A Slug Bonanza

I have been feeling as though I finally have my slug infestation under control. I have been finding fewer and fewer slugs, when I am out doing my morning chores. Those I do find are smallish. In fact I haven't seen any of the big ones since I poisoned the compost barrel. But they're still here. Seems the big ones like to hide and sneak out in the dead of night. I happened to be out in the backyard last night, at around 11:30pm. We have a bright porch light, and as I stood there, admiring my yard, I noticed 2 dark blobs on the lawn behind the chicken tractor. Closer inspection revealed them to be 2 monster sized slugs. It seems they were after either spilled chicken feed, or chicken poo. How ironic that my intent was for them to soon become chicken poo. I found a large plastic container with a sturdy lid. I didn't want them escaping back into the darkness. I located one of my small flashlights and began making a search of the yard. What I found was horrifying. Huge slugs everywhere. There was one making a beeline for my precious (yet still straggly looking) basil. Another was heading for the chard. And there were multitudes in the lawn. I gleefully stuffed them all into my container. Here, for your viewing enjoyment, is proof that you should never walk barefoot, in my lawn, at night.


This morning I couldn't wait to show my bounty to the girls. I tossed 5 of them into the run and watched their reaction. Joanie grabbed a big one and headed off to a corner to hog it all to herself. The other 2 picked their respective slugs but they were soon spending more time trying to wipe slime from their beaks than they were eating. Meanwhile Joanie was comically running in circles, a giant slug dangling from her beak, teasing the other 2 hens. Who wanted nothing to do with her slug. They were still wiping off slime. I ended up having to remove 3 live slugs from the run since the girls were now ignoring them as they made their bid for freedom. not on my watch, slugs! Back into the container you go. I'll have to dispatch you another way. I am a bit disappointed the girls didn't better appreciate my gift. The slugs are smaller than mice and I've seen a chicken down a whole mouse in one gulp. Granted, it wasn't a slimy mouse. Maybe that was the difference. In the future I will feed the girls only the smaller slugs and do the big ones in by giving them a salted water swimming pool. I have added Slug Wrangler to my list of jobs and will be making nightly patrols of the backyard.

Girls Gone Wild!!!

Made you look. Well they are running around naked. Did I forget to mention they are "chicken" girls? Yes, the girls are being naughty, today. Really, REALLY naughty. I always line their coop with double layered newspaper, topped with pine shavings. The newspaper makes it easier to clean up their droppings in the morning. All I do is roll up the paper and toss it on the compost pile. But today, for some odd reason (that only a chicken brain can know) they decided to pull the paper out into the run....and shred the heck out of it. Okay, maybe they were bored. I figured they had it out of their systems. I re papered the coop, tossed down more shavings, and before you could shout "girls gone wild" they'd pulled THAT paper out. Now I'm starting to get pissed. They are messing up my whole tidy plan...and being wasteful, to boot. Here they are, posing for their mug shots. Don't they look guilty as hell? Click on the picture, to enlarge it, for the full effect.



Reggie thinks he knows why they are behind bars.


I am trying something new. Placing rocks on the edges of the paper.
I'll let you know if I'm successful in breaking them of this new bad habit.

Today's Yard Sale Treasures

It's sweltering here in Tacoma, WA. I've been getting all I can done in the mornings, while it's still cool enough to move. This morning I decided to hit a couple of yard sales on the way back from fetching our morning espresso. The first was an actual estate sale, which are my favorites. Old folks have the coolest junk, as far as I'm concerned. Here is the run down on my bargains from this sale:

7 cotton damask napkins
5 men's handkerchiefs
4 lady's handkerchiefs
2 vintage aprons (yes, I cook. And I make a mess doing it.)
4 cloths for placing over rolls/biscuits
1 terry cloth kitchen towel with a mushroom screen print
5 stenciled flour sack towels (one shown below))
3 embroidered flour sack towels
1 embroidered cotton sheet towel (shown below)
24 wooden clothes pins
1 Red Riding Hood style basket (shown below)
1 pyrex baking dish with lid (shown below)
Total for all the above? $12
It's hard to put a regular retail value on vintage items, but I estimate it's at least $100.




The second yard sale was actually a moving sale. The lady had recently lost her husband and was moving back to Georgia. I picked up a cast iron meat grinder (which needs to be cleaned and oiled) and a rubbermaid bread keeper. I'm trying to get away from plastics, but I figure a bread keeper, which can be washed and reused, is better then buying "one use" bread bags. The combined cost for both items? $5. Regular retail on these would be approximatly $40, so that's a big savings. I LOVE yard sales! Here is the grinder, before cleaning.

Pastie Resistance

Or pièce de résistance, for all you non-rednecks. The finishing touch for the new pound? Pond plants, of course. This morning we drove way-the-heck out on 176th, between Canyon and Meridian, to Alpine Nursery & Landscape. Also home to ThePondPad. I was on the hunt for a small water lily. Luckily they had one pygmy water lily left in stock. That was the good news. The bad news was the price. $29.99. Ouch! But I didn't drive all the way out there to come home empty handed. I also picked up a water hyacinth. Here is everything you never wanted to know about this water weed. I know, from previous experience, that they multiply like crazy. Odd that Washington State hasn't outlawed them, yet. They've done so with many other pond plants. I wanted to get some oxygenators but was informed that they cannot be sold legally in Washington. However quite a few did hitchhike, on my bought plants, so I got a bunch of them, for FREE. Thank you Washington. They are outlawed because they spread like crazy and can take over waterways. I do not intend to put my plants in a lake. If they get out of hand they'll simply be added to the compost pile....or fed to the chickens. The price of the water hyacinth? $1.99. Here is a picture of the completed pond.



The pygmy water lily.
(you can see the illegal plants floating around it)



The water hyacinth.
(already preggers)



Lenny & Squiggy enjoying their new plants.



Tonight I barbecued a little pork chop for my dinner. My husband let me borrow his tiny terracotta pig grill. No sense lugging out the big grill for one thin little chop.


I hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am loving mine.

Meet Lenny and Squiggy

No pond is complete without fish. In keeping with the apparent backyard theme, let me introduce you to the newest Willoughby family members, Lenny and Squiggy. I adopted them, this morning, from Petco in Tacoma. The adoption fee was certainly reasonable. 13 cents each. When I went to choose my new kids, from the many waiting in the "feeder fish" tank, I made the observation, "There sure are a lot of dead fish in here." My husband, always the helpful sort, reminded me that I should pick from the live ones. Thanks honey. And here they are, 26 cents worth of pure entertainment.


I'm sure it was a shock to their systems, going from a crowded tank, possibly even heated, to this backyard watering hole. Bet it was a lot cooler than they were used to. They didn't do much at first. Just hid and shivered. But by this afternoon Squiggy was Mr. Personality. He is not shy at all, and swims all about, trying to eat anything and everything. He quickly figured out what those floating pellets are for.


He has lots of energy and I have no doubt he will flourish in his new home. Lenny, on the other hand, is a Shrinking Violet. He stayed hidden most of the day, leading me to believe he wasn't feeling quite up to snuff.


But by this evening he was venturing out. I haven't seen him eat, yet. perhaps he'll have more of an appetite tomorrow. Welcome to the clan, little guys.

My Redneck Fish Pond

This morning I had my husband drive me out to Spanaway to pick up this half whiskey barrel I'd found on Craigslist for $10. New ones are going for around $50. I don't need new. Weathered looking is just fine.


I had been watching for a cheap whiskey barrel planter to use for a pond in my backyard. I already had this liner for it.


I bought it 4 years ago and had used it as an "in ground" pond. I had a pump, filter, the whole works. Even a lovely water lily. I had some feeder goldfish that were growing fat and sassy. Then the raccoons struck and demolished the whole works in one night. The sad thing is, the fish were so used to coming to the surface as soon as they saw my shadow, they probably swam right up and said, "Hi, Mr. Raccoon, are you going to feed us?". Bet they were surprised to find they were the ones on the menu. Such is life. I am ready to try again. This time I am not going to the trouble of digging a freaking hole in the ground. And I won't bother with a pump or filter. I'll do partial water changes and treat it as a big goldfish bowl. Easy peasy. I like easy. I killed off the red ants that had hitched a ride in the barrel. I already have enough ants, thank you very much. Then I cleaned out the liner with a scrubby and some non-iodized salt. I had saved this natural colored gravel when I sold my big fish tank.


Gravel is expensive. This is probably $30 worth. I rinsed it well and added it to the liner that was inside the barrel.


Next I filled up the pond using rainwater collected in my rain barrels. I am totally digging the rain barrels. So damn handy.


The water was a little greenish but I figure the fish will like it just fine. Now all I need are a couple of fish and a water lily, and I'll be enjoying the heck out of my little pond.

Independence Day

It doesn't really feel like a holiday, this year. My better half has to work and the youngster is off with friends. I'm not into barbecuing by my lonesome, so it'll probably be ramen for dinner. Whoopee! Today is overcast and breezy. Perfect gardening weather so I need to get my butt out there. But first I want to share the good things I picked up at the South Tacoma Farmers' Market, today. This is my 3rd week attending and the crowds were down a bit, due to the holiday. But it was still lots of fun. If you are in the Tacoma, WA area I highly encourage you to check it out. Every Sunday, 10am to 3pm, 56th & Washington. Today they had a band called 'The Fun Police'. They were all dressed up in uniforms and rockin out. I was in a Mexican mood, so grabbed a tamale and taco before hitting the stands to shop. Here is today's haul. First I made a beeline to the plant lady's booth to see if she had any zucchini starts this week. Bingo!


I also couldn't resist the pretty multicolored basil. I can't remember what type it is. She said it's a cross between a Thai and a Genovese? How fun? The plants come up all different colors. Some green, some purple, and some calico. Gorgeous! I also bought some berries (although not from the previous vendor). I got some super sweet strawberries and some raspberries.


I'll be making more jam tomorrow. Between these, and the ones from my bushes, I should be able to make some good batches. Rick picked up a couple of different types of local honey, from Sweet As Can Bee Honey Farm. He chose Wildflower and Fireweed. This is going to be delightful on my morning toast.


My sweetie also bought me this lovely blown glass hummingbird. I think hummingbirds must be my totem animal. I sure love them. This little guy will hang in my garden window, above the plants. That way the whole family can enjoy him.