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Bullfrogs can draw blood.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Yes, I do think that most of the people around here are convinced I’m crazy. You should have seen the looks I got from a few cars that passed me tonight when I was picking up night crawlers in the alley. Hey, I’m a gardener. I also have fish and bullfrogs that love worms. Who am I to pass by the hordes of huge night crawlers that were wandering out onto the street because we had rain?
One person understood. A woman about my age pulled her car up even with me and rolled down her window. “For your gardens right?”
“Well, yes. And for the frogs and fish—free food you know. Commercial Koi food costs plenty.”
She pointed back down the street from the direction she’d come. “I saw a bunch of huge ones back there.”
“Thanks.”
She waved and headed on her way. I went looking for more night crawlers.
Goliath the bullfrog was pleased with my midnight snack offerings. Although, at one point, he thought my index finger was more food. Ouch! I actually bled. Ungrateful sod.
The Koi were happy too. I only gave them a few worms and then the rest went into the garden.
Posted in hobbies, Misc, my garden, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, bullfrogs, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, frogs, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
The magnolia tree is lovely but…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
If you don’t want a lot of work, don’t put one in your yard. I spent a few hours today raking up flower petals from the tree and it’s not finished yet. I filled the wheelbarrow so many times I lost count. There are still tons of blossoms on the tree…yikes. I spent another half hour skimming petals off the pond. Is all the work worth it? Yes, I think it is. Deadheading all the daffodils gave me another wheelbarrow load.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that my knee suffered no ill effects from contact with Gavin’s hard head. It’s my guess that all the icing I did to it yesterday made the difference. I truly expected to wake up with it swollen to football size and then having to make a run to our doctor’s ER.
If I wake to another sunny day I’ll cut down the dried out zebra grass. Then I bet I’ll rake more petals up from under the magnolia. I wonder how many times I’ll empty the wheelbarrow into the compost bin this time.
The tulips are blooming. The splashes of bright red and yellow around the pond and the tulip poplar are lovely.
Not duck as in dodge. I said Ducks.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
One must seek refuge in simple pleasures when the insanity gets too much. I did that today. I needed a stress reliever. Those who know me know I went out into the gardens and worked. There’s something soothing about digging in the soil and planting things.
I spent several hours weeding and planting. I took a break to feed the dogs and cook dinner for DH and me. Then I went back outside.
Speedy, one of our Koi had made a few spectacular jumps today celebrating the warmth. Therefore, at first, I didn’t think much when I heard a loud splash behind me. I turned to see if she’d jump again. It wasn’t Speedy this time.
My pair of mallards had returned. The female set right to the business of munching algae. The male played look out for her. I went inside to tell DH and grab a slice of bread for them. They looked lovely swimming around in the pond seizing pieces of bread that the Koi didn’t beat them to as it hit the water.
They stayed two hours. Then with a slight flapping of wings, they took off over the fence and were soon out of sight. I hope they come back tomorrow.
Posted in my garden, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Ark too Brutus?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Gavin and Patty requested the use of a raft to go out today. It might have worked except they have no thumbs and can’t hold paddles. We’ve had so much rain that I heard the stock prices on gopher wood jumped through the roof. I’ve seen pairs of animals strolling past all day. Ba dum dum.
The neighbor’s bulldogs Diamond and Brutus ordered snorkel gear although Brutus really wanted a boat. Cleo, the standard poodle across the street, rented herself out as a squirrel canoe. The two toy dogs next door stepped off their porch and almost drowned so Gavin lent them the raft.
The Koi are touring the neighborhood and the bullfrogs are using in the magnolia tree as a diving board. The daffodils want water wings. Did I mention that we’ve had a lot of rain?
Posted in Dog related, Misc, my garden, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Dog humor, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Fish, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Koi, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Unpredictable March nights
Posted by doggonedmysteries
My poor magnolia tree had some frost damage to its almost open buds. I think some over the pond got hit the worst. We might have some bloomage but nothing near what it would’ve been had the temperature stayed above freezing. The last two years the tree escaped the frost so I guess it was about due to happen again.
DH was surprised that it was cold enough to need a jacket when he went over to the hospital to see his mother in the morning. I told him to be ready for a repeat of it today since as I write this at 2 a.m. the temperature has already dropped to 33 degrees.
However, by Thursday it is supposed to be in the seventies again. I’m glad because I do have some new flowers that need planting. I also need to bring my black elephant ears up from the basement to get them acclimated and ready to plant too. They will stay on the back porch until mid April.
I just took the pups for their last out of the night and it is chilly. I needed my jacket.
Posted in Misc, My blog, my garden, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Two weeks in the garden
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Yeah, it was worth the wait…
Posted in my garden
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Crafts, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
Goliath wanted squab for dinner.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know all about Goliath. For those of you who haven’t, Goliath is one of the four bullfrogs who live in our pond. You can tell which one he is because he makes the other three look tiny. There are a couple of pictures of him on ‘our garden and pond’ page.
Goliath spent last summer begging worms off me. (Actually, he stalked me for the worms that I dug up for the Koi.) Like a fool, I spoiled him by giving them to him. For the past week, we’ve had some nice weather but not too many insects around which means the frogs are ravenous.
I was sitting out on the back steps enjoying the birdsongs and the sounds of the fountains and waterfall. Two mourning doves sat on a wire above the yard. A robin was busy taking a bath in the little pool at the top of the waterfall. When he finished the two doves flew down to stroll around the pond. They patrolled once around, a second time, and on the third lap, I heard a loud splash. The doves flew up from the far side of the pond both were in a panic.
Curious I walked over to the edge of the pond and there sat Goliath on top of a lily pad pot. A couple tan tail feathers protruded from his mouth. If ever a frog could, he had a ‘rats, foiled again’ look on his face.
Posted in Misc, my garden, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, comedy, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Humor, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pet humor, Pets, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
With heavy, duty gardening comes…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Sore muscles like you wouldn’t believe. It probably wouldn’t be too bad if I hadn’t done twice the work today. Tonight I have sore muscles that I didn’t know I had, and in places, I haven’t thought about since the weather got cold.
That’s okay though, since it felt wonderful to get outside and do things again. I do hate winter because it turns me into a real couch potato.
Today I did a lot of over head work trimming vines back on the arbor. Tonight, all that work is making its presence known in my neck, my back, and my shoulders. Well, you get the idea. You know what? Growing older isn’t for sissies. Nope, it’s not for sissies one bit. Even five years ago, I probably wouldn’t have been as sore as I am tonight.
I’ll get over. I’ll be out working in the yard until the predicted cold front moves through by the end of the week. Of course, with cooler weather and rain I’ll be inside chomping at the bit to get out again.
I can’t help myself. I am dying to be able to sit outside at night and enjoy all the hard work.
Posted in hobbies, Misc, My blog, my garden, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Let the gardening begin!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
We had a gorgeous day with plenty of sun and the temperature in the mid fifties. I dug out my leather work gloves—oops, going to need to shop for new ones, mine are full of holes. Oh well, I tugged them on anyway and began the slow process of cleaning out the garden beds. I cleared over half of the pond garden, backwashed the filter, and added some fresh water to the pond. After three hours of work, I took a short break and brought the dogs out for a romp.
I didn’t do much work on the side garden today since we do have a little bit of snow left in there. However, I did drag out the rake and cleaned up many of the seed pods from the sweet gum tree. At least those that were in the grass. They look like teensy hedge hogs. I did an hour of the rake, stoop, and pick up dance. I have a ton of those seed pods in the side garden I need to remove yet but I’ll do that another day. It was more important to get the ones up from where we walk. Those suckers hurt when you step on them, even the dogs hate them.
I hauled a garbage can outside the fence and began to clean up after the slobs who litter around here. I swept up glass, picked up paper litter, plastic cups, and bags, filling a large dog food bag with the detritus from the litterbugs. That alone took me two hours. Yes, a whole two hours wasted cleaning up other people’s garbage.
Where was DH? He was keeping the dogs company watching the TV. It was a darned shame too, because he missed seeing the Downy Woodpecker feeding on the suet, the Cardinals taking a bath in the top of the waterfall, and the Black-capped Chickadees watching me from the fence.
Posted in My blog, my garden, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Pond, Ponds, Writer, Writing
I see flowers starting to grow
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The yard is almost void of snow. A stroll around the gardens revealed numerous spring flowers trying to push through the mulch. I can’t wait for them to bloom.
Both the dogs were past silly with this noticeable change in the weather. They don’t care that March came in like a lamb they’re happy it’s getting warmer and the snow is leaving. They leapt about the yard in wild abandon.
The birds were also letting us know that the weather was improving. I haven’t heard so much birdsong in months. What a joy it was.
DH was in a jollier mood. I even took two walks, one with each dog. It was nice to get out.
We’re looking forward to this weekend and the predicted temperatures of the mid fifties with sun, lots of sun.
Posted in Dog related, Misc, My blog, my garden, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Dogs, Family, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Rescue Dogs, Writer, Writing
Dream a little dream of green for me
Posted by doggonedmysteries
A part of the yard peeps from under the last blanket of snow. It won’t last. Forecasters predict twelve to eighteen inches of white stuff will cover us by Friday. At least we got a peek of green. It may be weeks before we see it again.
I think, rather than dwell on the coming blizzard, I’ll dream of green grass and the garden in full bloom. I’ll think of the magnolia clad in pink blossoms. Maybe I’ll sip a cool drink under the tree. I’ll dream of spring flowers swaying in warm, gentle breezes, of lounging on the hammock while working on my books.
I’ll dream of fishing and walking in the parks, of playing with the dogs, rolling in the grass, and warmth. I won’t think of 60 mph wind driven snow. No, I won’t think of that. I’ll imagine sitting on the bench rock dangling my feet in the pond, and tickling the Koi as they feed from my hands. I’ll dream of bullfrog songs, warm sunny skies, outdoors, BBQs, sultry nights, and green things.
Posted in Misc, My blog, Weather related, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Beads, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Gardens, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, Snow, Writer, Writing
The birds will be happy
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I’d neglected hanging suet out in the gardens for quite a while. The squirrels would clean it out before the birds could get to it. It hardly seemed worth spending the money on tree rats. Those gray furred monsters chased all the birds away. Now, I haven’t seen a squirrel in the yard since I stopped putting out suet. I’ve seen very few birds too.
Yesterday we had many birds in the yard. They were all playing in the waterfall. Cardinals, chickadees, juncos, and sparrows were splashing away like kids in a pool. Since I was heading to the grocery store, I added suet to my list. It won’t take them long to find it. They will be happy. I just hope word doesn’t get back to the neighborhood tree rats.
The squirrels have an uncanny sense that there’s suet about. With luck, the birds will find it first. G is closer to the cemetery’s tall trees. So far this year the squirrels have damaged four hanging suet baskets and three bird feeders at her place. We keep hoping that our neighborhood hawk has put a dent in the tree rat population.
Posted in Misc, My blog, my garden, Writer, Writing
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Books on writing, Bull Terriers, Care giving, Caregiver, Coffee, Craft of writing, Dead, Disability, Doggoned, Family, feeding the birds, Fiction, Gardening, Gardens, Happy birds, Home, Life, Love, MS, Multiple Sclerosis, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Novel writing, tree rats, Writer, Writing
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