stuff and nonsense

I wish I could claim this as mine, but mine just wont grow. The slugs and snails seem to devour it before it can gain any momentum in the growing season. Maybe I will move it somewhere else this fall and hope for the best next summer. Duke's mom grew this and I just wanted to show you all. It is so cool, isn't it? I think it is beautiful. And yummy, too, with some garlic butter!

I have been busy with "the home improvement project" and bandaging up wounds related to said project. One superficial burn from the heat gun, one second degreeburn from the heat gun...two jolting head bonks, one resulting in a little-mini scalping incident...various bumps and bruises and one very stiff shoulder and neck from plastering the ceiling. Lord, when did I get this old....and this clumsy? Since we are improving out habitat, Michael took it upon himself to improve Sebsastion(the Hermit Crab)'s habitat, as well. He had grown to the point where his terrarium(once a window-ledge herb garden box) was restricting Sebastion's walks. He is suprisingly active. Michael made this swank new abode, two stories, with plants and caves and climbing walls. Sebastion is so wonderstruck, he has been rattling around all night, every night. He is obnoxiously noisey right now. Oh well, you can't reason with a hermit crab at 2 a.m. Or 2 p.m., for that matter.

The rains have stopped and thankfully the vines are drying out while we still have time to enjoy the raspberries. They were just turning to mush on the vines but the dry weather is back just in time for some last delicious bowls of berries. It was a banner crop this year, despite the last week of rain.

Blueberries are nearly ripe now, too.

My lacy-top hydrangeas are a-bloom. One of my favourite things in my garden.

And my passion-flower vine. Absolutely in my top five favourite things in my garden. This vine wraps around a trellis in my back yard and reaches all the way up to the top of my deck on the second floor, helping to create a little wall of green back there between me and the alleyway traffic.

So beautiful, isn't it? It's vines interlace with two kiwi vines and hopefully in the next year or two, you won't even see the deck railings at all. It will just be a little jungle wall.

The work goes on across the street at the old church. The barbed wire came down and the height of the fence is down to four feet. It is still made entirely of pallets on one side(I will get a picture of that for you soon), because, apparently there is a bylaw about height and about barbed-wire, but not about it being HIDEOUS BEYOND ALL MENTION. Once again, the landlord who preys on this neighbourhood gets away with kicking us in the ribs. Thanks ever so. I wonder if this would be going on next door to Korpan, the mayor?!? There are probably different by-laws for the north end of town. Spanglish is still there with peeling siding falling into the alley, garbage accumulating, and nothing being done.

Ah, hell, I didn't mean to start ranting. I got up early today and am still a bit grumpy about it. I have a hair appointment and I hope the Beauty Queen doesn't mind the plaster in my hair and is gentle along my scalping site. So, in fact, I better go primp. You don't arrive at the Beauty Queen with bedhead, even if she is just going to cut it all off!