Bumblebee Blog

I have to admit that when I first heard about Blotanical, my first thought was “Oh, great. Something else to keep up with.”

With more than 75 blogs in my Google Reader, I already have a difficult time keeping up with the reading. I mean, if I read everything I wanted to read, I wouldn’t have time to write. Or have a job. Or bathe. Or eat.

After a few emails about it, I finally wandered over, logged on and created my “plot,” the profile of yourself, your gardening experience and link to your blog. I poked around for a bit and that was that.

When I started getting the “You’ve been faved” and “Someone likes you! They really really do!” emails, I thought, what’s going on over there anyway?

So I finally started poking around in the past couple of weeks. At first, I was a little confused about what went where because the menu bars changed depending on where you were. I also kept getting a white screen when I went to the “Picks” page, which confused me further until I stumbled across a message that explained it was also confusing to the developer, Stuart Robinson, an apparently very energetic fellow from Australia.

It took me days and days before I figured out how I could add to the “Picks.” (If you are also confused, there is a submenu under “Picks” where you go to “Current List.” Here you can click on a post and “Pick” if it you like it. Pick mine.)

Users get points and rise to levels, which apparently gives them some sort of privileges–Blotanist, Patron Blotanist, Fellow Blotanist, Master Blotanist and Guru Blotanist. I figured this out when I tried to add to my favorites and hit my limit. “Sorry!” Apparently I have to earn more points to have more favorites.

After scratching my head over this for a while, I have to say I like it. I’m now conflicted between keeping up (a laughable concept, really) with my Google Reader or Blotanical. My Google Reader has more than gardening blogs, which is the conundrum. But if I keep up by reading in Blotanical, I can earn more points and add to my favorites. Plus, I can see a lot more of what is posted in the gardening world than I would see in my reader. I mean, here it is at 5:30 p.m. on a Sunday and already there are more than 75 posts. You can really get carried away with the whole blogging thing, can’t you?

One of the features I like is the map, which allows you to zero in on a geographic area and find other garden bloggers. It takes a bit of manipulation with the zoom keys, but you can see who else on Blotanical is near you. Sadly, there appear to be no other garden bloggers near me in Southern Maryland, although there are several in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Well, so I suppose I’ll see you on Blotanical. Send me a message and I’ll send you a message so you can send me a message. We’ll be racking up our points.

I wonder if we can trade our points in for prizes? I need a new fountain for my garden. I wonder how many points I could trade for that?

Oh. If someone knows how to get the picture of your blog updated in Blotanical, can you let me know? My new design isn’t showing up. I don’t want to bother busy Stuart if I don’t have to. He must be exhausted.

Robin

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Filed in: Blogging, Gardening

Lovely country location just yards from the Chesapeake Bay.

Easy dining in your own hay field. Stylish gourd-style homes. Immediate occupancy.

What do you think? Will I get any takers?

We were very fortunate to have bluebirds set up house in our first year as bird landlords. I am hoping that the rural habitat is as enticing to purple martins as it has been to the bluebirds.

If you’re familiar with the site of these gourd houses or the condo-style houses you see atop tall poles in open spaces but don’t know what they’re for, these are purple martin houses. Purple martins in the east rely almost exclusively on human-provided housing. They prefer tall nesting sites located within 100 feet of a human dwelling and at least 40 feet away from trees and other tall structures where predators can hide.

The purple martins migrate up from South America very early in the season, usually returning to their homes from previous years.

Like some of those aggravating folks who line up even before the plane arrives at Southwest Airlines, the purple martins migrate so early because of the competition for housing. The earlier the bird arrives the greater the chance of getting the location they find desirable.

New colonies like mine are usually first visited and used by birds hatched the previous year who are searching for their own homes. These “scouts” arrive four to six weeks later than the mature purple martins.

According to the scout reports from the Purple Martin Conservation Association, the adult birds are nearly here to our area of Southern Maryland. Well, my houses are ready and I’m playing the dawn song on the outdoor speakers, just in case there are some martins looking for some new digs.

So, we are now open for business. Pass the word.

Reminder: Please register you response to the survey at the top right of this page!

Robin

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Filed in: Birds, Nature Places

Tags: Birds, nature

For some wacky reason, I’ve had several people email me with ideas for Bumblebee this week.

Perhaps you’re all trying to tell me something?

My brother (who you can read about here and here) probably wasn’t thinking Bumblebee when he sent this, but I couldn’t resist sharing the photo of the redneck mansion he sent.

In a weird kind of way, I find this a rather stylish assemblage. I mean, there was some real thought to form and function. Umbrellas, a greenhouse, a pond, windmill and even seating. And you know how important I find seating.

I wonder if the flowers are real, plastic or silk?

March 31, 2008 Postscript: Wouldn’t you know it’s actually from a movie set? See here. 

Robin

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Filed in: Style