“Oh Frass!”

ESPatch May 26, 2014 8 comments

“Just a little bit further!”

“Why you little…”

The tobacco hornworms

Maduca sexta

have been bulking up on my tomato plants this past week and have now reached alarming proportions.

Illustration from John Curtis’s British Entomology Volume 5.

Talking of alarming proportions…

Really?

All this ‘frass’ from one caterpillar?

Yes I said frass.

I think I will affectionately adopt this term into my child-friendly, on-route vernacular, as in; “That frass on the bike just made me miss the green light!”

“What dad?”

“Never mind…

…Frass!”

I apologize if you are eating and reading, you should know better.

You can just make out the caterpillars tiny real eyes near the top set of legs, hands, manicured fingernails…whatever they are.

Look at this one eyeing up the already half-eaten tomato with one of its fake eyes,

of which there are many. They remind me of lazy-looking anole eyes and the detail and shading around them is remarkable.

I had four hornworms and they consumed around five green tomatoes and quite a bit of foliage before leaving the plants to pupate, a loss yes, but it was worth it for the daily competition to find them and to observe these bizarre creatures in chomping action.

Of course there is one other caterpillar that takes ‘bizarre’ to a whole other level of ‘frassyness’…

bird-poop I believe you know of whom I write.

A caterpillar-serpent or worse?

Giant Swallowtail

Papilio cresphontes

The first one of the year, lounging around in the open on one of my satsuma trees.

Well lets face it, it hardly looks an appetizing proposition.

Aw come on Bear.

Moving Along:

My opuntia tree is really turning into a tree.

The trunk of this cactus goes from pliable green extremities to wooded and petrified at the base and when it blooms the bees swarm it.

I have started another opuntia tree in my back garden which incorporates cactus man Jr.

“The Normandy Phase”

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques

“The Doll House”

ESPatch Feb 23, 2014 4 comments

Okay now that that is out of my system, and the tune now firmly stuck inside your head,

I will begin.

I have resorted to singing Saruman’s tune every time he sticks his face into mine and pushes his front tooth toward me at an alarming angle, he knows it bothers me…

“Trol-lol-lol-la-looo

la-la-loooo, la-la-loooo…etc, etc.”

The tune (like his tooth) seems oddly fitting.

She had been looking forward to this day for a long time, it was her birthday and we were going on a road-trip to Houston to visit the American Girl doll store (or ‘AG doll place’ if you are YouTube hip).

I really had no idea what to expect,

I had heard talk of a hair salon and restaurant,

but I had no inclination it was where you took ‘your dolls’ for a makeover and a spot of lunch.

I contemplated the long list of $20 doll hair services, then glanced over and saw the tiny salon seats and I must have immediately glazed over. The next thing I knew I was being dragged over to one of the large doll cabinets – she had located the new doll that she had been coveting,

doll #33 apparently.

#33 was quickly renamed Avery, Edith, Ruby, whatever…and she immediately became part of the family.

I was just happy she was new and did not require any hair services…at least this time.

We stayed overnight at a friend’s apartment on the 24th floor (thanks B) in downtown Houston.

It was an initial shock to the sensory system stepping out onto the elevated patio.

You can see from my white knuckles how comfortable I am with heights.

Back on the ground:

Birthday dessert,

then to bed…

for we rise at daybreak.

Back in the Patch:

I found this poor anole floating upside-down in my stock tank and quickly netted him out.

A few minutes in the sun and it took off into some gopher plants,

that are flowering right now.

A couple more Quince went into the Patch this weekend along with another hardy red oleander and some pink jasmine.

I would usually wait a few more weeks to make sure the temperatures were not going to dip again but with an 80 degree day this past weekend, well I broke down and swung the steed immediately into the local nursery.

African hosta is also on the move:

Along with datura,

and the mountain laurels.

The hell strip is also gearing up for some spring color courtesy of poppies and larkspur.

Oh and I almost forgot,

…third and final place for the ‘most aesthetically unpleasing plant after a freeze award’

has been awarded to this buckled, oozing brown aloe…

…fantastic,

and well done!

Stay Tuned for:

“Running up that Hill”

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

Datura