shoveltrouble

this rambler sneaks along where ever she can. she might be a once-bloomer… we shall see.

the pink roses are going gang busters but none of my pictures turned out. but don’t you worry! they are ever bloomers and will get plenty of internetz time.

Our backyard is pretty much a blank slate. There’s a luscious St. Augustine lawn (not that we water it or anything…), some narrow beds up along the house, a small pecan tree and a storage shed - all contained within a large rectangle of chain-link fencing. And since our house sits about 12 feet below the foundations of the houses behind us, most of our view is of our neighbor’s backyards. One is an unkempt yard with 3 unkempt and mostly forgotten dogs and the other is a virtually empty lawn that is maintained by its alarmingly vocal occupant. Needless to say, creating for ourselves a backdrop other than sad dogs and crazy neighbor has been, from closing day, high on our priority list.

We had a handy man sink the heavy aluminum poles for us. He said that about 18 to 24 inches down he hit caliche limestone. See how steep that yard is!

Close-up of fence. We are using 2×4s and 2×6s from the Habitat Restore and creating a pattern with the boards and spaces between them.

The fence is on hold for now, since we are working on getting our plants from the Spring Plant Sale at the Wildflower Center into the ground. We need more dirt!

Hopefully, we will have our very own tiny little woodland habitat in the back corner here very soon. There has been a lot of tree felling going on in our neighborhood in anticipation of our Large Brush Pick-up week and we have our eyes on a few of the logs that are loitering on street corners.

The woman who lived here for the 42 years preceding us loved roses. She had a narrow bed along the foundation in the backyard with 3 climbers along with irises and something that has long arching offshoots (a relative of spider/airplane plant?) and another bed with 3 more bush roses and cutting flowers - all bloom multiple times throughout the season. She did not know the names of these roses, so neither do I. If you think you recognize any of them, do drop a comment. The last set of photos are of a potted rose that I have moved with me for several years. It just refuses to die no matter how badly I treat it = WINNER!.

Here is the first flush.

1st rose of 2008! ~ 3.31.08

this one has a large many-petaled bloom that smells only slightly (it could just be my imagination that it smells at all).

that’s a lot of buds. ~ 4.1.2008

this one smells great! i think it’s a climber too.

pink gruss an aachen has a lovely faint scent when the blooms are newly open.

only one day later with a healthy case of powdery mildew, thanks to our warmish and humid weather.

these peas are so pretty and frilly. they look a little bit like butterflies.

unfortunately, the seed packet says they need to be mature by the time temps get into the 70s and 80s - and here in central austin, that’s pretty much now. even if they don’t make it, it’s worth it just to see something sprout up so energetically!

DST – 13, Me – 1

Huzzah!!

And yes, within 5 minutes DOES count as on time in my world.

Yuhuh! I don’t care what you say… I was ON TIME.

AND… my representative wrote me back. It was a very polite, measured and (dare I say) caring response to my crazy little rant of an email. I feel truly honored to be able to vote for such an awesome Congressman. His [staffer’s?] response follows:

Dear Trouble Shoveler:

Thank you for expressing your support for changes to the system of daylight savings time (DST). I understand the frustration the time change can cause. The UC Santa Barbara paper that you recommended argues contrary to its intent, DST actually increases residential electricity demand. As a strong advocate of energy conservation, I appreciate your providing this study.

The federal law that established daylight savings time does not require any state to observe DST; it simply establishes the starting and ending dates for those that do. As the decision is left to individual states-a fact that allowed UC researchers to study a non-observing area-you may consider contacting your state representative and senator about Texas’s DST policy.

In the meantime, to better ensure that your priorities are my priorities, it is important that I hear from you and that you have the opportunity to receive updates about developments in Washington. By filling out my “Lloyd’s List” webform here, you can choose to receive periodic updates regarding issues that concern you. By signing up for “Lloyd’s List,” you are authorizing me to send regular e-mail updates from my office to your e-mail account.

I would also appreciate your thoughts on other issues that may be considered in Congress. If you have not already, please take a moment to visit my website at www.house.gov/doggett, where you can complete a survey online.

Please keep me advised of any federal matters with which I may be of assistance.

Sincerely,
Lloyd Doggett

At least I hope so. This little experiment has cost $300+ already. Not to mention 5 trips to the plumbing departments of Home Depot and Lowe’s and a good deal of time on the part of me and my husband sawing, drilling, installing drip-line irrigation and otherwise cooperating. Especially my husband. So, while I in no way expect us to LIVE off of said food, I would be tickled pink to eat something grown in my garden.

It’s a square foot garden. Or I assume it is. I haven’t actually read Mel Bartholomew’s book, but I looked at his website and it seemed like a pretty simple concept.

Build your garden above the ground with new soil (no digging).

Divide it into square foot sections with a different crop in each square.

After harvesting one crop, always plant a different crop (rotate).

I used a companion planting handout from a local nursery and came up with a plan. Lookit! I am organized. And a little messy.

Today makes day 11 eleven of me being late to work since Daylight Saving Time began.

SCORE: DST – 11, Me – 0

0 = FAIL

FAIL x 11 = LOSER

I don’t like being a loser. And I blame the government for increasing my likelihood of being a loser. So, I wrote my representative this morning.

To The Honorable Lloyd Dogget:

Here we are, 2 weeks after the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, and I am still a zombie. Spring has sprung, so why am I still getting up for work in the dark? This is TEXAS! We have no shortage of daylight hours and certainly don’t want extra afternoon daylight in our hot summers. Why is the government allowed to fiddle with the circadian rhythm of its citizens willy nilly? A recent study (PLEASE READ THIS- tinyurl.com/366×8x ) showed that Daylight Saving Time actually costs Americans more in energy bills, since it’s cooler when they get up and have to turn on the heat (I turned on my heat this morning… in TEXAS!) and since it’s hotter when they get home in the evening, thanks to that extra afternoon hour of blazing hot sun, they must turn up the a/c. While this sounds like a great money-making scheme for energy companies, it’s wreaking havoc on my mind, body and patriotism, not to mention my productivity at work and at home. I haven’t been on time to work since Daylight Saving Time began two weeks ago, and I’m not alone. I can tell by the morning commute that everyone else is running a little late too. How incredibly arrogant of our government to meddle with something as fundamental as the time that its citizens get up in the morning! Who do you people think you are? Please, please, please put a stop to this madness, this outmoded, puritanical, paternalistic meddling in the lives of citizens. Americans would surely be better off deciding for themselves when to get up in the morning. And so would the environment.

I appreciate your taking the time to read this letter and the study mentioned above. I, and many other Texans for whom Daylight Saving Time provides no advantage (only inconvenience and mental anguish), would sincerely appreciate any effort to abolish the useless, energy-sucking edict of Daylight Saving Time.

Yours Truly,

Trouble Shoveler

Write your representative and tell them what’s up.

https://forms.house.gov/wyr/welcome.shtml

so far as i can tell, the folks who have come to this fair city for the media extravaganza that is SouthBySouthWest:

a. walk into moving traffic

b. don’t use blinkers

c. drive straight in “turn only” lanes

d. don’t know where they are going

all in all, not dissimilar from the folks who live here, just in greater numbers…

i count the hours until it’s over and they ALL GO HOME.

Indeed.