A Greener Biener

Do you want to know the best thing about this plastic baggie full of mouse skeletons? It’s not my maternal pride over the obvious CSI skills my daughters’ exhibit. It’s not knowing that our neighborhood owls are eating well, controlling the mouse population, and selecting our pine tree for the repository of their pellets/gifts.  Though [...]

Sneaking off the couch and hobbling into the back yard I was rewarded with our very first spring salad – And then over to the north garden to see how the rhubarb was behaving– He may have been waving it in the air like he just didn’t care, but I paid him no mind and [...]

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 [...]

It’s hard to tiptoe on the tulips when they are slick with snow– Snow, shmoe, I won’t let it get me down.  The weather changes so fast around here that you might not even notice something very fishy going on in the rhubarb patch.  What, exactly, is this? I’ve had this rhubarb for seven summers [...]

April 12, and our previously perky sprouts have called it quits. All but that one little guy, who I think is an eggplant. Our over-zealous watering took out not only our nice handwritten signs, but much of our crop as well. At least the tomatoes are still hanging in there – Outside things are moving [...]

…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 [...]

On the plus side, the unexpected plethora of water falling from the sky has turned our arid yard into a backyard jungle.  It’s just been a bit unfortunate for my little swimmers, who have been turning blue with cold while dodging thunderstorms at practice.  Acadia addressed the issue by pairing her swim suit with cowboy [...]

Despite a decidedly rocky start with rhubarb, I have made a remarkable comeback. Even though I was deceived as a child into believing that my beloved frozen strawberries were in fact rhubarb (and therefore off limits,) I have now gotten to a point where things with scary names aren’t intimidating.  Well, except kohlabi.  Anyone in [...]

Coming back home after eight days away I am hit by one particular fact: my living room smells like dirt.  No, I can’t blame my husband for letting things fall to pot. The kids are in one piece and the house is still standing.  The house smells like dirt in a good way.  Forest path [...]