Find The Critter

Can you find the critter in the above picture?

Before (No Workie) and After (Workie)!

Which of the two looks do you prefer?

The top was the original, the bottom is the replacement.

The keypad on the original quit functioning.  Actually, the top two rows stopped working.  The bottom two rows were fine.  This was causing a challenge as the only cook options we had were 350 or 375, defaults.  New replacements were on back order with unknown delivery times.  It was implied indefinitely on the likelihood of ever receiving, not to mention the fact that the cost was over $275, YIKES!  I ended up finding a slightly different used one, see bottom pic, on eBay for $99 and took a chance. (8) screws later and I had the used replacement installed and it's working like a charm!

Hoping to get many more years out of this bad Larry!

Any Day Now! C'Mon Ladies!

The coop ladies were 16-weeks old this past Friday (8-28)!  They've been carrying on, singing and clucking for a couple weeks now, so I'm hopeful we'll be getting eggs soon.  With that in mind it was time to hang their nest boxes.  Reusing and old favorite, one that I used growing up in Westwood.  We've sure gotten our money's worth out of it that's for sure.  It's showings it's age too but still functional, right down to the golf balls I use to fool the ladies with.  They're near 20 years old too.

Let Me Introduce You To Oliver

I present to you Mr. Vole!

He too succumbed to the forbidden temptation we all know as peanut butter... 

They're actually a handsome rodent, if there is such a thing -

Oops, look who's interested in getting to know Mr. Vole better, Oliver!

It was quite the stare down!

Actually, at one point, when Oliver got the nerve to finally approach the trap, the two were nose to nose.  Ah, friendships, some last and some don't...

It's Last Hurrah!

This is our peach tree.

The previous owners planted this tree over 20+ years ago.

We've been here 20 years now and each fall we've had oodles of peaches.  Sadly, the tree has been on the decline for many years now.  I can't recall the disease it has but it's one that is somewhat common in fruit trees but also fatal.  I've pruned back the dead branches and limbs the last several seasons and it's now down to essentially a single stock.  Even the peaches themselves seem to now have some sort of issue.  They're splotchy and most have sticky goo oozing from them, alas.  Jack 2.0, our Holland lop rabbit absolutely loves peaches and eats them completely down to the pits, which litter his cage.

The tree has also served as the host to the bird feeders we hang in the fall, with birds perched throughout as they wait their turn to eat.  Sadly, I'm planning on cutting this tree down come fall, it's time.  Also, I've been thinking about, wanting and needing a shed and if this was to happen it's location would be in this general area, so I need to plan and prep.

Round (Season) II

Here are some of the Gladiolas we grew this year.

Actually, the bulbs of these plants I successfully over wintered this past year - first time being successful at this.

These bulbs were given to me in the spring of 2019 by my farmer friend.  I planted them last year and we had very good luck, with most of them flowering.  I dug them up last fall, and the ones I didn't slice through with the shovel, were put in a cardboard box with peat moss.  I stored the box on the floor of the garage and pulled it our occasionally throughout the winter and gave it a good spraying of water so they wouldn't dry out.

I'm up in the air if I'll do the same again this fall.  Today, I'd say no and leave them be and if they survive they survive, my heart is just not in it to dig them up and store...

One Of The Best!

Best Dog Ever!

Sasha was one of the several dog we had over the years growing up; the last one actually, and also the best of the bunch!

We adopted her as a wee pup from a pound in the neighboring town of Canton.  Who would have known that she would turn out to be such a terrific dog. She was never leashed, of course back when we were kids there were no official leash law requirements (to my knowledge anyway), dogs roamed and did what dogs do.  It was much different than today.  Her 'dog house' was our 3-season porch and that's where stayed.  She could come and go as she pleased but never took off, nope, she always stayed home and watched over things.

A faithful companion to the end!

Cicada Ecdysis In The Flesh!

I came across this Cicada while in the midst of it's molting process or Cicada Ecdysis!

Rather amazing to watch and very Jurassic Park like.  I suspect the faint of heart would disagree but whadda they know...

I moved the dude to a Gerber Daisy leaf.  Thought it would be safer than on the walkway.  I was hoping to watch as it's wings expanded but the process can take some time.  The plan was to periodically check back in to see how the process was going but I got sidetracked and when I finally checked back in the dude was long gone.

Fairly certain this dude is one of the many I hear each night, ah summer nights!!

Ipomoea Alba

 Our Moonflowers are doing terrific this season!  Not a lot of plants but the plants we do have are loaded with flowers and they keep coming.

These are newbies plants that grew this spring from the seeds off last years plants.

The seed pods of the moonflowers are very similar to the Chestnut tree seed pods, click the hyperlinks.

You need to get up early to enjoy these blooms.

Should Have Listened II

Fairly certain this sourpuss is a litter mate of the one I posted about in "Should Have Listened" back on July 31.  However, this one had an attitude and was much more aggressive and "chatty".

You might say these littles are cute looking and perhaps I'd agree, but one thing is a for sure with woodchucks, they STINK to high heaven OMG!  Apparently, woodchucks have sweat glands near the corners of the mouth which emit a pungent odor.  The animals are well known to rub their cheeks on trees, roots, and stones near the den, thus depositing their scent. Well okay there's that but then there's the whole BM thing.

As Southern California's "Valley Girls" used to say in the '70s and '80s - Gag me with a spoon!

Bees and Butterflies Love Chive!

Our ornamental chive is up and in full bloom!

This is it's the second season and it's looks fantastic, nice and big and full!

The bees go buzzerk (see what I did there?) for the lilac-pink globe flowers.  It's crazy how many bees are on these flowers at a given time.

I'll need to do some research to see if I can divide this plant once the flowers pass and before it goes dormant for the winter.  Thinking I need several more of these, so if I can divide, great!

Kisses Bye-Bye

Here's Trixie-dog giving some love'n to "Rocky" the wild rabbit just before we released him!

Wild rabbits seem to have an accelerated appetite.  He wouldn't jump up and gobble what we put in his cage but leave and come back a short time later and most would be gone.  He loved the broccoli leaves and shucking from the corn on the cob, especially the silk.

In the end he just wasn't happy being caged up and I wasn't happy at needing to care for another rabbit.  So, it was agreed to that the best course of action was to free the little dude.  I'd be lying to you if I said I was rooting for a hawk to take him away... 

Pee-U

We typically have the regular old brown Stink Bugs here at the ole homestead.  More and more arrive as summer turns to fall and they search for a place to hide for the winter.  Both are commonly encountered pest of seeds, grain, nuts and fruit in both the nymph and adult stages across North America.

This green stink bug lasted perhaps a bit longer that it's brown relative but only for this one and done photo op.  And both the brown and the green look the same when squished!

Water Water Everywhere and Not A Drop to Drink

Oh my poor brown lawn, alas.

We've not had much rain to speak of these last couple of months.  That and it being so darn hot and humid have been a perfect combination for deadness.

Good news is I don't need to cut it that often...

Momma and Brood Crossing

Momma turkey and her 7 chicks crossing the road the other morning.  It was interesting to see how she slowed her pace to let her chicks cross ahead of her, while she brought up the rear.  It was like she was staring me down and giving me a stern non-verbal warning that she and her chicks were crossing and I'd just have to wait.

I thought it was a little late in the season to be rearing chicks, August 11.  They got some growing and learning to do to be ready for this coming cold weather.

Ringneck Snake!

An unusual but pleasant surprise.

This Northern Ringneck snake took a dip in our pool but was unable to get out on it's own.

I would guess this snake to be an old timer, in snake time, due to it's size - close to 10"!

The coloring of this snake is simply awesome, from black to grey to an orange underbelly, and with such a calm and peaceful disposition too.

Scientific Name: Diadophis punctatus edwardsii

Genus: Diadophis is derived from the Greek words diadem which means "headband" and ophis which means "snake".

Species: punctatus is derived from the Latin word punctum which means "spot". This refers to the ventral spotting.

Subspecies: edwardsii was assigned to honor George Edwards, an English ornithologist.

Oliver is intrigued with this serpent and not quite sure what to make of it -

Vernacular Names:  Collared snake, fodder snake, king snake, little black-and-red snake, ring snake, ringed snake.

Distorted Flowers

Seems we're having a bit of a problem with some of our Echinacea, specifically our Purple Cone Flower and Black-Eyed Susan.  I noticed it a couple of years ago and at first didn't know what the issue was and didn't do anything about it.  If I had, perhaps, I could have saved more of the plants.The problem is actually a disease; a disease called Aster Yellows.  Aster yellow is a plant disease that can infect many common vegetables, annual flowering plants, perennial flowering plans and weeds.  It's spread by the Aster Leafhopper as it feeds on the plant.Once a plant has been infected with the disease, it's a lost cause as the disease is incurable.  The needs to be removed and put in the trash.  Do NOT put in your compost pile.This summer I've been pulling and trashing the plants that look to be affected with this disease.  It's unfortunate but hoping I can get it under control before it works it's way through all our gardens and plants.  Here are a couple picture of how Aster Yellows looked on our plants, with the last pic being how the flowers should be -

 

My Hands Were Forced!

In recent weeks I've been finding more and more piles of dog crap on my lawn.  What should be common knowledge for dog owners and straight up common curtsy clearly isn't so, with at least one dog walker.  Unfortunately, this seems to go hand in hand with all the other BS taking place today with people feeling entitled to do whatever they want without any regard for others.  It's a sad time.

Most of the people that walk their dogs past our house are super nice, friendly and always bellowing a big HI whenever I'm out in the yard.  We've not had dog poop issues for quite some time, which means most of the people, the regulars anyway, are being respectful and picking up after their dog.  However, this has changed recently, which has encouraged me to put so a couple reminder signs that dog pooping is NOT allowed!

We'll see how this works.  To be honest, I'm expecting someone to damage or steal the sign.  I suspect the offender will simply ignore the sign and continue to let their dog(s) crap wherever.

Good news is that I'm fairly certain I know the person, a woman, who's responsible.  She walks 2 dog of which she has very little control over from what I've seen.  The Beagle is on a long leash, too long, way ahead and pulling her along.  The second dog is a Basset Hound, with smaller legs, that lollygags behind and looks to being pulled or drag in order to keep up.  A confrontation is looming... 

I wanted to THANK my brother who made these fantastic signs for me!

If anyone needs anything sign related made I would highly recommend FASTSIGNS of Cutler Bay Florida!

Give Greg a call and tell him I sent you!

From Farm to Plate!

This plump, juice Big Boy tomato, picked fresh...

Became a part of this delicious BLT -

OUTSTANDING!