u/supershinythings

We named her Stinkerbelle after she lightly sprayed my cat who usually lounges on the extra scratchers outside. She visits almost nightly and cleans up the cockroaches in my area.

Had she not sprayed my cat she could have had a fine name like Janice, Cheryl, or Meghan, but oh well, Stinkerbelle it is.

People in my area have been complaining of cockroaches all around town, but Stinkerbelle and her little possum friend (not shown) grub for cockroaches and ticks.

Stinkerbelle has encountered my cat a couple times and my cat caught a very mild spraying once, but otherwise they have an uneasy truce. Stinkerbelle just wants to forage.

I wanted to watch the Jam judging today at 1PM. I was turned away at the parking lot entrance and told that the fair opens at 4PM except Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

But the jam judging is TODAY at 1PM. It’s not like they moved it so the public can attend.

So this means that the public can’t watch any of the various product judging that occurs during the week.

Since this is the main reason I am here, I guess I won’t be attending.

I am SO disappointed that the public can’t watch the judging. I want to up my jam game and have picked up a few tips in the past.

And of course, during the week it’s usually a bit less crowded so I can view the many exhibits in the exhibition hall. I’m not going to deal with the crowds AND the heat just for that.

I noticed this while watering this morning. Occasionally some tiny flowers of a fig, normally trapped inside, spill out the ostiole.

I don’t know if this means the fig has already been caprified, or if the fig can no longer be caprified because the ostiole is now blocked by the little flowers.

Still shot from Moscow after a bad day at a refinery.

The motive, the crime, and two suspects!

This fig is from a 30+ year old backyard Kadota tree. Currently ripening are a bunch of brebas. I went through a few days ago and bagged the ones closest to ripeness.

I suspect one ripened enough to fall, permitting either a skunk or a possum to rip open the bag and STEAL MY FIG.

I say possum or skunk because I have footage of both, placing each of them in my yard at different times last night.

On the plus side, the tree has between 100-200 figs on it, so August around here is going to be insane.

I took over this Kadota fig tree (along with a meyer lemon, plum, apricot, and bay leaf) from my father when he left me his house (and mortgage). I had to cage-match some long-estranged relatives who did nothing for him in his retirement and wanted nothing to do with him over the last 40+ years, but still grubbed for his house after he passed. Dad had a will and trust in place and after 3 years of probate due to Covid, the judge found the will and trust both valid.

So the tree and its fruit mean something to me. Dad enjoyed them every year, so they are meaningful to me. I miss my Dad every single day.

That said, I’m sure this possum and this skunk’s parents and grandparents took fruit too, so I suppose this is to be expected.

This is the first time they’ve left the bag on the ground after stealing fruit though. My neighbor occasionally finds them in his yard and returns them to me if they aren’t ripped open like this, which is probably why this is the first time I’ve seen it for myself.

She demanded respect. If she didn’t get it, she took it.

She only allowed my father to touch her. Everyone else could F right off.

Sometimes, if I fed her, I was permitted to pet two or three times, but NEVER the belleh. She was very very soft.

Dad OTOH could do whatever he wanted - belly rubs, brushy brushy, she loved it all - only from Dad.

I’m planning on enclosing the patio in future to prevent such intrusions.

I’ve had them fly into my house before when the screen door was left open accidentally. Now they know where I live.

This is my neighbor’s cat. He regularly patrols my yard for the usual vermin, and if he can sneak in he’ll feast on leftovers.

Also he is adorable.

Just one fig so far, gone now - an amazing Marseilles Black breba I bagged two days ago after noticing the sudden color change. Notes of berry and vanilla, slightly overripe in a GREAT way - this bursting quality can never be seen at a store or farmer’s market. It doesn’t keep or transport well.

Blenheim apricots - first ripe three!

Not sure what variety of plums - Dad planted them 20+ years ago and he has since passed. They are purple, perhaps satsuma. Yellow plums are sure to follow in a week or two.

After Dad passed, for a couple years the trees weren’t well cared for and they didn’t produce ANY fruit. Eventually I pruned, fertilized, and watered; the trees retaliated by fruiting.

I put down a tarp to identify and catch the daily fallen plums. They are also slightly overripe in that perfect home quality way. I miss my Dad. These plums are the direct fruits of his labor.

It ripened quickly in 93F heat. I organza-bagged after photographing the original found breba two days ago posted earlier.

Harvested 10 minutes ago. Overripe in a good way, luscious and juicy, coating, mouthful of berry and vanilla.

UNREAL.

I was really impressed by this Marseilles Black. It’s been around for a few years, acquired August 2023 as a smol rooted cutting from One Green World.

The plums are ripe too.

Last pic is the potted plant. It’s not a very big pot but this year it decided to show off. Each pic is a different branch of this small Marseilles Black.

Not shown is a second Marseilles Black VS that opted for height and roots over fig flowers.

I have another that has two brebas and nothing else (so far).

It’s getting to be around 90F in Zone 9b here in Northern CA. I’m thinking about putting a MB VS in the ground this January during dormancy. This productivity in such a small plant is unexpected and, well, ideal!