Maryam over at My Marrakesh has tagged me with the Nine Weird Things meme. In the Hallowe’en spirit, I’d like to introduce you to:

Nine Spoooky Things About Me

1. I’m deaf in one ear. I was born that way. There are pros and cons to this. Cons are things like not following group conversations well, and being unaware of the benefits of surround-sound. Pros include being able to sleep next to my snoring husband (I just lay on my “good” ear), and being able to pretend not to have heard something when I don’t feel like acknowledging the statement or person. (I know, I should use my powers for good, blah blah blah.)

2. I have had no balance organs since the age of nine, when I developed severe bilateral vestibulopathy. Having no balance organs means that I’m left with only two of the three resources the body uses to balance itself. The other two are sight and touch. As you can imagine, I’m basically useless in the dark.

3. I fly into a murderous rage whenever I see it’s and its misused. It’s = it is, people!

4. I have been shat on by birds 15 times. Yes, I started keeping track.

5. I’m not a huge fan of eating vegetables, but I love to grow them, and I’m also a former vegetarian.

6. I kept my name when I got married. Note that I personally don’t think this qualifies as weird, but I am really surprised at some of the reactions I get when I tell people I’m keeping my name. Plus all the mail and wedding cheques that came addressed to Mr. and Mrs… I’m starting to feel like a renegade. I find it very surprising that in this era anyone would assume a woman would change her name automatically.

7. I’m allergic to the sun. Well, not really, but I’m very sensitive. When we went to Mexico on holiday, I got a sun rash. Not fun, people.

8. No one would ever call me organized, however, I’m fanatical about my books. They are categorized and then alphabetized.

9. During my early 20s, I travelled through the UK, Western and Central Europe and part of the Middle East (I spent my 21st birthday getting retarded in Amsterdam). I ran out of money about the time I landed in Athens, Greece, and had to find a job so I could continue travelling. I ended up being a “runner” – one of those annoying people who meet the trains and accost the tourists getting off, trying to convince them to follow you to the hostel you work for. People always complimented me on my good English. LOL.

I’m new to this meme thing, and I’m feeling a bit shy about tagging people, so instead I’d like to just open it up to all – what are some of your quirks?

We had our first frost last night. It hit -3. I guess winter’s come earlier this year, as we normally don’t have a frost until well into November. Sigh… time to break out the tuque.

Not only do I have no real use for the Garden Groom Rotary Blade Hedge Trimmer, it also goes against all my basic gardening principles. You know, environmental sensitivity, sustainability – little things like that. I mean, I use a push reel mower – why on earth would I need this? But despite all that, I inexplicably covet the Garden Groom. It was featured in Popular Mechanics magazine’s Best of What’s New! It was the recipient of the UK government’s Smart Award for safety! It has rotary blades that spin at 2,400 RPMs to quickly cut hedges and then shred clippings for easy disposal! It has a built-in accumulation receptacle that captures the loose clipping shreds for convenient waste management! But mostly, just think of the hedges you could shape with that puppy!

It’s kind of like my love of the Power Sander. Again, not so much need for it – I don’t refinish furniture or hardwood floors very often, but it’s just so, well, fun. Perhaps I have excess testosterone.

I just learned a new term! (Almost as good as learning a new word, but not quite.)

I read about the two-volume Edible Forest Gardens bookset on Treehugger and became intrigued. Checking out the author’s site, I learned that, “edible forest gardening is the art and science of putting [food-bearing or medicinal] plants together in woodland-like patterns that forge mutually beneficial relationships, creating a garden ecosystem that is more than the sum of its parts.”

Okay, nothing new there, except maybe that term. Like most gardeners, I’m aware that yes, used appropriately, trees are good. But the idea of combining a woodland garden concept with a high-yield food garden was a new one for me. While I’ve long been into edible landscaping, I’ve been thinking about it the other way ’round, planting vegetables that are attractive, rather than planting trees/shrubs/perennials/annuals that produce food. And whoa, keep my woodland garden separate, please. I’m going to have to rethink that now. I love the idea of creating a high-food-yield woodland ecosystem. I may even shell out the $55 for the book.

FishLoft is a free-standing, water-filled acrylic column for your fish pond. Like the fish equivilent of a hamster tunnel, the German-designed FishLoft allows your fish to voluntarily rise above the water level. Looks a little small for our koi, but these goldfish sure are living it up.

They’re all like, “Hey Lloyd, fancy seeing you up here.”

“I just love this high-rise thing, Bert. You can see for metres.”

Check out how it works here .

I know I’m not the only gardener who knits (or knitter who gardens, for that matter). If, like me, you’re gearing up for Prime Knitting Season, check out these adorable felted flower kits from Pick Up Sticks. Packaged to look like real bulbs, each kit contains everything you need to create a bouquet – minus the needles. In tulip, tiger lily, sunflower, gerbera, iris, daffodil and calla lily.

Also available:

Funky Poinsettia wreath kit.

It’s Friday and I’m so ready for the weekend. Are you feeling lazy, too? Wanna do some surfing? Check out Free Your Imagination, a blog that tracks newly discovered species. It’s an eye-opening trip that will astound you with our planet’s biodiversity.

Happy Friday!

In the what-will-they-think-of-next department, Mobilier à jardiner by 5.5 Designers for bton design is an outdoor furniture collection that, like the Topo Table and grass chair, incorporates the plant kingdom into its design. Products include a bench and chair in which you plant your seatback – with shrubs or other plants – and a coffee table with a grass table top.

Via MoCo Loco.

Bon matin, mes amis! Thought you’d appreciate hearing about the latest in Parisian garden fashion.

Deborah Sommers wrote to tell me about her made-to-measure garden art textiles, “designed with the urban garden in mind, and a great way to add design and greenery to even the smallest balcony.” The quick-drying fabric banners, which come in dozens of prints – from vibrant to subtle – are machine washable and UV protected. I can totally see these on a chic modern balcony, or used as a space divider in a larger garden.

Priced at CDN$154.00 (US$135) per square metre, plus shipping (via regular mail) they can be ordered here.

Thanks Deborah!

Don’t do this. Don’t nurture tomatillos, zucchini and fennel from seed only to abandon the adult plants when you realize that your balcony, which isn’t equipped with a water tap – oh, they’ll put in an electrical outlet, sure, so you can string fairy lights or, say, blow dry your hair, but nothing as advanced as RUNNING WATER, crazy girl, what do you think this is, a developed nation with the world’s largest freshwater supply? – gets super hot during the day even though it’s only east-facing, so that the pots need watering twice a day even though you put a moisture-retaining soil additive in when planting them up, and you have to carry the full watering can up two flights of stairs everytime because your Haws won’t fit under the tap in the upstairs bathroom and you can’t evacuate the pots from the balcony because soil-in they weigh a million pounds at least and you already hurt your back lugging that bloody watering can upstairs everyday and then you finally realize that you’re not going to get any tomatillos or zucchini and you’ve already harvested the two fennel bulbs that were worth eating, God bless ‘em, because the heat and lack of water is stressing the plants to the point that they just aren’t going to fruit so you finally just give up and stop watering even though everytime you step out onto the balcony, which you now avoid doing, they scream (albeit weakly) at you, “How COULD you? There’s still time – save us!” and you’re wracked with the guilt and embarrassment of it all (since you’re supposed to be a gardener and gardeners just don’t do that to plants!), well, it’s enough to drive a girl mad. So take my word on this one. Just don’t.