In all the excitement over the weekend, between discovering marijuana growing wild on my street and walking 10 miles across the marshes of East London, I neglected to mention that Olga and I took a walk to the Clitterhouse Playing Fields on Sunday morning. She still seemed a little drained from our Heath outing the day before and she wasn't super-energetic. She preferred lying around in the shade (above).
It's probably the most tedious thing in the world for you to be shown pictures of my dog day in and day out. Sorry about that, but what can I say? She is what's going on around here.
The images coming out of Houston are so remarkable I can hardly believe it. It really is like Hurricane Katrina all over again. Did you see the picture of the elderly women in the nursing home, sitting in waist-high water? It was so mind-blowing I thought surely it had been Photoshopped -- but no, apparently, it was the real deal. I have relatives in western Louisiana and I'm worried about them -- the storm may head that way, apparently.
Our problems in London are minuscule by comparison -- and here's an example.
Several months ago Dave bought a lobelia for the garden, partly because many gardening websites say lobelia is resistant to slugs. Well, you can see how well that went. Our lobelia was like a delicate appetizer, or perhaps a hearty main course, for the voracious slugs we have around here. We put pellets around it and I bet I collected 30 dead slugs over a period of days, and yet still they came, and still they munched.
A few nights ago I went out in the yard with a flashlight to do something or other -- probably to retrieve Olga's Kong -- and I found four fat slugs dangling like ripe bananas from the lobelia's stripped stems. (There were dozens more in the grass. I have literally never seen so many slugs. Maybe something about the weather and the dampness and the temperature...?)
So we moved the lobelia to a pot and now it's up on the patio table, where it's hopefully out of the slugs' reach. And we've learned to take reports of plants' slug resistance with a grain of salt!
I finally got the last of my library preparations done yesterday, just as students began arriving for their first day. I schlepped our hammer and pliers to school so I could move some shelves, allowing me to finally re-shelve all the graphic novels in their new location. (This won't mean much to you, but trust me -- I'm glad it's over.)
I never tire of seeing pictures of Olga. She seems such a happy dog - with a permanent daft smile. I blame the slug explosion on Mrs Kravitz. She's probably breeding them and then releasing them into your garden. Serves you right for trespassing.
ReplyDeleteOlga is a touchstone. Her pictures are always cheering.
ReplyDeleteHow very bizarre that the plant touted as being slug resistant seems to attract them the most.
The scary part is that the Houston event is not over yet. I cannot see 24 in of rain in 24 hours. Here we get an average of 12 in of rain a year.
ReplyDeleteI am a dog person and never tire of reading about or seeing pictures of your precious Olga. She is such a spunky girl and oozes a love of life. A very lucky girl, too with her Dads who adore her.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who shares pictures of her great granddaughter & I'll tell you what I tell her: SHARE ALL THE PICTURES! They make me smile, and she's so darned photogenic.
ReplyDeleteAlways love seeing Olga doing whatever doggie thing she does. Interesting thing about that lobelia and slugs. We sometimes put out Diatomaceous Earth around sensitive plants that the slugs attack here. It does a pretty good job of keeping those plants safe, and it's not toxic. Houston is a mind-blowing tragedy of a size and scope I can hardly imagine.
ReplyDeleteYears ago when I had my house in Mesa, I had slugs in the back yard which I thought was very strange for the desert southwest. They do like a more humid climate I'm told. However, I never had that many and they never caused a problem other than leaving trails on the patio. Having met Olga in person, I love seeing her photo from your walks. Her personality shines through.
ReplyDeleteThe Houston situation is hard to comprehend for me. Back in my banking career days, I had to got to meetings and other work sessions there from time to time so I can picture places in the city and now seeing these flood photos, it's mind boggling. Yesterday I saw one that made me gasp. It was of a freeway with a tractor-trailer truck with water covering the cab and within a foot of the top of the trailer. You could see the large green freeway signs but, no sign of the road itself. Unbelievable and very frightening.
Hello Steve;
ReplyDeleteRobin is correct that Diatomaceous works beautifully around any slug sensitive plant. Do they sell it in the UK? However, you must remember to re-apply after every rain/watering session. And who could grow weary of seeing Olga? She's lovely!
BTW...I'm no expert, but Hemp tends to have a longer and narrower leaf, so that 'volunteer' sure looks like a little bit of Mary Jane to me.
I don't think it's possible for me to get tired of pictures of Olga, FWIW :)
ReplyDeleteBased on your report of your plant, I check into info about slug damage and I think I've been blaming earwigs for what the slugs are doing! I didn't think such a slow moving critter could get around so much.
*checked* not check!
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I'll never get fed up with seeing Olga, she's lovely.
ReplyDeleteYour Lobelia doesn't look like mine. Are there bigger one's as mine is quite small and doesn't get eaten by the slugs, and I have a garden full of slugs and snails, thus the reason I only buy plants that they do not eat.
Briony
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I HATE slugs. Hate them. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteAnd never stop sharing photos of Olga! I never get tired of hearing about bloggers' pets. Especially dogs!
I've said this before and I'll say it again.
ReplyDeleteYour blog. Your dog. You can post what you want. I always look forward to Olga's 'smile' and laugh when, yet again, she plunges into a bog or some filthy looking water.
Those slugs are monsters, eating the lobelia. Death to all of them, I say.
Alphie