The Young Ones

Several weeks ago Sharon was working in the garden and dug up a couple of small eggs. As she had already disturbed them, she decided to collect them and try to incubate them inside. We thought they were snake eggs as we had seen several snakes in that area and had see some young snakes in the area. She put them in an old tupperware with a lot of leaf litter and a moist paper towel in the bottom. This was shortly before she headed off to Africa for work, so we hoped they would hatch quickly. But for several days, nothing happened. While Sharon was gone, I checked on them occasionally and added a spritz of water from time to time. But still nothing. Then a few weeks ago, I was out birding with our local club and chatted with a snake expert. He said at the park he works at the snake eggs usually hatch in about 10-14 days. They also put them under heat lamps. We had left our outside in the sun room where it was warm but probably not as hot as under a lamp. So it seemed like our eggs were not going to hatch. Sharon returned from her trip and we just left the tupperware and stopped checking on it.

Then today happened. We had had some friends over for lunch and after they left, Sharon headed back outside to finish cleaning up. As she walked past the table that had the tupperware full of leaf litter she saw something move. And then something else moved. She called to me to come quick. On the edge of the table was a small skink. The second one had dropped down onto the floor. Since our sunroom, while a nice place for us to hang out, wouldn't be a good nursery for baby skinks, we had to get them outside. I took the table outside and Sharon went and got a box out of the recycling bin and convinced the one on the floor to climb in so it could get a ride outside.

We killed a couple of mosquitoes in hopes that they would make good food. Sharon also found a small insect in the mulch of the one of the potted plants and offered that too. The offerings were accepted and devoured.

Skink #1 next to her home.

Hiding under the empty rice box

Looking at lunch

Look what I caught

All gone

It took a while for the one in the box to get settled again and climb out. But once again, this was the more adventurous one.  It heading over to the edge of the table and dropping down onto the deck. After about 15 minutes, lots of photos, and a few snacks, we recaptured them into the tupperware and released them into the garden from whence they came. Hopefully we will see them again and again in the coming years.

Ready for my new home

Afterwards, we looked in our guidebook and identified them as ground skinks (Scincella lateralis). It was about six weeks since Sharon uncovered them. And how lucky for us to be here when they emerged. What a wonderful day.

Train version 0

This fall, one of my garden goals is to install the first segment of a garden train. A garden train is a model railroad that is larger than what you normally have around the Christmas tree or is the basement. Rails are about 1.75" apart with cars (rolling stock) being 7-8" tall. We are going to install the first section in one of the existing garden beds. So, instead of building a raised bed or placing the track on the ground, I'm going to put it up on small risers.

Garden train installed on our deck

Part of garden where the train will eventually go

To get some practice and try out a couple of different options, I took the simple oval track that we have installed on the deck and built a platform for it. It was also an opportunity to practice some woodworking skills which I don't really have.

The general idea is to lay the track on decking board which is up on 4x4 posts. I found some instructions online for cutting boards to go around the curves. I started with a piece of PVC board to see how it worked and because it will hold up to the weather. But the boards I had were 1x4s and the track ties are just about 4 inches wide so 4 inch boards don't work for the curves. I have a lot of deck boards for our pier so I switched to pressure-treated lumber. The first pieces worked OK. It at least made the 180 degree turn.

Turn #1

The second turn I had something wrong with the angle and it ended up much worse. I tried to trim the pieces down but that didn't work either. So I ended up taking the first turn apart and using those pieces as templates for the second turn. It still didn't work out quite right and the pieces needed little gaps to make the correct turn.

spreading out the boards to match the track

I also struggled to get the posts cut square; my circular saw blade isn't long enough so I have to make two cuts. After watching YouTube for too long, I found a suggestion for a guide. I tried building my own following the video but still couldn't get it square. But then I saw my miter box on the wall. It is a little jerryrigged but it was close to usable. 

As the pieces came together I tested it out on the deck.

This let me get the straight boards to the correct length. One of the straight segments is the PVC board with rails on the side so I could use gravel to hold the track down. 

Once all of the pieces were cut, it was time to install. I picked an area where we have recently cleared out a lot of wisteria and there isn't any grass.

 

First, I roughly measured out the size of the oval, cleared away leaves, and then set out the posts.

I then attached the two curved ends. By this time it was getting late so I waited until the next game. And then it rained and was wet, and then rained again. So it was a week later before I got back to connecting pieces.

Then the track went on. It took a little adjusting to make sure everything aligned. I was surprised by how uneven the connecting deck boards were. I will have to focus on that next time. Even after adjusting the height of the posts didn't really help. There is one section that really sagged. I probably need to try and get longer straight pieces and use thicker boards for the connections. I used squares of plywood to hold the boards together.

I even had to go in and add another post to hold up the sagging part. The track doesn't lay flat on the boards. 

I tried the engine on the track and it ran. It was a little rough but runs. Soon I will try out the whole train on it. But again, the rain interrupted the work.

But Version 0 is officially working.