Great capture! I have a hard time getting a good shot of creepers since they so rarely stop moving
Cherry for me. Common flavor in lots of fruity candy mixes but not my favorite. I do like cherry sours on their own though
Canid and canine generally mean any of the dog-like animals: domestic dogs, wolves, fox, coyotes, dingoes, jackals, wild dogs
Parrot applies to members of the Psittacine family: parrots, macaws, parakeets, cockatiels, cockatoos, parrotlets, lorikeets
Herps and herpetofauna are used to collectively refer to amphibians and reptiles: frogs, salamanders, newts, lizards, turtles, snakes
Bear means all actual bear species but is also often used in reference to pandas and koalas (just don’t say it in front of my scientifically accurate kid)
Waterfowl is ducks, geese, swans
Depending on why or how you’re using categories, you can also group by characteristics: Do they have fur, feathers, or scales Do they lay eggs or give birth Are they predator or prey Do they eat meat, plants, fruit, pollen, or some combination
southsamurai has a great overall explanation. I would add it also depends on the age and any medical conditions of each.
We have a 45 pound dog (age 12) and a 15 pound cat (age 17). The dog is on senior/old man food but is otherwise in good health. The cat has kidney disease so we have to get only specific kinds. Per month the cat’s food is about $5 more than the dog’s, but that’s for a smaller amount.
My cat will also do this. And if I put a blanket on his spot he’ll go sleep somewhere else
Shows from my youth I’ve watched with my kid: The Muppets Full House Animaniacs
I think it’s going to be used to hold toys, but plants are a great idea!
Yeah I’m gonna have to knit some for me now too. They’re just too fun not to
Remember those “Martians” from Sesame Street? A friend asked me to make a couple of these for their kid. My first one is on the left and the pattern photo is on the right. I’m going to try to knit some eye balls instead of using ping pongs, we’ll see how that goes
Well damn, I was hoping it was for a good (happy) reason. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for signs of OE in my native flower garden
Do you have a source for the monarchs not needing more milkweed planted? I’m hoping I missed some great news.
Last I heard the advice was still to plant more milkweed because we’re below the level needed to try and grow the population - since it’s being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act and milkweed is the only plant the caterpillars can survive on. If we got that done or found a better way that’s awesome
Thanks for the quick reply. My peas and bee balm have been hit hard this year after the same mild winter
I like summer squash! That would be really weird though, I’ve never planted summer squash or zucchini in the 10+ years we’ve lived here. Squirrels must be stealing from the neighbors
This came up unexpectedly and I’m waiting to see what it’ll be. I didn’t plant any squash or pumpkins this year. In fact I’ve never planted either in this garden bed. We affectionately call it our “pumquash” while we wait.
I have it under a greenhouse because we had our first frost warning this weekend, and I’d really like at least one fruit to mature so we can solve the mystery. This is the furthest along.
Today’s our first frost date, and I haven’t had a single ripe tomato yet. Time to break out the plant covers and cross my fingers.
I usually make green tomato relish. What are your favorite green tomato canning recipes?
Edit: Here’s the recipe. I couldn’t find a recipe that didn’t use already-made dill pickles, so I combined several recipes instead. I used the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s vinegar solution ratios for sweet pickles to make sure the pH was safe. Then I used a combo of spices from a sweet dill recipe and a sweet horseradish recipe.
My dill plants didn’t do well this year, so I used dried. It’s important to note, I’ve never made this recipe before and since I just canned yesterday I don’t know yet whether it’s good.
Makes 4-5 pint jars
- 4 lbs cucumbers
- 1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 3.25 cups granulated sugar
- 0.25 cup canning salt
- In each clean, sterilized jar add:
- 0.75 tsp mustard seed
- 1 Tbsp dill weed
- 1.5 tsp prepared horseradish Cut off a little of the blossom end. Slice and put in hot vinegar solution. When cucumbers are heated through, pack in jars. Add vinegar solution, leaving a 1/2” headspace. Water bath can for 10 minutes.
Between earwigs and wildlife this year, the only plants producing are the ones in my porch boxes. The cucumbers are gherkins so I’ve been picking them small so I can make them into sweet pickles. I have 3 jars put up already and enough cucumbers to make #4 this weekend. I just wish I had a small deep pot to can in, it’s such a waste to pull out my big canner. But until I can find one that at least fits pint jars I have to keep using the big pot.
I planted more peas this week and plan to do some more fall planting this weekend. I’m about 2 weeks behind but better late than never.
Edit: I forgot to mention, the leaves in the photo are just for our bunny’s breakfast. Although I will soon be drying some raspberry and blackberry leaves for her to enjoy in the winter.
Now that Tom Daley is finishing competing at the Paris Olympics, he's spent a lot of time with his other passion — knitting.
I don’t get much knitting done in the summer, so I thought I’d share someone else’s project. Saw him in the stands tonight watching the men’s doubles final and it looks like he’s already cast on something else.
Off and on this week I’ve been having trouble with some sites and apps - mainly Amazon, Walmart, Bing, Pinterest and Peacock - where they won’t load.
Other sites and apps are working just fine, and I don’t think it’s our internet as I’ll have videos streaming while those sites just sit and spin. I’ve also tried them on several devices (phone, tablet, computer) but no difference.
Is this maybe some carry over from last week’s CrowdStrike issues?
Earwigs or some other insect have been voraciously nibbling on my bean and radish leaves. I saw it mentioned in several places to put out a dish with oil and a little soy sauce. I figured it’s worth a shot.
Do you have a favorite way to keep the tiny critters away from your leaves?
We’ve noticed we don’t find monarch caterpillars on milkweed plants that have ants on them. We’ve also noticed if ants start coming on a plant with a caterpillar on it, the caterpillar disappears. It doesn’t seem to show up on a neighboring milkweed plant either.
I’m wondering if anyone has a way they keep ants off these plants so the caterpillars can continue their life cycle in peace.
Didn’t spot this one right away so it got away from me. They’re gherkins, I plan to make sweet pickles. Not with this monster though, we ate it fresh and it was delicious.
Just have to vent, because I’m struggling to finish this sweater. The body was knit with US 17s (12mm). Now I’m doing the sleeves on US 19s (16mm) because my gauge was too tight with the 17s. I have discovered I don’t like knitting with these size needles. They’re uncomfortable for me to hold and knitting with them feels like a chore.
Vent over. Hopefully I’ll get this sweater off the needles today or tomorrow, and now I know to avoid any more projects using these needles.
Newly emerged. Landed on some netting while I was gardening, seems to be settled in for the night.
Needed a new car knitting project as my Kelowna sweater is too big now to work on comfortably. So I cast on some socks for me.
Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Palm Springs colorway
Decided to get sleeve island out of the way. I’m worried I won’t have enough yarn even though I’m on gauge. I am using different yarn than the pattern and it’s definitely not the bulkiest bulky yarn I’ve ever used.
I picked up 12 stitches in the underarm (instead of the pattern’s 6) because I was worried about holes. I may have some small ones to close up at the end but we’ll see how they look after blocking.
Pattern: Kelowna sweater
The socks with my first ever fish lips kiss heel are done! They even got a spin through the washer and dryer because our dog spilled milk on them (yes our dog lol).
My spouse tried them on and they fit perfectly. For my next pair of socks I’m not sure if I’ll use this heel again - I do really like it but now it’s got me wondering what other awesome heels I haven’t done yet.
This week got away from me, I spent most of today thinking it was Wednesday. I started this sweater on Saturday. Thankfully we were in a city visiting family, as I’d overlooked the fact that this pattern uses 12mm needles for the body (the largest I have is 8mm). I was able to run to the store and pick some up right away.
I tried all 3 sizes for the neckline and none looked like the right fit, so I decided to do a provisional cast on and worry about the collar later.
First attempt at the fish lips kiss heel. I got stalled on these socks for a couple weeks because no matter how many times I read the instructions it didn’t make any sense to me. Plus I don’t get much time to knit most days, usually just 10-15 minutes while I’m waiting for my kid to get out of school.
I ended up finding a video (Fish Lips Kiss Heel by Betty Mueller on YT) and it made sense! It doesn’t exactly follow the FLKH pattern instructions but it worked for me. Unfortunately looking at them this morning I’m pretty sure the sock is too long for my spouse, but I have to wait til they get home from work before I can see for sure. Either way I really like how quick and easy this heel was so I’m not concerned if I have to tear it back a bit and redo.
