There is this. A slug. I’ve been chasing around after slugs for the better part of my life. And even though they’re pretty slow, they seem to always be one step ahead of me.
and they love hostas and strawberries–the little slugs especially, and every morning i pick them off of my beans and indigo–and right now it’s a race to see who the winner will be. After a certain point, the plants will be strong enough to survive, but right now it’s just oh ever so touch and go.
So I’ve once again spent the first moments of morning handling these slippery gross creatures. I just grab them and toss. And the little ones, well, they don’t survive much handling. Have tried every thing but the rain washes away the diatomaceous earth and well, that’s as much as I’ll do to get them out of here. The problem is the mulch. And the fact that I mulch because I hate to weed. And so–a problem I’ve created but seem unwilling to change.
This is how wet it’s been. Bumblebee drown while visiting hosta.
But the strawberries. Ate a partially green one yesterday, warm. In the garden. And the sweetness was astounding.
As for cloth. I’m in a holding pattern right now. Waiting. And when I wait, I usually end up tearing and ripping and just doing some thing. Some thing to at least keep my hand in. To feel the fiber. Smell the cloth. Watch the threads fray and gently blow, now that it’s warm and I need a fan in my work space. So this will be the summer solstice cloth. Started here with a center too dark:
Evolving into this, awaiting stitching.:
It’s been this kind of week. Ripping. Sudden changes. My brother-in-law not well, at all. We may be leaving for a while.
following thread 
I like your new art piece … sudden changes does fit for a title for it too…the multiple strips remind me of the fact that we have many paths…I like the change you made to the center circle with the center portion at an angle instead of straight across. It encourages action on your path either up the road or down.
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thinking about your observations here–they’re so insightful–and thank you for visiting! do you have a blog?
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Hi Patricia, no I don’t have a blog I just like observing and sensing things. Keep up the fun adventure!
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here’s a solution for your slug problem. it works. i used to do this years ago.
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/stories/trapping-garden-slugs-with-beer
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i’ve never tried this but will, as soon as it quits raining here. thanks for the tip deanna.
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Saw your wonderful solstice cloth last night and wanted to come back this morning to spend some time.just looking: I love this cloth because the colors remind me of the land here in New Mexico and are some of my favorite hues.. This cloth dances with movement as if it is outside in the New Mexican sun. It envelopes me with such a deep sense of place and seasons..
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hi Marti. funny. i was thinking about you this morning–wondering if you were in NM yet–seems i read on Grace’s blog that you were headed that way. sounds like you’re there. oh. there, under that blue sky, breathing that crystal air. the colors. the cultures. the sounds. smells. yes. good for you.
i lived in Santa Fe for about 18 months while attending NM academy of healing arts for massage. sobbed when i left and sobbed when i got into the hardwood forests of Appalachia. sorry to leave and yet happy to get back into these mts.
the solstice cloth is really coming into its own. should be finished in a few days and i agree. the colors are reminiscent of NM and the movement of wind. it has been very grounding working with it. a series of yes, yes, uh huh, and then more yes-es. so glad you are enjoying it. and blessings to you in the land of enchantment and magic. what an apt descriptor. much much love.
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Yes we made it out of humid TN and arrived here in Rio Rancho on Monday and are pretty much settled in. Forgot to mention in my earlier comment that I love your strawberries, slugs and all. Grew strawberries in CA and it was so good to step out in the early morning and pick a few for breakfast. Here our kind landlord planted some corn for us and last night, we planted 3 tomatoes, a red bell pepper, a jalapeno pepper, rosemary and oregano. Earlier in the day I planted lavender and a tiny red geranium in one of my Kokopelli clay pots. We have family and my dear grace here and have visited many times so I am familiar with New Mexico. Rio Rancho is about 82 miles from grace and soon, I will visit her and reacquaint myself with the wonders of her home, land, goats and cloth….
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wish i could share some of the berries with you–the bounty is blowing my mind. so–you’re there. oh, you. send sunshine and humidity-free air and i will be ever so grateful. and corn. yes, i must plant a few corn seeds. i understand your desire to plant, maybe even before you’re unpacked. such a basic, primal way to become grounded to place. rooted. and so glad you’re near family and dear grace–what a wonder–and so glad to hear from you.
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love where the solstice cloth is taking you Patricia!
& thinking about those slugs, I put little rings of fresh sawdust (they hate the feel of it on their tender bellies) ’round the new seedlings but gosh it’s so wet over the sawdust would get too soft & mushy in no time! as Deanna mentioned beer works quite well little umbrellas over the bowls would help it from getting too diluted and there is a bee & bird friendly snail & slug bait available here in pellet form that is made from iron chelates but it has to be reapplied every time it rains…
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please excuse the typos !
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i had to look hard to find it
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i’m loving all these from-around-the -world slug suggestions. and because of the rain, right now i’m just doing the early morning purge. will probably try beer–have no aversion to the snail & bait stuff–but again, it just washes away. diatamaceous (sp) earth works well too. apparently it’s also very abrasive–but washes away with the weather. so for now…thanks for the smiles and the suggestions.
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this makes me think of the squash bugs here. the feeling in my gut as i hunt them…
and i give up soon into it. what drives me most nuts is turning a leaf and finding the
mating…MAKING MORE!!!! ack.
So i guess there’s something everywhere. nary a slug here.
love that you and Marti have met.
and the cloth…it couldn’t be more of a Solstice cloth…so beautiful and FULL of ITSELF
as that moment is….i love so much what you do.
hope things changed for the better with you bro in law….would miss you…..xoxo
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just looked up squash bugs–and noticed their eggs on the back of leaves–i’ve seen those–just didn’t know what they were. and yes, ,mating squash bugs–how rude! thanks for the concern for brother in law. he’s BETTER. actually the corner a few nights ago. wonderful relief for the family. i’ll be posting the finished solstice cloth soon. love, love.
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they can totally decimate a squash/cucumber patch in the blink of
an eye. they pierce the vines, leaves shrivel and the squash or
cucumbers immediately begin to rot. this is mature healthy plants..
like more than half way to ripening. it is totally heartbreaking and
really, there’s nothing you can do but pick them off by hand and
murder them. but they are FAST and masters of camoflage (
the first time i saw one in my first garden here, i called them
shield bugs…their design is elegant..like native baskets…said to
the Person, oh…how beautiful. he smiled and said nothing.
and they have a very particular odor so the evidence of the murdering lingers on your hands even after washing them. it’s
awfull. and/but their eggs on the bottom of the leaves are also
beautiful, tiny drops of glowing amber. so you start pinching
them out of the leaves in hopes of saving your stuff…but as fast
as you do, they mate with unbridled ZEAL. it’s hopeless.
i haven’t planted squash for a couple years. am going to again
this year and we’ll see. if you don’t also have squash, they don’t
seem to show up for the cucumbers.
ON AN MORE POSITIVE NOTE….i had an odd thought. What if
you poured some vinegar around your plants…or a perimeter
of vinegar around a few of the strawberries….
i have NO idea where the thought came from, but i did….
see if it works…..
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