Scattergories Meme

I found this little meme at Christie's blog handcramp crafts.

The monkeys are being boring and it is hot so I don't want to take garden pictures or go find something garden related to blog about. Since life is not to interesting, I think today is a good day to play.

It is called SCATTERGORIES …it’s harder than it looks! Erase my answers, enter yours and post it on to your blog. Let me know when you have done it and I will come check it out!

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things. Nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial.You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME? Deb
4 LETTER WORD: Dork
VEHICLE: Dodge
TV SHOW: Dateline
CITY: Dallas
BOY NAME: Doug
GIRL NAME: Darla
OCCUPATION: Dog Catcher
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Dungarees
FOOD: Doughnut
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Drain
REASON FOR BEING LATE: ? Dawdling.
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Durn

Here is something extra. Manly Man smashed a stinkbug on his face this evening. Pretty funny.

Silly Garden Art

VP over at Veg Plotting shared a tour of her garden whimsies today. Yesterday there was an adorable picture of a snail.

She inspired me to share another picture of Senor Werm. Someday someone will teach me how to use this keyboard and I will be able to make the little squiggle over the n. Anyway, we want to see your garden whimsies. That's right, we want pictures of funny little statues or art pieces you keep in the garden. Leave me a comment and I will link your post. If no one plays, I will have to lurk and link. Don't make me lurk.

Players

Cinj has a cute gazing ball holding frog over at Cinj's chat room.

Anna has a bunny planter over at Woody and Herbaceous. Well, on second look, she pretty much has bunnys everywhere.

Perrenial Garden Lover has a really cool Scarecrow and turtles and a bird bath

Brenda at the Brenda Blog has a whole bunch of cute garden art. I particularly like the beetle

While it is not silly or garden art, Momo Falis has beautiful pictures of Hocking Hills and some cool pathways. It's my blog and I will link what I want to.

Crafty Gardener went all out for this challenge over at The Gardener Side. There is even a slide show. Check it out.

Karen over at Artist's Garden has a cartoon that made me smile.

Karen at Home Free, has dressed up some rocks in some very cute knitwear.

Tina at in the garden has bowling balls

The Lurking List

Weed Wackin Wenches have a darling picture of Diva Dog

Joy at Gardenjoy4me has a darling bunch of bench warmers

Beneficial Insects - Content Warning

Look what Middle Monkey found in the front yard this morning. Excuse the blurry picture. That sucker was fast.

We do not spray for bugs in our garden. We like to let nature take care of everything whenever possible. I am always on the lookout for beneficial insects. Lady bugs and their weird looking offspring do a great job on aphids. Assassin bugs look pretty scary and eat anything they can get their proboscis into.

Our favorite killer bugs are praying mantids. All praying mantis are praying mantids, but not all praying mantis are praying mantids. It's a species thing. Anyway, these creatures will eat anything even each other. A baby mantid's first meal may be his brother. I feel very sorry for the male mantids. If they don't make the jump to the females back just perfectly for mating, they are dinner. Even if they do, she is still going to eat his head during the act and then the rest of him after she gets the needed genetic material. Just thought you should know.

I have a compost update. The pile stayed over 140 degrees for four days. Today it started dropping and currently is at 135. It still a hot pile. When it drops below 130 it will be considered active. Once it cools off to the 80's it is ready to turn and start the whole process over again. We have compost success and I am very happy.

Neighbor's Front Yard

This is pretty,

but is it too much?

Bog Update

Here is my plant list for the bog.
Saurrus cernus - Lizards tail #3 1 gallon plants
Equisetum hyemale - Horsetail reed #3 1 gallon plants
Salvia uliginose - Bog Sage #3 1 gallon plants
Miscanthus sinensis "strictus" Zebra grass #1 3 gallon plant (variety is very important on this one)
Phalaris aruninacea - Ribbon Grass #2 3 gallon plants
Vallisneria americaa - Water celery #3 1 gallon plants
Crinum Americanum -Bog lilly #4 1 gallon plants
Houttuynia cordata - Camerleon plant #4 1 gallon plants
Juncus effusus spiralus - Corkscrew rush #2 1 gallon plants
Iris
Umbrella sedge

Carnivorous plants
Sarracenia alta - Texas pitcher plant #6 1 gallon plants
Drosera capillaris - Pink sundew #10 4" plants
Drosera bevifolia - Red sundew #10 4" plants

I need one more native Texas carnivorous plant. Any suggestions?

Everything Was Fine Until the Bomb Squad Showed up.

Our master gardener association is building demonstration gardens at one of the county courthouses. Here is the hole for the bog garden.

Here is the 3000 gallon rainwater harvesting tank that will provide water to the bog garden and other plantings. Underneath the cedar is a giant green plastic tank. Much prettier with the wood trim, don't you think?

Today we had trustees from the county come help us lay some flagstone and return some of the dirt to the bog. We were about half way through laying the flagstone when a secretary came out of the building yelling that we need to evacuate. There had been a bomb threat. We didn't take it too seriously, but we did take a short lunch break. When we returned the bomb squad had showed up with bomb sniffing German shepherds and everything. The courthouse staff was still unable to return to the building. So our work day was cut short. I never considered gardening a life threatening activity until today. Probably just a prank, but still.

ARRRGGH Stupid Thermometer

Remember me trying to get my compost pile hot.(that was an unfortunate sentence, but I am leaving it). Remember all the work all the worry all the unanswered questions. I tried and tried and tried to get my compost pile to heat up. I babied it. I gave it everything a compost pile could ever desire to become a hot working pile. There was much nashing of teeth. I was determined to dominate the compost pile and I failed over and over again. Or so I thought.

Yesterday I added two bags of frozen food scraps saved for me by my loving Mamala. I cleaned out all the stuff from under the rabbit hutch and added it to the pile. Then I put about a four inch layer of fresh green stuff, mostly some overgrown garlic chives that I weeded out. Then I watered the dooey out of the whole mess. This morning, the pile felt warm. Temp read 90 degrees. Hmmm. Later, I began to smell the slight scent of ammonia, pretty definite sign of a hot pile. Temperature reads 95, really? I pull out the thermometer. I feels hot, really hot. Go inside, get a food thermometer out of the kitchen. Stick it in the pile. It is only about eight inches long. This thermometer zooms up to 140 degrees. The other thermometer, my high dollar compost thermometer, has been wrong all along. Stupid thermometer.