The Very Big Things in My Garden

This is what I like to see:

Big fat worms in my compost bay. I turned it today and there are dozens of these big guys along with two kinds of red worms, and a smaller version of this whopper. At first I thought it was a snake because it was so active. (I'm wearing gloves; it looks like I have some kind of skin disease, but that's not the case. Or that I'm a zombie.)

This is the compost set up. Three bays made of stacked cement blocks, with gaps between the bottom two courses for air circulation. 

It's based on what Monty Don does at Longmeadow in England, modified for a much smaller garden. But...he has five bays and I think sometimes I'd like another bay. The first is about halfway through its process, the second a bit behind. The last bay, which looks empty, has a bit of finished compost, which gets used more like a chunky mulch. Just visible behind the back wall are the wire cages I dump everything in. When the lawn gets mowed, the contents of those cages gets chopped up by the mower in an effort to speed up the composting process. We shred cardboard boxes and add them when there are no leaves. I also am experimenting with using shredded cardboard as mulch. The verdict is still out on that. It's fine when it's fresh and fluffy, then if I walk on it, it gets compressed. And if I shred anything other than brown, the colored bits show up from a long way away. 

There are other big things here at Lily Hill:

I've been calling these big spiders wolf spiders, but I believe I am wrong, and they are fishing spiders. Regardless, they are big. As in that's a 2 inch wide brick. There are three of these on the sides of the house. I like them; my son has a phobia and is not in the least interested in them. I find them beautiful.

What I do not find beautiful, but rather alarming, is this giant poison ivy vine:

Each individual leaflet is bigger than my hand. The width from point to point of the three together is as wide as my shoulders. The vine is up at last 20 feet or more into the tree it's attached to. It's also going to be in flower. It's the only PI I've seen that's had flowers. I think this might be the mother lode, the one that's responsible for all the babies that pop up. Birds eat the berries, but I've never seen any other plants with berries. This is, literally, the root of all evil. My plan is to spray the plant with Round Up, wait for it to wilt, and then don my HazMat suit and go cut the vines, and paint them with Round Up. Maybe, just maybe, I can make a dent in the population. This is the only thing I will spray. When they get this big I can't risk just attacking them with brute force. I'm extremely allergic to PI and this massive thing looks like a potential trip to the ER.

Now, for a change, here is someone who's very beautiful (and yes, I call cats who, even though the style manuals say to refer to them as "something that is beautiful". They are my friends. She is a who.)

This is Mary, one of the indoor/outdoor cats. She came to us as a tiny kitten when her mother Poppy decided we were a good home for her and her family. We suspect Poppy and her kittens were a dump. We live on a rather remote road. Cats and dogs are dumped. Cats find me; dogs find our neighbor.