…and they’re off!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a fantastic turn out today to witness this, the second annual ESPill-bug derby, broadcast live via morning glory satellite.
Lord Kumo was chauffeured in earlier today in customary fashion,
and was to be seated in his usual “Royal” stinky box seat...
…only to find that it had already been occupied.
Garnet is off to an early lead and setting a punishing (running for her life) pace.
“Go Garnet…go Garnet (clapping)”
Clearing out a pile of decaying leaves recently I exposed a bunch of roly polies that were quickly snapped up by dirty nimble fingers. A few minutes later they all had names; Ruby, Chirp, Garnet, Peep and Quack, nice names for some terrestrial crustaceans…snort.
I continued to listen to their exploits as I raked. I witnessed the gut-wrenching tragedy of Chirp rolling himself up and disappearing between the cracks in the picnic table (I kept raking) and the simultaneous elation at Garnet having crawled over the finish line to win the derby and her freedom from small fingered tyranny.
“Ach, and I thought I had it bad, poor wee beasties.”
After a significant “Chirp-hunt” under the table, and a number of mosquito bites later the search was called off.
It was Ruby, Peep and Quack that I felt sorry for.
Moving along:
My feather grasses are now entering
this rather annoying phase. I am steadily accumulating a huge pile of these filament ladened socks on my back porch.
With the skies opening up and delivering some well needed rain in Central Texas this week, plants
and toadstools have gone into overdrive.
Sedum reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’,
I said Blue Spruce,
wasted no time absorbing the moisture, a very aquatic looking succulent.
As did this Bauhinia corymbosa vine, great for adding depth and a layered look.
Burgundy canna lily…plant it in a large container, cover drainage hole with duct tape and watch it grow and smolder.
It works great paired with giant King Tut papyrus.
It is like the Blitz in this tank that houses the smaller dwarf papyrus variety.
Moving Along:
Spending time on my front porch right now conjures up disturbing memories of “The Ruins”.
This red passion vine is clawing its way toward my front door at about a foot a day.
Who said there was a lack of flowers in the Patch…
Finally…
My front (almost as high a maintenance as the Botox Lady) vitex is now in full bloom,
Sago palm.
I always like the new growth on sago palms…before the leaves get lodged in there and mess it all up.
Stay Tuned for:
.
“Jack and the Sotolstalk”
All material © 2012 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.
Inspirational image of the week:
Write children’s books! Who knows, bug racing may be the next trend.
..And Sir Kumo?!!