Why I Oughta...

Last night, the fine folks at Animal Trackers set this trap up in our vegetable garden.  After spying the various piles of turds laying around, the guy said that we definitely had a raccoon living among us - and that he believed he could trap it.  So, this morning, I went out with a big smirk on my face to see what we had caught.  And...as I peered over the vegetable garden fence, I saw.....nothing.  The cage was empty.  Bummer.   To make matters worse, there was another HUGE pile of turds that was spitefully left behind. I've repositioned the trap and I'll put a few more aromatics in there this evening and HOPE that we catch him tonight.

We had the first fire in our backyard this past weekend - not out of a need to sit out there and relax, but because I have a HUGE stack of wood that is a mess and I wanted to bring some order to the area.  It is still a work in progress, but after burning through the material that was in the box over the winter (Christmas tree branches, yard waste, etc), things are looking better. We have a weird, evasive animal that is making a home in our yard these past few weeks.  And by "making a home", I mean taking HUGE smelly dumps in weird spots.  I have Animal Control coming over today to set a trap so hopefully we'll be free of whatever it is soon and can go back to enjoying more fires like these!

This was attached to one of new Hydrangeas - the (apparently Trademarked) Incrediball Hydrangea.   Strange isn't it?  I haven't seen any warning like this before on anything we've purchased, but maybe grafting of some sort is common for a special variety of flower like these? The Increciball Hydrangea are billed as having the "enormous" blooms with very sturdy stems (to support said enormous blooms) and grow fast.  We bought 5 gallon container ones - which were on sale at Menards - instead of smaller ones because Nat wanted them to have impact right away.  I always error on the side of cheapness and buy smaller plants hoping that they'll grow into something spectacular over a number of years.  Hopefully these Incrediballs will be the best of both worlds: big blooms this summer with a long, healthy, vibrant life over the next few years.

Today was a yard day.  After a quick trip to the store to pick up a few plants, both Nat and I got dirt under our fingernails and planted a bunch of different varieties in both our back and front yard.  Out of all the new plants we bought, I think my favorite is something called a Jacob's Ladder . The photo doesn't do them justice - but the leaves are really quite pretty to see and are very delicate.  We planted two of them near some of our ferns on the north side of our yard right near our deck.  I'm very hopeful that they'll thrive there.  They're called 'part shade' plants, but they flower, so I'm wondering how much sun they actually need.

A few months back, I received an email from someone at the McHenry County Visitors Bureau asking me if they could use a photo I took of some corn we bought at the Elmhurst Farmers' Market.  They wanted to highlight Twin Garden Farms in their annual travel magazine but didn't have a photo they could use.  So, they wanted to use the photo I posted on this post about Mirai Corn .  Sure, I said.  Go ahead.  But...can you send me a copy of the magazine when it is done? Fast forward to this week.  In our mailbox was a copy of the McHenry County Visitors Guide. And, if you turn to page 12, you'll see the photo of the corn taken with my phone.  No photo credit, but because of this post, I can take credit, eh?  I'll have to update my CV to include "published photojournalist", right? 

According to this story on the Elmhurst Patch , the Elmhurst City Council is considering a joint public/private partnership with a developer to re-develop part of Addison Street (the east side) from Schiller Court (the little walk-thru alley) north to Second Street (which is where the mechanic's garage is).  I think there is a one-story office building on the south end (next to Shiller Court) then 2 parking lots and the Mechanic's garage.  There used to be a Greek restaurant in there, but they tore it down last year.  The City is considering a retail only version or one with retail AND offices upstairs.  Both options have a garage connected to them - which it seems is a big deal for everyone.  I am partial to the bigger option that has office space - even though it is 20 feet taller.  In this case, I think density is our friend.  Those office jobs help feed the retail component by putting bodies in Downtown during the day which means more revenue opportunities for those stores/

It is Birthday Week on the blog it seems.  First, it was Balone's birthday on Monday and now I'll chronicle one of the Babe's cousins' big day. Yesterday, we were able to stop by my sister's (and Equation Boy/Man's) place for a quick birthday party for her son's 5th Birthday celebration.  This was just some parts of our family who could get together, but it was fun.  The birthday boy is also my Godson so he gets a little bit of extra attention from me!  Happy Birthday, buddy! He's wearing his Bulls jersey - to mark the occasion.  While the cake looked delicious, I did not have any, unfortunately.  I have a tuxedo I'm trying to fit into in 10 days.