likes her. They're getting to know each other slowly. Cats, y'know. She's a little older than him, but only by a matter of a week or two. Matt reports that he has actually seen them playing together. I haven't yet, but it's mostly because the dogs follow me around, and they get all excited when the cats get excited and Moira's still a little shy about dogs coming over to sniff her. (She's a trooper, though. She stands her ground very calmly, then walks away. Totally opposite of Quincy's paw-to-the-face method, but still effective.)

The most unexpected thing? Take a look at this! Are they going to be friends? Or is Mya just keeping an eye on the new interloper? I like to think friends.

On a side note... Look! It's a real garden! Actual flowers that I planted myself! So pretty... (Some of my standards are woefully low...)

And let's not forget the home orchard. Isn't it a thing of beauty? These will be the best four mandarin oranges in the world. I just know it.