Little Things Here and Rhizomes

*It was silver with a blob that had remnants of hands and feet. I found a painted rock on a shelf in a store as I was browsing the shelf. I almost moved the rock to see what was behind it. Finally, I focused and realized I had found a Halloween rock. I believe it was a ghost. Cute. This is my fourth rock. It really makes he happy to find one of these painted rocks.

*Finally, someone helped move things so I could turn on the heat. It has not been so cold in here as it has been damp to the bone. I hung up a pair of pants in a doorway, and four days later the pants were still damp. Now, it is comfortable in here. The heat is as low as it will go.

*On Thursday, I saw a tree that had turned. It was the most brilliant yellow. Since then, a few more around town have turned. Mine are still greenish.

*When Tommy was here on Tuesday, he asked me about my having caramel corn and where I got it. Since I don't have any caramel corn, I got up to see what he was talking about. It was a bag of onions to plant. We had a good laugh. I had started out the back door to plant them and went to bathroom and did not go outdoors to plant them.

*Stupid little chipmunks! They eat anything. I will have to leave all pots of flowers and Hosta on a table to keep them from have lunch on my plants. Maybe I will have to plant things in a combination of dirt and gravel. 

*My reduced mums were doing fine and blooming. Then, I fell behind on the deadheading. If I did not deadhead, I would not have more flowers. I just grabbed my kitchen scissors and gave the whole thing a haircut, cutting about four inches from the whole plant. Then, I watered it. Maybe this will work. What do you think?

*I spotted a "free" box and looked into it. I had to ask what was in the box. It was just a lot of dirty looking stuff. It turned out they were iris rhizomes. The guy told me it was flowers. I got two and he told me to take more, take all I wanted. I grabbed a handful and it turned out I had six rhizomes. They are now planted and greening up on top. I just pushed them down sideways and pushed a little soil over them. It worked. I really do know iris rhizomes, but these had the tops cut off, the roots still attached, and just a bunch of trash from the yard. I did not lean over or touch the rhizomes before I asked.

*Have you ever wondered what was the difference between bulbs, roots, rhizome, and corms? I know I have, but this article will help.

The Universe Responded

As I mulled over the trap for the chipmunks, I tried to think of all scenarios. If squirrels jump in, they can jump out, but in doing so they might turn the trap over. If raccoons get nosy, they won't jump in but will probably dump the trap.

I could tie the trap to something like the legs of a sturdy table sitting in the yard. Or, I could wire it to something. I don't have sturdy string, and I am not sure if I have that much wire.

As I wished for bungee cords, I knew all mine were used, broken, rotten, gone.

The ad for Harbor Freight arrived Tuesday, and there it was--free bungee cords with a purchase. Aha!

If I tie the bucket to the table legs and have the bucket under the table,  rain won't raise the level of the water.

My boombox will not pick up the signal for the radio station that plays Christmas music unto New Year's Day. Maybe they quit the day after Christmas. When I bought the wire on Saturday, it was 30 cents/ft, but it was marked down to 6 cents/foot. The universe is kind.

Or maybe "Luck favors the prepared."

Not a universe thing here-->Today, exbf and I went by HF. Before I went in, I asked him if he needed anything. He could think of nothing. So, I got him/us a set of bungee cords. They probably are not good ones, but for this they will work. I want them to drown, not swim to the side of the pool and escape!

As exbf was leaving, he said, "Oh, when you asked if I needed anything, I forgot I need scissors. Didn't you get some the other day?" Well, yes I did, two pair, but could not find them, so I gave him mine which I opened two days ago.

It was a good day with blue, cloudless skies and temperature in mid 60s.

Maybe the universe hearing and answering was just synchronicity. Jung explained it as the occurrence of two seeming related events not causal events. Maybe that is how the universe answers. ???

Urspo will surely straighten out all this.

Do you ever think of something and it appears? Or, does something you need happen along at just the right moment?

More Bulbs: Food and Flowers

Today, I had to return something to Lowe's and got a store credit. Red onions were reduced 75% to $1, so I purchased one bag, 120 of those. Garlic was reduced also, so I have a bag of those. Plus, I will have tulips again this spring since they were reduced, too. .

I really need to find someone and sell about half these 240 onions I now have. Maybe a trade? Or, maybe I will share just a few and try to plant all the rest.

While I was at Lowe's I was talking about the hosta that just disappeared and wondered if the chipmunk ate them. The person told me everything loves hosta. I had about a half dozen hosta that were almost three feet across. Some were smaller. That bed was very bare in the end! I only have one hosta left, and it is in a pot. However, two others in pots just disappeared as the roots were eaten. The person assured me only daffodils were safe from everything.

From now on, all citrus peels go around my potatoes, garlic, onions, and flower bulbs. I may have to bury/plant all these in deep pots and cover the tops with hardware cloth. There is orange spray for the yard that will drive them out! Moles and voles hate orange, so maybe chipmunks do, too.

If anyone knows of a way you have used to fend off these chipmunks or kill them, let me know. If you just read it on the internet, I probably have read that, too.

Keep your fingers crossed that I will have onions, potatoes, and garlic for spring. I would hope for tulips, but that will not kill me to have those eaten.

Your turn
Do you have things eaten by chipmunks? What do you do to deter them or how do you kill them?