Lots of Nope Ropes

I mowed the grass around the big garden yesterday morning so I could re-lay my hose lines. I’ll need to water every day now that it’s getting hot. I spotted four (!) garter snakes while I was out there, including this one:

Some people in our homesteading group refer to snakes as “nope ropes.” Amy Dingmann of the Farmish Kind of Life podcast calls them “dragon noodles,” which is far more poetic.

That section of black plastic appears to be home to a family of snakes. The plastic is over a couple of rotting tree stumps so there aren’t any plants in that spot. These look like western terrestrial garter snakes.

Yes, I have snakes in my garden. What I don’t have are tomato hornworms, potato beetles, cabbage moths, or slugs. I’ll take the snakes. They don’t bother me, although sometimes they surprise me if I forget they are there.

It’s all one big happy ecosystem.

The strawberry bed is about done producing. We are awaiting the raspberry tsunami.

**********

I think I need to reorganize my sewing space. The workflow is not flowing and my sew-jo is suffering.

I did pull and cut fabric for this pattern yesterday:

I think it will be useful with all of the English paper piecing I do in the evenings. The bonus is that it’s a quick win.

No sewing today, though; I am teaching a serger mastery class this afternoon and I am going to try to run all my errands before class starts.

**********

I ran my genetic data through Seeking Health’s StrateGene program a few weeks ago. My girls also did theirs. It’s been eight years since the first report and I thought it was time for an update. The MTHFR mutation runs rampant on both sides of my family and has caused all sorts of health problems, including blood clots. I have a folate deficiency and my mother has a B12 deficiency. DD#2 is struggling with food intolerances and other issues and I wanted to see if could narrow down the causes. The reports turned out to contain quite a lot of useful information. DD#2 does have a significant genetic predisposition for histamine intolerance. And it was helpful for me to be able to compare our genetic profiles side-by-side to see what the girls got from me and what they got from their father.

I know that many people are uncomfortable having their genetic data analyzed like that, but for me, the benefits have far outweighed the risks. I’ve been able to address my own health issues without having to shotgun a lot of solutions. And if we can mediate these problems through diet and lifestyle changes, then we’ll go that route first.