Moving Update

Wait, you’re back in Slidell?

Yes, I’m back in Slidell. But only for one day to load the car with more crap. Julie’s still at the ranch, without WiFi or cell service. It appears the fiber company may have overstated their progress. It’s amazing how many times I tried to look something up, order something, or send somebody a message only to see “No Service”.

If you follow Julie on Facebook, I hope you were entertained by the cat live posting. They did better than expected and are adapting well. It turned out to be a 13 hour drive because of I-10 closures and alternate route construction. Julie’s dad made sure to have everything prepared and ready, so all we had to do was unload the cats and fall into bed (cots, actually).

We’re home.

Since I’m just off the drive back (11 hours — the middle of the Labor Day weekend is an excellent day to travel), I’m just going to leave some photos from our new home, with a tiny science/nature section at the end.

Frost the Bull

I will never get tired of the view.

The reason we discovered we have two window leaks.

I took this from inside my living room.

A closer look at the welcoming committee

And for a short nature & science update, here is our current nemesis: Cenchrus spinifex

Cenchrus spinifex (I know the photo is huge, but I can’t resize it in the editor using my iPad and my computer is packed)

Also known as coastal or common sandbur or sticker weed. We just called them stickers when I was growing up. I’ve also heard these called cocklebur, but that is a different plant (in the genus Xanthium).

These little bastards are all over our yard and will stick to anything. While it’s a great survival and propagation technique, I’m less impressed when we track them into the house and step on them with bare feet.

The only bird, according to my research so far, that will eat sandbur is the Pyrrhuloxia, and the ranch is not included in its range. Even if it was, sandbur is not a primary food source, so I’m fine with it going away around the house.

One thing Julie noticed is that tiny butterflies (on our list to research) will land on the spines when we come near. We wonder if that is a survival behavior, since a predator would be impacted by the sticker if it tried to eat the butterfly. Fascinating to watch.

Update: Of course, Julie’s first question is: “Can I eat that?” Turns out you can.

From Eat The Weeds: Sandlot Sadists

Thanks for reading!