Blog

Garden Update: Carnival Colors and Carnivorous Plants
It's nearly July and the garden has reached peak bloom. Weed growth has slowed from "OMG" to just annoying, enabling me to catch up a bit. So I figured it was a good time to get out there and take a...

Gardening Comics
Another major hobby of mine is comics. For the last couple years, I've produced a single-panel strip called The Daily Drawing that's currently published twice weekly on GoComics.com. Once in a...

How To: Transplant Hostas in Midsummer
Note: check out my update below to see what the transplant and divisions look like after one year! We finally bit the bullet and decided have our lower deck replaced. The fat deposit check went out...

How to Make 8 Bamboo Valances from One Roman Shade
One of the challenges I faced in finishing out the sunroom was figuring out how to hide the dirty fascia visible through the top part of the windows. Over time, pine needles, insects, dirt and other...

Garden Update: Obligatory Flowers, A New Tree and Caged Radishes
We've had an all-time record amount of rain in Seattle this winter. I don't know if that makes for more May flowers than normal, but it's definitely looking lush out there. The weeds are also pretty...

Some trees need pants…
While cleaning up the neglected area next to the south easement, I came face to face with this. I had to take a photo and share it. Yes, I am 12. In case you are wondering, it's an English Holly...

Garden Update: 14 Ferns
This morning I ran around like a crazy person taking pics of all the ferns I could find before the forecasted rain came. These suckers are growing fast and I wanted to capture some photos before...

Learning how to camera
My phone has a pretty great camera, but after many lackluster specimen photos and no ability to zoom, I figured I should try to level up using better equipment. A few days ago I dug up John's DSLR...

Project Sunroom: Stripping and staining and painting
File this one under "things I didn't know I just really needed to do". After initially removing the wet-dog-smell Astroturf and fiber wall covering, we let our sunroom languish for over a decade as...

Garden Update: Pieris, Creek Cleanout and Slugs
Things seem to be happening in the garden despite our extra cold, extra wet, extra gross weather. These plants have more fortitude than me. The sun poked its head out today though and I a quick...