Various

[pameladean]

Well, I was going to take a walk, but I dawdled too long fussing with Chapter 12 of Going North (now Chapter 12, or the first half of the original chapter; Chapter 13, a brand-new chapter from the other viewpoint; and Chapter 14, the second half of the original Chapter 12) and it's raining.

I found some more garlic mustard in my yard today. I had not seen it blooming before this year. I only knew what it was because Eric, who visited over Memorial Day Weekend, much to my delight, had been reading the LJ of somebody who was helping to eradicate it; and then we went to Eloise Butler and wondered what that tall leggy plant with the small white mustardy flowers was. In the plant book for Eloise Butler, there it was: garlic mustard. I know that it is Evil, because minnehaha K says so. In any case, last year I nurtured what must have been a first-year rosette, because it was quite pretty; this year it bloomed. Eric ceremonially yanked the plant out of the ground when we got home from our hike. Today I was out with my cat and saw two more blooming plants of garlic mustard near the retaining wall separating our yard from the Doggy Neighbors. I didn't yank them up because Aristophanes objects to my weeding, but I'll do it when the rain stops.

I missed a very nice party on Friday because I was reconstituting Chapter 12. On Saturday I worked on it some more. I have finally decided where to split the book. I have to write two more chapter to end the first volume properly, and at least that many to begin and then end the second volume properly. Also, I have to think of titles, which is annoying me disproportionately.

On Sunday David and I had lunch at Baja (fish tacos! Whee!) and then drove down to Northfield to see his mother. She seems to be staying pretty cheerful given that a lot of difficulties of aging are coming down on her head. Her cat, Reuben, was very friendly. We walked around the yard and admired the gigantic Persian lilac and the just-opening irises. We saw a chipping sparrow on the fence, a fine stripey-faced bird with a little rusty-red cap. We don't get them in our yard in Minneapolis. Then David and I drove to Eagan to a gaming-but-NOT-birthday party. I was there to talk to the people who didn't want to game, and that's what David did too, although in other years he has played games as well. I had spent a lot of pleasant time talking to his mother while he installed a wireless hub in her house, and this left me at remarkably low ebb for additional conversation. I sat around and grinned a lot. The Best Poodle actually jumped in my lap. She is Always Polite, but has not been so Condescending and Gracious before. She and one of her Monkeys had been groomed recently and I got to rub both of their heads.

Today has been spent revising Chapter 13, which of course was a first draft when I finished it and looked rather shoddy between the highly-polished bookends that were once Chapter 12. I hope to have it up to snuff by the end of today. Then I think I'll dive headfirst into Bartlett's Online and try to figure out some titles for these annoying objects.

I am still catching up with LJ after gleefully neglecting it during Eric's visit. (He had a cold and we were overscheduled and missed yet another very nice birthday party, but it was a lovely visit. We saw a great many indigo buntings, and catbirds.)

Pamela

Comments

[sdn.livejournal.com]

I have to think of titles, which is annoying me disproportionately

call one GOING and the other NORTH.

::falls over laughing::

[pameladean]

Hey, be careful what you ask for!

P.

[markgritter.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Stupid evil garlic mustard. My backyard shows some signs of hope (a lot fewer of the first-year plants than in previous years) but it's tenacious.

Timprov took a close-up of a garlic mustard bloom here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timprov/2515044216/

I had been meaning to show off my viola volunteers yesterday--- all three plants that I found survived transplanting and grew new blooms.

[pameladean]

Wirth Park is a both a cautionary tale and a ray of hope -- there's garlic mustard everywhere in the park proper, but almost none inside the wildflower garden, where people have been working to eradicate it.

I like the photo. It's really very pretty stuff if you don't know its evil ways.

I'm sorry I missed your violas. I've never had any luck transplanting them, so you obviously have a greener thumb than I do.

P.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I got bawled out for doing a bit of volunteer weeding at Eloise Butler a few years ago, having ripped up a very large handful of garlic mustard.

K.

[pameladean]

I guess they are touchy about anybody's working in the wildflower garden.

Somebody had been pulling up garlic mustard outside the fence, though.

P.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

It's not that garlic mustard is a tenacious grower, it's that the plant is such a prolific seeder. In 3-5 years of vigilance you can exhaust the seed bank in the soil and have done with it. Pam's right that it doesn't flower and set seed the first year. I think all mustards do it like that.

K.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Stupid evil garlic mustard.

I don't know this plant, I don't know if we have it in the UK; but every time someone calls it evil I stumble mentally, 'cos, y'know. Garlic. And mustard...

Can't you eat it?

[markgritter.livejournal.com]

You can. The problem is that people brought it over from Europe for the purposes of eating. But left unchecked it chokes out all the other shade plants because they didn't bring its predator bugs along.

Recipes: http://www.ma-eppc.org/morerecipes.html

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Ah right, it's one of those. We presumably do have it, then; I shall investigate, see if it's nom-worthy.

Meantime, you eat more garlic mustard and I'll eat more American crayfish, and we'll both know we're doing good...

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

I missed a very nice party on Friday because I was reconstituting Chapter 12. On Saturday I worked on it some more. I have finally decided where to split the book. I have to write two more chapter to end the first volume properly, and at least that many to begin and then end the second volume properly. Also, I have to think of titles, which is annoying me disproportionately.

Ohhhh. //drools shyly in anticipation (TWO volumes, oh, oh my.)

[pameladean]

Yes, it seems that the reason it took me so long to write the book, missing several deadlines, is not just that I was rusty, but that it's very very long. I was too neurotic to count words until it was done.

At least both volumes will be published in the same calendar year, thus sparing everyone's sanity.

P.

[faithhopetricks.livejournal.com]

//GLEE//

(Thank GOD that's happening with matociquala's Will-n-Kit book, too. I approve, publishing industry!)

[clindau.livejournal.com]

We saw a chipping sparrow on the fence, a fine stripey-faced bird with a little rusty-red cap. We don't get them in our yard in Minneapolis.

I was reading the paper on the deck the other day and watched a chipping sparrow eat dandelion seeds. He perched on the stem behind the flower head holding it down so he could feast. I loves the deck.

I'm guessing you didn't make it to A Midsummer Night's Dream?

[pameladean]

No, the outdoors was too tempting, one doesn't wish to cough in the theater, and, well, we kind of forgot about it.

I have plenty of dandelions! Where are my chipping sparrows!

P.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

one doesn't wish to cough in the theater

One thinks that one is a rare creature indeed, for the rest of humanity seems to think that coughing in the theater is Teh Very Thang. ;-)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And gets offended if one tuts or glowers or indicates disapprobation in any way. pameladean, you are a hero of the revolution, and this will not be forgotten in times to come.

[davidgoldfarb.livejournal.com]

So where did you decide to put the split?

(Let me know in e-mail, if you don't want to post spoilers, but I'm curious.)

[pameladean]

Oh, I think I can answer without spoilers, but if you want to discuss it I guess we'd better go to email.

Unfortunately, I couldn't take up your suggestion because Chapters 16 and 17 are really one episode; there's just a viewpoint split. I'm splitting it after 17, but that's too abrupt, so I've put in a subplot, or rather, raised one to where it might be noticeable, and will write a new last chapter for the first volume.

P.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Garlic mustard! I looked it up on Google images and it's pretty. Oh, dear: pretty like creeping charlie, which I have (it's past creeping; I think it's walking around in the dark and winding cleverly into the periwinkle so I can't quite pull it up).

[sraun]

It was netmouse who was talking about eradicating it in her neighborhood. I was guessing that the winters were enough worse here that it wasn't a problem. :-(

We'll have to learn to recognize it and pull it.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I can show you adult as well as larval forms.

K.

we like to call it "karenbane"

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

May I suggest you do the very radical and add the leaves to your salads?

K. [it tastes pretty good, as the name suggests]

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I'll have to keep an eye out, but I haven't seen anything that seems to be like the photo by timprov above.

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The flowers, 4-petalled like mustards always are, do not help distinguish the plant. It might be more useful to google up some images like these.

K.

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Uh-oh. I don't have the spiky-leaved variety, but the rounder-leaved variety looks kinda familiar.

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Ho, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden has a garlic mustard pesto recipe! I am so making that!

K.

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Hey, that sounds like an excellent idea!

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[pameladean]

Oh, excellent. I don't have enough for pesto -- yet.

P.

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I was indeed just saying to markgritter "Can't you eat it?"

I should read to the end of comments, clearly, before commenting...

Re: we like to call it "karenbane"

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, just from the description it sounds like it would be nice if it wanted to join the nasturtiums and borage in randomly appearing in my yard to provide more bits for salads.