I Hate The Interstate

I hate the interstate so much that I wanted to take a slower way home from my trip to the cities. I was so relaxed on this road that I got slightly misplaced.

Petey Must Die

The last time H was home she saw the ground squirrel cleaning up seed under the bird feeders. "Aw," she said, "I'm naming him Petey".

A few days later Crab and a neighbor were enjoying the time honored practice of sitting on the front stoop, drinking beer and trying to shoot ground squirrels. There was at least one rodent fatality that day. I secretly hoped it wasn't Petey.

Cute little Petey appeared the next day to stuff his face under the feeder and has been showing up daily. We co-exist. I don't bother him and he hasn't bothered me until this morning.....

Eating flowers!

Gardening Stuff & Bird Notes

The cardinal pictured in the previous post did not hang around. I was lucky to get a picture. Why, oh, why do they always leave me? I have sunflower seeds! I have water!

The orioles are still here, at least. I had an plastic net onion sack filled with yarn bits hung in a tree. Last week I checked it and it was empty. The other day I tiptoed through the long grass and looked up in the trees until I saw the orioles high in the branches next to their nest. They are nesting here! Take that you stupid cardinals!

I have been trying to get my flower gardens in order. It's work. It's work I have to redo constantly since Gretchen thinks freshly dug flower beds mean a new dog wallow for her. She jumps in her swimming pool (small stock tank) then rolls and digs around in the dirt sending teeny, tiny petunias flying. I think that dog would live happily with pigs.

Besides the grave stone I made for Ringo, I have been making pavers for lawn edging. These are studded with glow in the dark stars that used to be stuck all over the daughter's ceiling.

In other news, yesterday I made a trellis for cucumbers and gourds.

I discovered that the dirt I made was not done cooking. The weed seeds sprouted like crazy as soon as I filled these "planters". Tomatoes sprouted, too. And even though I didn't plant any squash in there, I may have some squash growing. The thing is, I can't tell because the cucumbers and gourds look the same as squash. So we will see what I end up with. It could be a good year for things not planted.

Memorial For Ringo

Ringo was my fuddy duddy little buddy. I adopted him from a friend who had adopted him from a shelter. I loved him long before he came to live with me. He was funny, smart and talented. In spite of his size, he was a wonderful watch dog. He was no match for the UPS driver, however.


Ringo has been gone for sometime. I buried him under the cedar trees by the bird feeders. I can see Ringo's grave when I look out the kitchen window so I think about my fuddy duddy little buddy every day.

Ringo's grave. The cardinal did not hang around.

I made a new stone for Ringo with his tag in the center of it. The other day I moved the rocks and placed the stone and planted some flowers. It is a more suitable memorial for a dog I loved so much.

R.I.P.

More Procrastination From Yesterday

My goal yesterday was to get some house cleaning done while the Crab was on the road. So I guess the inbox cleaning was procrastination from that. Once all the cat videos had been watched, it was time to....

Think about the birds!

Every time I pass the kitchen window I have to look to see what is there. I wonder if I am doing my best to keep the birdies happy. In true procrastination form, yesterday afternoon I decided I was not.

Even though I have 3 jelly stations set up for the orioles, I decided they needed their nectar feeder. So I made nectar, filled the feeder and hung it. Then I started cleaning. Unfortunately I have to pass the kitchen window often. Less than an hour after I hung the feeder, I saw this:

Poor little thing

The poor little hummingbird could not get the hang of this feeder. He couldn't find the holes and the perches were set for the big birds. So he hummed around and was sipping drips that fell from the bottom.

I did what any compassionate procrastinator would do. I cleaned the old decrepit hummingbird feeder. I broke the plastic tip on the top trying to shove a wire into it and had to waste more time jerry rigging a new way to hang it (queen of time wasting!). I filled it, hung it and went back to cleaning. I was rewarded later by observing a happy hummingbird at that feeder.

In other news: The peach iris are blooming. And weeds are taking over everything.

Peach Iris

Danger Will Robinson!

Something as innocuous as cleaning out the old mailbox can turn into a major time waster.

I had recently thoroughly scoured the inbox with a stiff brush and Clorox. And yet tonight I found the inbox. Full. Of. Shit.

Just to be on the safe side, I checked things out. Was there an address I needed? Had I responded to everyone who deserved a response? What link is this and why do I need to see it again and/ or save it?

Which is how I got sucked into YouTube and the Two Talking Cats. Since Mouse was asleep and oblivious, I drug Skittles off the porch, put her on my lap and cranked up the speakers.

Skittles lost interest early. Me, I kept searching for a video that would capture her attention, surfing cat videos -- and then re-watched cat yodeling. Thanks for that, Gwen. I really needed it.

Shoot me.