Thursday, June 3, 2021

Monkeyflowers and Socks


The monkeyflowers I bought at Homebase a couple of weeks ago did not disappoint. They're blooming like crazy, and in the pot they share with a marigold and a couple of gazanias, they've pretty much engulfed the other plants.


Here's another pot of them on the front porch. I like them.

As I write I'm sitting in the living room with the windows open, and I just spent about ten minutes chasing a bumblebee that flew inside. This is my warm-weather ritual -- pursuing insects that have become trapped indoors, trying to direct them out the nearest open window with a magazine. I always forget about this aspect of our fine spring and summer weather. I did finally get the bee back outside.

I spent yesterday packing and hoisting boxes of books, as expected. My co-workers all cautioned me to take care of my back, but I'm pretty careful about how I lift and today I feel no ill effects, knock on wood. We're a little more than halfway through all the books we need to box. Then we'll be shifting all the others on carts. I lay awake last night wondering if we were filling the shelves too densely and not leaving enough space for returned items and whatever we might acquire in the near future. That's the kind of stuff librarians worry about in the wee hours.

After work, we had a little outdoor gathering for one of my co-workers who's leaving to return to the states. Some wine, some nibblies, and only a sprinkle of rain so light it didn't even count.


At the same time that I bought the monkeyflowers, I bought some trailing verbena and planted it in two hanging baskets. This is what the squirrels did to one of them. Bastards!

I replanted the shredded plants as best I could, and at least one of them (the largest one) has survived. In fact, it's now blooming:


Now that is a durable plant.

Finally, I have to show you a pair of socks that one of Dave's students gave him:


The student took Dave's photo off the computer system at work, tweaked it to add features like a moustache or aviator sunglasses, and had it printed on socks. I think that's pretty darn resourceful, and it gave us a good laugh. Give that kid an A+!

57 comments:

  1. Those socks are a great gift. I'd even wear Dave on my feet. The flowers are glorious... Bastards squirrels! How are those "boxing" muscles coming along. Are you the next (or first?) Mr. Hampstead Heath?

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    1. I am on my way to a Weissmulleresque physique...but it may take a while. (And some steroids.)

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  2. Hope the verbena survives...damn tree rats!!

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  3. I bought a pack of about 8 trailing verbena a while ago, and all but one has been eaten! All of them in different pots around the garden. I thought it was slugs/snails as I can see slime around and on them.
    Yet again you had me looking up a plant name....monkeyflowers....but I have heard of mimulus though never grown them. We got that slight rain last evening when we went to have a drink with pals at 5.30.....went indoors as it started to spot, went out again 15 mins later, when it started to spit again!

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    1. Wow! I wouldn't have thought slugs would go for verbena. They don't see to bother the bonariensis type. I guess it's a good thing mine are in hanging baskets! (Except...squirrels.)

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  4. Indeed give the lad or lass an A+. It seems like Dave is a teacher who will be remembered well by his students.

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    1. They really do like him. The socks are especially significant because he has an ongoing "crazy sock" competition with his fifth-graders.

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  5. Yeah, give that kid an A+ but not for music, for Design, Mischief and Thinking Outside the Socks. By the way, all animals are bastards as marriage does not precede their carnal relations.

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  6. Olga has been trying to explain squirrels to you for a long time. Finally you understand.

    The socks are hilarious.

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    1. Oh, I understood before this! We've been fighting ongoing skirmishes with destructive squirrels as long as we've had this garden.

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  7. Those socks are a treasure! Haha! Squirrels really are little bastards sometimes. As to the bee...are there no screens on the windows? We'd have a house full of mosquitoes if we opened windows without screens.

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    1. I hope that Steve won't mind if I interject at this point but in England no houses have screens on them. Flying insects are not a significant problem - they never have been. It's a bit different in parts of Scotland where midges can be a bloody nightmare in the summer.

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    2. Yeah, as YP said, screens are not a thing here. We occasionally get houseflies and the occasional bee, and a handful of craneflies, buzzing through the house -- but nothing biting. It makes me realize how horrified the English must have been when they colonized the rest of the world and found out what vicious, blood-sucking critters are out there!

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    3. The things I learn from reading blogs!

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  8. what a hoot. how clever of the kid. those monkey flowers are great. don't think I've ever seen them before. the squirrels don't bother my plants in pots but they are digging big holes all over the backyard.

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    1. I'd never seen the monkeyflowers (mimulus) before either. They might broil in the Texas sun!

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  9. Well, the chickens are eating all of my begonias they can reach and you'd be surprised how high a chicken can jump.
    You know- I think Dave looks really good with a mustache. Maybe he should consider that.

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    1. He's had a beard before, but I've never seen him with just a moustache. It's not something you see much nowadays.

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  10. Dave's student is destined for big things. So talented.

    So far my resident squirrels have left my flowers alone and only savage the one bird feeder I leave for them (others are squirrel-proof). Had a face off with one the other day...he on the deck rail and me standing at the kitchen door. Then Sammy (my Olga version) came to the door and the squirrel did his flying routine into a tree as Sammy gave chase (not catching, of course). Let's just say that the combo of available sunflower seeds and Sammy is probably the reason why I still have intact flowers.

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    1. We've tried the distraction method in the past by installing a squirrel feeder, but it didn't do much good, sadly! (And the squirrel feeder got demolished.)

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  11. Fabulous Blooming Shot - A+ On The Socks - Good Stuff For Sure

    Cheers
    P.S. Olga Girl Could Eat

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  12. Screens! You need screens on your windows.

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    1. We really don't. Bugs flying into the house are unusual enough that I write about them on the blog, after all!

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  13. I catch bugs in the house with a jar and a postcard. It's a bit of work, but I sneak that jar over them once it has landed (or stopped crawling as in the case of a spider) and then slip the postcard under the jar. I take them outside and let them go. I always say, "Bye-bye, have a good life, and don't come back." It never even occurred to me that there would be no screens on windows there. That is the first new thing I've learned today. Thank you for that.
    Those socks are GREAT. Love them. What a wonderful idea.

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    1. I should try that jar/postcard idea. That seems much more effective than waving them out with a magazine -- which does work, but it's not easy!

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  14. What a clever kid creating those socks! Pretty blooms!

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  15. I like those socks! Dave is a good-looking man.
    I would need screens - I don't like bugs in the house.

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    1. He IS a good-looking man. Fortunately we don't get THAT many bugs. I'm making the problem sound worse than it is. :)

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  16. There's something cheerful about this end of school year post. Nice socks!

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  17. rara is me, by the way! forgot to switch accounts!

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    1. I didn't know you had an alternate identity! LOL

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  18. I love that flower-very exotic and unusual. The socks were a creative idea, very clever.

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    1. Apparently they've gone feral in some parts of England, though the wild form doesn't look quite like these.

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  19. Those socks are the bees' knees :) No wonder the kids like Dave when he does cool stuff like having sock competitions - I bet he makes class interesting and entertaining.l

    Your flowers are doing well. Aside from the squirrel's lunch. Crows and bluejays do the same thing here - pull new plants right out. And they don't even bother to re-plant them if they don't like what they see of the roots! When I was a kid my dad even had problems with night crawlers (big worms) taking the tops of new onion plants and dragging them underground at night. Nature is full of disarray and savagery!

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    1. The kids do love the sock competition. I have never heard of worms eating new plants! That's wild.

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  20. I worry about your back! Those are big boxes for the books. The movers used smaller boxes for ours - so less weight. Do you at least have a hand truck to move them across the room?
    The monkey flowers are really delightful.

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    1. So far so good. Fortunately I have a pretty strong back. And I am being careful, I promise. We do have a hand truck to move the boxes.

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  21. Top socks, what a great idea.

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  22. I think I've caught up on all your posts now. First, Happy Blogaversary. I used to blog daily too, but the last couple years I cut back a day. My 14th "versary" will be coming up in January.

    I've loved all the photos of Olga. She's such a charmer. I do hope she's feeling much better now and the new meds are working for her.

    What is the name of the trees in the photo on 5/19? They are very interesting to look at. My yard is completely No Mow Ever lately. One of these days, my son in law will take pity on me and come over and mow all the grass. Your yard is looking really nice. I especially like that poppy. I've never been able to grow any in my garden.

    This year, I've covered my tomato plants with plant nets. Hopefully, they will grow tomatoes and I will actually get to eat some of them before the critters figure out how to get through the nets.

    You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.

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    1. Welcome back Edna! The trees on the 19th are either London plane trees or lime trees -- British limes, which in America are known as lindens. They look so odd because they've been heavily pruned, or "pollarded," which has caused them to sprout all up and down the length of their trunks. If left to grow naturally they'd look more like conventional trees.

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  23. I love the socks! What a great gift idea!

    I love the color of your flowers; so vibrant. We are in rain week here in Smallville, so it's warm and humid and wet ... not the best combination.

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    1. Not great for you, but probably good for the plants! (And the snails.)

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  24. The Dave socks are inspiring! gives me ideas for difficult people and gift giving. Brill!!

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  25. Those socks are amazing! I marvel at how well my students navigate on their computers. But if I ask them to write something out by hand, it is a major chore!

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    1. Yeah, I've heard that a lot of kids don't even know how to write by hand anymore -- at least not in cursive. Blogger Debby told a story recently of a young guy she works with who had received a note from someone in cursive, and he couldn't read it!

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    2. I see that all of the time with my students. When I write something on the board, I actually try and use cursive so that are at least exposed to it!

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  26. I love those socks - the Groucho Marx glasses are hilarious. I wish we could leave the windows open, but we are both so allergic to spring. Ugh.

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    1. I wonder if he added those effects with Snapchat filters?

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  27. The monkey flowers are stunners. Similar to one I have that's doing well but I don't think they are the same. I can relate to your squirrels. As for the socks -- fabulous!

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