A Nature Walk

 Today, Friday the 13th, we're joining Miss Molly for a nature walk. We had to get out early, before Mom's first cup of coffee because our temperatures are in the 90s this week. Mom doesn't much like the heat so when we got our pictures we returned to the coolness of the house where we will lounge all day. Actually Mom has an excuse. She had steroid injections in both her knees this week so she can lie on the couch with ice packs on her knees and nobody can complain.  

 So anyway, here is what we saw on our early morning walk. In the front yard the wild strawberry patch has grown enormously. Last year it was just a little spot under the tree but now about a quarter of the yard has little yellow berry flowers and a few little berries are already showing. I think some of the berries have already been dessert for our night crew.

 

 

Next we started down the driveway and the Weigela is blooming. Half the plant has big buds getting ready to open and the other half is already open. 

The wild rose growing on the corner of the fence is starting to flower. Dad and that rose have an ongoing  fight. Dad tries to keep the plant in bounds on the corner of the fence but the plant wants to spread. It reaches it's thorny arms out and snags Mom's hair when she walks by it. Our bird friends planted it for us a couple years ago and I personally think the plant will win the battle.

Around the corner of the fence is our patch of cool Iris. This year we have a couple of smaller ones with a little yellow in them. We're not sure where they came from but it's nice to see the variety.

Some little periwinkle flowers are peeking out. These eager spreaders have taken over parts of the yard but since they don't have to be mowed, we don't really care.

The few remaining Pyracantha are in full bloom which means lots of tasty orange berries for the birds this fall.

We're expecting more rains over the coming week so it'll be interesting to see what new blooms we can find next Friday. Now to go cool off.

Your pal, Mackey

Earth Day

  The girls and I are joining Molly and lots of others on an Earth Day walk to admire Mother Nature's handiwork. We didn't go far, just around the yard. 

We started with the huge Forsythia in back of the house. 

Then we stopped at Bentley's plum tree. 

This year we were really lucky to have the plum, cherry and crabapple trees all in bloom at the same time. That rarely happens. The weather had been so crazy that I didn't think we'd have any blooms. We had a freeze two days ago. Yesterday we had tornado warnings all day and today is supposed to get to the mid 80s. Then more rain and cold starting Sunday.

The neighbor has some perky daffodils.

In the back yard the cherry tree is in full bloom.

The crabapples are coming into flower except for the grafted branch that has been in full flower for a week. That was Norma Jean's favorite tree and she usually came in with white apple blossoms all thru her coat.

The Star of Bethlehem flowers are open. They're such happy looking flowers.

We found some little wild hyacinths.

Here are some bright yellow flowers. OK, I know they're considered weeds but they really are bright and happy. And who decides if they're weeds?

This is the best part. When we moved here we had a couple little patches of violets next to the fence. But my bird friends have been busy and now the violets cover most of the yard. They're my favorite flower and they always make me smile.

Even the Oak trees are getting ready.

Isn't Spring pretty? Happy Earth Day everyone.

My New Job

 Hi Everybody,

I can't wait to tell you all about my new, very important job. 

 I'm a tolltaker. That's right, I collect tolls. 

You see when we had lots of dogs living here we would all go upstairs at bedtime and Mom would give us each a bedtime cookie. Then we'd each find our bed and settle down for sleep. But things have changed since the other dogs left for the bridge. You can see here that Mom has just pushed everyone's beds into one corner of the room. I'm the only one now that sleeps in the bedroom. Syd has her crate downstairs, so I have my choice of dog beds.

 

  But I've decided that the routine should change a little so now at bedtime while Mom and Dad are turning off the lights and checking that the doors are locked, I race upstairs and plant my ample rump in the bedroom doorway. In order to get into the room Mom and Dad have to each pay me a toll.

 

 

This is what I accept as tolls.

I can count to four so I expect each person to pay me two treats. If they don't pay, I don't move.

After the tolls are paid, I jump onto the bed for my nightly belly rub.

Then I get down and make my selection of which bed to sleep in. It's a pretty easy job but it pays well and makes me very happy.

Your fat little pal, Mackey

Winter Days

 There have been plenty of cold blustery days this winter.  Some of them have been pretty. I liked these shadows in the snow.

Some have had interesting sunrises, such as this where there are stripes in the sky.

I've spent a lot of time knitting and stitching and reading. Some of my favorite subjects are puppies and kittens. Who would have guessed?

Since the start of the covid lockdown we've kept a jigsaw puzzle going in the kitchen. Sometimes we work on it together but usually one or the other of us spends some spare time puzzling. Here are some of our finished pieces.

 

It's amazing how many new, sealed puzzles are missing pieces. Wonder where they turn up. Two of these have had extra pieces. I wonder if those people got our missing pieces.

Send In The Clowns

Each evening as the sun starts to go down we take the hanging bird feeders down and put out dinner for our night crew. We have a fixed open feeder on the deck railing, a terra cotta platter and a blue Chewy bowl. We put kibble in each along with any leftovers or undesired foods from the day. The undesirables may include fatty trimmings from meat, parts of veggies such as stalks and bacon grease or grease left from cooking meats. Sometimes soft fruit or a hard boiled egg or even a stale donut get divided up in the bowls. Then I turn on the porch light also know as the 'open for business sign'. 

Usually within minutes I see pink noses poking thru the hedge and our first visitors of the evening appear to have their dinner. The  early birds are the opossums. Dark is a medium size opossum with dark, almost black coat and a white face. This is a stock photo that resembles her.

Her companion  is Pretty, a much larger opossum with a soft gray coat and a large soft gray face. Again a stock photo as neither will allow me close enough to take their pictures.

These two get along well together and will share a bowl of food. They only eat what they need, then leave often with food remaining in the bowls. But the food doesn't go to waste. The main entertainment is about to begin. Enter the raccoons. Rocket is still visiting us almost daily and is perfectly relaxed, lounging on the porch as she eats. Her three, now adult, babies also show up every evening. There is Shorty, who is small and nervous. He looks all around for danger as he eats.

Next is Big Red. Red is huge! He arrives, eats as fast as he can cram the food into his mouth, then leaves.

Finally Gabby comes by and is more relaxed like her mom. She is compulsively neat. After she eats whatever is in the feeders, she cleans up any little bit spilled on the deck. She sticks her long fingers into the cracks in the floor boards and eats the pieces that have gotten lodged there. One night last week she pried up one of the tiles inset into the floor of the porch. It was too heavy for her to carry off but she moved it about a foot from it's place.

It's not unusual to see a raccoon and an opossum sitting side by side eating out of the same bowl. In the morning we find all three eating areas licked clean and not a piece of kibble left behind.

One night last month there was a problem, however. When Rob took the second course out before we went to bed, he discovered a large amount of fresh blood on the porch. No animals were in sight and we hadn't heard any noises earlier. We took water out and washed down the area with the blood and wondered what the following evening would bring.

The next night Dark and the raccoons all came by but Pretty didn't show up for a couple days. When she did visit, we noticed that her tail was about two or three inches shorter than before and the end looked sore. In a few days she had healed up but she now has a stubby tail. We don't know who attacked her or why but she is back to coming by regularly and shows no ill effects. Poor Pretty!

This is a combination entertainment and recycling program. The animals appreciate the food and we enjoy watching their antics. Win-win.