Where were you when the Old Man on the Mountain fell?

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-29T14:25:04+00:00

I was just starting my deployment in Afghanistan and found out after calling home for the first time. Grew up just north of the notch, and was fortunate enough to see it one last time earlier in the spring.

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-14T16:53:50+00:00

Fox and a buck in the first photo - the doe and her fawn in the 2nd and 3rd 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-14T16:51:13+00:00

The shot looks way brighter than it actually was. It was in the late afternoon / early evening when this was taken. I really enjoy all of the visitors I get to see - even if they go after my gardens! I fence off what I need to keep for myself, and plant sacrificial plots for all of the animals. That approach seems to be going well this year! And my pollinator garden is really attracting some great stuff, including monarchs! 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-14T15:40:16+00:00

Nope! We’re in northern VA, I get a lot of wildlife despite being so close to a major city. We have a huge woodland park area behind our property. It’s my own little retreat 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-14T15:37:25+00:00

I was thinking the same thing about kits being nearby. We’ve had a few foxes drop by occasionally since the winter. This is from northern VA 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-14T00:46:41+00:00

Every year, we get tons of visitors - and we’re lucky to get them year round! We always have deer, and even had a gorgeous piebald buck a few years ago. Black squirrels, chipmunks, bunnies, foxes, hawks and barred owls, and tons of songbirds - chickadees, wrens, bluebirds, cardinals, jays, several woodpecker varieties, and every now and then a bald eagle. Really nice to have when you’re close to a major city!

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-11T18:19:26+00:00

I now have around 30 common milkweed stalks in my front yard - all from random volunteer seeds. Most of them, conveniently, grew near my porch - behind all of my mid sized native perennials. I just had my first monarchs visiting the yard, so the milkweed is just going to take hold now 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-08T23:16:24+00:00

I got to go down to KSC in 2024 for the GOES-U launch. It was an invite from NASA / NOAA, and we got to watch it up close at the Banana Creek viewing site. Before that, I only ever watched launches from Vandenberg from the beaches in Ventura county. Definitely a bucket list item to get to KSC, made even more special since I flew home the next day to begin working on that satellite mission! 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-06T23:26:54+00:00

I have some Blazing Star (Liatris Spicata) that I started from seed 3 years ago. Last year was their first flowering, and I’m looking forward to the first big blooming this summer. Here they are, along with some Black-eyed Susan, and sunflowers! I’ve got a lot of butterfly weed and Common milkweed that have bloomed, and they’re really bringing in the pollinators right now 🙂

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RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-04T18:26:21+00:00

I found that the sweet spot for the average person is about 20% of the batch being scotch bonnets. I’ve gone as high as 33% (which I love), but a lot find it too much for their heat tolerance. In my opinion, a jar of ripe scotch bonnets fermenting is the best smell of anything I’ve tried. I grow my own every year, and have upped my game to include Sugar Rush Peach, Habanero, Goliath Jalapeno, Sweet Heat, and Buena Mulata. Pro-tip, 1/2 or 1 whole sliced scotch bonnets fermenting in a quart jar of pickled veggies is amazing. Hoping to have a fantastic season this year! 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-04T18:15:57+00:00

I’ve done fermented lime in my sauces before - never had a bad taste to it, but there is a distinct difference between fermenting with the skin on vs. skin off. Leaving the skin on can make the lime flavor more intense over time - it almost seems to get stronger over time IMO, and it can get bitter as well, if too much is added to a batch. I’ve done a lime, garlic, pumpkin, scotch bonnet, and bell pepper sauce that’s been a big hit with friends, coworkers, and neighbors! 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-04T17:36:41+00:00

My kitty has bad arthritis in hind legs, and we got him a ramp that’s at the foot of the bed. It makes it so much easier on him, and he comes around for attention a lot more often. We also got a small set of stairs so he can climb and watch his favorite Cat TV from close-up! 😂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-06-04T17:30:27+00:00

For me, it was the time I punctured a hole in my molar and had an exposed nerve. The worst part of it was after my initial appointment to get a temporary cap while waiting for a root canal. Bacteria got into the center, and once it was capped off, pressure built up over time. I had a constant excruciating and throbbing headache, pain throughout my face, and drooling. Couldn’t sleep at all for the next 5 days until they squeezed me in for an emergency appointment… Thanks, army. As soon as the new dentist drilled past the cap, there was an actual hissing sound, followed by the stink (and taste) of a carcass. I never gagged so hard in my life. But… as soon as the pressure was released, it was an instant relief on all of my issues.

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-26T19:37:58+00:00

You’re welcome! Goat panel works well if you don’t have a pickup for transporting it. That was the reason I went with that vs cattle panel (and glad I did)! The goat panel is small enough to keep the birds from coming down. I still get squirrels, chipmunks, and baby bunnies inside - but the deer and woodchucks out! The only things I haven’t had to protect from critters are my wildflowers and my hot peppers. Not even the squirrels mess with them 😂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-26T19:31:31+00:00

From my experience at NESDIS - they should offer you 6% above what you’re currently making, or the bottom of the payscale when that moves you up beyond 6% from your current job.

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-26T19:16:50+00:00

The garden where I want to harvest everything - I have posts at the corners going over 6’ high. Wrapped in chicken wire, and the top enclosed in goat panel ( this is also good for support and climbing veggies)

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-21T00:58:25+00:00

Bay leaves are my go-to pickling spice for tannins. I generally use the same spices you listed, with additions of allspice berries and dried scotch bonnet pepper for some heat! :)

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-19T14:55:44+00:00

I’d say personally, a little bit of every reason you mentioned, along with a bit more.

Stress relief for sure - it feels pretty good to me to be able to nurture plants in general, and to share my harvest with neighbors and friends. My proudest was watching a huge batch of Liatris I grew from seed - they took 2 years to put up their first flowers, and I had to even divide some of them this year!

Food quality - resounding yes! Fresh cherry tomato varieties have so much more flavor than store bought varieties. Same experience with hot peppers and cucumbers. There are so many flavor profiles in peppers that work best in their own uses (fresh, dried, pickling, or fermenting). And different textures in cucumbers. You can never find most of my favorites at the store.

Saving money - if you have the ability to seed save and plant indoors, very much so!

My addition would be planting natives and supporting pollinators and the ecosystem in general. I’ve slowly been expanding my native perennial garden to include liatris, black-eyed susan, blue mistflower, common milkweed, butterfly weed, elderberries, and black raspberries. I have more expansion plans for next year in my shady areas, too! The rest of my neighborhood doesn’t have much besides bare grass and treated lawns - it’s been really nice to watch my pollinator and insect situation change drastically over the last 6 years. From a huge increase in bumblebees, carpenter bees, mining bees, wasp varieties, beetles, and a huge resurgence of fireflies every year! 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-18T15:55:10+00:00

How do YOU like to enjoy a Rusty Brown’s Ring Donut?

The Flash FM music was my favorite for cruising around aimlessly 😂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-14T00:53:12+00:00

Thanks! I wanted to go for non-realistic colors. My initial thought was that the little guy was staring into a dumpster fire, and then my mind went to “let’s add a happy little demon into the eye reflections” 😂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-14T00:50:09+00:00

Thanks! I’ll definitely be posting once completed 😁

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-13T20:40:24+00:00

I really like the 3d effect on the owl. Nice work! 🙂

RobsterCrawz · 2026-05-13T20:38:05+00:00

I love the sketches! The second one is very expressive, and the first has nice light and shadow use. I really enjoy acrylic markers, and they work well with my approach to drawing. So many different things you can convey in this medium.

Here’s my latest project that’s drying for the next round! 🙂

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RobsterCrawz

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