You might remember last September when I wrote about visiting the garden of Bamboo Charlie (nee Charles Ray Walker) after I learned of his sudden demise. If not, you can read and see about it here. Bamboo Charlie was homeless by choice and a beloved fixture in that area near the Boyle Heights Sears, carving …
I’ve heard seen my share of terrestrial wildlife while mountain biking in the Verdugos — lizards, toads, bobcats, coyotes, deer, a coast horned lizard, garter snakes. On this pre-gluttony Thanksgiving Day ride I added a baby rattlesnake to the list. Found, as seen below in the center of the frame, sunning itself on the asphalt …
One of the most splendiferous bonuses of having a backyard to walk out into is those times when I do so in the midst of a visit by any number of creatures. Though some are more welcome than others (I’m holding my nose and looking at you skunks), all are wondrous reminders that even at …
There’s actually a couple other gourds out in the backyard still growing — one barely a pound in weight and the other probably about six or seven (and shaped awesome/ominously like a skull) — but they’re still mostly green and probably still will be by Halloween so I left them alone to continue to do …
It was Patchy done brought this alligator lizard inside. Out of the corner of my eye I spied her playing with it under a dining room chair, to which I sounded the “Ahhhhhck!” which is the universal cat distress call for “Stop it and drop it!” And she did. The lizard, though freshly minus its …
So our pumpkin patch has had a lotta false starts. There’ve been tons of blooms and lots of pollination resulting in plenty of pumpkins that started strong only to stop growing after a couple/three days and die. As such, we only have three pumpkins that have made it out of that danger zone, but hey… …
When I planted seeds July 4 there was serious doubt as to whether they were pumpkin or butternut squash. Well, two months later the over-achiever of the patch (at about four inches in diameter) pretty much proves they’re the former: