Dammit Spring

Once again, I'm impatiently waiting for the arrival of Spring. This year I decided I would start trying to grow things INSIDE because it's not yet warm enough to grow them outside yet.

I decided to get started with pet grass, also known as pet grass. Locksley really enjoys nomming on grass, and I hear parakeets are supposed to like it too (although Dorsia hates practically everything novel--so we'll see).

So, I planted a bunch of oat grass in a big pot for Locksley, and a bunch of oat grass in a small container for Dorsia.

Locksley's pot was quiet for several days until BOOM! explosion!

Dorsia's pot grew nothing. I thought maybe they were late bloomers or something. So I waited.

Meanwhile, Locksley's pot continued to grow like crazy mad men.


Dorsia's pot, still nothing. I gave up on it until...


One peasey blade of grass. Growing, smashed into the corner, mocking me. Jerk! I guess I'll give this pot a little longer to produce something substantial.

You might have noticed there's something ELSE in Locksley's pot. A mushroom!



It's not real of course -- I think it's ceramic or something. Anyway, I thought it was adorable. Who doesn't need a friend in a grass forest?

At the same time I planted purple basil and sage. I got these already started from Behnke's, our local garden store. I also decided I would grow some regular old basil in this pot as well. They took forever to sprout (at least in comparison to the grass) and seem to be pretty slow growers. Though it may be because the pot is already pretty active.


I was also inspired by Chris and Sandy to grow an Avocado plant. They have a HUGE avocado plant in their dinning room that they grew from a grocery store avocado pit. They didn't start it in water or anything -- just chucked it in some dirt and watered it. I'm trying that same route, though I'm not expecting to be as successful in this endeavor as they were.


I've got several other seeds to start, but I'm trying to pace myself. This whole process so far is only confirming a sneaking suspicion I've had for a while: I need a backyard.

Son of Cactus Spider - TRIUMPHANT!

Sad news, everyone. When I went to check on the spiders who live on the cactus this afternoon there was only one. ONLY ONE! Son of Cactus Spider now as the cactus monopoly.

God speed, Original Cactus Spider, where ever you are.

I was also able to witness something I had NEVER BEFORE SEEN. This is kind of a big deal because I have spent a lot of time over the years observing nature. I thought I wanted to be a naturalist. But then I learned that it entailed more than creeping around in the woods, dictating into a microphone, pretending to be Sir. David Attenborough.

What I saw was Son of Cactus Spider shedding. I didn't know that spiders shed! But it makes perfect sense: what else are you supposed to do with an exoskeleton that's starting to pinch in all the wrong places?

It was hard to photograph because he was twirling around the entire time. But here we go:

This is how I found him. What are you up to, Cactus Spider?

He was really twisting around in the "wind" - though I'm pretty sure all that twirling was on purpose to speed along the shedding process.

Here he is, peeeeeling out of those old legs. I imagine it's like taking off panty hose after a hot day.

He's free! and dangling from his discarded exoskeleton. He kind of looks like an octopus or something, I think.

He's finished! No longer floppy and octopussy - it looks like his legs are in full working order.

Good work, Son of Cactus Spider!

Cactus Spider

We have about a zillion cactuses (or cacti, if you please) living on our apartment balcony. And apparently, we have something ELSE living on our balcony, too.

I present to you: Cactus Spider.





It be fair, I have been holding out on you a little. This spider has actually been living on this particular cactus for several months. But it's gotten decidedly larger, and its web has gotten much larger and more interesting.

If you look closely at the web in the photo above you should be able to tell that instead of a "charlotte" style pattern, the web is more like something you'd see on your screen door. They're all very tiny squares, basically. I had never seen something like it.

You can't see it in any of these photos as far as I can tell, but its legs have really loooong, sticking-straight-out hairs all over them. Silly looking -- and kind of like the spines on our cactuses.

But, my favorite thing about our spider friend are its googly eyes. Usually you'd expect several beady eyes arranged on the front of a spider's head. Not this one! It appears to have two round googly eyes situated at the front, or slightly under its body. It may have more eyes underneath it (or on the top of it's head) but it's perpetually upside down so we always see this rather goofy spider look on its face.

I have no idea what KIND of spider it is, but it's nice to come out and check up on.

Rest in Peace, Nooch the Super Rat

After three years of excellent friendship, Nooch the rat has died.

I bought Nooch to save him from being snake food. Fancier rats—ones that have cool colors and markings—usually make it as pets, but brown "sewer rats" like Nooch don't seem to fare as well. So I brought him home to keep me company. He was the first pet I would have since moving from North Carolina to Maryland. I had missed having an animal to take care of. More importantly I was at a rough spot in my life—work was stressful, and to make matters worse I was having neck surgery. The time I would have to take off of work was perfect for bonding with my new addition.

I've had rats before but Nooch was, by far, the best (no offense to Cooper, Lewis, and Oswald). He was puppy like—always seeking out my company, ready for a game of chase, or a session of mutual grooming. He was cheerful and cuddly even when he developed a lump on his side.

Death is hard to watch, but I'm glad I was able to be with Nooch the evening he died.

I wanted to bury Nooch, but I live in an apartment. So, I had to get a little creative. My solution—a small, mobile cemetery in the form of a flower pot.

A flower pot, or urn (if you like), befitting Nooch's final resting place.

We drilled a hole in the bottom and put small river rocks for good drainage.

Next, a comfortable layer of dirt was added. Nooch was placed cozily on that—along with a yogie for the after-life.

More dirt was added over Nooch, up to nearly the top.

Since we'll being going out of town in a couple days we decided not to plant anything just yet. We want to make sure it gets a good start with watering and such. For now, an orange flower will be Nooch's token.

A ritual deserving of a super rat. Rest in peace, Noochy.

I will have you, Spring.

I admit it - I take things and run with it. So when it finally got a bit warmer this week, and a nice misty rain shower came for a visit this weekend, I took it to mean that Spring was upon us and that I needed to get things rolling, PRONTO.

So, a visit to our local Behnke's. I can remember going to this gardening store ever since I was a kid (pronounced it "Binky's") and it's one of those memories I have of my parents together, and us, as a happy family. We'd come home with plants - even one for me, that I would promptly and mournfully kill - and make our yard into a secret garden of colors and textures.


I don't live in a house. I live in an apartment, with a balcony. I'm afraid I haven't gotten much better with plants with age. But, I was heartened to find a website or two addressing the challenges of growing anything on an apartment balcony with its shade, shifting light, and suspect cover. So I got a couple flowers (pansys, mache ranunculus), herbs (peppermint, lavender, rosemary, oregano) and pet grass (for Locksley). My fingers are crossed for them. They really are.

Because I, my dear friends, can kill the most un-killable plants. That's right: cacti. Fortunately for me - and for the cacti - Sam is very *good* at keeping cacti alive. We have about a thousand of them. And now that the threat of frost is gone they get re-potted and moved out onto the balcony as well. I'm already missing their green (although spikey) company in the kitchen. Re-potting, if you're unfamiliar, involves moving plants that have out grown their current pots and placing them in bigger ones. Cacti have pretty crazy roots - either because they are HUGE, because they are ridiculously tiny, or because they are ridiculously networked. It's a messy and adventuresome process. Locksley helped :)