Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Writers Site

If I Were Kate Gosselin…~Or, Poem for Thursdays Jingles Poetry Rally!~

I am not Kate Gosselin

I don’t have eight kids

Really! I don’t!  Believe me, I looked!

My divorce was never on the internet

Or television, or in the tabloids

Could have been…

At one point I did a walk-on for Jerry Springer

I was working, installing a sign 

Across the street from where they were taping

Up on a building, standing on a ladder..

They asked me to be the jealous girlfriend

Does that count?

If I was Kate Gosselin

I would have a reality show

Dance across the screen

And hit the talk shows…

Wait!

I’m still looking for those eight kids

They have to be around here somewhere!

Uriah told me
To stop being silly and
Take his picture please

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing

To Bee, Or Not To Bee A Headbutting Bee!~

The very first spring I lived here I had a problem with Bumble Bees. For some weird reason anytime I step outside they have to hit me on the head. Most people think I’m crazy. Now that may bee.. 🙂

All I can say is it is a very weird thing to watch. Most people can’t stop laughing when they see it. I really want to file a grievance with the Bee community!

I haven’t been headbutted, yet, this year. I will let you know when it happens…

This picture was taken this Monday afternoon.  Can you see what, or who is sitting in the corner of the outside window?

 I had walked away, then turned and took another picture. Can you see he moved to the opposite side of the window?

Here is a close up of Sano…

Here is a close up of who was sitting the window. Yes, I know!  This  window  need painting. I need a hard hat!

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Strolling Through The Grass and Mud While Listening To The Birds!~ Or-Did You See Where That Mouse Went?~

 

The past couple of weeks we went from freezing your butt off,   to help me I’m melting usually, all in one day.

Sunday morning, when I stepped outside I was surprised by the warm air and hazy grey skies heavy with moisture.  Saturday night the weatherman had announced. “It would be cold in the morning and a warm-up was coming in the early afternoon.” I was glad he got it wrong.   It was gorgeous!

It was only eight o’clock in the morning.  The warm air and a barrage of happy birds flitting from tree to tree helped Uriah talk me into taking a walk out back.

The path had drained off, but that downed tree still lay across my path. I followed Uriah as he walked around it and closer towards the fence.

Along the northern side of the path, the older Blog Willows grew, with their dark brown tangled tops reached upward. Maybe in few days, when I can take the tractor out, I will be able to push that tree out of the way… Even as that thought skimmed by, I knew from experience, that once the ground was able to hold the weight of the tractor, those roots will be stuck in the ground like cement.

I carefully stepped over the exposed roots and tangled dried grass that held a death grip on the base of the tree.  I could see a hole underneath exposing roots and rich black dirt.  Pieces of moss clung to the roots.

I mumbled out loud. “There may be an animal’s den in that hole!”   

I watched as Uriah stuck his nose close to the hole then stepped back quickly.   Using his normal ten second thought process, he caught a different scent and raced ahead of me. I glanced back at the tree and promptly followed Uriah’s lead.

By the time I caught up to Uriah.  He was circling an evergreen. The fur on his back was straight up.  He was kicking dirt out behind him as he scrapped at the ground. From the corner of my eye I saw something move across the empty field.  I couldn’t make out what it was, possibly a deer.   The large animal disappeared quickly into a grove of Oak trees. Uriah made a move to chase, but first he looked at me. Now it’s not like Uriah to listen, or ask permission. He knew he would be in trouble if he chased after the animal.  Most days he didn’t care. Today, he hesitated. Hmmm!   Uriah knew that whatever that was would hurt him and he just wanted me to tell him no.  Which I did!  Saving face, Uriah happily pranced back to my side.  

By the time I circled the path I was heading west and home.  Uriah took off in the trees to my right. He never got out of my sight. He even stopped and waited while I watched a flock of starlings in the trees above me. They fanned out then regrouped in a wave of wings and chattering. As soon as they settled in the tops of the trees one bird would rise up and the rest followed in a massive flow of feathers. Red Winged Blackbirds, Robins, Doves, Sparrows, Cardinals, sang around and above me. The noise level was incredibly loud. 

The trees that hadn’t budded last week were budding green this week.  The grass was growing at odd heights. I sidestepped a fairy circle and headed to the dog kennel.

Uriah panted as he ran up. He stepped into the kennel for water and a mouth full of his kibble.  Which I was glad to see wasn’t touched by the birds, or that rat.  

Suddenly! Everything fell silent!  I checked the skies for signs of the Hawk.  I couldn’t hear the Hawk’s high pitch screech. I was positive a predator had to be nearby!  All the birds stopped talking…    Just as quickly, they started up again.  The bird’s voices rose once more to a manic pitch and the wave of sound rolled over me.

I watched as Uriah crunched his biscuits. He nosed around in the grass for every last morsel. My stomach growled!  Time for my own breakfast …

I wanted you guys to see; Kenshin and Sano are hot on case of, “The Mice in the Garage!” Will they catch them, or not stay tune!
Did you see where that mouse went?
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling video

Sanosuke Mighty Hunter~ Or, Run! Dead Mouse On The Loose!~

Sanosuke caught a second mouse. I grabbed the camera, but the lighting is very dark. Sorry! 

What you didn’t see, was when I tried to take it from him. When I finally got the courage to try and take it away, Sano flipped the mouse right at me.

The mouse theme has ended, for a while at least! Unless I find one waiting for me in my bed..

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Writers Site

I Refuse To Sleep With A Small Furry Rodent!~

One mouse in the house
Two mice in the garage
Three mice in the barn

 

It was two AM on Tuesday. I woke up to the cats boisterously running through the hallway and sliding into the bedroom.  They bumped into the bed, the walls, and the vertical blinds. I rolled over and drifted back to sleep.

Michael sat up and started talking, “I wonder what’s going on?”

Without looking I muttered, “They’re just playing behind the vertical blinds”

Michael crawled out of bed and carefully stepped in front of the bed, searching the shadows.  “No! Something’s up.”

He came around my side of the bed and flipped on the light. “Look at Sano?”

I sat up and Sano was sitting all pretty and proud with a mouse dangling from his mouth.

“It’s fake!” I muttered and tried to lie back down.

“No, that is real” Michael laughed and Sano nodded his head so the mouse, who was being held by his tail, swung upward  then came down and was hit against the rug.

 Sano’s eyes narrowed; when Tomoe walked up to him and sniffed the mouse, which I need to point out was very much alive. Then Sano growled.

Tomoe glared at Sano as if she wanted to smack him. Michael immediately told me to do something about that growl.

Sorry, I have had one too many mice dropped on my chest while I slept. I am not fond of the critters.  To show how much of a chicken I am, I pulled the covers over my head and told Sano to stop growling and take the mouse to his brothers, downstairs.

Instead Sano dropped the mouse. The mouse ran in a circle. Tomoe hates getting bitten so she stood a healthy distance away and just watched.

Sano played with the very fat grey and white mouse like he was playing a pinball game. He wouldn’t allow the mouse to run under the dressers, but he did let him disappear under the bed.  The one I was cowering on.

I jumped out of bed and ran in a circle flapping my arms yelling at Michael, “Get that mouse out of the bedroom!” Then I headed out into the hall and called Kenshin and PJ.  They recognized my frantic, Oh my!  A mouse is in the house!  Hysterical call and ran up the stairs to see what they were missing.

With the two older males now trying to find the mouse, I crawled back under the covers. Tomoe crouched on the edge of the bed, hanging over the side and stared at the floor and at Sano, who was carefully scooting out backwards from under the bed.

Michael muttered something I couldn’t understand. So I peeked out from beneath the blanket.  He held Sano up for me to see. Sano had that mouse clenched in-between his teeth and once more swinging by its tail.  Michael held Sano over the waste basket, and asked Sano to “drop it” -the mouse- into the wastebasket. Michael had to repeat his request three times before Sano opened his jaws and the fat mouse plopped into the plastic bag.

Sano was confused as to where his mouse went to and searched franticly with Kenshin and PJ’s help under and around the bed. Tomoe kept an eye on Michael and followed him out if the bedroom.

At this point, that mouse was out of my sight and I hoped Michael had given him a first class ticket to the moon…

Or, maybe toss him out the door.

The last mouse that was tossed out the door had been caught in a sticky mouse trap.  Michael was afraid the cats would get into the garbage and get stuck in the glue. So he had chucked that sticky mess out the door.  He figured on scraping it off the grass in the morning.  Instead it landed right in the path of a coyote.  Yapping loudly, that coyote raced across the fields with a rectangular piece of plastic and a struggling mouse stuck to his nose…

Picture from word clip art..
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling

Chainsaws, Tractors, Or Woodpeckers! So Hard To Choose!~

The past few days the weather has been up and down, sideways and in circles.

 Last night we had pouring rain, thunder and dangerous lightening.  During the first part of that storm I was outside, walking as close to the house as I could get, while I tried to encourage Uriah to do his business in a hurry. Nothing hurries Uriah. I stood back and watched the dark sky light up emphasizing the jagged edges of the high Cumulonimbus clouds. A rolling rumble vibrated underneath my feet and still Uriah sniffed at the edge of the Blue Spruce, unperturbed. It was only when I told him to get in the house that he started to whine. He hates thunderstorms, but Uriah’s idea of safety during a storm is to stand out in the open and stare up into the electrified sky.

On Sunday, when the path was still a path, severe winds blew over a tree.   Fortunately I wasn’t out there when it happened. I never made it though the back yard, even attempting to make my way to the back path was impossible. The winds were irritatingly loud!  I couldn’t see past my hair, no matter how hard I tried, and at one point I thought I saw Miss Gulch pedaling over head, followed closely by that Pheasant, and That Rat. With each step I fought to move forward.  I could have tied a rope to Uriah and flew him like a kite.  Alright, a fat, pudgy unhappy kite…

Today the path is underwater and the air is so heavy I was feeling out of sorts, dizzy, sneezing, and hard to breathe I am moving very, very slow. On the bright side the toads are croaking loudly and the mosquitoes are out and biting.  Hmmm!

Back to the tree!  In order for me to remove that tree I will need to use the tractor, and ‘she’ is still asleep covered in blankets in the barn. 

I stood back and paced out the distance from the beginning of the path to the downed tree, sixty steps. Not good! Last year we had a tree fall over and it was only a fraction of the distance, and a forth the size. Taking the tractor in that area would set me up for disaster with all that soft wet mud under the large wheels. If I stood in the mud I would sink in. If I add a tractor with spinning wheels and an idiot driving (me) … Well, the tractor will sink deep in the mud, and at that point I will need to call someone in to pull it out.

Still I stood there and thought about it…

If I used the tractor I will need a very long chain that I can connect to the tree, and the tractor. All the while crossing my fingers, that both will hold  on the first attempt.  They never do! One side or both will slip off and have to be reconnected, while I’m left standing in the thick black, oozing mud.

I considered leaving the tree and cutting a path around it..hmmm! I have a chain saw, sort of.  Michael hid it somewhere,  so that idea  might not work.

Today isn’t the day to work out the technicalities, too much water and a lack of diesel, and a hidden chainsaw.

Last resort… Woodpeckers!  Eventually they would pound holes in that tree allowing it to fall apart. I’m voting for the birds.

 In the meantime, Uriah walked around the tree…

Categories
Nature photos Rambling

Sanosuke’s First Bunny Rabbit! ~

Sanosuke’s first bunny rabbit! A picture is worth a thousand words!

Four

             pictures

                              are

                                     priceless.

 

 

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry

Poem-Pussy Cat Playing With Pussy Willows~Spring Is Blooming!~

Pussy, pussy pussycat

Playing with the

Pussy, pussy Pussy Willows

Pushing pulling at the soft tips

Knocking off their nails

Grabbing the branch and tipping the vase

Making for a perfect Pussy Willow race

Across the kitchen floor, under the rugs

Swept up in the fun of a catkins chase

Slipping, sliding bouncing off the walls

Finally tuckered out and surrounded

By Pussy Willow tails

The pussy, pussycat

Falls into his catnap garden

Chasing his dreams with

Pussy Willow sticks

 

When I took these pictures, I had to keep telling Sano, “don’t touch!” As soon as I put away the camera he knocked over the vase and started playing.
The vase is on the floor because no one would stay away from it as it sat on the table. Safer on the floor! 
Poem for Jingles Thursday’s poet Rally:-)
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Uncategorized Writers Site

Look Up! Spring Is Putting On A Fashion Show~~

      Yesterday and this morning I took my walk looking up. The trees are just starting to bud. And the flowers are just beginning to show their colors.

The ground is littered with dried left over leaves, brittle and grayish brown, crunching under foot. Even as the grass makes an attempt to turn green, as the moss pulls on its most brilliant lime  green coat  of the season. The main show is taking place above ground; branches are turning colors as spring moves through them. Don’t miss the show!

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” ~Mark Twain

Within the past two hours, I have seen heavy fog, thick dark grey clouds, and a bright blue sky, that shifted to a pale whitish-blue.

A bellowing cloud of smoke passed through my house as the farmer burned off the dried grass around the creek bed. The thick heavy smoke made it a little uncomfortable to breathe. So Uriah and I headed off to the mail box and I took pictures of the blooming, Pussy Willow as Uriah disappeared to wade in the pond.

Uriah  came back out of the cold  pond and  pulled his fat tummy across the grass, this is his way of toweling himself off…

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Rambling Writers Site

Thinking Out Loud~

 

Why is it

              when the air cools

                                          I can feel the past,

                                                                     I shiver and sigh…

The sun rose slowly, over a humid, cool and very clear moment. The air was still. I watched as two dozen Robins pacing out the yard. I was an interloper into their world, for this moment, they let me stay.

I gripped my hot coffee cup, held it close and stared out over the empty field. The sun was hidden behind the clouds that sat on the horizon, I looked up the sky was shifting to a sleepy blue above me, without a slip of a cloud.

This time of day holds loosely to a cool silence.  Where nature is kind and allows us to wake up slowly as nocturnal animals drift off to sleep.

I use to walk out in this quiet, barefoot. I would step easily around and over rocks and spiders. It is the spiders that are awake; they weave and repair their webs all night catching insects unawares in the darkness. Now those webs shimmer with icy dewdrops and I stay on the deck.