On using vinyl

Against my better judgement, we *did* use vinyl flooring in our addition, and it was a big mistake: ignoring just the damage to the environment in manufacturing, it has a strong plastic smell that still hasn't dissipated, although I'm assured by the builder that it will, eventually.

House enviornment

By sheer persistence, I've got most of the nutsedge out of the front lawn. Now I need to take care of the back lawn, lots of bamboo grass and other invasive weeds. In the end I need to buy a lot of topsoil and maybe organic fertilizer, and break up the hard surfaces a bit.

On not using vinyl

I want to be sure not to use vinyl in our house addition, as its manufacture creates horrible environmental problems.

Blowing off the leaves

It's probably not very Green, especially since our electricity comes from a nuclear power plant, but I used a leaf blower to clear leaves and debris off our moss today, so that the rain would reach it more easily.

Is it the same fox?

On Halloween night, my younger son and I saw a fox, red at its head and extremities but with a gray body. I don't if it is the same one we saw before.

Hot

It is very hot, in the upper 90's F. And summer has just started. Sigh.

Fox

A red fox is patrolling the area behind our yard; we've seen it several days in a row, once with something in its mouth.

Mulching blower

Got a new leaf mulching mower to try out!

Birds and squirrels

We haven't seen much of small birds and squirrels this winter. I've seen predators like foxes and hawks pretty regularly, so that may be why.

The Moss Garden

The moss gardening continues in the back yard, largely by leaf blower. I took some moss out of the woods (where it would have perished under leaf litter) and made a couple of "container" moss gardens on the front porch.

Earlier in the week, I saw someone digging up some moss on the mossy bank near the woods. I was driving past but should have stopped and asked him whether he was a gardener or botanist.

Watering the Moss

With a view towards having a Zen garden in the backyard, I've started watering the moss behind our house.

Cooler days

The days are finally starting to cool. It's time to plant arugula! Since it is now an effete, liberal vegetable, I plan to grow a lot of it.

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung here in the Piedmont. Ticks are here again.

A strange pointy fruit in the compost bin

I'll post a picture soon of the strange plant that came up in the compost bin.

Walking to school

Our new routine involves driving to a carpool pickup point for one kid, then walking to
school with the other. What a great way to start the year!

Back from the lake!

We're back from the lake, with none of the disasters I expected actually
happening.

Toads and a blue tailed skink

I movedthe "Toad House" my sister gave me, more specifically, I moved it to
where the little girl who lives next door told me to put it. It's kind of like an upside down pot, with the words "Toad House" on it.

I just assumed that there were no actual toads around. Then the next day, I was cleaning the leaves from around the house, and surprised two toads. They were
only about 6 feet from where she told me to put the toad house. Five year olds
can intuitively sense these things.

The other day I saw something blue on the porch and reached for it, and it ran
away. It was a blue tail skink.

Almost out of our drought

We're almost out of our drought.

On a school field trip last week, we visited a family with chickens. They grew grapevines over the chicken enclosure so that they could shake the Japanese beetles down for the hens to eat for breakfast.

Lavender and Moss

This sounds like the title of a play. But my sister suggests growing lavender in the dry, eroded spots in our yard. I also like the moss
that's growing in our back yard and would like to cultivate it. Our neighbor is trying to kill all the moss in his yard, because it takes over from his lawn.

December

Dry, windy weather is here. It still doesn't feel as though we've had a real fall; the leaves are still on the trees.

This seems to be a season full of musical concerts.