The Little Things

I got a response from the makers of Jobe's Organics, Easy Gardener Products, today.
They said that the bone meal and feather meal contained in the product attracts the critters and the only way to keep them out would be to put up a barrier, which is not very feasible at this time so I am going to have to use a repellent spray to try and discourage them from foraging in my flower beds.

So the smell of the organic fertilizers will attract the critters to the area, I honestly did not know that, but I am learning!
I will continue using the soluble fertilizers from now on to minimize critter troubles. No big deal.

I have been using a repellent spray to keep the skunk from trying to hole up under the big shed on the north end of the yard and it seems to be working as we do not smell the skunk on that side of the house, but we did smell one on the front side towards the street early this morning.

So far we have seen your typical fanfare of birds, rabbits, skunks, raccoons and we also saw chipmunks a month or so ago!  I have not seen a chipmunk in years and they are still just as cute as the last time I saw them, I just wish I could get a picture!

I have some of my drawing to share with you today as well.
These are various little doodles I have done in my spare time as a way to fend off boredom or just relaxing.

This is my version of Marius and Pandora from the Vampire Chronicles.

Can you tell I am a big fan of roses!

Some calla lilies with a top banner.

Seaside. I love the beach, there is just so much beauty!

I am guessing that this drawing was a result of wanting to be outside, but being prevented from it because of the foot of snow on the ground!

This one I still need to add a background to, but I am getting better with faces.

I am not sure how well the detail for this one shows up, but it is just a cute little card I made for my Honey around Halloween about a two years ago.

These fellows I like to call Weirdos.  I made this over the winter using a computer program called Photoscape.

I have also found some new programs for making patterns that can be used as backgrounds on websites, blogs, etc., so I am very excited to get started with them as soon as possible.

I have also joined a little creative community called COLOURlovers over the weekend.

You can log in and use patterns, palettes, shapes, its a lot of fun for me!

Dad and I were out around front a little while ago, checking out the big. dark clouds and we heard thunder.

Now we are getting a steady sprinkle of rain, with some short bursts of thunder.

Looks like the water bill gets another break!

I am so excited to have new tools and goodies to work with and I cannot wait to show you what I create with them.

And if you have any suggestions to me, I would greatly appreciate it as I love learning new things and talking to people.

That is all for this post, I think I will sit back and enjoy the sounds of the rain.

Have a great day everyone!

Sunny with a Chance of Gorgeous!

We have been getting steady rain for the last few days and everything is loving the break from the hideous heat.

In a previous post, I had talked about putting Jobe's Organic Rose Food spikes around my roses.
I came outside one morning last week to discover that every single one of the food spikes had been dug up.
I am contacting the company through email today to see if they have had any other customers who have had this happen and to see if they would know of any ingredients in the food spikes that could tempt a critter into snatching them up, so I will let you know what the response is.

I have new pictures to share as well as new video of the bunny who inhabits the neighboring yards.

I was out yesterday morning and took pictures of the flowers around the garden and the bushes in the fence line that have been blooming like crazy.


These are two of the fence line bushes that bloom a light pink, blue, violet or white with a reddish middle.

The Oddball rose in all its glory, now that the pests are no longer invading on all sides.

I find this white flower to be especially pretty!

We also have a fire pit that was purchased earlier in the summer, but because it has been so hot in the evenings as well as the daytime, we haven't been able to put it to use.

We finally got the chance to use it over the weekend.

Nothing like a roaring fire in cool temperatures to make you feel cozy!

And fire pits are good for keeping mosquitoes and other airborne critters away.

One of Mom's Leprechauns peeking out to say "Hello!"

The beautiful bud on the pink rosebush.

Morning dew on the rosebuds.

I am happy to report that the other Oddball rosebush is starting to mount a comeback!

I honestly thought it was done for after I transplanted and the heat kicked us in the teeth, but it was just taking things slow I guess.

And here is the video of the bunny munching out amongst the clover.

(You may want to enlarge the picture.)

The sun is out and its warmed up some, but its a beautiful day and I  think I'm going to go play with my little friends!

Have a great day!

Tending and Hauling

The recent crop of cherry tomatoes kept up busy last week.
The Honey and I were out every evening, picking the little tomatoes and checking in the big garden for other produce.
Here are a few pictures of our recent haul of cucumbers and the giant head of cabbage.

We are still finding big cucumbers in the garden, they grow along the sides and up the fencing.

There is now one head of cabbage in the garden as I just cut another one out about a half hour ago.

Once cut, I take the bigger, raggedy leaves off and leave the excess in a nice, shady spot for the bunnies.

Outside of bringing in produce now, I still have my battle with the Japanese beetles, but even that is getting easier since we picked up traps.

Here is a picture of the trap I set up for the beetles.

The trap works by placing a pheromone bait on the lower third of the yellow bag hook and that will bring the little monsters over to it in droves!

I didn't have the trap on a post yet and the beetles were following me through the yard!

The company that makes the traps is called Safer.

I have used their gardening products before and haven't found anything unsatisfactory about them yet.

In six days my package of extra bags, bait, and spray should be here so I will have all I need to combat the Beetle Empire! (insert victorious laughter here.)

Here is the short video of the trap so you can kind of see it in action.

In other developments, there is now a nice area around the back of the big shed taking shape.
Mom was out to Menard's again as well as the local nursery, and she picked up cobbler rocks.
She's placed all of the rocks around the area where her Heather and Azaleas are located, mulched it in good and it looks really awesome considering nothing used to be back there.

as you can see, there is a plethora of painted things back here, mostly for the solar lights that have been hung like miniature lanterns, but its a lot brighter and open back here now.

On the crafting front, I am doing the projects I had started over the winter.

I currently have two knitting/crochet projects.

This is the beginning of a large blanket.

I am using Red Heart yarn in Aspen and I am down to my last one, so I will have to go out and pick a few more up at some point.

This is a kid's blanket I am doing. The squares will all be linked together with coordinating colors in solid blocks.

I keep these as weekend projects, especially for Sunday since there is usually nothing interesting going on that day.

That is all that is going on for today, but there are more veggies coming in and the flowers are regaining vigor now that the beetles have something else to occupy them!

Have a great day!