Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
- Pueblo Blessing

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Friday, Oct. 01, 2004 - 5:04 a.m.

hullo hullo! hey Radiogurl! a safe entry for you!!!! (Radiogurl works covering politics for a radio station. She gets too much politics at work so cannot abide it in her diaryland time. Understandable. I on the other hand use politics to avoid work, so I wallow in it right now!)

Ivy climbing, copyright 2004 wench77

Here are some photos of my backyard recently. Here you can see my ivy in the backyard climbing its cement wall. Yeah, I planted that in June. wow. It is up to the second floor and about a third of the way to the roof. I can see that in two years I will need to do an acrobatic trimming job every year or it will be OUT OF CONTROL!!! yeah. But it will get rid of the cement wall look.

Now here is what I could've planted and had it take over in even less time. Damned hops. It looks so sweet, but it is invasive as hell... it is here climbing all over my back fence and has completely strangled my raspberries... twines around their poor little tall

hops, copyright 2004 wench77

bendy stems, and then weighs them down to the ground. I have since chopped them off, and tied the raspberries to the fence and they are rewarding my mercy rescue with a bumper crop of fall berries... very soon now...

That hops is a new arrival in my yard this year and so that is all new growth. It is trying to take over the compost pile and the ferns now too. I shall rip it out screaming in the near future. Down the alleyway, it has engulfed a power pole to a height of second story, and is a green mass about six feet wide. Wow.

Here is a whole page about hops, which of course are used in making beer. And here is what it has to say about hops' name:

"The origin of the name of the Hop genus, Humulus, is considered doubtful, though it has been assumed by some writers that it is derived from humus, the rich moist ground in which the plant grows. The specific name Lupulus, is derived from the Latin, lupus (a wolf), because, as Pliny explains, when produced among osiers, it strangles them by its light, climbing embraces, as the wolf does a sheep. The English name Hop comes from the Anglo-Saxon hoppan (to climb). "

Flowering knotweed, copyright 2004 wench77

Here is that Japanese Knotweed that nearly poked my eye out last year. You can see it has grown up and leafed out quite nicely for being a year old (and some I planted just this spring)... and you can see the showy flowering that was probably

And then under the knotweed are the poor hostas. Now they have not had a good time. First I think I planted them too close to each other. Second, the ground around them is constantly dug up by cats who think that it is a cat box, so they are suffocated with poop smell.

Slug-eaten hosta, copyright 2004 wench77

Third, tons of spiders have built webs all over them, which then catch the pollen from the knotweed, so they look worse than your grandmother's attic. And fourth, they are beset by slugs which much through their lovely stripey leaves. We cannot call them motheaten. Poor things.

Indeed, looking at the poor hostas, I can almost believe that I should have stamped out the slugs. But the slugs are so cute. All wiggly antennae and squirmy bodies gliding majestically like tiny oceanliners across any surface. Dang. How can I get rid of the slugs.

Two years ago I handpicked slugs by the hundreds every night. That is when I had parsley and basil and such in the backyard, and they totally were eating it all. It was the slugs or me. So I picked them with a flashlight, and carried them in a jar to the lawn of the apartment block across the street where the grass was like three feet high and all gnarly... I felt I had just "relocated" the slugs. But then two days later they cut the grass about two inches tall. And it was hot and sunny. I felt like I had sent refugees out to die a slow dehydrating death in the sahara. mean me.

So now I have let the slugs be. And now I feel bad for the hosta. If only the toad I imported had stayed around. He did stay under the patio for a week or three, but then he disappeared. And then I felt bad for the slugs, the toad and now the hosta. Dang.

This is why I am not a hunter or a fisherman. I am capable of doing these things. Have skinned muskrats and threaded worms on hooks and caught little trout. But I don't have the desire to do it, the clarity of purpose that allows me not to care the next day. Dang.

I can eat sardines from the store instead, and swiss chard. yeah. Oh, it turns out that sardines are a health and environmentally friendly choice, cuz they spawn several times a year, grow to reproduction size quickly, and so are neither endangered by fishing, nor repositories for years of mercury and other nasty things. Yay for sardines. They even have the bones in them so they are a good source of calcium. (See eatsmart fishpage): select "sardines" on menu.

Eat sardines. yeah.

Dangedy dangedy. I wrote a whole bunch more and didn't save it yet, and then the blasted computer froze. shit. Now what in heavens name did i say??? I'll try to remember.

I said, my father is now here. It is kind of nice to have him visiting. It is funny to have Yogagirl out of here. She moved most of her clothes and food out, and took them to her guy's place one street over, where she will stay while my Dad is here. It is weird not to see her stuff for lunch in the fridge. She DID come over with Yogagirlguy (she doesn't know if they are actually "a thing") tonight cuz I was making pesto and pesto. Six or more batches of basil pesto and four batches of parsley pesto. Most went into the freezer, but we had spaghettini with basil pesto... yogagirlguy contributed freshly grated parmesan. num num.

As usual I miscalculated how much time the pesto project would take (I used ALL the basil and parsley in my garden) and JUST got to the airport on time. yay. Interestingly there was huge cheering since our paraolympians were returning from wins at a competition. Many high tech racing wheelchairs. Cool.

Dad is not impressed by the pesto. He says he doesn't eat pasta. Too many carbs (though he is off the Atkins he was on last year). And he sniffed the pesto and announced he doesn't eat stuff like that. Also he doesn't eat guacamole. Nor corn chips. He doesn't eat chips and he doesn't like corn. Hmm.

More guacamole and chips for me if we watch a video tomorrow night. I vote for "Supersize Me", which I believe is now out on video.

He also doesn't like bananas in stuff so will not eat the banana bread. But he did have second helpings of the zucchini bread. Good. I have more zucchinis than bananas. Good thing he will go get his own food. He mostly wanted to know if I had meat in the house. Um, not really. Just the other two frozen sausages that I broke my poor knife blade on. He may not be on Atkins but he seems to still be on the meat and veg thing.

Well, I gotta get to bed... it's already past 6am zzzz, and last night I got less than 6 hours sleep.

Back tomorrow!

hugs

me, wenchie
******I am still writing this entry, please return soon!!******

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previous meanderings - future past

Goodbye Michael. May your next life be kinder to you. - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Taking Care of Your Cows - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Saint Joseph robs the cradle and eats spaghetti - Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009
sticky notes and broken irises - Friday, Jun. 12, 2009
The FOODCOMMANDER - Monday, Jun. 08, 2009