Garden Update: Random Stuff

Hey there!

This post consists of some random images from the garden that I thought you'd enjoy.... For example, the orange butterfly with the damaged wings that I chased for 10 minutes around the yard as I waited for him to perch on something so I could take a picture. How cool is it that when he finally did perch it was atop one of my cactus plants!?! It's like he knew exactly what would make me squeal with joy, not just an up close photo, but one of him chilling out on my cactus! Anyway, the poor guy had some wing damage and perhaps that explains why he was flying around all weird...

Although, I don't think it's just the wing issues, I think it's butterflies in general... and maybe because I was walking around after it with a camera coaching it with little "come on butterfly" chants to land so I could paparazzi away! Hehe... Bottom line is, this butterfly flapped around the yard like a stumbling drunk for a long time with me skipping behind it on a photo mission and an excited Kimbo (our Boxer) jumping like a prancing pony in circles around me... If the earnest hunter look on his face meant anything I guess he was probably thinking, "If she doesn't catch that thing I'm gonna chomp it right out of the sky!" Hahahaha.... I love him!

So, before I go on rambling for another few paragraphs, here are some random images of things going on in the garden... Have a great afternoon!

More garden posts that you might like:
Garden Update: Garden Tour Update (from today)
Garden Update Part I: My Planters - September (from yesterday)
Garden Update - July
Garden Update - April Part 2
Garden Update - April
Garden Update - February
Cactus Corner
My Mother's Garden
Backyard Garden Tour
Weekend Garden Goodies
Succulent and Cactus Garden Tour

*all* Garden Update posts
*all* posts on my garden
*all* posts on my mother's garden
*all* posts on my grandmother's garden

I got this awesome little frog prince at Ross a while back, I had seen him lurking on the aisle shelves for months and, at around $15 he was a bit too pricey for me. However, one day I finally spotted him in the clearance aisle with a $5 tag, in others words - the price was right and he was MINE! I'm not sure what his official purpose is because he has a big round opening in his crown with a ceramic cup resting in it, he is hollow inside and there are two big holes at the bottom. My best guess is some type of oil burner for the garden to repel bugs, but who knows.  All I really wanted him for was to turn into a planter (because he has holes at the bottom and top) or just use as garden decor. Anyway, he is currently guarding my large planters by the pool... I've got to fill him with a succulent or two, I think he would look great with one of those bloomin' onion looking Echeveria's growing out of his crown!

A quick side note - there is a disgustingly enormous frog that lives in our yard and lurks near our front door looking for leftovers after the cat finishes her food and I almost stepped on it the other day as I rushed out the door to school - thank goodness I looked down!! To my horror it actually jumped at me, as if it was trying to jump up the step of the threshold and get in the house - I shrieked like I was being stabbed to death! Not so much because he jumped towards the door but because my skin was crawling with the morbid thought of what would have happened if I had stomped down on him in my flip-flops!!! AHHHHHH!!!!! Also, you must know that when I was around 10, I was outside playing hide and seek with two of my male cousins (it had rained a lot and was getting dark) and suddenly I hear "hey Catherine!" and when I turn around my cousin hurled a huge wet slimy frog at me and of all places, it hit my FACE! *Shudders* Yeah, it was HORRIBLE!

So anyway, this mini horrifying experience (and that disturbing memory) really made me realize how ironic it is that my mother and I love the heck out of any ceramic frog for the yard (and we have many to prove it - damn you Marshalls, TJMaxx and Ross!), because real frogs are something out of a nightmare! Little baby frogs and those cute jungle tree frogs are great, but big frogs and toads are traumatizing! I don't want to tell you that I might run for the salt the next time I see it, but I might! I'm certainly not brave enough to grab it by the leg and chuck it over the wall of our yard like my grandmother used to do (what a hilarious sight)! That woman is fearless!

I can't wait to fill him with succulents.... stay tuned!

Check out this awesome thing!  I don't know what the heck it is, but it looks like it's a combination of a candelabra and a mini bird bath!  Or a mini prayer altar for holding burning candles and holy water, not sure.  If anyone out there knows what this is called and what it is used for please let me know!!  The bottom is marked Karam International and I can't find anything but a metal welding company and a Middle Eastern staffing agency when I Google it, hehe.  It's certainly not a Menorah as it does not have enough candle holders, however a friend suggested perhaps it is a Kinara since it has seven candle holders.  What is the littel hook for on the underside of the bowl?  Hmmm.... anyone know?

Anyway, me and this gem go waaaay back!  For well over a year I would see this piece of painted ceramic decor floating around the same TJMaxx, from aisle to aisle, at first it was full price - $24.99 with an original price of $80.00!!   Naturally I swooned over its good looks but rejected its price tag, after all I only wanted it for yard decor/possible mini bird bath!  Well, once day as I perused the aisles of that TJMaxx, TA-DAHHHHH.......

I'm in love!  It's currently living over in Cactus Corner, I'll be back next week with an update on that part of my garden!

This is a picture of a lizard that was lounging on one of my mother's planters in the patio.... Call me paranoid but I swear he was watching me as I snapped photos of my planters nearby. In fact, my suspicion was confirmed when I got close to him to take a picture and he cocked his head to one side and followed me everywhere I moved! At one point he got scared and made a mad dash for the other side of the planter and out of sight, but then suddenly popped his head over the corner and I swear it was to look at me. This is not the first time I've noticed such a thing, there is a large lizard clan in my yard and my dog Chewby has a grand 'ol time trying to catch them - constantly, he's obsessed! Anyway, I'm not crazy, lizards have funny personalities and I think we take for granted that since they are living animals just like us, it's quite possible that they observe us from time to time.

And of course last, but definitely not least, our Boxer with the amazing personality - Kimbo!

(All images in this post are my personal photographs, please do not use them without my written permission. If you would like to use any of my photos of my home and garden from this blog please contact me at InspireBohemia(at)blogspot(dot)com - Thank you!)

Whattaya Got In The Bag?

Phish--"Dog Log" (mp3)
Billy Bragg (w/ Michael Stipe)--"You Woke Up My Neighborhood" (mp3)

In a neighborhood like mine, you see people walking down the streets in early morning, if you're lucky enough to get home for lunch, and all the way up until twilight, carrying plastic grocery bags straining under the concentrated weight of their hefty contents. Your first thought is that, like Charles Bronson in the first Death Wish, they are carry bags filled with rolls of coins that they can use to beat down any potential mugger. Or maybe an orange, to add nutrition to a healthy stroll.

But no, the luggage they carry is far more odorific. They are travelling the streets of this clean, upstanding neighborhood carrying sacks of (what, at least, once was) steaming hot poo. Dog poop, to be exact. I think.

If they were carrying their own poop around in a bag, we would suspect them of either dementia or of watching too much Borat. But instead, it's perfectly acceptable, out of politeness, respect, and the social contract, for well-dressed, well-groomed people to carry bags of dogshit around with them, carrying them for, perhaps, blocks, until the poo has cooled and firmed up, until the dog has done everything there is to do, and until they have to decide what to do with their treasure back at home. If they stop in conversation, both they and the person they are talking to know that rather than a purse or a sandwich or even a cigarette, one of them is lugging around doo-doo and trying to act casual about it. Because that's what polite people do.

Chances are, in an effort to be casual, while the poop-laden one is standing there chatting away, he or she is swinging that bag with a condensed turdpile in it around like it's a bunch of keys at the end of a lanyard. Or at least, its gravity causes it to follow their every hand guesture. God forbid they have to get a phone from their pocket or something and have to say, "Here, could you hold this for a second?"

If you've ever taken a big, skidding, sliding step into a moist pile of the excreted stuff, you're probably grateful for this unspoken law of Suburbanland. Especially if you're the kind of person who scurries out to get the morning paper off the lawn in a bathrobe and bare feet. Cutting grass is bad enough without have to smell what's on the bottom of your shoe as you push the mower around your yard. And, it is your dog's crap and it is their yard, so it's a little hard to defend leaving it there. But, oh, the indignity of having to bend over with your hand inside of a bag turned inside-out and sort of claw up what feels like a toxic plop of hot mashed potatoes. With an after-odor, of course.

This voluntary or required cleaning-up after one's dog is a fairly new phenomenon. In our fair city, the City Council has only passed ordinances involving picking up poop in public places and O.P.P. (other people's property) within the last four years. The fine for a police citation in a city park is $50. Whether someone can make a "citizen's arrest" for a neglected pet pile, I don't know. Since I don't technically live in the city, I also don't know whether my neighborhood practices voluntary self-enforcement or whether it has its own separate "log" laws.

I also can't decide whether cleaning up after your dog is common sense or much ado about nothing. My guess is that most other people don't have a strong opinion either, until they get right into the problem. Cleaning up after ourselves certainly seemed like a no-brainer, but it took both laws and a raised national conscience generated from public service announcements just to get littering to its current diminished-but-not-gone state (which is way better than it was in the 60's, I'll tell you). So maybe cleaning up after our dogs is just as significant, despite the biodegradability of said "litter" and inability to enforce control of any other animal or bird offerings.

It just seems to me that addressing this inconvenience gets far more attention and self-policing than any number of other societal indiscretions. Like aluminum siding or blue Christmas lights. That is probably because people don't like to be caught and they don't like to be embarassed, and when a dog is ready to do his business, everything comes to a halt and there you are standing in broad daylight not knowing whether Mrs. Kravitz is lurking behind the curtains in one of the houses around you or not while steam rises from fresh doggie defecation like smoke signals.

Me, I'm not in this game, though, by law, I should be. My little chihuahua's droppings are so small as to fall beneath the height of the grass blades. They can get lost under a leaf or two. The careless might mistake them for Tootsie Rolls. If you get one stuck, you could probably clean it from the bottom of your shoe with a twig instead of the paint spackler that the big dogs' smelly smears require. So, yeah, under that greatest of excuses, "Out of sight, out of mind," I do not abide by the laws of the hood.

There are many pleasures to owning a smaller dog; in today's world, this near-invisibility of his ordure may be the greatest one. Though even if I had a larger dog, I'm pretty sure I would walk him after dark.

Love, Peace and Friday!

 LOVE...PEACE...& FRIDAY!!!!

It's Friday and boy am I ready for five o'clock!  With that said, may the clock tick faster and may all sense of time slip away from me as I endure the final hours at work... hehe....

What else, what else?  Oh yeah, Valentines Day is Monday.  Joy.  I'm not fanatical about this holiday,  I just let it wash over me.  My man and I will, in all likelihood, go eat at our favorite Thai restaurant and afterward we'll be so stupid happy (and waaaay too full) to do anything else but snuggle together and watch a movie at home.  Sounds heavenly to me!

By the way, isn't that little meatball up above just the cutest thing ever?  My man really wants one...  And I must admit I wouldn't mind one either, even though most Bulldogs tend to get super overweight and have many problems (apart from the major one of not being able to mate on their own - eek!)  But, maybe some day (over the rainbow) he'll get one.... and I'll get a Boxer pup just as sweet and amazing as my brother's Boxer - Kimbo, seen in this post.

What else?  I'm looking forward to doing some gardening this weekend!  I must consolidate some of my single stragglers.... plants that is.  By now I have come to love big planters with lots of different cacti and succulents in them, not just one by itself (except certain ones).  I'd also like to paint the inside of this gorgeous wood trunk that my grandmother gave me a few years ago...  It's really old and has a very Moroccan look, I love it to pieces.  And that is why I've decided red is not the most flattering color for the inside, TURQUOISE is!!!  DUH!!!  I will be sure to take before and after pictures and share the process with you, as well as the paint color I use.  Yay!  I can't wait until I actually get around to doing it!

What's on your agenda for the weekend?

xoxo

(Image via a chain e-mail on puppies, but it's also watermarked Widelec.org)

My Life As A Dog

Cinder Bridge--"Everything Changes" (mp3)

There are those many, many things that I have not figured out, will never figure out, but here's one that I'm pretty comfortable with right now.

Each morning, when my little Chihuahua, Taco, wakes up (and crawls from underneath the blankets and comforter of the bed where he sleeps), he is ecstatically happy to see whomever he has been sleeping with. His tail wags instantly, he yawns and stretches pushes into people to rub his back and wake his muscles and wrestle a little bit and pretend to bite and enjoy present company until present company can drag out of bed and take him outside.

This, of course, is not unique to Taco. All well-treated dogs are happy to see the people that they live with at the start of the day or after any separation.

What I've discovered is that this works with students. To be the dog. To be the fresh, excited, affectionate companion every time I walk into the classroom. To every single day be "on," to be fascinated by their worlds and, even, withholding of judgements as much as possible. To what end, you ask? Is this a pathetic attempt to be the buddy of every high school senior in the school?

I don't think so. I hope not. Because the great discovery I've made, for me at least, is that it is not an act. I am not pandering to their musical tastes or tales of rebellion or critical remarks about other teachers. I am not tolerating their crude remarks about girls or misguided perspectives on Affirmative Action. I am not trying to be on their side. No, I've just reached a point, and, admittedly it has taken some time, where I am excited and am easily affectionate and am fascinated by them. I am fully enjoying their not-fully-developed-adults company.

And that means sorting with them through petty likes and dislikes, racial indiscretions (the kind that leave a student proclaiming, "I am not a racist!"), the trying-out of gender stereotypes, the meannesses, judgements, and cuts they make on their teachers and fellow students, Democrats and the alternatively-lifestyled. Yes, it's a kind of tolerance on my part, but not a passive tolerance. I don't agree, but I'm not trying to get them to agree with me, either. It means that, rather than ending up in verbal combat, I can swallow a cutting retort to a position that offends me. But, be clear, it does not mean allowing inappropriateness, narrowmindedness, foolishness to go unchallenged. Because that cutting retort that was swallowed is replaced with a question or a hypothetical or an allegory, but I am not trying to direct students to the answer, I'm not trying to make the obvious link to the other situations for them. Leave it out there; let one of them draw the conclusion. Because the relationship in the classroom is far, far more important than being right, being smarter, being verbally quicker.

Do you really think a dog wants to drag himself up every time he gets called? Does he want to "go for a ride" knowing full well, from experience, that he's going to end up locked in the car in a parking lot somewhere while everyone else is inside a building where all of the good smells come from? But he always does, he always rolls the dice, because being with his people is more important than the unpleasant parts of being the family dog.

I'm trying to be that dog. Regardless of grades, skipped classes, ADHD, sulking, forgotten books, unread assignments, sneaky cell phones, athletic egos, broken assurances, hormones, I want them to know that I'm am happy to spend time with them. My friendship is not conditional. It shouldn't be.

And, no, this is not about rigor. Let the material be hard, let the assignments be challenging, let the deadlines be firm. That does not mean that I or you or any of us needs to play the hardass for hardass' sake, though, does it? The world is full of Tiger Moms, Helicopter Moms, Drill Sergeant Dads, My Way Or The Highway Pops. And, I know some of my own colleagues revel in "tough love," certain that it is the only kind of love an adult can give to a child, perhaps the only kind of love they were given.

But that isn't me. I've found that you can fail a student and still have him come hang out in your office the following semester, can let him know, through that daily, dog-like joy every time he walks through your door, that, yes, in the narrow confines of the class, his work was inadequate, but that you recognize he has more to offer. Funny, it's easier to pull off with students. I'm pretty sure most other relationships don't quite work that way. Woof.

In an act of professional suicide, longtime reader CinderKeys took on uber-Rock Critic Dave Marsh to defend my Escovedo post. The least I can do is to post one of her songs!

Mama's Garden

While my boyfriend and aunt were in the hospital I slept at my mom's house....  Sleeping at mom's afforded me the luxury of waking up with the family dogs anxiously and happily panting in my face (I fell asleep watching TV on the sofa), eating a delicious breakfast I didn't have to cook, and quality family time - SCORE!  All that aside, I got to wander through my mother's lovely yard/garden in the early morning  "oohing and ahhhing" as she eagerly watered her plants!  Here are some pictures I took, beginning with the image above which features the stunning yellow flower of her Frangipani, which had just bloomed that very same day (last Saturday), our dogs and much more of nature's wonderful beauty.  Thanks for passing on the green thumb mom, you're the best!

Enjoy! 

Our Boxer, "Kimbo".... one of my brother's friends gave him to us when he was a puppy and he already had that name, I guess my brother liked it because it stuck!  Kimbo is quite the character and a VERY intelligent dog.  I love that punk....

He LOVES to swim, he must jump in the pool and swim around at least 2-3 times a day!

Kimbo shakes hands too!....

LOL...Here we were making fun of him, lifting up his ears to get an idea of what he would have looked like if my brother had gone the traditional route and clipped his ears (he didn't clip his ears or tail... the ears I'm glad, the tail, not so much....that thing hurts like a whip)

That look says he doesn't appreciate our evil cackling....hehe...

Our oldest dog, Manchita the Dalmatian.... she is skin and bones and perhaps she should be put down due to many issues, but the girl still has so much life, she gallops around the yard like a horse!  We just don't have the heart... plus, I think she needs to go naturally!....

Last but not least my Chewby Dewby Doo, my caramel Cocker Spaniel.... the family calls him Chewy....  he has one of those sad personalities, poor thing, I think it got worse when my dad passed away.....  But, the one thing that definitely makes him happy is chasing lizards!

 And now, for my favorite part.... The other pictures of my mother's garden which I have enhanced the color contrast for added color and drama!..... Aren't they awesome!?  Yes, yes they are... :)

 Here is a huge bunch of Aloe and those awesome bright eggplant purple plants... don't know their name, but I need some of my own!....

Kalanchoes spilling out of their container..... how I love these Kalanchoes!  The ones in my garden come from my mother's yard, but it amazes me how different both of ours look - it's because they turn various shades of purple and green depending on how much sun or shade they get..... fascinating....

 

You better recognize... Gardeners know the best dirt!  :P

A Bromeliad mixed in with some of that creeping cactus vine, forgot the name.... but it's the same one I have that puts out the gorgeous blood red flower (because we both got our cutting from my grandmother's yard)!

....aaaaaaaaand........a magnificent purple and white orchid in full bloom!.....

(All images in this blog post are my own personal photographs)