As it turned out, I couldn’t.
The tooth fairy will be fluttering into the Patch tonight, let me back up a little.
She came home, sticking her tongue behind her front tooth, forcing it forward to a particularly unnatural angle (which looked completely ridiculous). She quietly asked me how I used to pull out my loose teeth when I was a kid. I barely finished telling her when she came back from the kitchen, sat beside me, reached into her mouth with a paper towel and tugged…
Not thinking she would actually go through with my “procedure”, her actions took me by complete surprise…”pop”!
I believe I was wincing more then her, the sound of her tooth exiting her gum had me up and about, involuntary performing a silly walk around my front room.
Quickly changing the subject…
After receiving a recent dowsing of rain (just shy of four inches) in classic Texas gully-washer fashion, these Gothic toadstools emerged overnight.
Calm down Bella!
This one was particularly disgusting, but I have had a lot worse in the Patch…who could forget this:
http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2009/04/my-sweet-olive-oil/
Another fast responder to the rains are the
oxalis,
Fatsia Japonica and
my Persian ivy.
Weeds have also responded positively to a “wee-nip” of the wet stuff…
I have been pulling out massive amounts of dandelions and a bunches of these
Erodium cicutarium
or Redstem Storks Bill (the fruit of the plant resembles a bird’s beak).
Not a bad looking weed really. The finely divided leaves and rosette growth habit are distinctive features of this winter annual weed.
I was also informed by Patricia that traditionally a leaf tea from the plant was used to induce sweating and as a diuretic. The leaves have also been put to use in the bathtub to help treat rheumatism.
Thanks for this Patricia.
Now where is my trowel?
Bluebonnets, poppies, blood-stained celosia and more weeds are battling it out in the Hellstrip
it looks like it will be a good show come the spring.
These feather grasses are in desperate need of a good grooming
and gopher plants are ready to be cut back.
The new central growth offers a good reminder of when it is time for some pruning. I generally wait until the older longer stalks start to look really bad before I attack them. Be sure to wear gloves, the sap from this plant can be quite an irritant…I found out the hard way:
http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2010/11/“i-decapitated-a-gopher”/
Moving on:
Lots of purple and pinks showing up this week in the Patch…lantana and artemesia ‘Powis Castle’.
Desert trumpet blooms do not last long on the vine with snaggletooth around.
Finally:
Back to the rock tumbling…snort
I am relieved to say that we have passed onto the final stage…polishing. Every time he lifts the lid to this cooler and rock tumbler he emits the same refrain: “Phew, that stinks!”…and it really does.
No need to call the authorities, this is the aluminum oxide polish going into the drum.
and here are the rounded stones pre-polishing.
Now to wait yet another ten days, it is a long process this rock tumbling business and it is testing my patience almost as much as “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”…I said almost.
I will leave you with this image outside a restaurant in east Austin:
Chickens going to roost.
Stay Tuned for:
“Peas in a Pod”
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:
How big were those mushrooms – if they’re anything like the ones I get, you would have had to just lay the camera on the ground to get those shots…impressive.