Marigolds

As our begonias are red this year, I had to promise that Eggie will get something yellow later. It seems now to be safe to plant some marigolds (they are sensitive to frost). As usually, Sampo is in charge of my balcony flowers, but as these are yellow, Eggie wanted to help.


Eggie: These are soooo pretty...



Eggie: This flower is bigger than my head...



Eggie: And as it is yellow it is all mine!

Masher Attack

Deimos: What are you doing with the potato masher?

Thuban: I am practicing my magic. I have managed to make the masher fly.

Deimos: Really?



Thuban: See for yourself!

Deimos: Cool! Let's scare Algol and Rastaban!


Algol is showing his archeological finds to Rastaban.

Algol: These are artifacts from ancient troll culture...



Algol: What is that???

Rastaban: It appears to be an evil potato smasher...



Rastaban: Stay off!

Algol: Help! Spark! Where is my body guard when he is needed!



Hikaru: I'm right here. Have no fear... I'm protecting you from all evil spirits. Including potato smashers gone berserk.


Hikaru captures the evil masher with his ninja scythe.

Rastaban: I'll bite him to make sure he is dead...



Deimos: Don't bite the masher!



Deimos: If you turn the potato masher into a vampire, it will eat all the potatoes instead of mashing them. And then we'll never get mashed potatoes for lunch.

Thuban: I'll just remove my magic, and the masher will be harmless to everyone - except the potatoes, of course.



Outsider: What are you doing with my potato masher? You are not supposed to play with kitchen utensils. Give it back immediately! - Or you will never get mashed potatoes for lunch...



Deimos: Well, so much for the fun with the potato masher...



Deimos: Mashed potatoes taste better than mashed vampires anyway...



Rastaban: Mashed potatoes with fly kebabs... mmmmmmmm.....

Balcony Flowers 2010

It's time to start putting out balcony flowers for the summer again.
Sampo is my resident gardener - hobbits are good at growing things.

We are having red begonias this year.




This one goes up to hang from the hook in the ceiling.



Closeup of my gardener.

Ninja Training

Deimos: Hi, Spark, what are you doing?

Hikaru: I'm training my minions to be good ninjas.



Deimos: What can they do?

Hikaru: I'll show you... CHARGE!

Turtles: COWABUNGA!



Deimos: Ooops...

Turtles: ¤#*?!!§§$£**;!

Deimos: A bit clumsy, aren't they?

Hikaru: Ummm.... They'll have to learn how to fall without hurting themselves before they learn anything else...



Turtles: #¤&!*?$£**!!!

Deimos: Sure, right, and what about that one? He seems to be a bit slow...

Hikaru: That one has not mutated yet...



Deimos: It looks like you have a lot work before that bunch is fully trained.



Hikaru: Training nijas sure is hard work...



Hikaru: (sigh)

The littlest archeologist

Algol is ready to go out on an archeological expedition.

Algol: I have a bag for any finds, a compass to find my way, and a lantern to see in dark caves or temples. But I still wish I had a gun and a whip. One never knows when one might need them.



Algol: Some of the branches fallen off the trees because of the heavy burden of snow are really huge...



Algol: ... really huge.



Algol: Looks like I found a cave entrance that looks promising.



Algol: Can you see it? I must go in and investigate.



Algol: I's a good thing that I brought the lantern along.


After some time...

Algol: Whew, I found some artifacts, but no booby traps. In any case it's harder to get out than it was to get in. The slope is rather steep.



Algol: Now I must use my compass to find the way home.



Algol: Home appears to be that way...



Algol: The others will be thrilled to see my finds!



Algol: This is a strange phenomenon. A tree has grown over a rock, and the weight of the tree has become so big that it has cracked the rock!



Algol: It appears to be an ants' nest. There are about a million little black ants crawling around. They appear quite sluggish because it is still rather cold. But I still wish I had a whip to keep them at bay. Fortunately they are not able to bite through my thick shoes.


At home Algol uses a magnifying glass to examine his finds.

Algol: Do you think these are troll artifacts?

Niks: The metal objects definitely look like troll artifacts.

Naks: But the blue pearly thingy looks more like fairy or elf manufacture.



Algol: Maybe it is a proof of early trade between trolls and elves. I must go back later and try to find more objects. There seem to be a lot of caves in that forest, so there may be enormous buried cultures lying under the surface.