More from Tennessee: Ten Things about Dad

Dad has an eye for great places like this peach stand, which is set up at the edge of an orchard in a rickety old barn and which relies on the honor system for payment. Classic Silver Point. (Or is it Baxter?)


Dad's handcrafted signs are on display across the country. This picture shows part of one that is very close to home at Blackberry Hill.


There's been a pair of police cruiser style spotlights on dad's truck(s) for as long as I can remember. They're always turned in at a specific angle for practical — and probably aesthetic — reasons.


Dad's political views are complicated. (This isn't quite a bobble head. What do we call these? Bobble body dolls?)


Dad's lawn is supposed to look like this. . .


. . . not like this. He frequently leaf-blows, so it's unusual to see leaves or other debris on the grass.


One day, he's going to make a cane out of this tree trunk that's perfectly wound with a vine.


Dad has a collection of meticulously restored (by him) antique outboard boat motors that are displayed in ascending order by size. I believe that the oldest was manufactured in 1927.


Many of Dad's handmade birdhouses are currently inhabited by bluebirds (and like-minded critters).


Now that there aren't many dogs around Blackberry Hill, this funny-eared cat has sought out Dad for conversations that go like this:

Cat: Meow?
Dad: Meow.
Cat: Meow.
Dad: Meow?
Cat: Meow?
Dad: Meow.

Stay tuned for Ten Things about Mom!

Introducing Shalamar, Tyger Tyger, & Lil Q-bert, Jr.

While I was visiting my folks in Tennessee, the raccoons came, refused to heed the scarecrow, and ate poor Bing, leaving Mason as the only grown goldfish in the pond. At least three of the fry and a number of snails also died. (Definitely lost Stryper, who was one of the two biggest fry, but Testa Nera, my favorite fry, survived. He's pictured below at the far right of the frame with the all-white fry.) The plants took their worst beating yet. I don't know if the Water Rose and Golden Buttons will make it, and I doubt that the Water Lilies will bloom if they have to keep replenishing their leaves this often.


Long story short: BP and I thought Mason was acting forlorn, having lost all three of his/her grab-ass playing pals. None of the adults seemed to interact with the fry (even the big ones who are now 1.5 to 1.75 inches long). Our solution: Add some friends for Mason, replacing the dearly departed Lil Q-bert, Jean-Pierre, and now Bing, despite the risk of overpopulating the pond. (If we can't better deter the 'coons, perhaps there is no risk. Sad but true.)


As you see, the new guys are Shalamar, Tyger Tyger, and Lil Q-bert, Jr. Mason and LQJ were instant friends, bonding even before the new guys could come out of the plastic bag. LQJ is considered a 5-6 incher, which the pond place sells for an absurd $17, and the others are 3-inchers, which go for $5. Sympathizing with my raccoon troubles, Jesus was kind enough to give me the three for $18.

The crazy thing is that my four original fish, including Mason, were 3-inchers when I brought them home in December. I hadn't realized how much they'd grown in a short time until I saw Tyger Tyger and Shalamar near Mason — whoa!


Above: Mason, LQJ, and Tyger Tyger playing chase. This is the new guys' second day in Paul Pond.

The Cattle of Middle Tennessee

Wild Box Turtle Living Under Folks' Lower Deck

Silver Point, Tennessee — Day 1, Part 2

Silver Point, Tennessee — Day 1, Part 1

Crazy Pods, Tropical Africa, & Exotic Tennessee

Crazy pods (about the size of a date) the form at the base of the shriveled flowers on the cactus out front that has white hair and other features of the "Old Man" cactus but is not an "Old Man." I forget the accurate title right now.


Purple Fountain Grass flower.


This bushy, bushy large bush has been a mystery since I moved here. Hummingbirds love it more than anything else, and when I was researching the Geraniums, I found an image that finally led me to an identification: Acanthus — supposedly a rare kind from tropical Africa. It had gotten leggy, so I pruned it back last fall. Now it's thicker, more shapely, and blooming profusely. (This is a view of its cone-shaped blossom from above.)


Statice flowers before they really open. Once open, they're more blue-violet and white, but I love this color combination, too. Three Statice are recent additions to the front yard along the corner near the driveway entrance. They're drought and heat tolerant, of course.


I take off for Tennessee tomorrow, so next time I post, it should be a little different, exotic in the way Tennessee has become a bit exotic for me now.

From the Garden

Prickly Pear and flowers of other succulents in the back yard (looking back from the pond toward the house). Then Kalanchoe (a.k.a. Paddle Plant), which I have in both the front and back yards. Next, the Red Yucca blooming in the front yard (seen here with Lavender and Basket Grass). Finally, bee on Lavender.

Yard Things

The "June Gloom" lifted long enough to take some pics in the garden. Here you'll see Rose, Yarrow, Gaura, unripe Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes, Iris, Agave, and the warty looking leaves of Echeveria.

Blood Suckers

Yikes! thought I upon finding this leech on a dead Pennywort leaf in the pond today. Looked around online and called the guy at Sunland Water Gardens, who said that if one has a pond, one is pretty much going to have leeches. They are introduced by plants, they like muck (supplies of which ponds provide), and they won't harm the goldfish, he says. If the fish see the leeches, they're likely to eat the leeches, he says.


It's gross, but I guess they're fine. There was something online about trapping them in a submerged coffee can with raw hamburger meat inside, but everybody posting on that site said it didn't work anyway. That sounds grosser than the leeches themselves, which aren't very large. . . yet? So, there are leeches in my pond, and that's oh. . .kay.



P.S. Last night I hadn't properly set the scarecrow. Bradley heard a noise at 4 o'clock and went out back with the flashlight to find at least two (maybe three) humongous raccoons out back at the pond. The fat sonsabitches just stood there and stared back at him until he pegged one with a stone.

Once I came out, they were making all kinds of racket behind the shed, and to avoid the barking neighbor dog (barking dog of the neighbor, I should say), they start crossing the top of the rear fence. I'd say those two suckers (not the leech kind) were forty pounds each! Tonight I will not make the same mistake with the scarecrow. As a matter of fact, I might even turn it up to five. Plus, we bought a big piece of flagstone in Tujunga today and made a much more significant structure under which the fish can hide.

Yellow Dahlia

Magnificent with its dark, dark foliage. My first Dahlia ever. Big flowers (about 4 inches across) and lotsa bees. (Violet seems to have learned her lesson after yesterday when a big, swollen cheek landed her in the vet's office for stinger extraction and two shots.)

Scarecrow (without Mrs. King)

For the prevention of further raccoon pond invasions, dad sent me his Havahart motion detector driven sprinkler a.k.a. scarecrow. (This is what the guy at the pond place says works.) You plug it into the garden hose, aim the sensor, set the sensitivity dial, and it blasts anything in its way (including me, I learned the hard way and more than once) with a pretty darned intense "sprinkle." Thanks, dad!