Deer Repellent

     The deer, or maybe it's the chipmunks, are eating my flowers and the tender new growth on my shrubbery.  I tried hanging human hair and dog hair around the feeding ground.  I also sprinkled dog poop and (I am embarrassed to reveal ) human urine around my most nibbled flower bed.  Nothing worked.
     I know someone who swears by coyote urine.  You can get an 8 ounce bottle of the stinky stuff at the Home Depot for $13.58.  I thought I would end up spending a fortune considering that the product would have to be reapplied frequently with all the rain we have been having.
     A friend gave me a recipe for homemade deer repellant that is made from garlic and hot peppers.  She says it is cheap and it works.  Here's the recipe:

     One clove of garlic
     One hot pepper (I bought a serrano pepper, the hottest one in the Shop Rite produce aisle.)
     One pint of water
     One drop of dish soap - add just before bottling
     One drop of cooking oil -add just before bottling.

     My instructions were to blend the garlic, pepper and water, then strain through a coffee filter (or two) to remove all the pulpy particles.  Pulp will clog up a spray bottle or garden sprayer, so it is important to strain out every bit of it.
     Here's where this project went off the rails.  I thought the juice might be more potent if I boiled the garlic and pepper in the 16 ounces of water before I tossed it in the blender.  Of course I cut up the pepper before cooking.  Naturally, I rubbed my nose while I waited for my witches' brew to boil for five or six minutes.  It wasn't long before the tingling started.  Still, I was undeterred.  I pulled the covered pot off the burner and lifted the lid.  I should have worn a respirator.  I coughed.  I sputtered.  My eyes watered and snot poured out of my nose.  The fumes were unbelievable.
     After the liquid cooled a bit, I pulsed it in the blender and strained it.  Then I thoroughly washed every part of my blender imagining the kick my next frozen margarita would have if I didn't get every nook and cranny clean.  As I cleaned up the kitchen counters, I made a mental note that my dish cloth and towels should be washed separately, not with pillow cases, wash clothes, underware, or any items that might touch a sensitive body part.  Maybe I'm going a little overboard, but you can't be too careful.
     I'm pretty sure this stuff is going to work. 

Dream Big, Start Small

     My friend recently mentioned in one of her emails that she has yet to find her passion.  I'm the same.  I like lots of stuff, but there is nothing in this world that I love so much that I have been driven to pursue it like my life depended on it.  As a result, I am a dabbler - Jill of all trades, mistress of none.
     Curiosity is my most pronounced character trait.  I saw a woman walking a pig in Long Bridge Park.  I marched up to her and started interviewing like I was writing an article for the Burlington County Times.  Did she like having a pig for a pet?  Do pigs enjoy walking on a leash?  How old was her pig?  Could I touch her pig?  Another time I heard a rumble and the house shook.  Since it happened only once, I knew the trembling wasn't caused by soldiers playing war games at McGuire Air Force Base.  The TV news didn't report an earthquake.  I googled like crazy for a couple of days until I discovered that there was an enormous sonic boom near Galloway, New Jersey that jiggled the southern half of our state.
     If I have something close to a passion, it is that I love to read.  Combine a love of reading and a nosy nature and you get a person who is pretty good at researching and figuring things out.  I often find that answering one query just leads to more questions.  Once I clicked so many blue highlighted words in a Wikipedia article about quinoa that I ended up learning the biological definition of lumen - the inside of a tubular space, like the inside of a vein or an intestine.
     I think that Wikipedia is a great place to start if you want to know something.  Some people say it contains too much inaccurate information, but I still like Wikipedia.
     One night I was watching a TV news magazine and I saw a segment about a gathering of Wikipedia editors.  Anybody in the whole, wide world can be a Wikipedia contributor/editor.  Anybody = Me.  I mulled this idea over for about three years.  A few months ago I created an account and a few days ago I made my first contribution.  I was watching Season 3, Episode 10 of the TV series "Billions," and I noticed the name Patti D'Arbanville in the credits.  I recognized the name from the 1989 TV series, "Wiseguy."  I remember way too much about the "Wiseguy" series because, though Chris Noth had not yet become Carrie Bradshaw's Mr. Big, I fantasized at the time that he could be mine.   I immediately looked up Patti on Wikipedia, and I noticed that her appearance on two episodes of "Billions" had gone unmentioned among her Wikipedia TV credits.  I checked out the official "Billions" series site through Showtime network.  I also went to IMDb (the Internet Movie Database) to verify all of Ms. D'Arbanville's "Billions" appearances.  Then I added the "Billions" information to the the Wikipedia article.
     Once I actually edited an article, I began to wonder about my fellow editors.  Who are they?  Well, they are mostly men.  In 2011, only 9% of global editors were women and 15% of editors in the United States were female.  Wikipedia hoped to increase its number of female contributors to 25% by 2015, but that didn't happen.  Less than 5% of women have 500 or more edits to their names.
     Dream big.  Five hundred edits.  Four hundred ninety nine to go.


http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/01/28/south-jersey-sonic-boom/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashrut

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumen_(anatomy)

https://hbr.org/2016/06/why-do-so-few-women-edit-wikipedia

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-feminist-edit-a-thon-seeks-to-reshape-wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patti_D%27Arbanville

Mill Hill Garden Tour

     Mill Hill is a gentrified section of downtown Trenton, New Jersey.  The area got its name from Mahlon Stacy's mill located on the Assunpink Creek.  Stacy's mill, built in 1679, was the first industrial site in central New Jersey.  This area was undeveloped until the mid to late 1800s when Trenton underwent rapid industrialization.  Trenton began to decline during the Great Depression.  In the 1980s, a redevelopment plan began that aimed to preserve this historic area.  Today Mill Hill is a quiet, safe enclave within the city.  Street signs welcome visitors to the neighborhood "where people watch out for each other."  The Old Mill Society sponsors summer garden tours, December holiday tours, and numerous other activities.

     Many Mill Hill homes are attached, so visitors trooped through the houses to get to the gardens in the back.  Other back yards were accessed via two foot wide, gated passages between homes.  One lady allowed visitors free access to her fabulously renovated town home besides the visit to her unique back yard.  Many homeowners provided bottled water, iced tea, and yummy cookies.

An Urban Oasis

Several gardens on the tour had water features.  One homeowner expressed appreciation for the wild life that gardens attract, even for the rat that likes to hide under her waterfall!  Ah, city living.

This method of growing herbs inspires me.

Several homeowners incorporated bits of architecture from Trenton's past into their garden designs.

This compass design uses left over pieces from granite counter tops.

This gnome's abode is nestled in an enormous mass of tree roots.

This backyard couldn't be simpler or more eye catching - colorful containers sitting on compacted earth.

Mill Hill is for friendly people.  This shared alley connects the backyards of two attached houses.  The outdoor dining area made me feel like I was walking past a Parisian café. 

Another example of vertical gardening.

This backyard features a sunken garden.

What a grand, old home.

This home would win a prize for having the most inviting front porch. 

This was my favorite house in Mill Hill.