Let the Neurosis Begin

I am convinced all the mortar is going to crack and fall off.  I will have to plea to the GardenWeb divas to assure me that won't happen.  I know you guys think I'm good at this kind of thing, but the truth is, I am filled with paranoia and uncertainty every step of the way.  And if I get to the end and it turns out and all is well, I'll be the most surprised of the bunch.

I also made what I think is a huge mistake.  I decided to do the top first, let him harden and dry before doing the bottom.  Now I have no idea how I can lay him on his side to do the bottom without him shattering into a thousand pieces.  No, it's not that fragile.  It just seems like it.

Sigh.  And this is what I'm doing for relaxation!

More progress on the sea serpent!

Despite shoveling 2 yards of compost and potting up 15 pepper plants, I managed to make some more progress on the sea serpent.

Here he is with some additional details. This isn't the final shape of the copper wire--I figure I can perfect that after everything else is done. But it's the general gist.

Next step is mortar. I can't wait!! Maybe next weekend, I hope. (Oh, how to get rid of that day job yet still have a roof over my head, LOL)

My slug experiment

Folks over on GardenWeb have been talking about caffeine as a slug repellent.  There's been some debate about how to apply it (spraying plants with coffee, used coffee grounds vs new), but I'm giving my own experiment a try.

My cabbage is getting eaten, despite all the hand picking and sluggo I put out.  So after saving up a can's worth of spent coffee grounds, I picked off the eaten leaves of two of them and surrounded them with a thick solid layer of grounds:

I seriously hope this works, as I'm not finding much else that does.  The slugs in my yard are tiny--the size of a grain of rice--so they're hard to get a handle on.  They also aren't to deterred by Sluggo.

If nothing else, I'm giving these couple plants an extra shot of nitrogen, and with brassicas being heavy feeders, that's a bonus.

I'm guessing I should know in a few days and will keep you posted!