"When I tell you something is dangerous, I mean it. And, I never forget the Victims"
T.J. Hooker
"Everyone can master a Grief but he who has it”
William Shakespeare
”I had given him a life not worth living, but I had also given him an iron will to live. This was a common combination on the planet Earth”
Kurt Vonnegut about his character, Kilgore Trout.

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Sky Watcher Post; Garden report; Wolfie report, and The Tort report.


There is lots and LOTS of thunder but no Bolts so far.  I hope we get some rain and not just lightning strikes which can cause fires.  It's over 80 degrees and very exciting!  Wolfie is not bothered by all this but then, it hasn't really crashed to the ground and hit anything.

One year before we had Wolfie and before the trees were out,  a bolt of lightning came down the tree, lept over to the house and fried the electric meter before it traveled through the grounding wire into the ground.   Smokin'!  That was a very big noise!  Living at the top of a Mesa really has it's exciting moments!


Garden Report: Mr. Z saved tomato seeds from the Heirloom Zebras, and this is the second year we've been able to use last year's seeds.    I'm so stoked!  I'd love to plant potatoes, too, but the little skunks and possums would just probably dig them up.  And, the potato plants are, like tomatoes, bad for the tortoises.  This pot is thigh high to me, so the torts can't figure out how to get at them.   We use our compost and some potting soil, new, every year.

Wolfie Report:  Wolfie is very calm during this storm, and we are hoping that most of his PTSD, from living with gunfire and in the rough for God only knows how long, is over with.  He came from somewhere in City Heights, which can be a real Wild West Show sometimes.  He's just been to the groomer's though, so he may be a little deafened from the blowers.  Holy Smokies, is it ever LOUD in there.  He runs away when I try to take his picture so here's one from earlier.

He's small enough to fit inside a grocery sack when he wants to.
Tort Report: The baby torts spent the winter outside for the first time this last year.  They missed their rose feasts but they had plenty of grass in their enclosure.  40% of what a tortoise eats in the wild is dried grass anyway.  We keep a good eye on them lest they tried to escape to the larger world and meet the horrible fate that met their youngest sibling.

Mother Poko went out the gate this year as well, though she was large enough to attract the attention of a passing neighbor who came and told on her.  Mr. Z nabbed the miscreant and immediately fortified the gate with bricks.  How that huge tortoise managed to wedge her way in and then out of such a tight space still has us scratching our heads.  Tortoises, it seems always want to go where "the grass is greener", and will do just about anything to get to it.    

2 comments:

  1. I love a good thunderstorm as long as there is no major damage.
    Nice tomato plant! We do the compost / soil combination too, they seem to appreciate it.

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  2. Ditto that on the Thunderstorms. We are supposed to have more today. I'm hoping we do, and get more rain that the tiny showers!
    We are so happy and so proud of these little tomatoes! I almost feel like a real farmer again. Next step was to get five chickens and two mini goats but it ain't going to happen, I can tell. ;o)
    I wish everyone would set up a composting system. Ours are cold composters and should be in the shade. One sits abandoned at the moment -at the back of the photo- but we'll get it moved. For years, I used them in the sun, not knowing. Duh! DH took a class and found this out. They worked darn good I must say, in the sun. I just had to moisten them periodically.

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I’m going through some stuff but I will peek in now and then and will be back when it’s over..