New York Renovator

That would be us.

And I thought it was going to be a relaxing Saturday.

I went out to get the mail this morning, and took a stroll to the other side of the yard (about 120 feet across). I had been working in the other garden beds so far and hadn’t attempted to weed/feed/re-mulch this one yet. I guess I should have looked a little sooner. I was shocked to come up to my beautiful pine tree and see that almost all of it had been exfoliated. What the?! What exfoliates a pine tree?

This does.

My stomach literally churned. I drew back in sheer horror. The devilish little creatures sensed my movement and wriggled in unison as a response. Oh. my. God. Help! The tree was loaded with them. Thousands. Upon thousands.

I ran into the house to holler for the kids. They are very well-trained now. When we’ve had severe flooding in our yard and especially in our basement (up to three feet, on a regular basis), I would holler like that. In less than ten seconds, they would stampede down the stairs– ready for action. I told them to get their shoes on, girls tie back their long hair (shudder), and grab a bucket. Meet me by the hose.

Without asking any questions, they were there. What great kids. I broke the news to them. Yeah. They were as repulsed as I was. Since I had no pesticides on hand, and since these larvae were really too mature for pesticides to stop them, we would have to pick them off by hand.

The YUK Factor.

I filled the buckets with dish soap and water.

And away we went. My youngest, a bug person, actually enjoyed it after a while. I remained repulsed.

We found a sparrow’s nest in the pine, too. It had one little egg (had hatched) and was filled with about a dozen caterpillers.

I was very angry at the birds. I felt they had shirked their duty. Here was a literal feast and they had passed it up. My daughter had been putting out bird seed in another part of the yard; perhaps the birds were filling up too much on the seed and not on the insects. Well, no more seed for them! These birds have jobs to do!

We plucked for about three hours. We found more larvae in the other pine, too. Then we raked up all the mulch and leaves and burned it all. Muahahahhaahhahaha.

I did some research, because I had never seen such larvae that ate evergreen needles before. We have a huge pest problem with tent caterpillers in Upstate New York (I’ve already killed four web nests in my apple tree this year), but I’ve never seen anything like this. Apparently, this larvae is the European sawfly. It came, obviously, from Europe, and favors Scotch and Mugo pines trees. It exfoliates the old growth on the tree. The larvae develop into the sawfly, that then lays its eggs at the base of the tree for next year’s attack. The best defense is to hand-pick the little devils. Pesticides are ineffective when the larvae is too mature (mid- to late-May).

I think we got them all, but we are going to have to keep close watch the next few weeks. I smeared a thick layer of petroleum jelly at the base of all the pine trunks, and slathered the trunk of my neighboring Maple, as added protection. This way, if those little devils start crawling up the trunk, they’ll get stuck in the jelly. Muahahahahhahaha again.

But there’s always SOMETHING around here to beat back! Sheesh!

… so gardeners could get the housework done.

Ever heard that quote?

We’ve had a few sunny days, so my house is dirty, lol. But my gardens are growing. We’ve had frost warnings the past few days despite the daytime sunshine. Can you believe it?! Two days until June and we have FROST warnings! Argh! Temperatures are 20-25 degrees below normal for this time of year. :-p

Well, I’m tired of the frost warnings. I put out my seedlings that have been hardening off for… oh, only five weeks now! I planted them. Here they are:

Hmmmm. Maybe you can’t see them. They are those tiny little green specks in the vast brown, mulchy space. You can click on the photos for a larger view.

I enlarged this round bed. You can probably tell, because the more mature plants are a little crowded in the center there. I didn’t attend to the gardens very much last year. I was off my feet for six weeks about this time last year, and then the kids and I gutted and renovated our living room. It took us three months. It’s still not quite done.

I love gardening. I always say that I renovate because I have to, but I garden because I love to. It is instant satisfaction, you don’t have to “measure twice, cut once,” it’s inexpensive, and there is something so satisfying about watching something grow that you’ve planted.

This week, I also weeded the bed on the side of the vegetable garden and mulched it.

My Adirondack Red potatoes are doing beautifully. I cannot wait to sink my teeth into them.

The weed growth around here is phenomenal. I highly suspect there is a weed conspiracy against me. I sometimes hear a rustling in the back… when I look in that direction, all the weeds suddenly straighten up, as if they had been whispering their latest attack against me. They multiply worse than rabbits, even. Little devils.

So that’s what I’ve been up to right now. I have other yard projects going on and did take some pictures’ I’ll have those up later. I love spring/summer!

…one man’s misfortune is another man’s fortune. That’s what the “housing crisis” is here in the United States. Selling your home will not reap in the big bucks in most cases. However, if you are a bargain hunter or have been looking for a good time to buy, this is probably a good time.

Companies like MyHouseDeals.com allow you to shop around online for discounted properties. They have listing of properties in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, South Florida, and etc. This site caters specifically to investors looking for properties without an agent or a broker. There is a membership fee to view detailed property information, but they are offering a free 30-day trial. Click here if you are interested: myHouseDeals.com 30-Day Free Trial

Many of these homes are foreclosures (always a sad way to buy a home, but it happens). Please remember that whenever you are looking at discounted homes or foreclosures, many of these houses need work, because they have usually been neglected for a time. I ought to know!

When working with a company, always check their credentials and get some second opinions. A home is a huge, huge investment, and you don’t want to blow it! And remember, if you need any old-house advice, feel free to ask!

I found this coupon at This Side of Eternity. It’s a Home Depot coupon you can print out, good for a free shrub if you buy a shrub. Not too bad a deal! The coupon image is here. Offer is good until June 12th. The Home Depot has a Garden Club, with emailed offers and coupons. See details here.

That cartoon expresses how I feel these days, lol. I’m complaining that I have a home renovation blog, and I’m not renovating!

I wish I could say we are renovating right now… but I can’t. We’re in a lull, as rising cost-of-living prices and job problems have swallowed up my savings and burst my bubble. I’ve got some ideas in the works, though. More on that later. For now, I leave you to ponder the wonders of Air O Swiss humidifiers.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Here’s an interesting story I found today; it echoes something I wrote here, and what I also blogged about here.

Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare

Convinced the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare.

The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.

These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.

…”I was panic-stricken,” the 50-year-old recalled, her voice shaking. “Devastated. Depressed. Afraid. Vulnerable. Weak. Alone. Just terrible.”

Typical sensationalist journalist drivel. :-p Why do they have to make it sound like we’re wearing tin-foil hats or something?

The gist of the story is correct– more people are letting go of the consumerist mentality that is suffocating our society, and opting to live off the land. But the news story opts to paint such folks as either “terrified” or kooky. There is nothing wrong with tossing the television, learning to grow your own food, and having guns! If anything, people who are consumerists are the historical aberration!

Anyway, it’s an interesting story. I’m glad to see more folks willing to take responsibility for their living. Our excessively wasteful society is going through a change, absolutely. There may be a few difficult bumps along the way, but I personally am glad to see it. I think our nation will benefit from more and more people living off the land again– working hard– and taking more responsibility for their way of living. And we’re not a bunch of fuddy-duds, either; I don’t think we would rule out Orlando vacations or fun stuff, like this journalist seems to imply (and by the way, reading “dusty” old books is really, really fun!).

I think the real meaning of the news story comes not from the bigoted vocabulary of the journalist, but of the lady he interviewed, who said that she, “hopes to someday band together with her neighbors to form a self-sufficient community.”

What’s wrong with that?

Well, ladies, summertime garb is upon us! I don’t know about you, but my 8-year old hiking boots and 5-year old leather sandals have seen a lot of action. Time to get a replacement. Believe it or not, my husband is always reminding me that I need to get new shoes! I have… three pairs of shoes. The boots, the sandals, and a pair of black pumps. Ugh. I guess I do need something nicer. I am fussy about my footwear. When it comes to shoes, I’m like Goldilocks; shoes need to fit *just right*. I prefer open toed shoes now, since I’m used to walking around the house barefoot all the time.

Here’s an adorable style of shoe– the Fit Flop! It’s offered by SweatyBetty (what a terrific name!!). These Fitflops are not your boring, run-of-the mill, flat-footed WalMart flip-flop. These babies are specially molded for comfort (imagine that in a flip-flop!) and for building the muscle tone in your legs and “bum.” They are beautiful styles. I love the navy. These shoes are relatively new on the market– introduced last summer– and are extremely popular in the UK. They are made of micro wobbleboard technology and give you a workout while you wear them. Amazing! The website is really cute. If you’re interested in getting fit while wearing shoes, the Fit Flops are the way to go!