Mucking About With Isabella Rossellini

As if the guilt at piercing a lively, fat worm on to my fishing hook wasn't bad enough.
Now I'm gonna see Isabella's beautiful face staring up from every wiggler I impale!

Worms Pooping Is Gold For The Garden

The amazing, wondrous worm pooping out gold for the garden. Intrigued by vermiculture but worried about alien invasion (I mean the non-native worms not the little green men) and, to be honest, being a lazy bones about it, prevented me setting up a little worm composting bin.

Canada's worms were killed off by glaciers during the ice age. The introduced worm species are very beneficial, but they may also have a negative impact in old growth forest areas. As a noble environmentally minded person, I nixed the vermiculture idea. Okay, okay, so I'm just plain lazy and procrastinated.

Who Can Resist A Sexy Little Wriggle...Not Even The Scientists

BUT it is the New Year and time for resolutions and momma needs worms for fishing... time to regurgitate the worm compost idea. So did a little digging (research-wise; not in-the-garden-for-worms-wise) and found out this:

"...it has now been shown that native species of earthworms are present in Canada, in British Columbia; these are species that survived glaciation in unglaciated regufias on the west coast of the continent--on the Queen Charlotte Islands, Vancouver Island..."

Vancouver Island, hey, that's where I live! Oh, and I also found this...

" L. terrestris [earthworm] has been seen copulating while bathed with melt water"

How sensually evocative is that!
How many of us has copulated while bathed with melt water? No, don't answer that. But it does sound like a fab pagan winter solstice ritual. Well, no fears of seeing the neighbours indulging in melt water rituals around here as it has been very mild and there has been no snow to melt.

Canada does indeed have indigenous worms! So no more excuses to delay the worm casting composting. Canada's worms are referred to as ancient worms by the way - like the sounds of that. Well, it's a brand new year so here I am back at the blog (new year's resolution) and with a worm compost bin to build (new year's resolution).

Happy New Year all the best in 2010 to all you bloggy gardeners!

Pumpkin Portrait Carving

Yipes! Frogs In My Head!

Spending more time on the sundeck while Oberon recovers. I will use the time to tidy up the deck. Hmm the terra cotta head is topsy-turvy. I'll begin with that-Yikes!


I almost drop the head with a start!
Out pops a long, pale, green muscular leg, dangling its shapely form like Claudette Colbert stopping a passing car.
In a split second my mind flashes multiple images - Oberon's shaved post-operation leg, a human leg - nah too small and green - aha leprechaun!

Then it jumped and so did I!

And it scurried under Oberon. Obers cuddled up with it as if to protect it. How long have they been chummin' together I wonder? How dare she keep secrets from me- after all the slippers I have sacrificed to her puppy teeth!

I was already planning my 3 wishes while parting Ober's furry hind to find my leprechaun ... lo and behold thar it was ---Aahhw the sweetest little Pacific Tree Frog chillin' with Obers as casual as you please.

The frog and Oberon are so gentle and at ease - like they've known each other for ages

Pacific Tree Frogs in their Topsy Turvy Terra Cotta Head Home

My Terra Cotta Head Remains Topsy Turvy