Careful observation

in which our plucky heroine takes effective actions...

I was able to go out (in the rain) this morning, and remove the piles of windfall apples, and the remaining grapes from the vine, into the yard waste bin for pickup today. The apples (which I tackled first) were not a real problem, as I could see no insects around them, the rake has a long handle, and raking them onto the burden cloth kept me quite distant from the damaged fruit.

That accomplished, I turned my attention to grapes. Some of the grape clusters were obviously vacant of wasps/hornets/yellowjackets, so I carefully cut those away and removed them. There were not many insects out in the strong rain (unlike yesterdays perfect autumnal weather, when simply standing adjacent to Feral Grapevine was hazardous), but I could see that some of the grape clusters had at least one inhabitant feeding.

Observing and thinking, my hypothesis was that the exposed grapes, being drenched by rain, had been safe to remove, but the ones more sheltered by leaves had Danger Bugs; it seemed like removing the leafy umbrellas might cause the grape clusters to be abandoned. And so, an experiment: it was possible to carefully and gently cut away the overhanging leaves a bit at a time, without causing any change in behavior, but once the grapes were exposed to the rain, the little buggers flew away. (And they flew away OUT of my yard, which leads me to believe that they are not nesting here)

Following the experiment on the one bunch, I then carefully repeated it for each of the remaining grape clusters, all now disposed of in the yard waste wheelie bin. It was interesting to see a few insects returning after grape removal, them seeming baffled by the loss of their sugary treats and then flying away... Next year I will do some pruning away of sheltering foliage earlier in the year.

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~ 100 day creativity challenge - day 56 ~

"Footwear" is the challenge of the week, and this pair of clogs is my response. Carved wooden soles, and uppers made from a scrap of red kidskin. Tiny Rag Doll Nation (on Ravelry) has a two month long weekly creative challenge, this is week 4.

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I love this poem "The Mushroom Hunters" by Neil Gaiman. First heard it read by his wife Amanda Palmer, then found the illustrated version, with drawings and text lettered by Chris Riddell, and now just found the video...

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beauty in the time of isolation - day 185:

Most of the backyard apples became windfalls in the high winds before the toxic smoke rolled in, but there are a very few still on the tree. This is one of the best.

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September SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Gwen sunhat	removed oven door	old underwindow
2	dozen EQUITY prints	clean one bedroom screen	dead cold-packs
3	tiny deer hat	clean studio screens	yard waste bin
4	Gwen knit cardigan	10# plums processed	recycle bin
5	Nandina coat	felt cover for exhaust fan	favorite saucepan
6	Nandina boots	doors taped closed	oven door glass
7	Nandina felt skirt	15 # plums processed	yard waste bin
8	Nandina red clogs	some tomatoes dried	yard waste bin
9	x	underwindow foam + tape	recycle bin
10	x	many pears dried	x
11	x	wanda plum pruned	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - My heart is still open to feelings