Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Nerf Ball Apocalypse


First of all, thanks to those of you who correctly identified the plant on our balcony in yesterday's post. It is indeed a nandina. I have never known what the heck we had growing out there. We have three of them and I love them because they require no care whatsoever. We also have four boxwoods, which I'm less enthusiastic about, but it's very English to have neatly pruned boxwoods sitting around in pots. All these plants were left behind by our landlords. (As I've mentioned before, Dave wants to throw them out and buy our own, but I won't let him. They're perfectly good plants!)

We got our television difficulties sorted out yesterday. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say that it involved trips to two different stores in different parts of town. We wound up just exchanging our old TV box for an entirely new one -- free since it was still under warranty and I saved the original receipt! I'm so proud of myself.

Afterwards we went to a pub for lunch and then came home and, well, watched TV. As you might expect.

Olga found a foam rubber Nerf-style soccer ball in the gutter this morning on her walk. She approached it cautiously but once she decided she could play with it, she pounced and tore it to pieces within minutes. It was hilarious to watch, but it took a bit of effort to clean up the foam shrapnel left blowing around on the sidewalk afterwards. She also ate two pieces of discarded broccoli. I normally try to prevent her from eating stuff on the sidewalk, but wanting to eat broccoli is a good thing, right?!

(Photo: A wig shop in Camberwell, last week.)

8 comments:

Lynne said...

I love this photo! So fun!

I'm kind of like you in the fact that I've had some perennials in my garden that the old owners planted that I can't stand. I keep threatening to dig them up, but then again, why?

37paddington said...

I'm fascinated by that photo. Do the mannequins have different faces or are they all the same? I cant tell!

Ms. Moon said...

Nandina grows like crazy here. I ripped a bunch out of this yard when I moved in. It does not please me. Nor do boxwoods. The house we lived in before this one had an area between the house and pool (yes! there was a pool! it was awesome!) and the former owners had put in a formal arrangement of boxwoods and I had those taken out and I planted a sort of lovely English garden with old roses and mint and some palms and I even grew lettuces in there. I loved that space.
That wig shot is mighty fine.
And yes. I would let Olga eat every bit of broccoli she finds.

ellen abbott said...

great shot of the wigs. I don't care for nandina either. or boxwoods. although I think it's fun to see whimsically pruned shrubs, I would never impose an unnatural shape on any plant. I will prune off branches that get in my way though.

I'm surprised Olga didn't try to eat the nerf ball.

Linda Sue said...

I have not heard of Nandina but if it is easy and troublesome ( for payback) I think I will get a truck load of them and plant them where once my mighty trees stood. Olga is such a pooch! All dog-ness! She is very good at it! Dexter likes broccoli too, probably because it smells so terrible, his poos- TOO loose - he does not get broccoli very often. Love the shot of disembodied heads. Needs more blood.

Wayne said...

I concur with Linda - when Skye has broccoli, the garden turns into a minefield of the worst kind. Not to mention the vile smells that waft over when you are trying to watch tv .... Good luck! :)

Linda Sue said...

Steve, thanks for the tip on comment modi- I have changed it and think it might be better. Cheers! And wags to Olga!

e said...

I love this photo and all of your Olga stories...She's truly a fabulous dog.