Yoda gets new Dagobah

Caring for our turtle Yoda has had interesting fallout. The first is that we (I mean "I") have had to learn about reptiles and box turtles. Next, we've ("I") have done research on the character of Yoda. Now, I not only know that Carolina Box Turtles enjoy water, but I also know that Yoda was exiled to the planet Dagobah in Star Wars ...

Most of you aren't surprised, are you? Dang ... dorky dork.

Well, after Yoda's lost battle against the Red Fire Ant Invasion, he recouped inside the house. One Way and I (I mean "One Way") went ahead and built him an ant-proof enclosure that had some of the benefits of the raised garden bed (outside, roomy).

We decided a porch herb box would do well as the new Dagobah for Yoda.



Here's One Way's shout out to Yoda:



And here is the final product:

Master bed/bath finally completed!

Well, I've been putting it off for a while, but I have finally completed decorations in the master bedroom and bathroom. If you've seen our bathroom, the only thing it has mastered is a unique smallness found only in doll houses, so it was a bit of challenge to decorate.

Also, in our bedroom, we had a huge expanse of empty wall that begged for creativity.

Both rooms got what was coming to them:



BTW, that wire macaw was custom constructed by me :)



Yes, those are our vows in the center of those photos! On the left is from our ceremony. The photos on right is from our wedding reception.

Hanna and more

Thanks to everyone who called worried about us and the approaching storm! Well, the weekend was certainly eventful, but it wasn't the 40 mph winds or the rains that made it so.

Let's start with Friday. I picked up some superworms and waxworms for Yoda at Petsmart because garden grubs and earth worms have been slim pickings for the last week. As some of you know, Yoda has made the transition to a full-time outdoor turtle in our newly-built raised garden bed.

I fed him a worm and, like usual, watched him kill it. Usually, at this point, I walk away because no one needs to watch a turtle swallow a worm. But, it was a new type of worm and I was curious as to how Yoda planned on using his Jedi mind powers to swallow it.

Suddenly, around 10 or so red fire ants attacked Yoda! I quickly scooped him up and washed the ants off of him inside. It is now Sunday and he is still pretty sickly. One got him in his left eye, poor turtle. He's eating, at least, but still feeling quite poopy.

He has been brought inside until he fully heals ... meanwhile, I opened a can of whoop-ass on those ants and now they fear our backyard.

Here's Yoda in recovery:



Here he is. That red stuff around his neck is the reptile bark. But you can see his left eye is pretty swollen and he looks pretty unhappy.



At this time we expect Yoda to make a full recovery, but have begun looking up exotic vets in the area just in case he needs some anti-biotics for infection. (Or eye removal)

One Way and his ship were sent out to sea and left me to weather the storm by myself. I took this time to plant our fall veggies and mulch it with leftover newspaper (of which we have an overabundance!). Naturally, I killed all the ants surrounding and in the bed before planting and mulching. I will diligently guard the yard from those invasive little suckers. Yoda will go back out hopefully in a week or less.



Hope you enjoyed your weekend!