Master of My Domain
Garden planted and watered, tomatoes staked and hay spread.
Weeds pulled in the landscaping.
Grass cut, dog pooped from several walks and cheering me on barking her ass off at everything while I worked.
Now off to buy a new weed-eater and then to edge the sidewalks.
Figured we could use an open thread.
May 23, 2010 1:41 pm
Posted in: Black Thumb, Open Thread
68 Comments
68 Responses
Linda Featheringill - May 23, 2010 | 1:46 pm · Link
In the FWIW department:
http://www.nola.com/politics/i.....o_sup.html
Senator Landrieu comes out in her support of Kagan.
OT: This is really a soft day in Cleveland. 75 degrees and only a little breeze. Partly cloudy. Nice. We don’t get many days like this.
demkat620 - May 23, 2010 | 1:46 pm · Link
Nice house john and that dog could not look any happier if she tried.
What a good thing you did with her. But where is the Tunch? He could be outside on a leash too, right?
Mike Kay - May 23, 2010 | 1:47 pm · Link
wow, the birdfeeder is almost empty
jeffreyw - May 23, 2010 | 1:49 pm · Link
Sunny, muggy, temps to 90. Sucks. Hummers absent from the feeders. At least I still have lunch to look forward to.
Elizabelle - May 23, 2010 | 1:52 pm · Link
I see something white looming behind the screen door.
Could that be the cat overlord?
Very impressed with your homekeeping skills, John. They’ve pretty much eluded me.
licensed to kill time - May 23, 2010 | 1:54 pm · Link
Wait, did your mother catch you, too? /Costanza
MikeJ - May 23, 2010 | 1:55 pm · Link
Showers and 46° here. And my cold is no better. Bleh. And my mouse is double clicking every time I single click so I have to go buy a new one.
trollhattan - May 23, 2010 | 1:59 pm · Link
Backyard dove.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com.....58f5_o.jpg
Cheers!
arguingwithsignposts - May 23, 2010 | 1:59 pm · Link
Ok, I don’t know who put the FP’ers on speed, but this shit needs to stop!
P.S. – nice front yard, and don’t buy an electric weed eater!
JenJen - May 23, 2010 | 2:02 pm · Link
Such a cute house, and such a tidy yard. Nice job, John.
bemused - May 23, 2010 | 2:09 pm · Link
Our dogs lie on the lawn patiently watching my husband’s every move as he works on a project. They instantly detect even the slightest indication that he is beginning to wrap it up & are on their feet, wagging their tails hoping it’s finally their time for some fun with him.
That edger sounds like it’s a tool that is not only practical but one that isn’t labor intensive & fun to use with quick results. Am I right?
Montysano - May 23, 2010 | 2:11 pm · Link
Well, I’d say that the great “open up the house” project has been a success. It’s 95 degrees here in north Alabama. We finally broke down and turned on the A/C for the first time.
The unexpected consequence of having the house open has been much less teevee, music, and other media being played. The sounds of the outdoors were just too enjoyable.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN) - May 23, 2010 | 2:15 pm · Link
I promise not to break this one.
QuaintIrene - May 23, 2010 | 2:16 pm · Link
Do you mean Free Republic? What’s the hissy-fit du jour over there?
Keith - May 23, 2010 | 2:17 pm · Link
John McCain would be honored to chase kids off a lawn like that.
bemused - May 23, 2010 | 2:18 pm · Link
@Montysano:
One advantage of living in cold northern Minn is that summer nights don’t often get warmer than 70, it’s usually in the 50’s, low 60’s range. After long winters, it’s heaven to sleep with windows open & fresh air coming in.
Libby - May 23, 2010 | 2:18 pm · Link
Nice pix. Loving that you have become the poster boy for domestic tranquility.
Josie - May 23, 2010 | 2:23 pm · Link
The yard looks really nice, but I think we deserve a picture of the vaunted garden with its hay and staked tomatoes.
Legalize - May 23, 2010 | 2:23 pm · Link
Pretty warm and sunny here in SW Ohio. I have a question about a recent development in one of my tomato planters:
At the base of the plant there is this tan and white discoloration of the soil. It doesn’t smell or feel different to the touch. It just appeared recently. Is this some sort of rot or other “infection”? Do I need to treat the soil to prevent whatever this is? Do I need to get rid of the soil and replace it? The plant is thriving, and does not appear to have experienced any ill effects.
arguingwithsignposts - May 23, 2010 | 2:24 pm · Link
@QuaintIrene:
I don’t even want to wade into that swamp! :)
ETA: I’m currently listening to oral arguments before the scotus via oyez.com. am i weird?
licensed to kill time - May 23, 2010 | 2:25 pm · Link
@QuaintIrene: I believe aws meant Front Pagers; lotsa posts in rapid succession.
arguingwithsignposts - May 23, 2010 | 2:26 pm · Link
@licensed to kill time:
This. hard to keep up.
trollhattan - May 23, 2010 | 2:29 pm · Link
@Keith:
FTW
Char - May 23, 2010 | 2:32 pm · Link
What kind of tomatoes are you growing?
Zuzu's Petals - May 23, 2010 | 2:32 pm · Link
@Elizabelle:
I was wondering the same thing. About the kitty overlord peering out at the world.
R-Jud - May 23, 2010 | 2:33 pm · Link
We had a productive day too (and a week of glorious sun and temps in the upper 70s—very nice for England): I ran 11, moved plants in the garden, weeded, worked through all the laundry, hemmed and hung new curtains, painted the Bean’s room, and made coconut ice cream that was apparently so good it moved the kid to get up and walk.
Cat Lady - May 23, 2010 | 2:38 pm · Link
Nice yard, John and cute doggie too, but how ‘bout them Celtics? I’ve listened all spring to the nitwits on sports radio, especially when they lost to the Knicks (the Knicks!?) but every week on White Boy Wednesday® Brian Scalabrine has been saying on the radio not to worry, this team is built for the playoffs – it’s a veteran team, they’re prepared, the trainers have been working closely with the players, blah blah blah, and whaddya know. Who could’ve predicted that it could’ve been predicted?
db - May 23, 2010 | 2:47 pm · Link
I think I see granite countertops.
RedKitten - May 23, 2010 | 2:57 pm · Link
The house looks fantastic, John! I hope our yard looks half as good someday. Right now the hubby is out working on it, trying to turn it from a rock-infested mud farm to a rock-free mud farm, and eventually, to something resembling a proper yard. Once SamKitten goes down for his nap, I’ll give him a hand.
asiangrrlMN - May 23, 2010 | 3:00 pm · Link
@jeffreyw: I am insanely jealous of your mad food skillz.
It’s eighty and muggy here. Ugh.
Shell Goddamnit - May 23, 2010 | 3:03 pm · Link
Man, some people are just too conscientious. And tidy, and stuff. When do you sleep?!
“So much to do, there’s plenty on the farm”
R-Jud - May 23, 2010 | 3:03 pm · Link
@RedKitten:
OMG, that was the story of my first year living here. You will get there…eventually.
Steeplejack - May 23, 2010 | 3:15 pm · Link
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal (JMN):
Please, Lord.
As Gertrude Stein once said to Yoko Ono at one of Andy Warhol’s Factory parties (I’m pretty sure): “Your asterisks are like bombs.”
jharp - May 23, 2010 | 3:29 pm · Link
I planted my tomatoes six inches deeper than the the level they were potted. In other words I buried the stem.
“Bury a tomato plant’s stem and the stem will sprout a slew of new roots that help the plant grow sturdy and tall quickly. You can bury just about all of stem&#mdash;pluck off the branches below the top flush of leave”
Anyone ever hear of this? I’m 50 years old and never had and I’ve been growing tomatoes a long time.
My plants look awesome.
TuiMel - May 23, 2010 | 3:31 pm · Link
Master of My Domain
In the Seinfeldian sense?
RedKitten - May 23, 2010 | 3:34 pm · Link
@R-Jud: I know. It’s just frustrating because we’re still doing all of our finish work on the house, and people are sadistic bastards who delight in telling us that by the time we have the house we want it, it’ll be time to start repairing/replacing stuff.
Fern - May 23, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
@jharp: Yup – I’ve done this – you bury the stem on an angle. I think it made for a sturdier plant that didn’t need to be watered as often. The plants were fuller and not so scraggly as they can be with plants you’ve started yourself.
HumboldtBlue - May 23, 2010 | 3:38 pm · Link
Yeah, well, I think your “weeding” is mighty suspicious, therefore, I am sending Barney Fife and the Corpus Christie police after your criminal ass
MMM - May 23, 2010 | 3:40 pm · Link
You need to come do some lawn work at my house. My wife would enjoy the assistance. I will purchase the meat and liquor.
asiangrrlMN - May 23, 2010 | 3:41 pm · Link
@HumboldtBlue: OK, that’s hilarious. Thanks for the chuckle.
LiberalTarian - May 23, 2010 | 3:43 pm · Link
Sigh. I bought a cat leash. Yes, I know, seems like a weird thing to do, but they sell them, I bought one. They are actually a cat halter with a bungee cord to hold onto them yet let them bound without hurting themselves. My cats look at the outside world pining all day long, and I thought a cat leash would assuage some of their longing and be fun, too.
Well, a cat on a leash is not walked. The cat walks you. Slowly.
My cats are eating a lot of grass. Is that weird?
Finally, now the cats sit by the door and try to make their fluffy little paws work the door knob. And cry. For long periods of time. And try to rush the door when I need to go outside. Before taking them outside on the leash, they did not do this.
So, not really happy with the cat leash, although when the abbyssinian freaked out while I was watering my plants, he did do some amazing 3 and a half foot jumping at a 45-degree angle from the ground bounded by the cat leash. Oddly, or not I guess, they get very excited about it when I bring out the leash. They don’t like it, but they know it means a trip outside.
Sigh. I just dunno.
Fergus Wooster - May 23, 2010 | 3:44 pm · Link
John,
Love the house, and the lawn looks great – but we need some staked tomato pics.
Watershed event in the Wooster household today – our first cucumbers!
Corner Stone - May 23, 2010 | 3:54 pm · Link
MLB pitcher Jose Lima has died of a heart attack at age 37.
Big personality in Houston when he was briefly with the Astros. 21 game winner in 1999.
BIG.
kommrade reproductive vigor - May 23, 2010 | 3:54 pm · Link
The title of this post lead me to believe there’d be some Tunch-Cam action. Curse you for a heartless tease Cole. Curse you.
licensed to kill time - May 23, 2010 | 3:56 pm · Link
@HumboldtBlue:
I had some huge tomato plants planted in tubs one summer, and they used to attract attention from police helicopters. I’d hear them circling around overhead and look up to see someone hanging out the door of the chopper with binoculars. I seriously contemplated making a big sign that said “Nothin’ here but us tomatoes!” but for the general humorlessness of law enforcement.
Tomato plants look very much like pot plants from a distance.
Dave C - May 23, 2010 | 4:25 pm · Link
Hey John, can we get a Lost finale open thread tonight? Pretty please?
bemused - May 23, 2010 | 4:32 pm · Link
@licensed to kill time:
I was going to say who would be stupid enough plant pot in tubs right by the house or in the yard so easily visible but then I remember the IQ of most ‘bad boys’ on Cops episodes.
Shell Goddamnit - May 23, 2010 | 4:36 pm · Link
@LiberalTarian:
It’s not weird for cats to eat grass.They WILL throw it up, I think that is the point of grass-eating for cats.
If they haven’t been getting greens they might be getting as much as they can Right Now because who knows what tomorrow will bring.
I put mine on harness/leashes to travel as two of them tend to get car-sick if in a carrier. I loop the leashes over the gearshift so that they can’t make a break for it at gas stations.
Letting cats outside is a one-way street, kind of. There’s only one direction this can go…
licensed to kill time - May 23, 2010 | 4:36 pm · Link
@bemused: Did you read the story linked @HumboldtBlue: ? QED.
Though frankly, I was bemused, too ;-)
ETA: oops, you were talking about the criminal mind, gotcha.
DarcyPennell - May 23, 2010 | 4:41 pm · Link
@jharp: I start my tomatoes from seed, pot them up 2-3 times in successively larger pots before putting them in the ground, and bury the stem each time. Pick off all the leaves except for a few on top and bury most of the plant. They seem to like it.
I tried to post this in yesterday’s open thread but the comment box was not there for me: I built a grow-lamp out of shop lights and PVC pipe for about $100. It has worked great for me. The lights are suspended on chains so I can keep them always just a couple of inches above the tops of the seedlings. I cover the whole thing with white posterboard, so the light is reflected back in and the seedlings on the outer edges get as much light as in the middle.
I used this set of plans but adapted a little to make it more sturdy:
http://www.ovenall.com/diary/a....._lamps.pdf
I am a complete incompetent at building things so if I can do it, anyone can.
Bill P - May 23, 2010 | 4:44 pm · Link
Go for the four-stroke wacker. That sounds super-naughty.
Four strokes are a lot easier on gas, and run cleaner.
Fern - May 23, 2010 | 4:48 pm · Link
@DarcyPennell: How tall is the whole unit?
bemused - May 23, 2010 | 4:49 pm · Link
@licensed to kill time:
I read that after I posted comment. Hilarious. Stupid goes more than one way. Hopefully they are better at identifying other controlled substances. Sounds like a crash course in pot id for that police dept will be commencing shortly.
bemused - May 23, 2010 | 4:54 pm · Link
@DarcyPennell:
Thanks for the link. Now to put the plans in a place I can find next spring.
SIA - May 23, 2010 | 5:09 pm · Link
@ LiberalTarian
Did you have any problems getting the harness on? Any tips? My big white brute Angel is driving me crazy he wants to go outside SO bad.
John, your homestead is looking fine. Lily loves having her own domain I see.
terry chay - May 23, 2010 | 5:42 pm · Link
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes......?src=busln
This article from NYT’s blog explains how a “swap” is really an insurance that is unregulated. This shows how companies like AIG (to reference an earlier post) could be so highly leveraged.
The issue is not really, how could a-holes like Cassano get away with it, but really how was he allowed to leverage trillions of dollars making bets when neither he nor AIG had the money to back up the insurance claims.
DarcyPennell - May 23, 2010 | 5:46 pm · Link
@Fern: It’s out in the shed where I can’t easily measure it, but I think about 1.5 feet tall. You could easily change to whatever size you wanted.
Those plans were missing instructions on how to wire the shop lights, also a few things were missing from the parts list, so read it over before you start. This is a bad photo of mine:
http://www.ovenall.com/moblog/archives/007069.php
When it’s covered I can grow 4 flats under it.
Platonicspoof - May 23, 2010 | 5:53 pm · Link
Seems like someone mentioned this tomato last year:
Picture of ‘Black Sea Man’ heirloom tomato, sliced to show decorative value.
Haven’t grown it yet myself, but sounds tasty, not too long to maturity and good in containers.
JenJen - May 23, 2010 | 5:54 pm · Link
Congrats, Chicago Blackhawks!! At least one of the Original 6 is headed for the Stanley Cup final.
I’m still pretty bummed about my Habs, who have a long climb back, but, as a friend reminded me yesterday, it’s OK to root for the Philadelphia Flyers. Their fans booed Piper Palin the Human Shield, after all. ;-)
BethanyAnne - May 23, 2010 | 6:22 pm · Link
@Platonicspoof: The black tomato that I’ve got planted this season is “Black from Tula”.
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/black.htm
I also have a hanging container with the black cherry ones above it on the page.
...and a white one, with a topsy turvy with white cherry tomatoes above it…
chrome agnomen - May 23, 2010 | 6:46 pm · Link
@db:
LOLOL
HRA - May 23, 2010 | 7:29 pm · Link
Close to 80 and sunny here today. I was out in the yard most of the day planting, weeding and moving plants that had been hidden by other plants. I planted blackberry, blueberry and kiwi.
I mentioned the crows depositing bones and parts of other birds in our fountain birdbath in another thread. Today we discovered a crows nest in our largest pine tree and the babies are sitting up in it. Hope they leave after the babies go out on their own.
Nice pic, John.
slag - May 23, 2010 | 7:49 pm · Link
I agree that the place looks very cute.
Although I’ve always been curious about lawns, in general. The benefits of having the lawn never seem to outstrip the costs of maintaining the lawn. Everything from water-usage to chemical requirements to all the damn physical labor and specialized equipment a nice lawn requires just make me think: Dude, plant a bunch of hardy plants instead. Biodiversity and all that. Even some native meadow grasses, maybe, if you want to have a soft spot to walk around on in your bare feet. But a lawn? I don’t get it. What do people see in them?
LiberalTarian - May 23, 2010 | 9:03 pm · Link
@SIA: I thought that I would, but Gris and Abby just wait for me to finish with the snaps.
LiberalTarian - May 23, 2010 | 9:11 pm · Link
@Shell Goddamnit:
Yeah. I am just really surprised at how bored they really are. The outside world is like kitty disneyland. I guess it should have been obvious … the cats follow me around the house, so they must really need more stimulation. I need a leash for each cat, and I am thinking about hooking up a couple overhead wires to put the leash on so they can run around the yard while I do outside things.
I brought in a huge bunch of grass clippings, and they sat and chomped on them for about half an hour.
The other kitty highlight is when I run the Roomba. I’m telling you, I run it several times a week and I never imagined so much cat hair and dander everywhere. Anyway, they watch it move from room to room. It doesn’t upset them, they are just fascinated with it. It did try to run over Abby today. He was shocked.
mac - May 24, 2010 | 1:58 am · Link
Here’s a hymn for black thumbs
by Johnny Cash
BethanyAnne - May 24, 2010 | 6:50 am · Link
@LiberalTarian: This is probably a dead thread, but you might look into getting a cat fence. I think it was Laura W. who said that she had one. I looked them up, and if I had my own house, I’m sure I’d have one in the backyard.
patty gann - May 24, 2010 | 10:29 am · Link
i like your house!