We had our first (meager) snow today:
The first good snow of the season usually makes people unexpectedly giddy, even if they dislike cold weather and do not welcome Winter. Just something about watching all that white fluff tumble from the sky seems to make people laugh. Of course, it helps if you are in the company of joyful dogs. But today's doesn't count. It's not enough to stick; just enough to make things grey and mucky.
I harvested the last of my garden for the year yesterday evening:
I will definitely do more Winter squash and potatoes next year! Both are so simple to grow, and are staples of my diet. And Winter squash are so beautiful, sitting in my garden like giant orange jewels. Potatoes have the added benefit of being amusing to dig out!
My alpine strawberry plants, which produced several handfuls of tiny, unbelievably tasty gems, are still lush and green, but are no longer producing. They are built for this climate, indeed!
In other news, behbeh rhino!
By Mark Keppler of the AP. Apparently he was born last Sunday at the Allwetterzoo Zoo in Muenster, Germany, and his keeper is called Michael Adler. There are more cute photos of him here!
Hee!
8 comments:
Yummy-looking pumpkins. I'm sorry to say that the squirrels claimed 6 out of 12 of my butternut squashes this year. Guess I need a couple of doggies to guard my garden, huh?
From the looks of your state fair winners, you ought to be growing cabbages, I guess!
Have a safe and joyful winter.
HA! I am glad I am not the only one with a gourd-squirrel problem. I tried growing pumpkins for the first time this year and a very naughty squirrel helped himself to about half of the young fruits* over the last couple of months. Thankfully, if the fruits managed to avoid pillaging until ~baseball sized the skins were apparently too thick for him to bother (as evidenced by some claw marks but no real damage).
Given the immense amount of joy I have gotten out of this over the years: http://cuteoverload.com/2006/10/09/time_to_uh_carv/ and given how much the bunnies enjoy chomping on pumpkins (with no ill effects) I can't really be mad at Mr. Squirrel. :)
* I don't know what to call a baby pumpkin. We called them "baby pumpkins" and enjoyed making many off color jokes when pruning.
Also, OMG:
http://www.gottshall.com/squirrels/campsq.htm
"The quality of an institution of higher learning can often be determined by the size, health and behavior of the squirrel population on campus. This site documents the critter quality at schools throughout the United States and beyond!"
Berkeley says: "The absolute best place I've found for a squirrel session. The lush landscaping supports lots of big fluffy Fox Squirrels, and many of the students and visitors there seem to really appreciate them! ... There has been some discussion about whether or not Stanford has better squirrels. See Stanford section below."
I am surprised Santa Clara University isn't on there. I've never seen such fat, happy squirrels. :)
Sqwerls at Berkeley are very aggressive, although not in an intimidating, rabbit-like way. They just nonchalantly saunter up to you while you are eating lunch, dive into your bag, and help themselves to whatever they'd like.
Moose love cabbage, and I am indifferent to them. Therefore I will never grow them since the (arvay fondness)/(moose fondness) ratio is too low to make planting them worth my while.
I have two squirrels in the yard. They like foods in the following sequence: peanuts, sunflower seeds, bread, apple (not too much). They show up when I walk out and chirp at me, waiting for handout. funny little guys
Not attracting moose is smart. Cabbage has been known to be good for stomach ulcer or indigestion. Moose might have a bad stomach.
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