Frankenzuke!

This is the 4th year for our backyard garden - it gets bigger and better every year.  I have half a mind to rent a tiller and dig up a big chunk so we can really go big next year.

Might have to anyways, what with rising food prices and all.  But I digress, sort of.

What I really wanted to talk about are the volunteer plants coming up this year, all over the garden!  I have a very unruly garden this year.

Plants of all sorts coming up randomly here and there!  Sunflowers, borage, snapdragons, feverfew, cosmos, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins (I think), and squash!  IT'S A FREE FOR ALL!

Ahem.  Sorry, got a bit carried away for a minute.  These things happen when you have a sloppy compost pile.  I've threatened to leave a bit of the garden open next year just to see what comes up.  But back to the here and now, especially the squash plants.

Earlier in the season, I noticed several zucchiniesque plants coming up here and there in the garden.  I decided to let them go and see what kind of trouble they got up to.  Turns out, there's two kinds of trouble.  A couple of the plants have very distinct pumpkin characteristics - long snaking vines, tendrils wrapping around anything nearby... and one of the plants now has a small round yellowish fruit.  We'll see where that one goes.  Unfortunately, the other plant gets stepped on and bumped almost daily because of its location - if it can produce even one fruiting body I'll be thrilled.

But the others... they looked just like zucchini plants!  Just like them!  Until they didn't.

FRANKENZUKES!

And guess what - they tasted just like zucchinis.  We've eaten them twice, and they were just wonderful.  Michael made stuffed zucchini the other day, and tonight we had zucchini parmigiana.  NOM NOM NOM

In other news... Syd!

The weather has been decent, I'm ready for summer reading to be over, and I only work 10 days in September.  

I suppose I can't complain too much.

DOG.

Woof!  Woof woof!

Yesterday the neighbor brought this lovely doggie over to spend the night in our garage - she found him outside of town and he just jumped right into her car!  They have dogs and cats next door, so no place to put a temporary lodger - thus coming over to ask us.

Well....... let's just say that he didn't spend more than the five seconds it took him to pass through the garage in the garage.  The rest of the night he spent here inside, and this morning we bought a collar, leash, bowls, food, etc... looks like he's here to stay!  I checked Craigslist, and there were no postings for a big lost black dog like this.  I also posted a vague "found" ad.  If he has owners that care about him, they'll need to identify him clearly to get him back.

We're tending toward thinking he may have been abandoned - so many military families have to leave the area and can't take their dogs with them, or these days it could be a foreclosure.  He had no collar, and is very emaciated.  It will take a bit of generous feeding to plump him up - but he'll get there!  After spending a day with him, Michael reports that he has never been walked on a leash, and doesn't really get the concept of play.  We gave him a bath tonight and he still smells a bit, poor fellow!  It's going to take two or three more baths to get rid of his funk.

He's been trained some - he knows sit, and stay.  Still a lot of work to do, but he'll get there eventually, even if he is a bit dim.

We've named him Syd, after Syd Barrett.  He gets a bit confused thinking Syd is "sit."  I posted a "found" listing on Craigslist, and noticed that nobody had reported a lost black dog since Christmas Eve.  I suspect nobody will claim him.

The cat is feeling a bit insulted by it all.  But getting used to Syd's presence.

I'm on holiday for the next six days.  Life is good!