Happy Halloween!

From our pack to yours...




























The onesie was too big to fit Anakin, so hopefully these uh, lovely, pictures of Nauga will suffice!

general update

Matt has been wrangled into a super-awesome opportunity to represent the Gage Hotel/Gage Gardens at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival! We'll both be attending and are very much looking forward to being back in the RGV - plenty of friends we've not seen in years, plenty of birders who haven't been to the Big Bend region and definitely a good opportunity to get caught up on all of the above. Long time, no travel! And this will be right before Thanksgiving, which is always in Missouri.

Other than surviving midterms, there's not too much to report on the academic front; GPA is better than anticipated and classes for the winter mini-mester have been determined. Spring might actually be less hectic (hah!)

And in other news: Nauga is a happy puppy.

Houston, we have a Pupa!

Edit: this has now been blogged (with more pics!) at Big Bend Birds & Nature - when inch worms grow up.

I should be blogging this over at the other blog, but I managed to forget to take a picture of an inch-worm that adopted us. I harvested some mesquite nibbles for the hubbardi bunch and the little critter caught a ride and found itself in with a bunch of non-geometers. So while I forgot to take its picture, it thrived. Then it started to look pretty bad and I felt terrible and was certain that, along with ~40 other caterpillars this season, it had died. It turned this bizarre shade of teal blue on one end and darkened and instead of being a long, juicy inch-and-a-smidge long... it was barely half an inch long.

But then it turned into a pupa. How ridiculously awesome!

t-shirt dress 2

This shirt/dress/thing was a fun challenge: I wanted to loosen the neck and lengthen a shirt that already fit (size small, but a shirt from the 80s, so a bit longer and narrower than a 'modern' size small). This should really only be done with shirts that already fit or are too large... anything too small could get really awkward.

Unlike the last dress, there were no scraps left over - 100% of the shirt was used and very little fitting was required. Practical! Basically it's the same cutting as was done on the first t-shirt dress; cut sleeves off, once they're off, cut the under-arm seam of the sleeve. Cut the shoulder seams. Attach sleeves to the shoulder seams! This lowers the front neckline considerably (and turns into the back of the final product unless you're layering!) and lowers the back neckline to a reasonable level for front or back. Stitch up the former sleeve holes to fit; the top of the old shoulder should be about at arm pit level.

The resulting long tunic type thing was definitely not something I'd wear without jeans, but it's not scandalous enough that it'd be inappropriate in public for some people* (depends on your taste!)














Apologies for the blurry comp photos; it has since been gifted to a friend who enjoys the color black, layering clothes, and happens to also be a similar size.

t-shirt dress

I'm not sure if the tye-dye t-shirt skirt(s) ever made the blog, but just for amusement's sake, here's the latest project: Matt's old t-shirt = Heidi's new dress
(*All photos were taken after the dress made it to a wearable state!)

Sage green shirt, size XL, inside out. Sleeves cut off.

Closeup of random sewing to trim the sides a bit - yes, there's a gap at the bottom because pleats are challenging and a pocket may be added eventually. Hand-cranked lines, there. On both sides. All sides, really. Because it's either that, or needle and thread without the machine! Another disclaimer: it's darn hard to talk on the phone and sew straight lines anyway, much less intentionally curved ones!

The neck line! One super-long crocheted strand of pale cream colored yarn was double-threaded as a drawstring neckline (only slightly adjustable, really) and the shoulder seams were cut as well. This is when the front of the shirt turns into the back of the shirt and the back of the shirt makes for a much better neckline!

So here's the front of the shirt, which is now the back of the dress:

And here's the back of the shirt, which is now the front of the dress:

And the results?

...not bad for only one shirt and two revisions!

Post is also tagged 'pets' because their supervision and cooperative posing made the project all the more amusing. Neither critter was harmed in the process! No caterpillars, either - but that's for another post.

"furniture"

Owning very little furniture is handy for being mobile, but at times there are situations in which furniture ceases to be versatile. A bed, for example, is a bit cumbersome to move out to the porch to sit and watch the world go by. Last summer's field work did have two folding chairs that, unfortunately, were not made to last. In spite of the seat falling through on one and the arm/seat support breaking on the other (duct-taped and masterfully zip-tied), we nursed them both through a full year of use. So instead of routinely hauling the heavy, suitable-for-an-office rolling chair outside, it was time to say farewell to the less-intact of the folding chairs and welcome a dumpster-diving treasure to the porch. A seatless, aluminum folding chair. Scrap canvas was originally slated for the seat, but somehow procrastination kicked in and that never happened. Scrap 2x4s were on hand, however.

Aluminum frame + scrap wood = chair

...and then there's the whole issue of having only one functioning porch chair. The dog bed had been sitting on a pallet (to avoid gathering dirt, dust and fur on the concrete), but only the small dog used it. Another pallet was added for height with hopes that, small dog aside, some day it might turn into a couch. Finally, 6 cuts with a borrowed saw later... there were 4 pieces of pallet. Stack 3 and add some scrap 2x4s to prop up the 4th?

...just add a blanket to sit on, and voila! Big pup has his bed back (albeit on the ground), and small dog has one piece of furniture she's allowed to be on.

August update

Last week we were asked to speak about the impact of drought on birds and other wildlife on Marfa Public Radio; the audio has been archived and can now be accessed anywhere, at any time, should you feel the urge.

Photo/permalink via Marfa Public Radio:


Handy links from previous posts on the Big Bend Birds & Nature blog:
the drying, the drought (a bit heavy, but eye-opening)
in the meantime, pictures
freezer catch-up
and an optimistic final note: drought?

...in the meantime, things are keeping a hectic pace that neither blog quite reflects. We'd promise more updates if we knew there would be any soonish, but that's a long shot! Perhaps photos of some furniture projects one of these days, though...

Busy, busy summer

As the title implies, we're up to our ears in... life. Between wrangling pups, pup-sitting for others, work, school, work and more work, we've managed to get a few photos worth sharing:

Family portrait: Matt, Nauga, Heidi and Anakin. Awww.

A Black Witch moth on the back wall while blacklighting.

The Chihuahua named Little.

Pepsis wasp. Oh yes, there's an Entomology class afoot this summer!

Recent bug life: Lyside Sulphur, Eyed Elater and an Opuntia Beetle (the 'longhorn')

The reason you don't go the speed limit out here. Ever. This was taken at 6:40 - long before dusk!

...and, FINALLY, our first dung beetles of the season. It only took until mid July to see them at Post Park. Still no sign of them in town. Maybe after a few real rains?