total geekout

we're having bees! everybody is tired of hearing me talk about it, i know. we pick up a 2-lb package of italian honeybees (total guidos) next wednesday. we still have to paint the hive bodies, but man, it's cool to have this stuff and think about bee awesomeness in the near future.


pre-construction:



foundation. these are made of plastic, but the bees add wax to it, making them large enough to raise babies, store pollen/nectar, and make honey:



constructed:

we are going to look SO DAMN COOL:

all we see is a bright white light....

hello. let it be known that teachers in february are out of words. we don't even talk to each other, preferring to communicate via vague flailings of the wrist, barely audible groans, and occasional heavy sighs. it's just that time of year.

please note the common theme of WHITE with this update. WHITE on the outside:



and WHITE on the inside:



(not white, but SUCH FINE HELPERS):



white dishwasher. virginal. pure. not spewing water all over the entire basement:

winter at city cabin

sledding:

cardinaling:



cooper's hawking:



and, finally drinking:


these are the things winter is for.

Fall's Here! And Now It's Gone.

The residents of City Cabin have been a lot delinquent with regards to updates. In fact we missed a whole season. Fall was pretty nice, and a few weeks longer this year.



The oak was as brilliant as any time we've lived here.





Our neighborhood became notorious for having one of it's members quoted in the local paper complaining about the noise of the new football stadium. We checked out some of the opening night hoopla, not a bad perspective without a ticket.




And the fish were able to stay outside until the middle of October.

The pioneering four made it through another summer. Biggie is our favorite.



But a funny thing happened...



These guys showed up.

At the end of July we noticed that we had a lot of little dark quarter-inch fry swimming around in the pond. Goldfish eat their young but we held out hope that one or two of the most agile might survive. By September we regularly saw two of the young but no more. We were a little surprised to pull out six on October 18. We were happy to finally get number seven, a little fast fish a week later. And we were shocked on October 31 when we were draining the water from the pond in preparation for the upcoming deep freeze. A huge dark fish revealed itself. The shock was two-fold:
1. Of the eight young the average size is now about an inch long. This fish is at least three inches long, closer in size to the adults than the other young.

2. We keep the fish in the lower, larger pond. This fish appeared in the upper, smaller pond. To get there the little fish or egg would have had to have gone for a ride through the water pump in the few minutes a week that the filter is off being cleaned.



For now the family is spending its time reunited in their second home/plastic tub. Little do they know that their owners just completed a Craig's List transaction today and they'll soon be movin' on up in the world to 55 gallons enclosed in glass.



On the building front it's been pretty quiet. The warm fall allowed for some time spent in the garage trying out a few new/inherited tools. The drill press and bench grinder came from my grandfather via my great uncle. I don't know when either last operated but both worked great for making metal support braces for the work bench.







All that is left is to cap the ends and add a metal work surface with backsplash. That will have to be ordered as I don't have a torch or plasma cutter. Yet.

The Dog Days

It's been a busy summer travel season at Citycabin. That's the excuse we're offering for few home improvements and infrequent updates. During packing the most senior cat tried a classic suitcase trick but little did he know that Davey Crockett hats are not in style in Caliswedornia.


Despite a cool, dry spring the latest gardening projects were going according to plan.

Excellent pond plant choices this year have made for clear water and happy fish...




...so happy that our 4 pioneering goldfish are now 4 goldfish and 3+ baby goldfish. If you're patient and the light is just right, you might catch a glimpse of one of the small, gray offspring. Adults eat their young so professionals separate the two groups after hatching. At citycabin it's all about natural selection and we're rooting for the young to be good at hiding until they're too big to be eaten. Half-Incher is a fine young man we have high hopes for him in the future.

This isn't him. He's too good to be caught in a photograph. This is his enemy. Or mom or dad.

And the inaugural vegetable gardens offered a nice crop of lettuce, a fair amount of green beans, pretty-but-stomach-burning inedible radishes, a few cucumbers, micro carrots, and zero-yielding broccoli and strawberries. Just wait until next year!




From heirloom to cherry we have 8 different varieties of tomato plants in various stages of development. They're a bit further along than this June photo



Actually more like this:




but an early frost or squirrel attack might prove catastrophic.


In summation the summer of 2009 will be remembered most for plants, ponds and critters not from Citycabin proper but other places.

Keep 'er between the lines

Look out for trees

A nice walk among 1000+ year-old trees

Senior picture

Note to self: remember to turn left ahead

and right, then left, then right, then left

And don't question who owns the beach

These three do

Some thousands of miles away...

are wild berries to be picked.

Getting around sans Mustang

Look out for the locals

They're crafty

Even the ants don't mess around.

Brackish Lake Superior





Beautiful



Refreshing





Best finished with sauna