Wolf Spider

So I'm freezing spinach and my husband is mowing and he knocks on the window says come out and bring your camera! So I stop everything and go out and it was definitely worth the interruption. This is a wolf spider -- at least I think it is, because it is the only spider that carries her spiderlings around on her back. Those little things all over her are spiders. (If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see the little spiders better.) If I stare at it too long, I get the willies! But it was really neat to get to see her and to get the pictures!

Gardening Musing

This is a picture of my garden labeled as to where everything is, but you can't see it very well.
I have been snipping off the blooms on the strawberry plants as soon as I see them but some got away from me and we got some juicy, sweet strawberries yesterday and today there was one more. This is the first year for the strawberries so we are trying to keep the blooms off so that the plant can get strong and healthy to grow.

I picked a ton of spinach today and will freeze it later. Also some broccoli, but it is starting to flower. Everything in the garden is growing good. Snow peas are on the vine, soon to be picked. I have posts at the green beans and need to tie string around for them to grow on, plus I want to plant some more green beans. Last year I used the tee pee method but the beans climb so high that I can't reach them, so this year we're trying something different. They'll still climb, but not as high.

Beer Party with Neighbors

I don't normally do beer parties, but our neighbors invited us over for a campfire party with beer and snacks and hotdogs. Other neighbors were there and a fun time was had by all. We are SO blessed to have such good neighbors. We all live out in the "sticks" and know we can depend on each other if the going gets rough.

Angel Kitty's Lion's Cut Photos

As promised, here are some pics of Angel with her new "do"! In one pic, she has her halter on and she just wants to take a walk. She wants to go OUT, OUT, OUT! In the last pic, she appears to be wondering why that lampshade smells so funny.

Lion's Cut

I took Angel Kitty to the vet and had her lion's cut done. I wouldn't do it other than that if I don't, my husband and I eat, breathe and spit her hair by summer's end. She sheds like crazy. I have given her some meds that help, but she sure does shed. So she had her cut and on the way home (it is a 45-min. ride and she normally takes it pretty well) she began to throw up all frothy stuff and meowing funny and breathing with her mouth open and I thought oh this is it, she's going to die. It sounded and looked awful but I guess she was carsick from the meds they gave her to relax her, and from all the curves I have to navigate on that road. Now she's fairly active, wanted to go out for a walk so I took her but she didn't want to walk far and she began to shiver (it is cool out today!) so I brought her in. She ate a lot when we got home. I hate putting her through the meds to relax her; last year I took her to Petsmart and they don't do meds and I thought she did okay - BUT, several months later the vet finds two little slits under her front legs that had abscessed and he said it must have been from being shaved since they were proportional like the razor caught her skin. When I picked her up last year at Petsmart, I asked how she did and the groomer said she fought a little when they did the belly. Well I guess SO! But she recovered from that little problem. I should have gone back and told them I guess but I know they didn't mean to do it and she didn't die or anything. I just won't go back there. At least if they do something at the vet's, she's at the vets. They don't use ketamine at the vets thank god. That stuff is bad. There is some other kind of relaxant they use that they give her and then give her the antidote to bring her out of it.
She also has gingivitis. I got antibiotic for that and he said within the next few years she should have her teeth cleaned.
She looks so tiny without all of her hair. I swear she's too thin, but I don't know for sure. She doesn't eat a lot, perhaps because of the teeth problem.
She's my little sweetie and I will do anything to keep her healthy!
Pictures to come when she feels more photogenic.

Crafting - Doll's Face, and Needle Felting

I finally put a face on a doll that I've had in the closet for a few years! I had made her up then didn't like the shape of her face. I put a face on her and needle felted hair on her and it hides the misshapen face. I also found a pattern on line of an apple to use to practice needle felting. It turned out pretty good.

Cicada

I guess this is the year of the cicada. We just had a year of the cicada in 2004, but oh well, here we go again. Along with the cicada, we can hear what sound like peepers coming from a nearby wet area, but perhaps that's the cicada's also. The sound is like an alien spacecraft coming in for a landing! It is pretty weird. The cicada's look really weird too, with those red eyes!

Gardening

Today I used Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) on my broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and cabbage, in my garden. It comes as a spray or powder. I bought the powder under the name Dipel. I poured it into the cut-off leg of an old pair of pantyhose and shook the pantyhose over each plant. It worked beautifully and was easy to use! It is supposed to kill the cabbageworms that emerge later on in the season en masse. I'll have to do it about once every 10 days from now on, but it is worth it to keep those worms out of the cabbage. The BT is totally organic and non-toxic and you can use it on crops right up to the day of harvest. The way it works is that it releases spores which the worms ingest and then die within a couple of hours because they get sick and can't digest food. I only use non-toxic substances on the garden.

Angel Kitty

This is my calico cat, Angel. The vet estimates that she is between 8 and 12 years of age. She came with our house that we bought in 2004. Her story is that she showed up at the house as a stray, pregnant. The former owners took care of her and her kittens when she had them and had her fixed and gave her the name Angel. She is afraid of pretty much everyone except for me, and she is absolutely terrified of cars. She was an outside cat but now she's inside, but I take her for walks on the leash and tie her out on a line with me out there to watch her, of course. Tomorrow she gets her "lion's cut" and will look much different than she does in these pictures. Her pictures are in the Day at a Time 2008 Desk Calendar - "Kittens and Cats," on February 19 and October 9. My celebrity kitty!!

Unidentified Skipper Butterfly

This skipper was on my wild iris today and I have tried to identify him but can't find him in my books.

Corn Snake

This beautiful corn snake was in our pasture last week.