A Greener Biener

The Greener Biener Takes A Break I’ll miss you dear readers, It’s for you that I write But the call of the wild (that is, my backyard) Is too strong to fight Schools out for summer I’ve cut back on house cleaning Yet my time packs right up With picnic-making and sun-screening And there are [...]

I’m sure you’d agree that it takes some serious mama skills to hit the bottom of the peanut butter jar on the very last day of school. Timing is everything. The kids wondered why I was chronicling my morning sandwich making.  They should have been wondering how their strawberries were going to taste doused in [...]

I’ve got girls, so it’s not too surprising that I’d be confounded by the abject masculinity surrounding me these days.  Still, I figured that having five nephews kind of qualified me to manage males. The message I’m getting from the universe: think otherwise. Take, for example, my rhubarb.  Up until recently it was such a [...]

What is our caped crusader up to this time? I’ll give you a hint:  There are no wabbits on that rooftop.  But he is after something…. I know.  All super-hereos have their kryptonite, why should mine be any different? He has a nemesis– Do not be fooled by the banal laugh and bright feathers.  This [...]

After the week we’ve had here, I could do with some raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, or perhaps a tutti fruity tropical beverage with a pink umbrella on top. Everything was going along swimmingly. Our trees, lush and pink and beautiful, burst into bloom right on schedule. And then it snowed. Which was [...]

I’ve got a bone to pick with a particularly heated humpback whale. Or maybe it’s that mudskipper’s fault. I don’t really know who’s to blame but my first grader has picked up an alarming new habit and she didn’t get it from me. Maybe it’s the season.  Something in the air. I know I just [...]

‘Tis not the season to be jolly. ‘Tis not the season for long, lazy days of riding bikes and lounging by a pool. ‘Tis particularly not the season to draw in deep carefree breaths of fresh air, unless you are particularly enamored of hours spent sneezing your head off. ‘Tis the season… For jumping. Last [...]

When they were finally coaxed down from the trees, he built this beautiful trellis. Hire your local twig collectors and relocators.  This is my crew, whom I highly recommend. They are hard workers who work cheap.  They negotiated the deal, which I gladly accepted — $1 plus a Popsicle each got me an entire twig [...]

…that’s when I’ll be comfortable with my gang hanging around in the treetops.  Not only do my monkeys currently lack the capacity for flight, but they have a marked propensity for rapid, headfirst dismounts from all activities. Now I am fortunate that my husband has congenially agreed to build me a trellis to support the [...]

The last attempt I made to live off the land didn’t go very well.   Half pint and pa never bagged a bear, and what with all the churning and mending to be done I utterly failed at the task of putting up enough food to feed my family.  It was barely November and I had [...]