Blog

Week Two

Photos from the second week in the garden are up, spanning from March 21 to March 27, and have been tagged “Week Two” in my Gardening 2010 album in my Picasa Web Albums.

These grubs were found in the backyard while I was transplanting the grass I dug up in the flowerbed extension.
These grubs were found in the backyard while I was transplanting the grass I dug up in the flowerbed extension.
A shot of the flowerbed, week two.
A shot of the flowerbed, week two.
The first flower on one of our three tomato plants: The Beef Maestro!
The first flower on one of our three tomato plants: The Beef Maestro!

Stranded on a Friday afternoon

Oh, sure. I’ll put a little fixin’ on it. And put the CD wallet on my turn signal. That will hold. That will keep my shorted out fog light from staying on all day while I work, allowing me to meet my beautiful wife in Sugar Land for a Friday night out on the town.

But, uh, no. My genius fix backfired on me today and I found myself stranded in the work parking lot at quitting time on the eve of a nice weekend. Perfect! So Kim saved me … again.

I (reluctantly) got a new battery Friday night, and on Sunday we drove to the parking lot, and 25 minutes later – and a lot of grease on my hands – I fired up the car with my new battery installed.

Here’s what the mileage read:

What the odometer read when my car sprung back to life.
What the odometer read when my car sprung back to life.

So, I drove it home and when I got there I unhooked the battery and fired up the laptop to try to figure out how to disable the fog light that just won’t turn off on its own.

Soon after, I stumbled across this page on PTdoityourself.net that made me curious about my #8 fuse. I removed it, and checked everything – and it worked! No more fog light! No more battery drain! Why didn’t I just do this earlier?

The #8 fuse was the culprit.
The #8 fuse was the culprit.

Seed planting progress

I think I’m more than halfway through planting the seeds. What a long ordeal. I bought two packages of 5 ounce plastic cups before I started, four bags of seed starter mix, one bag of MiracleGro Moisture Control Potting Mix and Kim bought a larger bag of MiracleGro Potting Mix and I only have about 12 cups left and about a fifth of the big bag that Kim bought left.

See what I’m saying – and this isn’t everything, either.

There are at least three other flats and 10 other containers of seeds you don't see here, not counting some I direct sowed into various parts of various beds around the house.
There are at least three other flats and 10 other containers of seeds you don't see here, not counting some I direct sowed into various parts of various beds around the house.

And, I still have one packet of each of the following left to plant: Zinna Persian Carpet, Cosmos Psyche, Campunula Complete Mix Bellflower, Monarda Hybnda Bergamo, California Poppy, Cut Flower Wildflower mix and Bachelor Button double mixed colors. And, like a third of the Oriental Poppy packet.

Since I’m almost out of plastic cups, I think next I will have to start using newspaper to hold the seedlings. I got that idea from the Houston Lawn and Garden blog. Watch the embedded video below:

The seeds are here

My ParkSeed order (finally) arrived on Tuesday. Even though I knew it would rain on Wednesday, I started putting these guys in my starter containers as soon as I got them.

My ParkSeed order arrived on Tuesday. I've been trying to get them all in starting containers or the ground for the past two days.
My ParkSeed order arrived on Tuesday. I've been trying to get them all in starting containers or the ground for the past two days.

Since I’m showing these off, I might as well show off the packages Corina and I bought when we went to Wal-Mart the other day.

These seeds were 20 cents each, at Wal-Mart.
These seeds were 20 cents each, at Wal-Mart.

There should be tons of color around the yard this season.

Always winking

My 2003 PT Cruiser is winking at me. And everyone else. All the time.

Because the fog lights think that they’re on. Even though I turned them off. Well, one of the lights – the other one burned out like a year ago. I just haven’t gotten around to replacing it.

The fog light problem started happening about a month ago. Randomly, usually when I first start the car. But, I’d adjust the lighting control, and, it would stop.

Yesterday, though, it wouldn’t turn off. I was on my way home. I tried everything. When I parked it, I tried turning on the turn signal after the car was off. That worked!

But, today, it did not.

See. It's winking.
See. It's winking.

That’s why I have a CD case sitting on the light control switch. Something must be shorted out. And that fixes it. For now.

The fix.
The fix.

Anyways, that would all be fine and such if it were just one technical abnormality. But, there was the issue of the screwed screws that were included in the packaging of the china cabinet I put together during the cold front weekend. It was part of my to-do list. Here’s a photo: two messed up screws out of 12 is a pretty crappy average.

Though screwed, these screws still basically worked.
Though screwed, these screws still basically worked.

And the refrigerator makes this insane noise all the time, too. The fix: Unplug it and swear at it. That last part is the most important.

Week One

Photos from the first week back in the garden are up, spanning from March 13 to March 20, and have been tagged “Week One” in my Gardening 2010 album in my Picasa Web Albums.

My Caldwell Pink rose, on the far right of my flower bed, is about to bloom like the other two rose bushes in my bed.
My Caldwell Pink rose, on the far right of my flower bed, is about to bloom like the other two rose bushes in my bed.
A Quinault strawberry showing some flowers. We clipped them off to allow it to grow stronger roots and concentrate its energy on leaf production at this stage.
A Quinault strawberry showing some flowers. We clipped them off to allow it to grow stronger roots and concentrate its energy on leaf production at this stage.
A close-up of the portulaca volunteers I previously mentioned. These guys are back from last year.
A close-up of the portulaca volunteers I previously mentioned. These guys are back from last year.

Another shot of the moss roses back from last year is here.