slugs – Skelton Sketches

Whimsy and Woe in the Garden

Posted on May 30, 2013April 29, 2017 by lindaskelton

I suppose every garden this side of the New Jerusalem is destined to have both whimsy and woe…

I love having a rooster minding the henhouse again…I glance out in the yard and there he is standing sentinel.

And freshly potted plants need a spot of whimsy too…

Baby spiders hatching remind me of Charlotte’s Web and I just watch in wonder at their profusion!…

But there I draw the line; a profusion of marauding slimy slugs is somehow not as delightful…

Especially here…

The potato patch is apparently the place to be:

Whoa…hang on!

And that’s life in the garden, for now.

–LS

It’s been ‘berry’ rainy…

Posted on July 26, 2012April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

I seem to have stayed put this week… the weather has been suitable for deskwork. Probably a good thing; when would I ever get down to thinking about school prep otherwise? But one damp overcast morning I got out for a little hike first thing while the raindrops were still on the salal along the climb…

A bumper crop of huckleberries called from the roadside. It’s been a terrific berry year, first our own strawberries, then salmonberries and now huckleberries and thimbleberries (though I have yet to venture across the highway and see if the bears have left me some of those.)

And I suppose the lichen is happy with all the wet…it’s even fashioned goblets for the occasion…

Oh, and of course, the slugs are happy as…well, happy as such slimy garden-gobbling creatures can be!

And that’s about the extent of my ramblings this week. If you’re having really hot weather and wishing it away, think of us and try to enjoy that warmth that hasn’t even a hint of coolness in it… We would be glad to trade our sea breezes and rain for a good hot summer if you’ve any to spare!

–LS

Advice for a Sluggish Day…

Posted on November 10, 2007April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

Well…. this has been a sluggish day from the get-go… Woke from a dream of buying property in sunny Arizona, only to find it a rainy cold morning with an unpleasant snap in the wind as I went out to serve the hens fresh water and scratch…. Sat down to eat slimy Red River cereal with toast when what should appear on the wall above the toaster (this is no joke) but a fellow from the garden, a long dark brown slimy slug with distinctly two curious antenna out to inspect our breakfast–as if it were his business! Ugh. Imagining where he came from and how he got there is nightmare material. But as Jim said, at least I didn’t wake to find him on my face! And that was just the beginning of this sluggish day…..
But to make a rather long and boring story short and spare you the depression I tried to journal through in the afternoon doldrums, I found a slug solution. Take note for future reference in the event you should wake one day with a slug on your wall. The solution is this:
1) Curl up in a ball in a quiet space and take a nap for at least half an hour.

2) Eat chocolate. Not so much that you feel guilt for having consumed too many calories, but enough to get a good taste and a moment of happiness.

3) Put on comfortable warm pants (don’t worry about the looks just the warm and the comfortable part) and march directly out to the bike shed and head on up the road on a happy ‘beater bike’ for a tour of the neighborhood. Take a new route. Don’t plan on working hard, just pedal firmly and mentally plan out a course that will include as many streets as possible. No rush. Just breathe deeply and you’ll find pleasure begins to overtake the sluggishness of the day. Yeah!!! for endorphins and cool fall days!

Try it. It works. Slugs all gone.