The tomato thief identified

He only got one this year. So far.

The Lesser Works, Series I

Or, making a crappy, blurry photograph of a pigeon look artsy and deep with digital chicanery. Or, the death of photographic craftsmanship.

Lobelia in the Garden

Watcha’ doin’ raccoon?

We found our local raccoon assiduously removing the rocks and shells from one of our neighbors’ planter pots late last night. This was the scene this morning.

Oh Figs!

 

We discovered this afternoon that our scraggly little fig tree has apparently decided to bear this year. Little more than a weed when we moved in almost two years ago, with some judicious (although largely clueless) pruning, our little tree has become quite the young man now. He’s providing excellent shade in our little back patch and perhaps even some tasty figs by summer’s end. These may not be edible this year, but it’s going to be fun to watch them grow. I’m already making all sorts of fig recipe plans, but as Anne rightfully wonders, “what has figs in it?”

Early Spring

I debated whether or not those of you still in the icy throes of winter would appreciate this, or whether it would upset you too much. This is our first nasturtium of the season–a volunteer growth left over from last year’s(?) crop, which suddenly started taking over our planter (and our plant trash bin) a few weeks ago. I also tried to snap a photo of the leaf buds opening on our little fig tree, but they didn’t turn out. I’ll try again another time. Take heart, those of you still in winter, spring is coming to you, too (just in another month or so).

Bougainvillea Time!

Here’s to counteract the last post. I was feeling so pissy after that, I decided to take the Runwell for a ride around the ‘hood, since just throwing a leg over that fabulous machine makes me happy. Here’s what I found:

Vaux’s Swifts in Portland, OR

Yet another reason I wish I was back in Oregon.  Hmm.

Chair Rehab: After

Ta-da! It’s a nice-looking chair! It has all the original parts, I just bleached the seat and back canvas, and sanded, stained, and varnished the wood. Now, not only does it look nicer, it will withstand the elements a bit better. I was planning on water-sealing the canvas, too, but my wife reminded me that if I did that, I would be spending more money on rehab than the chair originally cost, so I held off. The only things I bought were a little can of varnish for a few bucks, and some wood glue, also just a couple bucks, both of which I am certain to use again on other projects.

In other news, I now have six little green tomaters coming on, and I think more getting ready to show themselves. Also, our Lilly of the Nile has just busted out its first flower buds ever, but they have yet to open, so we’re looking forward to that.

Flower Power

A very small part of a giant wall of flowers that made my wife say “eeeeeee!” during a bike ride through the alleys of our neighborhood last weekend. There were also morning glories on the wall, but I liked this picture better.