Tag: green

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Video Of Sanosuke!~ Or, A Mouse Condo Of Poop! “No Vacancies!”~

 This morning when I opened Uriah’s dog food container I  noticed it was very low.  I usually set the bag of dry food inside a tall plastic container, so each time I scoop out a cup I don’t have to lift the bag. Today I lifted a nearly empty bag. 

Time to go dog food shopping!

Uriah has a bad habit of not eating what I give him, at least not right away. When his brothers were alive he would tease them with his food. They ate faster then he did, with his usual, “I am starting trouble!”  grin!  He would sit on his food and wait.  Literally! Sit on his food!  So when they were finished and came nosing around he would show off by slowly eating in front of them.

Uriah, set in his ways, keeps up that play. With no one to show off to, Uriah wanders off and those country rats steal each morsel right under his nose. A problem starts when the mice take his food and carry it into the cars engines.

To get Uriah to eat I have to stand next to his food bowl, no matter where it is.

Or, I try to anyway. Uriah is a dog that has the ability to ‘out wait’ anyone.

He can hold his pee for hours, then still wander around and hold it in until I can’t take it any more. I will stand next to a bush and pretend that I’m lifting my leg, until Uriah looks likes he’s laughing at me, and then joins in.

Today I opened the garage doors and pulled out my car. I opened the engine and Uriah helped me look under the hood. 

Mouse poop littered the top of the engine!

I loosened the air filter and pulled it out. Mouse poop inside under the air filter! Great!  When I had taken my car last month for a fix on a recall, I had to dish out an extra eight hundred dollars to remove a ten pound bag of dog food from my air intake. Lovely little Mice! 

Michael had a doctor’s appointment on Friday.  He took his old Saturn, not trusting my mouse condo.  *His car saved our lives in an accident in 2004. A young girl on a cell phone..* So he totally trusts it to fend off mice:-)

Michael came home two hours late riding in the cab of a tow truck. Seems the mice may have invaded his engine too. Lack of a dollar, means his car is now a paper weight in the garage.

Back to Uriah helping with my engine!

 I pulled out the Shop Vac and vacuumed up mice poop on my engine. Then I popped the hood of the Saturn. I removed the air filter and didn’t see any mice droppings. Michel told me, that the air intake was under the car, and that will need to be removed to find the problem.

If a mouse was sucked into the engine…well, bye, bye engine. I can’t crawl under that car …

I stepped outside with Uriah and we both contemplated the problem. Or, I should say all three of us thought about it!  Me and Uriah, and That Rat who was sitting near the door on his hind legs watching us with a thoughtful, “what’s going on guys?”  look…

I jumped when I saw that reddish- brown haired rat. He in turn jumped and raced into the horseradish plant as I yelled after him.  “We are not your family! Stupid Rat!”

Hmmm! I wonder if he could be trained to keep the mice out of the garage.

I looked down at Uriah; he never made a move to chase the rat. But he did take a mouth full of his food and started to chew, slowly.

*

Sanosuke had me laughing this morning. So I made a video for fun. Enjoy!
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Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling video Writers Site

Youtube Video of Sanosuke And Kaoru, “This Is Love!”!~ Or, Computer Dating Is For The Birds!~

 

I was shifting through bird names and I pulled up, Dickcissel.  Then I Googled the Dickcissel’s picture; he looks similar to some of the smaller song birds I saw in the Blue Spruce just outside the window next to the computer.

Then I played the  Dickcisselcall/song, both Sanosuke and Kaoru sat up and listened.  As the young cats ran out of the room my attention turned back to checking my email. I had closed the site with the bird’s song, so when I heard a bird singing again I automatically rechecked my task bar.

 It’s like checking if I left the iron on…not that I use the iron anymore.

 It took me a minute to realize, that singing bird was coming from outside the window, in the Blue Spruce. And that bird was talking to my computer. Hmmm!

What all this rambling means is I added a Dickcissel to my list of birds I have seen and heard.

http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/dickcissel_info.htm

I took this picture while standing in the kitchen, hiding behind the counter and zooming in through the window. The bird, I believe, is a Brown Thrasher.

What do you think?

I played the Brown Thrasher’s song and Sanosuke and Kaoru went crazy, again.  I really shouldn’t laugh when they start jumping from window ledge, to window ledge all excited, but I couldn’t help myself.

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/679/overview/Brown_Thrasher.aspx

For fun, I put together this video. Enjoy!
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Nature photos Rambling Uncategorized Writers Site

My First Publicity Photo, No Hair, Teeth or Makeup,… What a Doll!~

I was looking through some old pictures and came across my first publicity photo, taken  many years ago. Notice they spelled my name wrong.

When I was thirteen we moved and that doll was left, sitting on a top shelf, all alone. Heavy sigh! My mother kept insisting it was packed. She lied!  During those thirteen years, I only touched it once and that was for this picture..

My mother thought it was cursed or something.

 I had gotten very ill after that picture was taken and nearly died. So, no matter how many times I told my mother I wasn’t dead, she still wouldn’t let me play with the doll.

I remember staring up at it, sitting all by itself, in its box, thinking how pretty she looked.  Every day I said, hello to her. One day I made an attempt to drag a chair over to the shelf and try and reach her.  I nearly fell off the shelf, and I nearly got caught.

 Luckily my sister, my partner in crime, had wanted to play with her, too.  She had been holding the chair steady.  She stood by silent, as my mother waggled her fingers at us and told us over and over again, how that doll got me sick…

Poor pretty little doll! She seemed so lonely.

My mother must have thought my comics were cursed; she tossed them out when I was fifteen.

I copied the flip side of that newspaper clipping; Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. 

Do you have something special, that your parents tossed out when you weren’t home?
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Nature photos Nature Writing Writers Site

Michael’s Pictures Of The Kitties. ~Or, The Rulers Of Michaels Universe!~

These pictures were taken by Michael. 

Cats love to nap!

 

 

Kaoru and Sanosuke are tiny compared to Kenshin. He is a big boy.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tomoe and Sanosuke are climbers.

Kaoru was sleeping under my blankets, when Sanosuke woke her up by sitting on her.
PJ taking a catnap
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Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Writers Site

Poem For a Thistle!~ Or, Talking Heads, Nodding In Thorny Agreement!~

Musk Thistles

 

Tall and strong, they held their heads high

Their skin, a smooth line of waxy green

Coated with thorns

They looked up

And saw the sky

Blue…

Amid fast moving puffs of white and grey

They looked abreast, and saw the ground

Brown…

Lines and leaves of diverse greens, amassed

Thrust, from side to side

with each random breeze

They looked out at my camera

wide eyes of innocence and unease

In that moment of stratum pink and white

they wondered, If…

and survived

 

The Musk Thistle is considered a Noxious weed in Illinois.  These Thistles were growing near the road. If you want to read about them click on the link below.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CANU4

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Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

How To Cut Grass Without Getting Hurt!~.. Or, Hide Under the Deck With Uriah When The Tractor Is Running…!~

The air is still hot and heavy with moisture. Add to that a mixture of bug sprays, chemicals and manure, spread across the fields by plane or tractor. At that point, breathing becomes an inflexible process.

The skies this morning were blue, then deep, dark angry grey that rumbled and barked, spitting out streaks of light, then changing back to blue.

I took Uriah out for his morning walk by sitting on the front step and waving him off. With a happy wag of his tail he headed to the pond where he startled some ducks and blackbirds.  As I waited for him to return I was bombarded by annoying mosquitoes. 

Uriah took his time. So I just stared out over the field grass and watched it grow.

I had the tractor running a couple of weeks ago. It had roared to life, with as much exuberance as Uriah running to the pond.

*If you didn’t get that reference, well, Uriah walks slowly sticking his head in every hole sneezing and rolling in everything that smells bad… The tractor coughed, wheezed, chugged and rolled, jerked and smelled bad…

I checked and filled the tires, added water and oil. Brushed off the cutting deck and oiled anything that moved. Once I pulled her out of the barn I decided to move that downed tree.

I was very careful..

Before I took her on the path, I stopped the engine and walked the area, poking at the ground.  I didn’t want to get stuck in heavy mud, or caught up on a stump.     I backed into the path and tried to get as close as I could to that tree.   Driving backwards is not within my tractor maneuvering ability, so it took me a while.

Satisfied I wasn’t going to be stuck in the mud; I turned off the engine and gracefully slipped off the seat unto a wild rose bush.  Ouch!

Finally I was able to wrap the chain around the back hitch and around the middle of the tree.

Once back in the driver’s seat I slowly moved forward, dragging the tree not forward but sideways, just as I planned. The trees roots were facing south and its upper branches to the north. I could only move it a few feet, or it would get caught up on the Bog Willows.  

Slowly I inched forward.

Uriah was watching me from the edge of the path. As soon as I made my first lurching movement his tail disappeared between his legs and he ran towards the house. Smart dog! He remembered when that same chain broke free from the last tree I moved and went flying, taking out some branches. I had found it hanging in a tree some fifty feet away.

I hesitated for a moment and watched Uriah run. For a second, I debated what I was doing and thought that maybe this wasn’t a good idea…

That lasted for a minute.

Then I set the tractor in forward motion, slowly the chain went taut. I was very surprised when the tree moved off the path and ended up right where I wanted it to be, top facing west and roots to the East.

Nothing tried to bite me. I didn’t get the tractor stuck in the mud. The best part, I didn’t see one tick! 

I removed the chain from the hitch. Then I put Uriah in his outside kennel. And came back to cut the path, I was tempting fate by not walking the path first.. But even that turned out well,   so well in fact I took Uriah out for a walk..

A walk that ended with us being chased by a few angry Bumble Bees, luckily they only sting if cornered…

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Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Magic beans And Happy Fairies Planted A Garden!~Or, What’s The Name Of That Herb?~

With one of my cats, PJ sitting to my right I finally began typing out this Blog. The past week has been full of gardening fun, rain, high humidity, cold weather and todays temperatures pushed me into air-conditioning.  The range has been maddeningly painful.

Last Saturday a family of magical beings came by and helped turn over the garden and plant some vegetables. They stayed only about three hours, but during that time I was able to talk to, and walk around with three little boys, while their parents grunted and groaned, as they dug, straightened and chopped up large chunks of dirt and moved around rocks.

When the boys spotted the rocks, the middle one was enthralled by the odd shapes and sizes. He wanted to take some home so they could make their own, Stonehenge under a tree in their back yard.  I was in agreement, so a pile was formed and a box appeared from the barn, a sturdy box that would hold all the rocks. Their father didn’t’ realize those rocks, when placed in a box, would weigh a ton and a hernia, until he tried to pick them up.

 Being a magical family, the boys had hoped to float the box of rocks above the ground. But alas, they forgot their fairy dust and had to settle on using a simple dolly.

 In the meantime, Uriah was being ridden like a horse.  A horse that was too tired to stand. He laid on the ground while the youngest boy sat upon his back and held tight to his ears.  I was worried Uriah wouldn’t like this, but when I saw his furry face he had a happy doggy grin. Finally, Uriah got tired of the game and stood up. Luckily the littlest guy was expecting this to happen, so he jumped off Uriah and gave him a big hug.

Uriah heard something in the trees and did his slow walk towards them. He kept looking back at me. When I finally turned my back, he slipped in-between the trees. Totally vanishing between the green leaves and heavy branches

Uriah’s normal disappearing act caused great distress to the youngest boy. He called Uriah’s name over and over, it must have seemed like hours to him instead of minutes, until Uriah reappeared to hugs and kisses. Uriah looked up at me, I shrugged and he happily trotted off with the little guy running along behind him.

Because of that extra help, I was able to plant a large amount in a short time.

This morning the rain was still pouring down, watering the seeds and plants, allowing the garden to take root, now, that also means the weeds will have a fighting chance too. I haven’t used weed killers or inhibitors in many a year. I prefer the old fashion wrestling techniques… I pull and the weeds pull back:-)

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Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Cedar-Apple Rust And Other Shades of Fungi!~ Or,Will Tinactin Work On Trees?~

What am I?

This tree is growing in my neighbor’s yard and a couple further out back on my property. They are in bloom. Multiple bright orange flowers, with a center that is an odd misshapen ball.   Flower pedals that are tube shaped, bright orange and soft sticking  out all over it.   The pedals are closing and melting in on itself. Odd..

We have had a large amount of water and the North side of the property is under water and the front pond is over flowing.  We aren’t in the tropics and this to me, looks similar to a less spiky, Sea Urchin. I wouldn’t mind living in Hawaii, but even there I don’t believe Sea Urchins live in trees. I could be wrong..

Sorry, can't find the link to this picture. I thought it was from Wikipedia. It is a Sea Urchin.

I did a Google search and couldn’t find a flowering evergreen  that even came close to this description.

Years ago my neighbor may have told me those were Cedar trees. Hoping I remembered that correctly,  I Google ‘orange flowers on cedar trees.’  What came up was, that this tree maybe infected with Cedar-apple rust gall, which is described as an orange gelatinous with telial horns protruding.

Strange days indeed…

This is rather odd, but a pretty fungus, at least from my prospective, as I snapped these pictures.

 I did see some galls (abnormal outgrowths) from the previous year connected to some of the branches.  In this picture you can see one directly under the orange flower.

Even after finding the information on, Cedar-apple rust gall, I am still wondering “is this real?”

 Over the years, I have seen those odd galls growing on the branches and never saw any damage to the Cedars themselves. On the other hand, I have had some fungus issues with my apple trees. I just thought it was old age, too much water, Uriah and the deer nibbling on the branches…

Strange..

*

http://urbanext.illinois.edu/focus/cedarapplerust.cfm

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/cedar-applerust/cedar-applerust.htm

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Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Writers Site

Poem, As The Earth Bleeds!~Or, We Need To Notice The Profits On The Wind And Remove The Earths IV!~

As the Earth bleeds

                              and

Oil seeps from its core, smothering life

Our needs come before everything

Our needs move in circles where money rules

Our needs place us up above all else

Our needs cause the Earth to bleed

Our needs smothers and drowns

Every living thing in oil and blood

Our needs are not what we think

For

     If

       We

           Took

                  A

                   Moment

                                To

                                   Think

                                           Outside

                                                       Of…

Our needs, would we notice

Our needs are killing the planet

Stop!

And ask yourself

                          What do you really want?

As the Earth bleeds

*

~ Question: What’s wrong with using wind and solar energy? When will life take a front seat to profit?
I found the picture I used here:
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=news+on+oils+spill+in+gulf+of+mexico++2010&go=&form=QBIR&qs=n&sk=#focal=d0016a8f167db3282e26c160de37391c&furl=http%3A%2F%2Fi.dailymail.co.uk%2Fi%2Fpix%2F2010%2F05%2F10%2Farticle-0-096DF4F9000005DC-336_634x577.jpg

**

Visit: Jingles Thursdays Poets Rally-

http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/thursday-poets-rally-week-18-may-13-19-2010/

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Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Run, Run As Fast As You Can! You Can’t Catch Me I’m The Sanosuke Man!~ Or, Drop That Meat!~

A migraine followed me around all day.  It lifted slightly around dinnertime. That’s when I started hunting out something to eat. In the freezer I found one steak.  We have plenty of ice cubes and some chicken, but only one steak left. To defrost it quickly I set it on a plate and slipped it into the microwave. 

 I walked out of the kitchen and came back two minutes later; Sanosuke was climbing over the microwave. He wanted that steak. I gave him a hug and set him on the floor and removed the steak from the microwave and set the plate on the counter.

I started fussing around the kitchen; I pulled out the frying pan and grabbed an onion. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sanosuke silently jump on the counter. As I turned towards him, he grabbed the steak and jumped from the counter. When I yelled, he held his head up high, so the steak wasn’t dragging on the floor and ran faster down the hall.  Michael spotted him and instead of stopping Sanosuke he started laughing. Without hesitating, Sanosuke raced into our bedroom.  I was right behind him and grabbed him just before he dragged my dinner under the bed.

Michael was still laughing when I came out of the bedroom. I held the steak out of reach of Sanosuke who followed behind me complaining loudly.

Sanosuke sat on the counter and watched me cook the steak and potatoes with onions. I sliced a tomato and added some corn to the plate. I carefully sliced the steak into strips.

By this time I had three cats watching me.  One sat on the kitchen chair the other on the floor. Sanosuke stayed on the counter and glared at me.

I announced to the frowning cats.  “Alright guys! You can all have one piece, no more.”

They all stood up, tails flipping and watched as I slowly sliced up a small piece for each of them into tiny cat bites. I gave them each their own plates. Then I took my food and went into the living room.

Ooops!  I forgot my napkin. I got up and went into the kitchen for two seconds. I wasn’t looking for Sanosuke; I assumed he was still in the kitchen eating his piece of meat.

What I didn’t see was Sanosuke hiding under the table waiting for his chance. When I got up, he quickly jumped on the table and started eating, fast! 

“Bad Kitty!”  I yelled when I saw him with his face in my food.

 Within those few seconds he ate a lot!  I was left with two small pieces of steak. Sanosuke had raced out of the room when I yelled.  He knew he did something wrong, but he was just having such a good time he didn’t care.

PJ in the meantime, slipped up from under the table and quickly grabbed one piece of steak and slipped back under the table. When I bent down to check on him, Sanosuke reappeared and grabbed the last piece and raced off down the hall again.

I ate the rest of my dinner in peace.

They even stole the piece of fat I left in the pan for Uriah..

Michael wouldn’t stop laughing. I yelled at him. “If you thought it was so funny, then while Sano was running around the house with my dinner, why didn’t you grab the camera?   

He answered, “It was just as funny yesterday when he grabbed your salmon.” Michael picked up Sanosuke, and rubbed his tummy.” Hey little guy!  What’s for dinner tomorrow?”

I think its time to become a vegetarian:-)

*

 Cat picture is from Microsoft’s Word clip art