What a busy weekend....

Saturday was hot, hot, and oh, did I mention it was hot? We were up and ready to leave the house by 9:30am and the thermometer in the backyard was registering 80*. My bf says "Your therm is in the sun, of COURSE it's going to read 80*, but it's not reeeeally 80*." So we went out to grab a quick breakfast and when I got in the car, he looked at me and said, "I think it's at least 80* out here." Really? No kidding?

We had a lovely breakfast at Omega's and then headed to OSH for redwood compost and a new sprinkler. Bf bought me a new hose, since the new hose that I had purchased is a piece of junk that kinks at every turn. That hose is now in the garage sale pile and I'm quite happy with my new hose. We spread the redwood compost all around my newly planted tomatoes, peppers, calendula, and basil so we don't have to water as much. Then we broke up some old brick-red stepping stones and created a border around the new flower bed - that I created out front using the cardboard method. It took a toll on us creating the border in 95* + weather, so we went inside to rest, relax, and cool off. Later we grilled burgers to keep the kitchen cool, and hung our laundry so we wouldn't have to run the dryer.

Saturday night we watched TV, something we rarely do. The cats mosied in and out of the living room, trying to find a cool place to sleep. At 11:40 we went to bed and I hear bf say, "so, did you see Booger while we were locking up the house?" Booger is my 11 year old, tuxedo cat, half Persian and half Manx. He's a doll, but an escape artist. "Um no", I say. "Should we look for him?" {sigh} "Yes."We rattled the food bag and he didn't come. Though the windows were shut and the screens on all the doors, we couldn't imagine how he could have gotten out. After 10 minutes of searching, I knew he was outside, so I took the food bag out front and out back and searched another 20 minutes. He was no where to be found, so a little after midnight, we went to bed. He's done this before, 7 years ago, and was in the backyard the next morning, so I hoped that was where he would be the next day. At 2:39am, bf got up and I heard him walking through the house, to the dining room, and open the back door briefly. He came to bed right after and told me he woke up for no reason, went out and there was Booger, staring at the door, trying to will it to let him in. He's not a crier so he made no noise to come in the house. I went out and shook my finger at him and then went back to bed. I had to get up at 7am to go on the annual garden crawl.

Yesterday we attended, for the 6th or 7th year in a row, the garden crawl put on by Park Day school in Oakland. It's a sort of 'open house' of gardens, mostly owned by people who can afford a landscape designer and gardeners. It's a nice day with the ladies and encourages inspiration, especially the funky gardens with cool stuff tucked in here and there. Nice as it is, I prefer the garden crawls that our local Master Gardeners put on. I enjoy that they have put the love and sweat in to their gardens, more than those who throw money in to theirs. I admit I was surprised that at the largest house with the most elaborate gardens (yes, multiple gardens in the same yard) I found free-ranging chickens. This copper girl was my favorite.

Go go gopher killer

This is what my friend says to me, when I catch a new gopher (Go go gopher killer!).

See, we've had this gopher problem since moving in to the new rental property. The landlord was pleasantly surprised when I told her we had gophers (oblivious as to what they are or to the damage they do) so I knew it was up to me to do something about them. I had recently created new vegetable gardens, a new flower bed, and my bf cursed when he mowed the lawn because the ground is very uneven from the gopher damage. Still, we co-existed with the gophers peacefully for 4 months. Then one day, bf came in from the front yard and said to me, "Honey, did you move one of those pretty decorative grasses you planted in the new bed out front?" Well, that did it. I went out to look and my new plant was gone - no stump, no tell-tale hole, just gone. NOW the gopher is costing me money! I went to a local plant sale 2 weeks later and met a gopher trapper who was selling cinch traps. He kindly explained to me how to determine where to place the trap and showed me, twice, how to set it. The following Thursday I spotted a new mound in the backyard and my trap was already set, on the counter in the garage. Donning my leather gloves, I dug out the new mound, found the tunnel and set the trap inside. The next morning, my first gopher! I had a week of peace before two new mounds showed up in the front yard, exactly one week after the first mound (must be something about gophers and Thursdays). I set my trap and last and this morning, the score is 2:0, in my favor.

My Granny Smith apple tree went from blooms to fully leafed out almost overnight. One day I was smelling the most wonderful apple blossoms and the next day, my tree is completely green and has little apples growing. I can't believe that after such a quick transformation, I have to wait til September or October to once again enjoy these fabulous fruits!

New seedlings

Around April 14th, I planted tomatillo seedlings. My bf's mother had been looking for tomatillos (she makes great chili verde) and was unable to find seedlings at the local nurseries or hardware stores. I found seeds but she was leaving for a business trip and unable to plant them, so I did it for her. The seeds I got were a mixture, per the picture. Some tomatillos were green, some were white striped. Strangely, some of the seeds were green, some were white. I separated and planted them in 6 packs, with greens on one side and whites on the other. Yesterday after work, I found several sprouts on each side, totaling 12 days until germination.

My first post

This past weekend was very productive. I had the ladies over for our monthly Women's Work Day and it was my turn. That means we all gathered at my house on Saturday and we completed all of the tasks that I had on my list. Janet used her Weed Dragon and flamed all of the weeds in the cracks of my driveway, sidewalk, patio, and even flamed an additional 30 square feet of grass so I could extend one of my vegetable beds. Daryl used the auger and post hole digger to create 18 new holes for me, big enough to house a 1 gallon pot. All three of us cut and snipped 1/2" chicken wire in to gopher cages, that we plopped in the ground so my new seedlings would not be in danger of being sucked underground by my resident gopher. We moved my firewood stack and cleaned up. Sunday I planted all of my tomatoes in the gopher cages, planted basil, marigolds, sage, lettuce, bok choy and one of my sunflowers. John and I uprooted several lily plants and relocated them to the new bed at the front of the house. I took "after" pictures and then created a map of where each plant was and what kind it was. Things are starting to turn green, and I don't mean from weeds! At last, our barren wasteland is starting to take shape and my gardens look, well, like gardens!