Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fantasy Islette or Guppies Gone Wild

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

My front garden is filling out nicely, but only one out of three of my red yuccas are blooming in the same bed. It's sort of odd since they all bloomed at once in the past couple of years. If anyone has an idea what might be going on, please let me know.



Inside, I finally had my kitchen project finished this week. Whoever built my house put in this tiny, 12"x 24" island in the middle of the not-so-large kitchen. Since the island was so small I dubbed it my 'islette'. And as something that was always in the way, it became one of the most infamous objects in my house as well as the source of great amusement to my friends and neighbors. I often threatened to give it away as a gag gift at parties, but I don't think anyone took me seriously. Believe me, if there hadn't been electricity running through it, I would have popped it out myself long ago...
Today the contractor who did Robin's (GetGrounded) beautiful kitchen brought in a couple guys to disconnect the electricity & remove the islette and then re-tile the floor once it was gone. I'm thrilled with the results! My next project will be granite counters, stainless appliances, cabinet handles/knobs and perhaps a farmer's sink with French faucet. As you can see, I'm rather giddy with my success.


Back outside, the one dozen guppies I'd put in my container water garden last fall have experienced a population explosion. I fear my goldfish are having an identity crisis at the very least; being overrun with these frenetic live-bearers. I am now planning to separate the guppies from the goldfish. I've never had live-bearers take over in a water garden so completely before, but this group is certainly robust. I only added them last year to keep mosquito larva down that the goldfish couldn't reach, unfortunately the guppies seem to be staging a coup at this point. So, anyone want to give a few guppies a good home? :-)


I hope all the mother's out there have a very Happy Mother's Day. My Mom and sister will be down during Mother's Day, which will be a treat. May all of us learn to be as relaxed as my cat Mariah...

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." Robert Heinlein

Copyright © 2007-2009. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

11 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Your kitchen project looks great. I wonder what the contractor that built it was thinking?? As to your yuccas I don't know why they aren't all blooming. Perhaps it is an age difference?? Happy Mothers Day to you too.

Anonymous said...

Wow, your kitchen looks so big without that little annoying THING in the middle of the room! Good work. BTW, I'm in need of a few guppies...my moquito fish aren't breeding as much as I would like... :)

Melanie said...

Look at all that room in your kitchen now! And I love that picture of your cat :-D

Dawn said...

Hi Lisa,We've often wondered what they were thinking as well. It's a mystery to us! Whenever I was in the kitchen I always seemed to need to be on the opposite side of that island.

As for the yuccas: I bought them all at the same time and they've all bloomed at once before; just not this year.

Dear Robin (getgrounded),Do mosquito fish eat guppies? We had that problem in Florida with a certain kind of little carnivorious fish that would eat guppies & goldfish. Anyway, you are welcome to a bag-o-fish from my water garden. Just give me a shout. My e-mail addy is gifthorsie@gmail.com.
(Oh and thanks again for recommending G&G Berry. Jamie did a terrific job!)

Thanks Melanie,When she sprawled out like that I ran for the camera. It just looked so blog-able! LOL! And yes, the kitchen feels twice as big now, because I'm not walking in circles all the time.

Cheers!
Dawn

Annie in Austin said...

Loved the Heinlein quote, Dawn, but looking at that islette, think men are not slouches in the doing-as-they-please department...was it designed just to produce bruises on whoever worked in the kitchen?

Happy Mothers Day!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

DrDeb said...

Love your site about transforming a lot into a garden! A community in South Florida recently did the same thing, mirroring a trend around the country to plant recession gardens: Recession Gardens.

Thanks for your post!

A wildlife gardener said...

What a wonderful kitty...I love the way the legs are dangling like a frog...when ours did that we called them frog-cats :)

I don't know if the fish are swimming ultra fast in your pond...but that's what happened when I played the video :)

Love all your planting :)

Rock rose said...

I think they must have had a cupboard left over and said "let's just stick it here" If it hadn't been for the electricity I would have said it was the tile guys fault and they just tiled around it because it was there!
Maybe Pam would like some of your fish for her new water garden.

Anonymous said...

Your kitchen is 100% improved by removing the island and retiling. I like your other ideas as well. I can see it now. It is going to be fabulous.
Donna

morello said...

hi..hi..hi.. what a cute cat. i like your cat picture.

Dawn said...

Hi Annie,
Hope you had a lovely Mother's Day! I think you're right; the islette was definitely designed by a man who may have wanted to cause pain to the cook. My bruised hip is evidence to that fact. ;-)

Welcome DrDeb,
Thanks for dropping by my blog. I'll be interested to check out your site as well.

Thanks Wildlife gardener,
Okay, I love the term 'frog-cat'. LOL! The fish do actually swim that fast, believe it or not. Isn't that wild? I think they are hyperfish. ;-)

Hi Lancashire rose,
You know, I think you might be right about the extra cupboard, because that's exactly what it looked like. Our contractor said he'd never seen anything like it in any of these houses. It was very weird. I'm so glad it's gone. What a difference a little open space makes.

I'm happy to donate guppies to anyone who'd enjoy some. I have plenty.

Dear Donna,
Thanks! I'm excited to have this project finished. My next step is choosing cupboard handles or knobs. It will be a relief not to break my fingernails on the edges of these doors anymore.

Hi morello,
She is a wonderful cat. I'm lucky to have her.

Cheers!
Dawn