The Freak Show

Today is sunny and mild.

I fed the birds. I've seen a few sparrows and house finches, plus a fox squirrel.

I put out water for the birds.

I set out some of the potted plants in flats.

4/26/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

4/26/26 -- I planted 4 petunias, 4 blue lobelia, and a 'Dusty Miller' artemesia in the blue chalk horse pot.

2/26/26 -- I planted two pots, each with 2 petunias, 4 white alyssum, and a 'Dusty Miller' artemesia. I put the last 'Dusty Miller' into the previous pot of yellow-and-white flowers.

When making a container garden of different flowers, it helps to create some unity by repeating elements. I do that with the fillers: 'Dusty Miller' artemesia, alyssum, and lobelia.

2/26/26 -- I potted up the three ice plants for the new picnic table garden. This concludes the batch of plants from DeBurh's.

2/26/26 -- We picked up dead weed stems from the edge of the south lot. We filled the wagon and only cleared about 3-4 feet by maybe 20 feet. :/

2/26/26 -- I got the groundcloth laid out; it's still flyaway and fragile, but at least on a calmer day I got it pinned down good enough for government work. I hauled out the solid-top pallet and sprayed the top side with waterseal.





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Today we went to the Douglas-Hart Nature Center for their Earth Day celebration and native plant sale.

( Read more... )

Scientists just discovered Africa is closer to breaking apart than we thought

East Africa may be cracking open—and the same forces tearing it apart could be why we have such a vivid record of human origins.

Beneath East Africa’s Turkana Rift, scientists have found the crust is thinning to a critical point, suggesting the continent is gradually breaking apart. This “necking” process marks an advanced stage of rifting that could eventually lead to a new ocean forming millions of years from now. Surprisingly, the same geological forces that are splitting the land may also explain why the region holds such a rich fossil record. Instead of being the birthplace of humanity, Turkana may just be where the story was best preserved.


... or the rift could rip open suddenly and unexpectedly quite a bit sooner. Say, if some other part of the crust made a massive shift to release pressure. I wouldn't want to live or work near there. It's fascinating to watch from a safe distance though.

Today is sunny and mild.  It rained on and off yesterday.

We went out early to catch the native plant sale at Douglas-Hart Nature Center.  Then we had more errands to run.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

I set out some flats of pots and watered them.

EDIT 4/25/26 -- I planted four Burpless Cucumbers in pots, two on the old picnic table garden and two on the new picnic table garden.

EDIT 4/25/26 -- I planted four chocolate cherry tomatoes in pots, two on the old picnic table garden and two on the new picnic table garden.

I planted a garden sage and a variegated sage in a trough pot, and a cilantro in another trough pot, at the new picnic table garden.  I still need to do more with the troughs because their soil level is low.

EDIT 4/25/26 -- I topped up the trough pots, sowed 'Slow Bolting' cilantro around the potted cilantro, and watered the recently planted things.

EDIT 4/25/26 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 4/25/26 -- I planted the catnip.  This completes the flat of small square pots. \o/

EDIT 4/25/26 -- I did more work around the patio.

I've seen a male cardinal and a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.

As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.