I am calling the center field of Grandma’s blanket done. Now to knit a bit more length on the long side borders.
Getting there
Month: August 2022
A friend of Mr Tom
Mr Tom, my neighbor’s favorite cat that likes to hang out in our meadow and charm treats, has many friends. Lately he has brought round a short haired black cat. I was able to get a picture of the graceful feline, with one white whisker, and unclipped ears. Darn it. It is still to hot for trapping, but if I can befriend it, it may be easier to get it in to be neutered.
I’m pretty sure this is not a new denizen of the woods, but one that has been teasing me for a year.
Coyotes
Did a trail cam check, saw pictures of two different coyotes where we haven’t seen coyotes before, up in the meadow near the chicken coop. Mostly we see cats, armadillo, raccoon, and opossum, with an occasional fox in this area. Down in the back woods, were there used to be a small trickle of a stream, we would see pictures of deer and bobcat and coyote as well, but not in the meadow.
Saying that it has been dry here doesn’t really cover it. The word drought gets close, but doesn’t have enough soul wrenching connotation to encompass the brittle brown fields, plumes from the wild fires, and the ribs showing through on domestic and wild life.
Melon harvest
We have two more melons! I’ve been checking the melons every day as I pass by to check the chickens, and these two turned yellow rather quickly. One day one had some yellowing, then the next day they were both yellow and coming away from the vine. One was in a sling, one was not. It took a little effort to remove them from the vine, but I didn’t need tools. Since these are small, And I check them daily, I don’t think I need to sling them. Which will make the frogs happy.
White flies
While we were on our trip, I did not ask anyone to spray the Hardy Hibiscus, and it stopped flowering due to thrips. I started spraying again when we got home, then noticed something new all over the hibiscus: tiny white flying things.
These seemed to not care about my spray, and were all over. I submitted a photo to iNaturalist and received an answer: white flies. Hm. The description of the white flies says they live on the underside of the leaves, so I looked on my hibiscus, and sure enough, full of flies and eggs.
Internet knowledge said the white flies can be rinsed off with water. So I gave my plant a good rinse, let it dry, then in the morning gave it a good spray with Neem oil, peppermint oil, and castor soap solution. It flowers despite the white flies, so that is something.
Critters and Craft 