the little wild kingdom

[tortoise]

i have some impressive looking woodlice too in those buckets. i didn't know they could get so big. i guess with plenty of food and no competition or predators they beef up pretty nicely.

you can gush about new lambs while i gush over little creatures like these (not my pic):

You make me want to grow mealworms for my chickens. That and the price of freeze dried mealworms makes me want to grow them. I think I'm over the ick factor, but I'm not yet 100% okay with having them in my house.

 

[flowerbug]

yesterday i finally was able to talk to the local library director and it happened that a board member was there too so that was good. i've been thinking of starting a gardening group that meets once a month and we can talk about whatever people want and also do a mini-seed-swap. so that is now on my monthly schedule.

i'm not expecting a lot of people since the first group will be showing up in just a few weeks and word won't be out for long, but at the worst i can sit there and read for a few hours. oh darn! i can do that anywhere.

also there's a presentation coming up by a localish guy that does seed saving and talking about gardens. i've been looking forwards to this for a while since it was scheduled last year but then cancelled when the virus crud hit. so i can also promote his event if anyone shows up to mine.

 

[flowerbug]

second garden club meeting did happen yesterday afternoon. one of the previous people did send a note that they could not attend due to partner having covid and not wanting to risk giving others the crud. still there were four of us and we talked about various topics for an hour.

i then used the nice table to spread out and get some things figured out for planting this coming season and organised my give-away beans.

for fun i took some garlic and onions i'd wrapped in towels and had stored in the garage to unwrap and see how they were doing - all were in good condition.

the garlic i've brought in so i can peel it and use it for cooking or grind it up and drench it with lemon juice and put it in the freezer packed in small jars.

the onions i hope i can plant this week sometime.

 

[flowerbug]

another pair of killdeer put a nest inside the fenced garden. at least this time it is up high and out of the way instead of inside a pathway.

 

[flowerbug]

finally got a picture of a young one today as now both nests have hatched out. i've been trying for many many years to get any kind of picture close enough to be interesting enough. this year seems like a pretty early hatch compared to many in the past but that is perhaps because i recall them hatching after they've tried and failed with an earlier laying. either way it was great!

i got pictures of the last chick of the eight eggs (in two nests) such a tiny one still in the nest and then Mom saw one running around that i could get a picture taken. at one point it got trapped in between some rocks. i picked it up and moved it to where it could run off again. it was very precious and soft and it did not want to be held at all. set it down and off it ran. i wished i could get a picture of it in my hand but it wouldn't be still and i wasn't going to try to keep it any longer than i already did. then snapped a picture as it was in between steps - rarely standing still for longer than a split second.

oh! i just was able to get a much better picture. Mom came in and said the last hatchling was out in the pathway and that perhaps i could get a picture of that one instead. yep... will get it posted later.

 

[flowerbug]

 

[flowerbug]

did some weeding today and then puttered around while they were working on replacing the culvert under the end of the driveway.

after that was done i had to get out and water the garlic, onions and strawberries. while i was standing there watering the strawberry patch when i saw a bird fly into the top of this wood stove that we only use as a decoration. i think it was a female cardinal and it was heading in there with something in its mouth to feed the babies. my question is how in the world are those babies ever going to get out of there?

in other strange sightings news there was some kind of creature running up the driveway towards the garage and i think it was a mink, but i'm not sure. i've not seen anything like that here before so now i'm curious what it might have been. from looking at pictures on-line it probably was a mink, not a very old one, but it for sure wasn't a weasel or anything else that fit how it moved and how it was shaped. perhaps the 2nd mink i've seen here since they built the place. Mom asked me if they eat groundhogs.

likely the mink was disturbed from its den near the culvert - it looked like there was some kind of den near the end of the culvert.

 

[flowerbug]

turned on the AC today for the first time this cooling season. after getting the new filter in there and also to check out that it was working ok. it didn't come on at first, so i turned it off again and let it all reset. sometimes these electronic gizmos need a reset and to think it over again before you give it another try. 2nd time later this afternoon it all came on like it should. hopefully will only let it run for a while longer to get the humidity out of the house and after the sun fades a bit.

it's been a good unit so far with only one service call in 26yrs - that was the mice chewing through the wires that took it out. guy who came out to do the service call checked it all out and said it was doing fine.

 

[flowerbug]

today is the 3rd garden club meeting. i'm going to bring some things to work on and seeds to give away. with the forecast for rain today at least i won't be thinking i could be out gardening.

i do need to keep at the weeding and am pretty much ready for planting in quite a few places so all is as on schedule as it can be, just have to work around the weather and other family things as it goes along.

the culvert did get replaced at the end of the driveway. we'll need to figure out what else we'll do out there (along the edges). the old culvert was completely rusted out along the bottom after 26 years. the end of the driveway looked nice for about 4 days and then we had rains and the dump trucks ran over the end making it back into a mess again. it really needs to be cemented or asphalted and we don't really have the $ for that.

yesterday's tree trimming was unexpected. the ISP contacted me last week saying that they needed to do a check on the alignment of the small dish it uses. no problem with me. yesterday morning they showed up and after a bit they said that the signal was too weak and that they'd like to move the dish. well, er, not really going to happen so they suggested trimming some trees that were blocking the signal. so i told them i could have them trimmed within the day and then they could get their stronger signal. it was quite fun and a challenge to work with substandard muscles and tools up on the ladder, but Mom was able to help and to hold the ladder. so we got it done with a few short breaks and some lunch in there. interrupted too by farm spraying for weeds, but luckily the wind wasn't blowing into the trees directly. i called them to let them know the trees were trimmed and said if they needed anything else to give me a call back. i guess the main issue was that with a weak and varying signal their tower had to keep changing what it was doing to compensate and that was making things bad for everyone else using that tower. ok. makes sense with me...

as usual we'll see how it goes...

 

[flowerbug]

as usual i continue to try to lose a few extra lbs. i'm doing ok. in recent weeks i've been trying to eat more vegetables and cut back on snacks at night. not always easy... a few weeks ago we were going to make some veggie pizza for a Mother's Day family event (so that the other mother would not have to cook ). Mom bought some heads of broccoli and cauliflower and there were leftovers so i had to eat them up. i also wanted Mom to buy some coleslaw mix of shredded cabbages and carrots so i could eat that as i find eating lettuce just doesn't do enough for me.

it has turned out very well, for dinner i have a decent sized bowl of coleslaw or the shredded mix with other dressings on there and it takes me some time to eat it so i'm feeling pretty satisfied with all that crunching and chewing going on. if i am getting tired of coleslaw with mayo dressing i can put something else on there. one dressing i do like is strawberry jam with yellow mustard. it hits all my sweet-and-sour cravings. even if there is some sugar in that it still isn't nearly the same number of calories as a full meal. bacon, cheese, onions, beans, etc can also go in there or if i want something heated up i can nuke it for a bit.

the added benefit is regularity. this all keeps the system moving right along on schedule. hahaha!