The Little Plants that Could

I think the plants that I admire the most are the ones that seem to defy the odds. Sometimes I have begrudging admiration for even pesky plants that manage to trudge along and find their way despite of less-that-perfect circumstances.

For example, I planted three caladium bulbs under the giant bonsai tree this spring. And I watered and waited. And nothing happened. I figured they were goners, and filed them in the "plants that don't survive in my yard" box and forgot about them.

Then, in mid-July, I saw a spike of growth coming out of the ground. A few days later, this emerged:
One of the other caladium bulbs managed too:

Surprise Lilies; the name says it all. They produce thick foliage in the spring and then appear to die back. Then, in August, just when you think they're goners, they bloom beautifully. I fall for it every time. They even smell nice, too.

I started these coleus from seed this spring. They are now taller than O. This is the first time I've found a good spot for coleus, because they seem happy in a spot with lots of morning and early afternoon sun but protection from the late-day heat. This finding has inspired me to fill out this flower bed more, and I hope to try some additional varieties of coleus next year.

I planted the barberry below last fall to replace the thuja that died last summer. This barberry is supposed to about 5 feet tall and doesn't branch out much, which is why I thought it was appropriate for this spot. Unfortunately, this spot is just off the patio in the backyard, where O. like to play, and he tends to run right through this spot, crushing tiny shrubs in his path. We placed the fence you see in the photo around the barberry last fall, but O. insisted that it was a great thing to make shapes with. We gave him his own fence, saying that one fence was for him and one was for the barberry, but the urge to create hexagons was too great, and he ripped the second fence out of the ground as soon as we weren't looking.

Winter came, I thought this would be help; less time outside for O. which would give the barberry a fighting chance. But the ice storm of 2008 proved, once again, too tempting for O., and before I could scream "NOOOOOO!" he snapped the little barberry off at its base. He liked to like the sound of the ice breaking off the branches and clinking on the ice-covered snow. I can't say I blame him for that, but the bad news was that by spring, the barberry was down to a one inch stub above the ground.


And look at it now: the tallest spike is ten inches at least, and still going. O. is doing a better job of staying away from it, too.

And in other news, yesterday O. decided that he was a baby bird. A grey and blue jay, in fact, as noted in his choice of t-shirt and wash cloths. He flapped around the yard, hopped on rocks, and slept in his nest (the castle) most of yesterday morning. J. and I convinced him to do his best fledgling blue jay imitation:
A decent imitation in my opinion.

A Little Landscaping

For the past year, we've had an empty space in the rock bed on the front of the house, just below the office window. Two of the bushes in that bed died, finally, although they were probably on their last legs when we bought the house. I dug out the bushes last year and then was too busy/indecisive to replace them. For a few months, I was looking for a spirea of the right size and able to take some shade. Then I was concerned that this is really a hot spot since although this is a shady spot, it is the West side of the house and receives a few hours of direct afternoon sunlight. Finally, I decided to wait for inspiration to strike.

Three events coincided this weekend which enabled us to finally fill in the empty space on the West side of our house: 1.) a relatively quiet weekend, 2.) a drop in the relative humidity, and 3.) a 40% off plant sale at our local hardware store. The two shrubs on the sides are leptodermis, a flowering shrub that matures to about 2'x2'. The middle shrub is a hummingbird sweetspire, which should mature to about 3'x4'. I hope we've made good choices.

I also hope that the leptodermis doesn't live up to it's name ("thin-skinned" if I'm interpreting the Greek roots correctly). This spot has the worst soil for digging in our yard. It's all hard-packed clay, and there's rocks from previous application, plus the usual tree roots. A shovel gets you absolutely no where, and we dug these by hand spade instead. There's no way we ever want to dig holes here ever again.

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O. Photos

O. is posing for the camera these days. Here he's doing his best (and unintentional) Home Alone impression.

What's with the blue and yellow shoestrings on his feet, you ask?

These are laces from a lacing set. He wraps them around his feet and calls him his "beautiful princess shoes."

Those laces come in handy for other accouterments. I call this photo "I love belts, Momma!" (actual quote from this morning).
Yeah, I don't know what he's doing with his leg in that pose either, but he was insistent that that was how he wanted the photo to look.

One more photo, and this one is future blackmail: O. in his "beautiful princess dress." The dress is the table runner that Mom quilted for us. He likes to spin and twirl around in it.

The Castle

The number 2 project in our queue was completed this weekend, due to the efforts of Dad, Mom, Uncle B, and Aunt M. Why the "The Castle?" That's O.'s word for it, and he defends it with enthusiasm.

We began with this: a pile of treated lumber and recycled deck wood, a wily three-year old, obliging parents/grandparents/aunt/uncle, and a dream.
A couple of days before the project began, a rare (we hope) series of earthquakes occurred. Minimal damage in our area, fortunately. The most severe quake in the series kicked around the wood pile a bit, shown below. Must have been the midwestern-raised in me again, but I was impressed.

We lucked out with the weather, but early afternoon showers forced the first steps of the project indoors. Here's J., Dad, and Uncle B. assembling the base.And here's Mom, documenting the process.

The next step was to attach the vertical beams. The horizontal 2x4s acted as temporary support, by the way. Aunt M. is shown below, holding it and us together.We learned that power saws and naptime don't mix. O. came outside to express his displeasure at the racket. O. quickly realized that the result of his noise is to his benefit.
The floor of the deck was installed next.

It was clear the deck is the best place to be. We basically built it around O., with Aunt M. for comfort/safety/entertainment.
A test run of the slide. Uncle B. later mounted about a foot off the ground, which makes it easier to climb into at the top. O. can land on his feet, which gives him a good running start. I think a swimming pool will reside at the end of the slide this summer.
Dad and Uncle B., putting their heads together.
Mom giving her assessment of the progress.
Uncle B. seems satisfied with the climbing wall installation.
As you can see, O. needs a little help to climb into it yet, but he'll learn. Kids need goals.

The finished product, or at least finished for now. Plans for future modifications and improvements were tossed around, including a roof, some seating for the sandbox below, a bucket and pulley, and swing.

Easter Weekend

A blustery Easter weekend, but it's not raining, so we'll take it.



A lego kit was the big gift this year.



O. is learning about letters right now, so this special egg below was a big hit.


O. and I made an Easter cake yesterday. O. is my sous chef in training, and doing well. He can break eggs with the best of him. He's best at tasting though.

(don't worry, the lotion was not an ingredient)

A bit sloppy, but not bad for an inexperienced cake decorator who was fending off a monkey from eating the cake on the spot. However, he was heartbroken when told that no, we wouldn't be making the rest of the cake rabbit, ie the arms and legs and bunny tail.

Teaching the Old Chairs a New Trick

We finished reupholstering the dining room chairs last weekend. I think two months, five days for project conception to completion is our new personal record.

After much debate, we chose the Ebbtide patina print, at $45/yard. I had to order two yards instead of the measured amount, so it was a bit more than I wanted to spend. At least there was a sale for upholstery fabric when I ordered in January. Plus, Dad lent us the staple gun, and I don't think I used enough of his staples to put a dent in his supply, even. I think the whole project cost $62.



And $62 dollars well spent, I think. This dining set will be ten years old this summer, as it was purchased with wedding gift money. The table was the perfect size for our apartments of the past, but it's a little small for the current space. Some day we'd like to replace it with something bigger. But what? We don't know. That choice depends on the hypothetical flooring replacement, and there's no sense in trying to replace the dining set until we know what we want in the rest if the dining room/living room. And with the exception of the stained seat chairs, the set has held up well. Heck with the new seat covers and if you turn your head sideways and squint, from a distance, the set looks new again.

I tried to get a photo with accurate coloring, but I'm not having much luck. It looks grey/brown in the photos, but at home, in our light, you see more of the greens. In fact, I think I've subliminally chosen a fabric similar to the Dad's college chair fabric.



The new chair covers have been popular with cats and children alike. The photo below shows O. and E. sharing a chair and the warm sunshine. Neither are happy about having to share, but tolerating it well.


And finally: I've learned that Murphy's Law also applies to chair reupholstering. In the two days since I've finished his chair, O. has spilled most of a glass of milk on the chair. Twice in two days. I can't remember the last time he's spilled that much. Oh well, now I know that the extra fabric that I had to buy will be used eventually.

Castles, Houses, and Trains

We have quite the little builder in the house. (A rare still photo, with Great Aunt B.'s doggie ("Hannah") and "picture truck." There are ice cream trucks, cement trucks, and fruit trucks. This one has pictures on it, so it's a picture truck of course.)


O. needs some help with assembly, but he's definitely progressing in home and castle design. Notice the careful application of roofing to "Aunt M.'s house."

Aunt M.'s house, complete with Aunt M.'s car.


The blocks made by Grandpa have inspired some truly unique castle designs. Here we see a neoRoman/Escher structure. Unfortunately it is more for looks than function.



The blocks also have enabled adding another height level to the trainset. Sadly, derailment is a frequent problem.



And the trusty duplo blocks are seeing a high level of use these days. We call this one Orthanc.


And like all skyscraper designers, you have to know when to stop building upwards.


Still working on that.

First Snow

Our first snow of the winter arrived on Sunday.



This snow was much earlier than last year. We don't even have all of our fall yardwork done.

Snow doesn't last long here (in fact, it has already melted, three days later), so sent O. outside. Unfortunately, the precipitation before the snow was an inch or two of rain. O. found the minipond in our backyard, and he quickly broke through the ice. And the minipond quickly became a mud landing strip. Those sweatpants he's wearing in the picture below used to be light grey.



Sure was fun though.

December

Woooosh. That is the sound of our autumn that just flew by.

We now have a three-year old in the house.


Because we are those parents who exacerbate their child's car fetish rather than curtailing with gentle discipline, he received a semitruck that serves as a car carrier. He loves it.


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Only a few house-related activities have occurred recently. We put up the Christmas tree yesterday. We placed it in a different spot from last year. It's beside the fireplace, which means we need a tall, skinny tree. We also decided we needed more red in the tree, because the tree last year looked too brown and dull.



O.'s tree decorating skills improved this year. He was able to hang ornaments this year, though he doesn't have a good sense of spacing them, yet--I keep finding four ornaments on the same branch.

New Cat Species

Have I mentioned that we have a new cat in our house?

The new cat appears to be an unusual species: Felis silvestris toddlerus. Very rare, in fact. It likely descends from both domestic house cats and some humanoid ancestor, and we suspect that it has close relatives in the monkey family. It only appears after bathtime, by the way, and disappears by bedtime.


The cat is about 2 and half years old. Its back and head are orange and black in color with terry cloth-like fur, and it has a pink and fleshy (and quite ticklish) belly. This cat also exhibits an unusual dual bipedal and quadrupedal gait. Very unusual for mammalian vertebrates. In fact, its bipedal movement has been clocked to be the fastest in the genus Felis. It lacks a non-vestigial tail, much to its own dismay.

The cat's diet consists of water, raisins, bananas, and other bedtime snacks.

And "coffee" (and the cat insists that drinking this way makes it coffee).

The cat also occasionally transfigures into a Wheatthin-eating duck, but cat seems to be its preferred form.

The cat also claims that it can fly, but proof of this (fortunately) is not available.