Carolina NOT Chinese

I spied this beauty making her way across the walking trail this morning -

I believe this is a female Carolina mantis, a native species to East Tennessee and which is a first for me!

I’m used to seeing the non-native, invasive Chinese mantis, which are also well established in East Tennessee.

 She blended in quite well with the dried mud. The walking trail is typically very busy on Saturday mornings, and today was no exception, so I picked her up and moved her out of harms way so no one would stepped on her.

The walking trail is full of all sorts of wildlife; I luv it!

💔

Delicious 😋

Channeling my Uncle Joe this afternoon with a peanut butter pie milkshake from the Shamrock in Johnson City -

When in Rome…

Don’t Mind Me - Update

Here’s the latest update to my previous post titled, “Don’t Mind Me” - the story about a wandering pig.

So, I posted a Facebook story, to a local Greeneville group, in an effort to locate the owners of this roaming pig. Lo and behold it worked! The owner, an abutting neighbor who resides on 11E (abutter #1), reached out to me via text - success, mystery solved!

I then became the point of contact for the owner and any sighting of said pig reported to me.  So when another abutter (abutter #2), the one who lives on our easement road, would text me to let me know the pig was in her yard or that area, I’d text the owner. A bit convoluted, as the owner was using FB Messenger and the other person was using iPhones Messages, but we made it work.

The below pic was taken about ten days ago and shows the owner, who drove over upon getting my message about its sighting, and spent 30-minutes or so trying to gain the pigs trust and get a rope around him. It worked too. He was able to get a rope around the pigs neck but he underestimated both the circumference of its neck and its overall strength of a lassoed pig. That pig reared back, did a couple crocodile-type “death rolls”, and freed itself, along with its trust 🤣, and off it wobbled -

The pig stayed in this general area. I was contacted half a dozens times or so over the past two weeks and would relay that info onto the owners. Animal control was apparently called and dispatched several times too but they were unable to catch this dude.

A big wire live trap was set using grain, which attracted the pig but he was too smart to go in it, rather flipping the cage to get at the feed.

Anyway, I received a message from the owner (abutter #1) yesterday afternoon to inform me that she was no longer the owner! Seems the other abutter (abutter #2), reached out to the her to inquire about buying the pig from her.

Apparently, the pig took a liking to the 2-year old boy of abutter #2 and would wait at their front door for him to go out and feed him, I kid you not!

The pig was actually quite friendly, not skittish just cautious, so I was not surprised he’d befriended the little boy. Seems abutter #1 had this pig thrown in free with their larger pig purchase, so she paid it forward and gave her ownership of said pig to abutter #2, with her blessing and the relief of no longer having to fuss with and worry about catching him.

The pig now has a name, given to it by the 2-year old, it’s COW!

Cow the pig 🤣 is still loose and abutter #2 is unsure how she plans to get him fenced in, so the saga continues but with a happy ending. You see abutter #1 was planning to have Cow eventually butchered but abutter #2 is planning to keep him as a pet!

Although, the story isn’t over yet, it’s looking like it’s gonna be a happy ending after all!

Not Over or Easy

Another day, another visit to the dentist, alas!

Nope, that’s not an image of an over easy egg -

Rather, that’s an image of my broken crown, UGH! The yellow is Dentin, the hard core structure of the crown. In my case, the enamel covering the dentin is what has partially cracked and broken off.

The dentist was able to file the rough edges of the enamel down so they’re not jagged and sharp. This will hold me over until I can have a new crown made…

Seems they, the numerous crowns I have, take turns cracking and needing to be replaced.

Part Of The Food Pyramid

After an 8-mile walk this morning, these XUL PB&J beer(s) hit the spot -

Just ask the fly who snuck a drink…

Scoop Dog Luv’n

It was a difficult decision!

I nail it and went with the Peanut Butter Bull’s Eye ice cream in a 20oz milkshake, which was the right call! It was delicious 😋 -

A Bit of Herpetology

I came across this beauty on my walk the other morning!

It was in a damp and overgrown section of the walking trail that doesn’t look like it gets much sun, so I’m thinking maybe it was enjoying the warmth of the pavement since it was not bothered by my presence. I didn’t fuss with it, so it was content to keep still and stay where it was -

These Garter snakes are very common back in Massachusetts and seen quite often but I’ve only seen a couple of them since moving to East Tennessee.

I grew up catching these and still get excited when seeing them.

People, Alas

“Reasons I Stay Home”

About sums it up perfectly!

Edible Starchy Nut Tree

I haven’t seen one of these trees in a VERY long time!

Do you know what type of tree this is, HMMM?!

This brings me back to my childhood home, and back to Burgess Avenue, and stirs up some wonderful memories.

A neighbor, and close friend to the family, had one of these trees in their front yard and I was always intrigued by it. The nuts would litter the lawn and street when they began falling. I don’t recall if the homeowners ever collected these and ate them or not.

The spiny burrs on the outer husks of these nuts 🌰 are vicious, so care and gloves should be used when handling, for the weeny people anyway -

This is a chestnut 🌰 tree and it’s in the neighbors yard here in Limestone, directly across from the mailbox.

I’m not sure if this is a horse chestnut or a sweet chestnut tree. This will need some further investigation. I’ll need to grab and open one of these nuts to be able to be certain. Determining which type of chestnut is vitally important because horse chestnut are toxic to eat!

Actions

PU or Pee-Yew

A stinky backyard visitor this morning -

Perhaps, the “walk of shame” since it was around 9ish…

Odd But Effective

So, there’s this thing I do to help me remember people, I give them nicknames. I don’t do this when meeting people in the traditional way (maybe I should if it helps me remember their names, as I am terrible with names) but rather when passing or seeing them from time to time. I just assign random names that come to mind when I encounter someone a couple of times.

I mostly do it when out walking and since I’ve been walking the same trail for the last couple of months now this process helps me recognize some of the regular walkers I pass.

Here are a few examples, with pics:

This is “no shirt guy”, for obvious reasons. He’s a regular walker and I’ve yet to see him wearing a shirt -

This is “Edna”! She reminds me of my grandmother and God love her, see has to be in her late 70 but she is out there regularly walking the trail, even in the hot humid days, slowly plodding along -

This is “Gilligan” because he wears a sailors-type hat similar to the one Gilligan wore on the TV show back in the mid to late 60s -

There’s also:

Backpack guy (walks the trail wearing a BIG backpack),

Fanny pack (female jogger who wears a black fanny pack over the same outfit, which kinda clashes),

Female Gilligan (wears a white Gilligan-type sailors hat),

Spandex baby (a spandex wearing mom pushing a baby in a stroller in the same outfit each time),

The Marine (a senior who wears a red Marine t-shirt, was a Marine and whose real name is Noah. I gave him his nickname before meeting him and learning his name.)

DML (dude who wears a sleeveless t-shirt with a DML tattoo on left bicep)

There are others too but these are the folks I see and pass most often. All very friendly too.

As odd as this might seem, I’m fairly certain there are others <wink wink> that do something similar, for example - Mr Beeper and Mrs Blower 🤣🤣

A Doozie Of A Sin

 Forgive me Father, for I have sinned!

I’ve been unfaithful to New England Patriots nation and have strayed <sniff>

I used a Philadelphia Eagles coozie the other afternoon to keep my beers cold -

However, desperate times call for desperate measures, am I right?!

After all, you wouldn’t have wanted me to drink warm beers, especially since they were Michelob Ultras…

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Make It A Combo

I took a drive to Midway, TN this past weekend to visit, “DMD Family Farm” -

I’ve had a craving for a good smash burger and happened upon this place on FB. It looked interesting, so a leisurely drive was in order!

The general store resides in a restored 1897 farmhouse that is very much country. It’s also where the line queues up to order food. It’s a small menu that offers breakfast all day and several different burger variations, plus some delicious looking milkshakes!

I ordered myself a sweet tea -

And the “Chef Kirk’s Smashburger”, which has American cheese, Arugula, tomato and garlic aioli, and a small order of tallow fries -

The food was delicious 🤤! The burger was cooked perfectly, nice and juicy and the topping were fresh. The fries were similar to McDonald’s, piping hot and not a soggy one in the bunch! Cooking them in the beef tallow makes a big difference.

My smashburger cravings were met and exceeded, delicious 😋  I regretted not getting a milkshake, next visit!

Eating outside under the covered porch was a plus. I was able to people watch while waiting for my food, which was brought out to me when it was ready.

Too bad it’s not closer to Limestone, it was a bit of a drive, but I’ll certainly be going back, as it’s well worth the drive 👍👍

Lady Bug Lov’n

A bit of insect fornication.

Guessing it was satisfying, for the male anyway, since their little tryst seems to have removed every spot from him entirely 🤣 -

 

Turtleday

Yesterday was “Turtleday”!

I was fortunate to rescue two turtle 🐢 from a potentially sad ending, as they were attempting to cross the road.

The first one, and my most favoritest type, a male Eastern Box turtle! He was a little shy at first and completely closed himself up in his shell -

But eventually he worked up the courage to open up and poke his head out -

I took him down the embankment, in the direction he was headed, and safely away from the road!

What you looking at -

The second was a male Painted turtle 🐢, still a tad wet and sporting a of bit of duckweed on its shell -

This dude was attempting to cross Pritchard, not far from my driveway. So instead of helping him cross where he was, I opted to relocate him in the pond on my property.

“Catch and Release”

All’s well that ends well!

A Famous Insect Visitor

First Monarch caterpillar at the ole homestead!

Being aware of milkweed plants and mowing around them instead of cutting them down has paid off for this on-the-cusp of being endangered beauty, and hoping future caterpillars -

Although, I was only able to locate this one, I’m hoping there’s more that I either missed or perhaps eggs yet to have hatched -

I opted to take this dude to the local

JC Monarch butterfly guru, my cousin PJ, to ensure its safety and successful metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly and release -

Although, sadly, there was only this lonely single Monarch caterpillar, there are oodles of Milkweed Tussock caterpillars -

And I mean oodles of them -

Like the monarchs, they eat milkweed, and also dogbane. What has me worried, since there are SO many of these dudes, is that they’ll take over, eat up and skeletonize the milkweed, leaving little food for future monarch caterpillars.

I’ll need to keep an eye on this. I would hate to intervene but will jump in if other monarch caterpillars appear and the milkweed plants are dwindling.

Special Delivery

Here’s another interesting East Tennessee mailbox I came across the other day, a go-cart -

Some folks really “deliver” on creativity 🤣

Warning Toad Crossing

Well, there was a back up on the ole walking path this morning. Brought everyone and everything to a standstill too until it was cleared.

Yup, that’s it! You see it, right there in the center of that first picture -

An American Toad, but not just any American Toad, an American Toad carrying a juvenile stinkbug on its back -

Well, with that kinda clout, the toad crossing took precedence 🤣

He was a nice BIG fat toad too. Been eating well. Wonder if he has a handicapped license tag too??

Don’t Mind Me

This portly pig 🐖 was a visiting and milling about the backyard yesterday afternoon -

I wasn’t too surprised to see it, as a neighbor called me Friday afternoon to ask if we had a pig, because if we did it was loose and down by the gate.

What surprised me was how handsome this porker was! Although, it wouldn’t come to me, it wasn’t bothered by me either nor did it seem scared or skittish. Was more matter-of-fact, acknowledged my presence, then continued waddling on its merry way off towards the pond and front gate.

Here’s a short video I took - “Visiting Potbellied Pig”

I posted “Lost Pig” entry to a local Greeneville FB group I belong to in the hope of locating its owner but nothing yet. Only folks commenting on how cute.

Not sure where it’s moved on to but hopeful it’ll find its way back home.

The BIG 1 5

 A BIG Happy Birthday to my best ever four-legged friend; my BFF -

She turns 15 today on the 15th -

She has no idea how important she’s been to me these last several years and means the world to me!

Showing her age a bit but she’s entitled to at her age.

A “Senior” Moment

Look at how meticulous these three trees are pruned -

I’ve been walking by this house for weeks now and noticed early on how meticulous the yard is maintained. A big fenced in veggie garden, well manicured lawn, nice shrubs and flower beds and oodles of bird houses and other lawn decorations carefully placed throughout, not gaudy looking. 

So, I was not surprised to see an elderly man atop a step ladder trimming these trees the other morning. He certainly has an eye for details, as the three trees look identical, evenly trimmed without a branch out of place -

I was further convinced of his meticulous eye yesterday, when I watched him fetch his trash barrel from the curb and proceed to wash and rinse out the inside. I mean c’mon, NOT many people do this, there’s just a handful of US 😉

He could very well be my doppelgänger!

I asked if he needed any help but he politely declined but I made sure to compliment his work…

My Memorial Plant

The Peace Lily in the below pictures was given to me back in 2018 by my close friends and neighbors, as a living gesture for the passing of my dad.

It’s a special plant, that has special meaning to me and I’ve tried my best to care for it. It’s the only house plant that made the move to Tennessee with Ms Trixie and I. 

However, as you can see in the first pic below it was looking a bit queasy. Now I typically let it get to this stage where it droops and sags before watering it. Then in the sink it goes for a deep, deep soaking, and it pops right back up -

The other day, however, I first took it outside, removed it from its pot and removed most of the old soil from the pot itself, as well as banged much off its roots, then replaced it with brandy new Miracle Gro indoor potting soil!

It was long overdue for a make over with newer fertilized soil and a good soaking.

Just look how it’s responded -

As happy as a pig in 💩 

Or in this case, fresh potting soil!

A Good Bug Family Gathering

An update to a previous posting of mine titled, “A Good Bug”, - seems the family is growing by leafs and bounds -

These are Assassin Bug Nymphs or more specifically Wheel Bug Nymphs, which are in the Assassin bug family.

Quite the enormous cluster! Guessing they likely hatched recently and getting some alone time with mum 🤣

Wheel bugs are beneficial to have around and help control other insects. However, be forewarned, do NOT pick one up, as they can deliver a painful bite with their mouth parts!

But honestly, not sure who would look at this or any other similar gathering and think 🤔, hey let’s pick them up, geesh.

However, there’s a reason why we have SO many cover your ass warning labels these day…

Aww Nuts

I’m not sure if there’s a way to determine the sex of Black Walnut trees, if that’s even a thing.

From what I can see, and I’m assuming here, but seems most of the walnut trees I’ve seen are male by virtue of their pair of “nuts” -

This one even did a bit of down under “manscaping” -

This male seems to have the rare anomaly polyorchidism (a third nut) -

Well, I did a bit of AI research after writing the above and it turns out the female trees are in fact the one that produce the actual walnuts.

You know what they say about assuming…

The more you know 🌈