Birds on the Deck

We have had some REALLY cold temps this past weekend, 

cold by Kansas City metro standards. 

Friday and Saturday were bad driving days.  My two oldest 

grands, Chris and Nathan, were able to get here from Garnett, 

but we were held inside all day Saturday with blowing snow, 

ice and treacherous driving.  Our Yoder family Christmas was also cancelled on 

Saturday, as driving was unsafe. 

However... the birds.... have been enjoying their bounty both 

on our patio and on the back deck. 

The other day, tapping interrupted my reading of the newspaper at the kitchen table. 

I looked up to see this. 

I have seen him twice since then (red-bellied woodpecker). 

I bought peanuts for the mix at the end of last week, but no one is eating them... the 

mice are going to have a blast (and maybe stay outside!) .

Mourning doves have joined the finches, chicadees and juncoes on the deck. 

I have a heated dog bowl out there, too, and am also maintaining water on the patio. 

I'm having to take pictures through the window. 

I love the doves. 

It's hard to get the juncoes... the sun doesn't hit them and it's hard to get them on the camera. 

Sister watches Bird TV most of the day.  She turned as she heard me behind her. 

Jester 

and Lilly are going stir-crazy, we haven't been able to walk since 

Thursday.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Are you all ready for Christmas? 

And The Days Fly By

Oh.  My. Goodness. 

I got "As" in Geography in school, really, I did. 

Somehow... I forgot Illinois was in between Iowa and Indiana. 

I am making final preps for the Blogville Awesome Retreat this weekend, 

and am driving not straight over to Brown County State Park in Indiana... an 8 hour drive from where we live... but up to Iowa to pick up my friend Deb and Stella Rose Long, her pug.  

Thence across the state of Illinois. 

All I can say is, I am mighty stressed. 

For some reason I thought we were driving straight across Iowa and into 

Indiana.  Wow. 

Here is something that stressed me out this morning, too: 

This is the beautiful park at Basehor where the dogs and I go 

nearly daily to walk. 

Yesterday, Jester was very sick, and we visited our Dogtor. We did not walk. 

When we got to the park this morning, it was to find the back end of 

the park leveled... and a driveway made around the community garden area at the back, and clear up the west side of the park, under the beautiful trees, some of which will be removed. 

Friends... this made me sick.  This park was pristine at the back... and now the gardeners 

will have to put up with cars making a circle around the park.  I will try to 

take better pictures tomorrow so you can see what has happened.  See that 

beautiful view?  Imagine cars coming up it!  It is only feet from the volleyball 

area. 

I don't know whose hare-brained idea this was, but I don't like it. 

Here is our little doll, who was so terribly sick.  He could not hold anything down. 

The doctor finally gave him a sub-Q dose of anti-inflammatory to calm his 

stomach down.  He was given special dog food and two kinds of 

meds.  He will be going on a diet as soon as we have returned from: 

Where we will meet all our friends in the furs! 

We actually have one attendee coming from overseas... 

and though you see Lilly here, she is staying home with daddy. 

Two of our attendees bumped into each other at a rest stop today, out of the blue... both coming from the west coast, so Murphy and Stanley, the Two Cool Doodz... (goldendoodles top center) met 

Artie and Dory, the two well-dressed Shitzus in the lower left corner.  

Hailey and Zaphod (shepherd types in the second row) are also coming from Kansas. 

Madi, the one cat you see, will be represented by her Mom. 

We are at T minus 1, and Stella Rose Long (the black pug in the first row) will 

be traveling with us, along with her mom. 

This should be good. 

We are going to try to broadcast live from Brown County State Park, Indiana, 

during the BAR. 

I have turned over all buckets so this won't happen again.   I asked Keith to please be aware that 

we are still dealing with baby mice.  I am finding LOTS dead.  You know it hurts me 

to kill anything... and we did try live trapping... but for Keith's medical sake... they had to go. 

I am going to touch base with the exterminator in the morning.   While I am gone, all feeding will stop. 

Keith will fill one water receptacle as he waters my plants daily in the heat, but 

he is not going to feed.  We need to break a little bit of the chain here. 

I just read that paragraph... sorry for the choppy sentences! 

I let that mouse go, of course.  

We did go for a walk very early this morning, and lo and behold, the geese and the turkeys were feeding together in the same field again. 

Back deck feeding will stop, too, while I am gone.  It is supposed to be hot and humid, and I don't want to have to worry about hummingbird feeders. 

Look what I found the other day: 

I had cleaned it two days before.  I had to take a toothpick and clean the individual 

little spouts to the bells, because they were bad.  I soaked it good, cleaned everything with a brush, and have been cleaning them daily, since. 

I have a friend who stopped feeding because she was worried about keeping them clean enough. 

I enjoy seeing the little visitors, so I am going to soldier on for a while. 

Besides finishing packing, I am going to build the trellis for my straw bale garden 

tomorrow, so I will show you that in the evening.  

(If I don't stress out) 

Straw Bales and Dogs

Well, I wrote (yesterday) that my straw bales were not impressing me, 

so when I went out to water and fertilize... I was stunned. 

The sun was so bright it may be hard to see, but right in the middle of the picture... 

blossoms! 

Every one of the four tomato plants was blooming! 

The big watermelon vine grew fourfold overnight! 

The little one grew another leaf! 

The cukes need trellising... so Keith is getting me some tee poles tomorrow

so I can build the trellis this weekend.  (you know, in my spare time). 

I am truly impressed.  

They all got water and Miracle Gro tonight. 

Traffic on the porch has slowed.  I have gone back to a bowl and I change 

the jelly out every morning, just to be safe.  I have not seen an oriole in a week, 

but I am seeing the finches and the mockingbird. 

Here's our beautiful red girl at the park a couple of hours ago.  We walked late tonight, and we only walked a quarter of a mile.  Our days of a mile are gone. 

We take our time, these days.   It's as much about enrichment as walking.  

There is a squirrel in that picture... and it had all of her attention. 

I know our golden afternoons are not going to last forever. 

Haying has finally started here... I saw two fields cut.  They should have several days to dry out well.  No pictures... yet. 

This beautiful girl watched us go by on the way home... I stopped on a normally busy road where no cars were coming from either direction to get her picture. 

How blessed we are to live in such a beautiful world! 

And Four Days Later....

I honestly do not know where the weeks go. 

And the days. 

Jax and Paiton spent their days with me this week, 

as there is a gap between school and summer camp. 

Tomorrow, their dad will be off with them. 

So many birds are still coming to the deck to eat jelly. 

I don't know what is going on with this house finch, but he's rocking a great 'do. 

I have not seen any with the eye disease... yet.  House finches suffer 

from a terrible eye disease that blinds (and kills) them. 

They love their jelly !

As does Mrs. Finch. 

Yesterday, before it stormed, Paiton, Jax and I went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead, in 

Johnson County (Kansas). 

We had a good morning walking around and looking at the animals and old-timey things. 

However, schools are out now, and the place was crowded and crazy. 

There is a place to mine for jewels.  

Paiton got pretty intent. 

Part of the "fun" of going to the farmstead is that the kids get to see baby animals from the farm. 

I noticed there were two milk cows and FIVE calves.  I finally realized... the calves were there for the kids to see calves.  As Keith suggested, they were probably donated and replaced by others when they got too old. 

Oh, look. 

A plug for the near and dear! 

Here I interject that not just my grands but kids everywhere 

get sick of having their pictures taken.   There was a veritable flood of 

grandparents and parents snapping everywhere, and I had to fight my way through 

the crowd to get mine. 

I am going to try to be much more understanding in the future... 

You know I loved watching the ducks. 

Jax did not like the Pekins, he thought they were bullies. 

Then we went to the pony ride.  Jim is my oldest son, dad of Jax and Paiton. 

That pony's name was Jimmy! 

There were only two girls leading  ponies, and there were three ponies 

standing in their stalls, eating hay.  I think it's good of the farmstead to give ponies a break and 

not work their hooves off all day. 

Paiton's pretty pony was named Annie. 

I cropped out the two teenage lead line ladies, as 

they looked exceedingly bored.  I hate to see what they are going to look like by two months from now. 

From ponies to baby goats.  1.00 for a bottle with a half ounce of milk. 

Jax kept feeding and feeding, and I finally looked at his bottle... there 

was no hole in the nipple.  I took it to a young man working in the goat 

pen... but he appeared to be totally clueless. 

My guess is it went back to the counter to be sold again. 

This was our second trip to the farmstead.  The last time there, 

I asked an adult working there about the goat kids. 

Of course, they must be replaced regularly, too, so it is another sad thing. 

In fact, I could not stay there. 

I saw two that looked ill.  I know someone is responsible for them, but 

I could not stick around there and after ten minutes, 

I moved the human kids along. 

It has been 3 years since we had goats, and Paiton and Jax were little kids... they barely remember them.  I miss them. 

This wonderful meadowlark was singing on the fence when we got home, but 

storms soon descended on us. 

The meadowlark was replaced by the mockingbird in short order. 

Today started out with beautiful clouds after an early morning storm. 

The kids and I jumped into the car with the dogs, to go the park very early this morning. 

We made a run through Daylight Donuts to fuel up, and then turned for the park. 

Unfortunately, before we had gone five miles, dark clouds came over and we 

made our run toward home, and got in the house just as the deluge dropped. 

The rest of the day was like that. 

We spent it inside. 

Lilly does NOT like storms, and these were thunder boomers. 

We got lots of rain. 

She was one foot in the upstairs and one in the down, in case she had to run to the shelter. 

Actually... we did go to the storm shelter... the kids and I.  I took the dogs down twice, 

but they were so excited by then that they kept running back and forth. 

Our tornado sirens went off, and then went off again. 

A firetruck and a sheriff's deputy stopped at the end of our street, 

watching the skies. 

I was worried about my son, who delivers goods all day... and then 

I heard from him and he was on his way home through the storms. 

He picked the kids up and then got home safely. 

Since then (5 PM)... we have had two other big storms go overhead. 

We are expecting more tonight. 

Lilly and I will have a foot on the stairs, because I am hearing yet more thunder. 

Incredibly, as I finish proof-reading this... it is pouring again, and thunder and lightening booming!  Our forecast for the next six days has more of the same, so we are going to have a wet Memorial Day weekend. 

Everyone be safe! 

National Turtle Day et al

It's National Turtle Day today. 

Maybe INTERnational, now that I think of it! 

Little Alligator snapper.  Even though it was so small, 

I moved it with the shovel.  I do not want to be on a country road with no one around with a snapper hanging off my hand. 

Here is a link to some wonderful information about moving turtles from the road.

Go, turtles! 

We had a fun walk at the park today early, since we were expecting rain. 

Lilly led Jax way off the path.  That tree line covers a steep bank to a creek though, so 

I called them back. 

Lil was in her element. 

This was taken with my phone through my bedroom window. 

We have bunnies all around the house this spring. 

I'll show you tomorrow what Jax and I discovered in the backyard this afternoon. 

We started working outside about 30 minutes before it began to pour. 

I have a project for us inside tomorrow, just in case. 

They are trying to earn spending money for their first family vacation trip, 

that they are taking to Branson in a month. 

I shot pictures at the ballparks all weekend at the baseball tournament and a few at the T Bones. 

I forgot to re-set the camera, remember, I have to shoot in manual now, since I broke the auto setting. 

I think this still came out okay early this morning, but really, very dark. 

You will have to look hard in the middle of this wildflower strewn pasture 

for a coyote that is looking at you.  He crossed the street in front of me last week, and I was so stunned I stopped the darn car in a crazy place and took it's picture.  I couldn't focus quickly and didn't really get him.  That's at least the fifth coyote I have seen in broad daylight in the last few weeks. 

A few minutes later, I saw a vulture eating on the side of the road. 

I went around the corner to my gravel road with the little pond... and realized there were MANY vultures. 

The funny thing was, after we walked, an hour later we came back by, and not a vulture was in sight! 

Western Kingbird, this morning.  I have the camera settings changed and will try to get one tomorrow. 

This is a Boston Terrier who is very intent on getting a mouse. 

HOWEVER... we have declared war on the mice, and 

today, an exterminator came to our house.  Yes, we are 

killing them.  The nice young man even climbed into the 

attic, and downstairs to Keith's area... 

I am going to be watching the dogs like a hawk.  

We have to do it, though you know I don't like to kill.  

And Gorges, if you are reading this... I looked it up, the towhee has a 

white chest, though they look so very similar to the orioles!