The "food forest" is in a hiatus--the clean up is done (and the jungle now looks amazing, with new mulched paths running through it), but I'm waiting on the garden design and then the installation of some more plants. In the interim, however, I've decided to install some raised garden beds to grow veggies and flowers. I'm putting them inside rabbit fencing (we have dozens of wild bunnies), … [Read more...]

We have lived in our current house five years. The front yard is like a jungle, with a couple of "paths" carved through it, and it contains special places--a secret swing, a secret garden, a secret playhouse, a place to sit and think (several of those, actually), and lots of unexpected plants. But in the summer, when the rains come, I have these vines and weeds that grow--well, like vines and … [Read more...]

Two weeks before Christmas, the water meter reader left a note on my gate--"Meter is moving at 12:00 p.m.," it said. Apparently the meter reader is a man of few words, but I grasped his meaning--at a time when a house should be relatively free of running water, mine wasn't. So I went out to the street to look at the meter, and saw that the man was right--the little triangular symbol that … [Read more...]

My family and I have had mastiffs for years now. We've had nine so far, but we only have them two at a time for obvious reasons. At 200+ pounds each, having two mastiffs is a lot of dog, especially if you're allergic! For years I have also worked as a volunteer photographer for dog rescue groups. I've snapped many a photo of homeless dogs because good pictures make it easier for these dogs … [Read more...]