Circle Garden Final Day Of Redesign

 Romeo offered to bury his rubber bone!

Then he got all over my ass because he was able to find more roots that I could!--damn his doggy nose...

My Garden Circle Is Redesigned

The transformation is done for this year.

Where the bones were in the beginning...

Where they are now.  Reset and ready for a better future.

Fences Make Good Neighbors

Robert Frost most famously established this idea.  And it is proving true for me.

After a somewhat rocky acceptance of the idea of my new fence by my neighbor, followed by an appreciation of it; he's moved on to getting the same company to created the same style for his yard, too. Now, all we have to worry about it looking like some anal-retentive planned community with punitive design/development restrictions! 

I'm on the right and my neighbor, Jon, is on the left.

"Audrey" Is In The House!

Big Brother #1

A personalized postcard from my vet?  (The pic is NOT Romeo, but Romeo's name is there as if every dog in America is named Romeo...

Flo Fox Photographer

Some of the photos by this amazing artist.

California Dreaming

Cajun Black Bean & Rice with Smokey Links

Nothing pretentious about this meal!

Halloween Humor #1

Nap Time

Public Radio Pledge Drives Blues

I am an avid fan of National Public Radio--and local Public Radio, too.  My local station is WAMU here in Washington, D.C.

Just because I hate to be reminded, I became a sustaining member about 3 years ago.  Every month I give the station $40.  I understand that I am one among about 9,000 fellow Washingtonians who support the programs this way.  I also give a sustaining gift of $15 a month to NPR station WNYC dedicated to the program "Radio Lab".  Nothing in life is free, and NPR is only if you don't take responsibility for the amazing things it offers, but choose to listen on a regular basis.

Sligo Creek on the Cusp of Autumn

Romeo the Gardener!

My constant companion and erstwhile gardener, Romeo also knows when it's time to rejuvenate his creative juices!  I could never tell anyone just how much I love this little guy.  He's my joy.

Breakfast with Broccoli!

I love eggs, and there isn't anything you can't do with them.  Today I sauteed Onions and Broccoli and then scrambled a couple of eggs with a little black pepper, topped it with parmesan cheese, and ate it with a side of fresh Grapefruit and Coffee.  Excellent way to "break" any "fast"!

My Circle Garden Facelift!

When I first moved into 7214 Thirteenth Avenue back in 1994, the back and front yards were rock hard clay with pebbles.  The grass that was present looked like what hair looks like when it first tries to return to scalps subjected to chemo.  

One of the very first things I did was to lay in this circle bed on brick at a time.  My first project.  And from there I began conditioning the soil and trying out various plants.  Most of which failed to thrive.  Finally, after nearly 15 years at it, a couple of varieties of Loosestrife took off.  And at times they look beautiful, but overall they fail to maintain themselves in the inevitable "droughts" of mid to late summer.  So, I have decided to re-conceptualize the circle garden.

 My plan is to keep the things that I like in it.  I have a great Hosta, some amazing Asiatic Lilites, struggling Epimedium, Anemone, a purple Sedum...  But first I have to remove the Loosestrife.

 This is no easy chore.  The roots are so ubiquitous that I have to dig up one shovel full of dirt at a time and then tediously extract the roots and bids and anything that even remotely looks like it could spring to life later on.

The good thing is just how rich and wonderful the soil now is.  I am very proud of this.

 From here comes my new vision of circles within the circle.

 Here the first circle is conjoined to a smaller one.

Eventually, another small circle will be placed to the left of these.

Today, I continued to remove the roots along the back edge.  Re-planted the Asiatic Lilies, and added to them about 30 daffodil bulbs.  The large circle is the home of the great Hosta, and I returned about 40 beautiful deep purple crocus bulbs to that circle, too.  In the companion partial circle I replanted the Purple Sedum, and more daffodil bulbs around it's perimeter.  A lesser Hosta is in the crux on the right side, and a long suffering Fern now lives in the crux on the left side.  I think the radiant heat from the stones will benefit it greatly.

And now it's done for the next year!

The Color of US Birthdays By Frequency

I was born in a the least common month of births...go figure!

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ October 20th to October 26th

Easy Meal

Dinner: Smoked Sausage with New Potatoes and Green Beans with caramelized Onions. 


1) dice one large onion and spread on bottom of 12 x 9 baking dish. 2) Cut sausage into medallions and arrange over onion. 3) peel sids of new potatoes and place in bowl to toss with olive oil and diced garlic, then add to baking dish. 4) Place green beans in bowl and toss to coat in residual olive oil, sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning mix, add to baking dish.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake @ 350˚ for 70 minutes. It couldn't be easier!

My Jungle Boy!

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ October 13th to October 19th

I'm A Sick Cat....

It's clear I have a problem...I may need professional help. It first happened years ago now. It was a winter weekend, and I stumbled upon it early one morning. They innocently called it "A Marathon"...a fucking marathon! Like what's more healthy and appealing? I knew something strange had happened when I found myself on the couch, 2 pots of coffee, 8 hours later, bunny slippers still on my putsies, bathrobe wrapped around me like a cheesy terry cloth huggy and curlers still in my hair at an hour when most normal people would be eating dinner! But I could not get the monkey off my back until the winner was declared!!!

The next day, I woke up scared, hungry, and with a bladder about to splatter. It was a powerful juju--a magic beyond my mortal ability to withstand, and YET I walked away! I did, I tell you. 

That was then, and now, thanks to Hulu.com I'm back into the vortex. For weeks now I've struggled with the choice between normal things like eating and pooping versus this insidious demon. In the past three weeks I've polished off season 10, season 9, season 7, and now, (Oh the humanity!) season 8! My God, I even already know that Mondo wins!!! 

Damn you, Project Runway! Damn you to Hell!!!---and don't nobody tell me a thing about season 11--I swear, I will cut you... 

Little Free Library: Halloween!!

Steak and Potatoes for Breakfast!

Chicken Fried Steak, of course!

Walk In The Woods

Food For Thought

It does make you stop and think.

My Little Free Library #3

I pulled my first read from my Little Free Library today: "Falling Leaves" by Adeline Yun Mah.

Turkey Steaks with Petit Peas, Carrots and Mushrooms in a Stroganoff Style Sauce

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ October 6th to October 12th

Glee Season #5

The Beatles Openers was joyous and reminded me on so many levels what it is about Glee that I have always loved.

Romeo Creek Dog!

Little Free Library Up-Date #2

Moves forward with about twenty borrows in the first two weeks and 14 added selections from neighbors and passersby.

Holiday Sea Turtle Ornaments!

As the holidays approach, it's time to kick into high gear with ornament making.  Keeping with a theme of animals from the seas that has seen fish, sea horses, and starfish in the past few years, this year it's sea turtles!

Although each is unique, I always make two of every fabric combination so that I can send one to a friend and keep one for my own tree.