The Library

[PatH]

The Library Our library  is open 24/7; the welcome mat is always out. Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

[PatH]

Blue flags were very commonly grown when I was a child.  They must be pretty easy to grow, since we could succeed with them without a wet spot or rich soil or lots of sun or any gardening ability whatsoever.

[ginny]

Pet Peeve of the  Day: (What's yours?)

We were talking over in Movies about getting old and being judgmental,  and in messing about with the Zoom for the fall classes, I was really taken by one of the videos where I was learning about dual monitors and the necessity of same, by the over use of the word "sharing." You're sharing screens. You're sharing information. And now you can keep your items here to share.  "Share" has taken on an entirely new meaning apparently, and I wonder what it means for our society in general. You're sharing sharing sharing in every single thing you mount on one of those monitors,  and I do wish the word "sharing" were eliminated permanently from the dictionary.  When you're presenting material in a class I don't call that "sharing,' as in the instructor "shared" the dates and places of Henry  VIII's  last progression. If you're paying to hear Tudor history and are being thus instructed,  then "sharing" seems ludicrous unless we are having a personal moment of emotional exchange with the instructor.


Definition of share

transitive verb

1a : to partake of, use, experience, occupy, or enjoy with others
  b : to have in common they share a passion for opera
  c     (1) : to distribute on the Internet … anyone you share a link with can share that link with someone else if they choose.—   
         (2) : to post (something) on a social media platform Fans were also quick to screenshot and share the photo.—


2 : to grant or give a share in —often used.......shared the last of her water with us
3 : to tell (thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc.) to others —
4 : to divide and distribute in shares : apportion —usually used with outshared out the land among his heirs

intransitive verb
1 : to have a share —used with in we all shared in the fruits of our labor
2 : to apportion and take shares of something
3 : to talk about one's thoughts, feelings, or experiences with others

Hopefully my "sharing" those thoughts do not constitute  a "rant."      What's your pet peeve today?

[rosemarykaye]

Agree entirely Ginny!

My rant of the day is people who tweet something that is purely their own (usually political) opinion, then add 'FACT', 'PERIOD' or (worst!!) 'END OF', as if saying this renders their (often extreme) views indisputable. I think it just renders them extremely annoying.

And another one cropped up in a YouGov survey, in which every question seemed to say 'Do you intend on buying/visiting/using X?'  Is this an American usage?  In the UK we would (should!) say 'Do you intend to buy/visit//use...?'

Rosemary

[PatH]

"Intend on" is new to me, Rosemary--definitely not standard American usage.  It looks like an example of a growing sloppiness that really annoys me.  People don't actually know the meanings of words, or the rules of grammar, so they say something that sort of sounds approximately like what they mean.  It's OK for words to change meaning over time, but this is just making them lose precision.  I love the richness of the English vocabulary that lets you say the same thing many different ways with slightly different overtones of meaning, and we're going to lose that.

I know I've said that here before; it's one of my pet peeves.

[BarbStAubrey]

My pet peeve is generational - we had my mother, my aunt and my grandmother whose first language was German saying the same thing - if we referred to our friends or other people's children as baby goats (kids) we heard about it and if we referred to women as female cats (she) rather than by name or as a women or girls we were told ...Beth... or a ...Teacher... or the Shopkeeper... was NOT a cat. And so the ad for insurance that had the 'she' shed burning I would look at with disdain as trailer trash talk and toss it off saying to myself, look what TV has come to.

I'm also dead tired or every major event and accident having to be blamed as a nefarious act by some person or group or nation. No proof with the implication, because it was done in secret there would never be proof and therefore, supposition could be freely used by the press as truth and in a short time by those injured. Then the blame game using this same tactic becomes the story.  grrrr If this was a single happening I could see but over and over.

[bellamarie]

Frybabe, those blue Flags are gorgeous! I think my mother had yellow ones growing in our front yard growing up.  I see they are in the Iris family, and I have some of my Mom's Irises I uprooted after she passed on, and we sold her house.  Mine are a light purple.

Pet Peeve of the day..... Oh Ginny, this made me giggle.  Where do I begin?  After reading all of your posts, I even laughed more, because I can relate to each of them. 

PatH.,  I can just about guarantee you, with the social media apps, Twitter allowing you so many characters per post, Instagram for short posts, texting using all sorts of short cuts for words, such as "4vr,"  the proper English grammar has gone out the window.  I have found myself spell checking, and grammar checking posts and comments on my Facebook page from friends and family, and I just go HUH??? 

Rosemary, I am 100% in with you on your pet peeve.  Nothing can annoy me more, than having a conversation with someone, and when they feel they can not convince me to think or feel like they do, they say "End of topic."  "DONE!" REALLY?  End of topic because you no longer want to discuss it, or end of topic because you can't respect other's difference of opinions, and refuse to be open to something other than what you are closed minded to? 

Barb, oh my, you are so right about the constant media deciding who did what, and then creating their own narrative to plaster it all across every news outlet, with absolutely NO proof what so ever.  And....when they are proven wrong, NO retractions, NO apology, NO acknowledgement they were wrong.  And of course, the next day, it all happens again.  Mama Mia, it drives me insane.

Ginny, I too am getting prepared to possibly teach my CCD (religion) class online, in a few weeks.  I agree, the word "sharing" is entirely over used and misused.  The internet/social media, has taken over our vocabulary, grammar, spelling, fact checking, and even the importance of our careers, by watering it down, and lessening the job performed.  Teachers, now needing to use social apps for classrooms, are being targeted, and suggesting they should be taking a pay cut, since they no longer are in an actual school environment.  Seriously?  So what about those in top positions in businesses, working from home?  Do they also take a pay cut?  Oh, and what about the TV talk shows working from home?  I mean when you think about it, there are tons of jobs that could be targeted, by this theory.  But of course, let's lessen, and demean the importance of teachers. Why does this not surprise me?

But, after responding to all your pet peeves, I must say what has been driving me up a wall is...the nonstop news coverage, day in and day out.  It's bad enough we are quarantined in our homes, we can't go out to restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls, Barnes and Noble, etc., etc., but now... they have to interrupt my only few favorite shows during the day, with more repeated virus information.  Let's face it, the news media has turned into coverage junkies, needing to get their fix 24/7, shoving their narratives, fears and fake news at us.  I literally have taken to keeping my TV off the entire day, until dinner time to catch up on the news.  If I feel the need to know something, I'll pop on my computer, and find out in a few seconds, the narrative of the day, through Facebook posts, Twitter, or Instagram.  I found out in a blink of an eye on Facebook today, our Governor Mike DeWine tested positive for covid19 yesterday, just before he was to meet with President Trump.  The meeting was cancelled, he was put into quarantine, and then a few hours later, took the test two more times, and tested negative.  Imagine that!  The entire day was newsworthy, Governor DeWine who has adhered to all the CDC guidelines, has covid19.

Yes, I know there are thousands of false positive tests.  But why on earth if they knew he is about to meet with the President, they wouldn't use the more sensitive test first, instead of waiting til after the meeting is cancelled? 

"The Ohio governor's office said in a statement that the second test was a PCR test, which the office described as "extremely sensitive, as well as specific, for the virus." When DeWine was tested earlier in the day, an antigen test was used." https://www.cbsnews.com/…/mike-dewine-ohio-governor-covid-…/

A shaking my head moment.....   
End of rant, or as some might say....PERIOD!  

Well, Ginny, you asked for it, and we responded.   

[Dana]

just reading and had to share....."the crowd at Sturgis (> 500,000) will represent one of the biggest in the world since the corona virus started......"
was in  Sturgis a few years ago at the time of the event (by chance) and it was fun and a great experience (as a non motor cycle person).......
I shall be following what happens.

[Tomereader1]

I totally don't get the "she" reference, never ever heard that expressed or implied. Totally love the "she shed" commercial.  It is one of the few funnier/sillier commercials that I do like.  Local/regional commercials:  Let's not go there.  They are some of the stupidest (sorry about that word) commercials airing.  And of course, since they are local, they play again and again and again!  Aieeee!

[bellamarie]

Dana,  it will be interesting to see if it is cancelled this year.

Is Sturgis Rally 2020 Cancelled?
The Sturgis City Council has prepared a set of protocols that will be used when making the decision to hold or cancel the upcoming City of Sturgis Motorcycle Rally scheduled for August 7-16, 2020. This decision will be under consideration because of the wide-spread COVID-19 pandemic.

80th Annual 2020 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally | Black Hills Motor Classic www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com › news

[ginny]

A sure sign that the Apocalypse  is upon us: the Sturgis Rally accommodations at the  PappyHoel Campground and its declaration that they are "ready to party."


Love all the peeves! We have a local commercial which drives me insane. This skimpily dressed young woman in tight fitting sleeveless shift, with bare arm draped casually on the sign of a local car dealer winter summer spring and fall, incomprehensibly selling well toned arms in snow storms, smiling knowingly...What on earth has that to do with a car? She appears constantly, and has for years, at least 2 or 3 times on the news, is not the most attractive woman I ever saw, and her presence is never explained.


Zoom wise, I guess what has surprised me the most is the amount of "show biz" which seems necessary to do a proper presentation of four face to face classes in September  as compared to meeting or just chatting on these Zoom things.  I did not believe the youtube thing the woman did on lighting and sound, and color and position, I thought she was ridiculous, until I started working with it. The visuals do make a difference, despite my earnest hoping not,  whereas I thought content would carry the day. Apparently you need both. And you need to be slick, technologically.  And slick or anything resembling it is not my forte.  I am going to have  to rely on the good and patient will (as they are used to my lack of ability with  the extreme high tech of the electronic conference equipment in the room normally,  etc.,) of my former students and hope earnestly that the new ones don't exit en masse.  So new camera, check; new lights, check; new microphone, check;  new extender modem for that end of the house, check: thank goodness our classes here on SeniorLearn are able to  succeed without Zoom.

[BarbStAubrey]

Ginny that is what teachers are up against - they cannot simply get on the school's version of zoom they have to have an area in their home where the background does not include the typical look of a lived in home - there is special lighting and other technical additions including a high dollar camera - and if you do not have them, in many schools they have a room set up where the teachers can film their class to be uploaded and kept on I guess a web page - not sure where but the class taught is available 24/7 forever.

My daughter is fortunate - she has a guest room that had a day bed that was made up to look like a sofa and the room was turned into her TV teaching room - not every teacher has her advantage and so I am seeing the next step will be, many classes permanently taught online and each District will have one teacher per subject to teach the online classes and students will show up either once a week or maybe even once every couple of weeks for a test to see how well they have learned the information - this will cut down on the number of teachers hired and the brick and mortar space required for classrooms - the county will love it and parents will have the burden of seeing to the education of their children - lost will be the teachers intimate knowledge of the students and the teacher's influence that for many a child and teen was significant.

[Dana]

No, it's not cancelled BellaMarie, the local area just makes too much money from it I guess.

I remember particularly a couple we met..... a 90 year old guy and his 80 something girlfriend.  He had the biggest motor bike I have ever seen....8 cylinders or something.  It was new looking and so luxurious. He offered to let Geoff drive it!  (but of-course he didn't). They had come up from Florida.  So many of the bikes were really out of this world.  We weren't there for the actual event, just the lead up, which was probably a good time to see what was going on and talk to people before it got too crowded. I remember it as a lot of fun.  Everybody was so friendly and the bars were crowded with happy people.  Not good now, but great back then!

It will perhaps be hard to know what the repercussions from this year will be as people will disperse homewards all over the country.  The cases in Sturgis will rise though!

[Frybabe]

For those that tend towards ghoulish tastes, Project Gutenberg offers Dudley Wright's book, Vampires and Vampirism, published in 1914. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62873  I think I will pass. I got over my "taste" for Dracula, et.al., many, many years ago. I think my sister even got over her "taste" for Morgan Rice's vampire series a while back.

Instead, I downloaded The Highlands and Islands of Scotland, painted by Wm. Smith, Jr, and described by  A. R. Hope Moncrieff, published in 1906. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62887

[ginny]

I'm actually in the mood for Dracula lately or Frankenstein. Both excellent books.  Goodness that Highlands of Scotland looks a real find. It's wonderful to have Project Gutenberg  isn't it?

Barbara, we don't have Teachers Unions (AFT) here, who might organize and stand behind a strike,  but I sympathize with the plight of the teachers today. Kids are kids and it's hard enough to contain a cold or the flu in a classroom much less a plague. My own grandson will be going 2 days a week physically, with masks,  hopefully it will work out, they start week after next.

Dana, that's what everybody says about that Sturgis thing, the people are so friendly. I do note the age of some of them, however, and  I hope that they try a mask, haven't checked this morning about the right of way granted or not through Indian Lands. That seemed to be an issue last night, and apparently it is this morning, too. But there are alternative routes, longer, but open, that they can use.

We had a small tremor this morning. I was reading in bed and the bed seemed to be moving slightly. I thought it was that BPV stuff again, but it was followed by cracking sounds in the house. So I typed in August 9 Earthquake online  and found reports from a 5.1 near the NC /VA line and a lot of people in OUR area which is nowhere near there reporting same, so I put in our report too. It was very interesting to read the eyewitness details from all over, and it's interesting that we are following the pattern of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79  AD in reporting it and hearing what others experienced.  All seems well here but across the line in NC things are not so good everywhere.

Supposedly there is not a Fault Line  here.... but there actually  IS one, a very old one,  which we learned about in Geology back in the early 60's, and it's definitely made itself felt this morning.

[Frybabe]

That happened up here in 2011 (August 23, in fact) from a 5.9 earthquake that originated in Virginia. I was sitting at the computer (where else?) when I started gently rocking. By the time my brain caught up with what was going on and decided maybe I ought to go downstairs, it stopped. I just found a map by the USGS on the spread of that one. A lot bigger area than I knew. https://www.washingtonpost.com/pbox.php?url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/files/2016/08/felt-comparisons-1.jpg&w=1484&op=resize&opt=1&filter=antialias&t=20170517 Looks like yours headed south along the fault line.

[bellamarie]

Dana, I am surprised they are allowing it to take place.  But then I wouldn't imagine the bikers to heed the cancellation if they did cancel.  My nephew is a huge biker, he runs with a large group.  Gotta love our bikers!  I'm sure we will hear of a spike in cases in a week or so, but nothing, zilch, nada after all the thousands of protesters/looters, etc., in all the other cities across America. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/07/sturgis-motorcycle-rally-what-know-masks-attendance-rules/3321223001/

Ginny, with everything else happening in 2020, I am not surprised you felt a tremor from an earthquake.  What more can happen?

Frybabe, I am not into Dracula, or any scary stories.  I really don't even care for Halloween, but I go to my grandkids house every year faithfully to help pass out the candy, while my son and dil take the kids around the neighborhood.  I hope I don't sound like a kill joy, just was never into ghouls, goblins, and vampires of any sort.  I stay in my own lane, or as my family and friends call it, "My Buble." Although, I do like a good mystery to solve.

Well, hubby and I are off to explore some Sunflower fields on our way to our son's house, to celebrate our dil's birthday.  Backyard, self distancing!  They have a huge backyard, and in ground pool, so it's really easy to spread out.

Name this bird?   

Saw this in my backyard this morning.  Thought is was a hawk, or in the eagle family, until I saw it's straight long narrow beak.  His blue specks, and light eyes are beautiful. 

   

[Frybabe]

Got me there, Bellamarie. My guess is that it is some kind of starling variant. I know young birds have a speckled coat as do adults in winter coat. Somewhere I saw that young starlings can have a grey colored head just briefly as they change over to winter and adulthood though I have never seen one.

[bellamarie]

Frybabe, I think you solved the bird mystery.  Here is a pic of a young Starling.

[Frybabe]

We must have a local variation here. All the young'un I've seen were black with white or colored speckles.

[ginny]

The starling being the one which lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and pushes them out of the nest or eats all the food the original mother bird brings?  And other unpleasant things? If that is one,  it's not a good bird to have.

[BarbStAubrey]

Good and bad...

• They eat tons of gypsy moths and caterpillars, flies and fly larvae, and many other obnoxious insects.
• Insects and fruit are their main food sources. They will poke their beaks into the soil for grubs and flies.
• Male Starlings are gifted nest decorators and fumigators. They decorate their nest with flowers to attract females
• Mated pairs are usually monogamous and are devoted parents. During breeding season they raise three families.
• Starlings are talented mimics—they can reproduce the sounds of humans, other birds, and inanimate objects. Starling can accurately imitate a ringing phone!
• Starlings are known for their gracefully synchronized aerial murmuration dances.
• Their iridescent feathers shimmer and sparkle with star-like dots, so there is no doubting their beauty

• Their aggression and territorial takeover habits have displaced and killed off many native songbirds. They are considered invasive by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
• Their corrosive droppings can damage all kinds of objects and surfaces.
• They spread the seeds of weeds and eat large amounts of grain crops.
• Because of their enormous flocks, they can interfere with aviation.
• Their dominance at backyard bird feeders can push out the native bird visitors.
  

The starling was brought to the United States by a well meaning New Yorker and the pair were placed in Central Park in 1890 - in less than 100 years they have populated the entire United States and Canada

[Dana]

I enjoyed that article about Sturgis BellaMarie, thanks!

[ginny]

 Sturgis Streaming Live: https://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/?_ga=2.161025405.152522480.1597071817-1068450748.1596898957

[Frybabe]

Ginny are you thinking of the Cowbird? I know that one does remove eggs from nests and replace them with its own. One thing I never thought about finding out is if they have some kind of preference to which birds they con.

This morning I installed a podcast app for my Kindle and bookmarked some of the longer ones (Gilgamesh being one of them) and downloaded the latest of a bunch of short ones to see what I like. This will be my first experience with podcasts except for what someone puts up on YouTube.

I did not quite finish Greyfriars's Bobby last night before the battery got too low. So, that is my reading agenda for this afternoon.

[ginny]

Frybabe, no I'm thinking of the Starling.  See Barbara's post this morning above? Do Cowbirds have the same M.O.? The ones here are solid black with brown heads, aren't they a division of blackbirds?

I'm enjoying watching the motorcycles. Back in the Day, and it's been a long time, I used to compete in the  SC State Fair down  in Columbia in the jelly/jams/ preserves competitions.  I got pretty serious about it, kind of like Clara and her album of ribbons  on the old Andy Griffith Show and Miss Bea and the "kerosene cucumbers" episode. At any rate I had hundreds of them, literally.  On the long ride down  to enter my friend and I, who also entered,  used to count the motorcycles we would see on the way.  There must have been at the same time some sort of motorcycle convention there but anyway it became our...good luck talisman..so to speak. Every motorcycle would mean a blue ribbon would be won. Sometimes it would become somewhat anxious business if only 2 or 3 appeared, as  there was no reason they should have been going north, after all, on the Interstate, away from Columbia. On such days we got in arguments on whether the parked ones in the city  should count, (no), or whether one passing us going in the same direction should count (jury still out depending on need). hahaha

So I really can't help,  when I see them now, counting them.

[BarbStAubrey]

the three baddies among common birds appear to be...

Starlings are aggressive, colonizing in huge flocks to overwhelm trees and structures and drive out native bird species.

Cowbirds - they do lay their eggs in nests of other birds. Heavy parasitism by cowbirds has pushed some species to the status of "endangered" and has probably hurt populations of some others.

Grackles are the #1 threat to corn. They eat ripening corn as well as corn sprouts, and their habit of foraging in big flocks means they have a multimillion dollar impact. They're known to raid other birds nests, stealing eggs or young. Numerous instances of grackles killing other small songbirds and mice have also been documented. Also Grackles attack humans when their fledglings are learning to fly.

[Frybabe]

When they flock I usually see a mix of starlings, cowbirds and a few grackles in the mix. Every year, a starling pair nests in what is probably a bathroom or dryer vent hood above my neighbor's bathroom on the second floor.  It keeps the cats entertained for a little while. I don't think they use the nest but once in the spring.

What I miss seeing are the cardinals and mockingbirds. They don't seem to frequent my yard here. A year or so ago I was treated to a catbird, but I hadn't seen one before then nor have I seen one since. I do miss them too, along with the Chickadees and Titmice. The Chickadees I see during migration but no titmice. Most of the birds I see are during migration. I do, however, have wrens here. While I rarely spot one, I do see their nests under my back porch. The various sparrows, robins and such are about, but I have no idea where they are nesting. I have yet to see anything nest in the pines except for early on when a cardinal did nest in the Colorado Blue Spruce that used to be in my back yard. I don't feed the birds here like I did when I lived in Etters, but then I didn't have squirrels to contend with there.
 

[bellamarie]

We just had our chimney vent replaced this Spring.  The company who installed our new one, told me that birds nest in vents, and can eventually get into water tanks and cause serious problems.  My son and dil had it happen to them, they had to replace their water tank.  He also said the birds will return year after year.  My friend said, Years ago a starling nest was made in my mom's microwave vent. The babies and parents got radiated and died, bringing flies through the house. All we knew was we had the smell of death and flies. You know my imagination...I was ready to perform an exorcism on the house. Mom, being more pragmatic, called someone who found the problem. The guy said starlings are the rats of the bird world.
It took weeks and tons of candles burning to get rid of the smell.

It is the cowbird who lays their eggs in other bird's nest. 

I haven't seen the Starling since the other day, so hopefully it has gone back where it came from.  I had never seen one before. 

Frybabe, I'm not too familiar with podcasts.  What is the purpose of downloading them? 

[Frybabe]

Podcasts predate YouTube and started out as an all audio format of primarily serial and episodic programs. Podcast is  a trademark of Apple, Inc. (remember the iPod?) but they don't object to the use of the word in a generic sense. The first video podcast was back in 2004, which I think, predates the advent of YouTube by less than a year.  Podcasts are popular with talk radio shows, news media, radio theatre, and for audio books (like Libravox), blogs/vlogs, topical discussions and for educational purposes.  Live podcasts can be set up to be interactive. For example, many companies routinely use the format for discussing and answering questions about their quarterly reports. As best as I can tell, for interactive podcasts you must sign up prior to the live cast to be included into the discussion. My financial advisor is using it or something like it for his monthly "coffee club" gathering since we have not been able to meet in person because of COVID-19 restrictions and cautions.

Oh, I guess I should actually answer your question. You can download them to play later, so do not have to be online.

[bellamarie]

Thanks!  I have seen where a lot of people are doing podcasts, but I haven't really caught on to it yet.  I can barely keep up with my Facebook. 

My grandkids told me I need to download Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram to follow them.  I laughed, and said I don't know how to use any of them.  Last night my grandson Zak (12 yrs old) went to turn my ipad on to play his game.  It said it was disabled due to the wrong passcode.  I tried, and it did the same thing to me.  So, my little 9 yr old Zoey said, "Oh Nonnie, I think I know how to get it to work, so she goes into my other ipad she always uses and opened "find my phone" app., it shows a list of all my devices.  I had to do a reset, and because I had the other ipad, I was able to reset my ipad, enter a new passcode, and reinstall all my apps.  I am seriously falling behind in technology, or it's just going too fast.  The woman who began the computer lab in our school back in 1984, is feeling lost.   

[PatH]

Thank goodness for grandchildren.

[BarbStAubrey]

Did I have fun today - got up to 107 and earlier when it was still only 105 the fawn did its 6 week racing around the yard in these big circles - just its mama looking on, no other fawn joined it - looks like probably a female - and then as the temp continued to climb, my lawn is so parched - we are not supposed to turn our hoses on till after 7: but enough, plus the fawn and its mom could use a cool off - so I turned on the sprinkler in a wide path that not wanting to scare the pair away I did not go too deep into the yard to place the sprinkler so that when the water came on it covered about 3 feet in on the patio - but I left it - forgot the time and instead of the half hour it was more like 45 minutes -

Well... when I went to the patio door to go out and shut off the sprinkler there were a flock of sparrows playing in the puddle and flying in and out of the falling water, sitting on the branches of the Nandina that were getting a good soaking and they were on the back of the wrought iron chairs - I lost count at 17 and while counting saw 2 wrens mixed in and on the very edge of falling water was a grackle, that did not swoop in, must be afraid of that many darting and bathing sparrows, and a couple of squirrels just sitting still soaking up the water - hated to go out and shut off the water but after a few minutes I did open the door - of course the all scattered and the fawn came out of hiding in the very back from under the leaves that were blown there in the Spring - the image of all those sparrows stays with me - I really need to learn how to take photos and upload them with my camera - I'm afraid though if I had opened the door even a crack to take a photo they would have all flown away so y'all just have to imagine what it was like...

[bellamarie]

Yes, Pat, thank goodness for grandchildren.  We had Zak & Zoey for three days, and oh what joy they brought into out quiet house, since the quarantine.

Barb, I take a lot of pictures of my birds from my kitchen window, so I do not scare them away.  I have way too many pics of all the critters and creatures in my backyard.  It's become a hobby, or as some might say, an obsession.  I can imagine the birds all loving that water, and oh how fun it must be to have a fawn and it's mother in your yard.  I was passing by my kitchen window this morning and spotted this beautiful yellow Finch, eating off the Sunflower plant.  Look closely, his colors blend in with the yellow flower.

[Frybabe]

More sunflowers. Beautiful. I used to let a few heads ripen for the birds.

I see you got yourself a Goldfinch. They like the sunflowers and thistles. I had a huge thistle volunteer near my peach tree. I let it grow, and it attracted not only the goldfinch, but plenty of butterflies including Black and Yellow Swallowtails. I also left a milkweed grow in the middle of  a raspberry patch and was rewarded with seeing Monarchs. Miikweed, BTW, has a lovely scent.

[BarbStAubrey]

Just heard back from my son - he had planned on coming up on Saturday and I called him last night telling him not to come - it was too hot to do the various tasks he was coming to fix - he called again today and we talked about it - the little tab on the flapper in the toilet tank in my bathroom broke off so the chain has nothing to grab - so I put my hand in the water and open the flapper - it is clean water - not convenient but no big deal - and I needed help to get down some curtains so I could quick wash them and he and Sally could help me rehang them and then a few other mostly outdoor tasks - nothing that needs doing now - why make that trip when there is not even a restaurant open that we can enjoy together some barbecue - plus I keep the AC so that I do not do much physical activity in the afternoon and evening - where as if they come to help me with these tasks I have to crank down the AC and even if I don't while we are working I will after they leave to cool the house down for the evening -

And so as much as I would like to see them you don't drive for over 2 and a half hours then back driving another over 2 and a half hours for a quick visit - just wait 5 or 6 weeks till the end of September when things begin to cool off - he is no longer a Spring Chicken either - he is in his 60s now - Sally and I did some chatting about the boys and we had a great phone visit -

I actually feel relieved - I have all these things I want finished by the time they come up again so they can help me with some of the tough stuff like power wash the driveway and wash the outside windows and get rid of the huge limb my neighbor sawed off his tree and just let it fall in my yard and then left it...

[bellamarie]

Frybabe, good to know about the milkweed.  I did stop putting out suet cakes, because I think it was drawing the aggressive birds.  We shall see in the next few days.  I have had finch coming all summer to my finch feeder.  It is so fun watching them come morning, noon and late afternoon. 

Barb, I am so sorry your son and dil are not going to be coming, but it does sound like a good decision to wait til it cools down a bit.

Well, I really thought I was going to find time today after cancelling the usual Thursday luncheon with my two gal friends, to relax and read.  It's been days since I have picked up a book or my ipad to finish the two books I have started.  Ughh....why does it seem like days are flying by even with this virus? 

Hope everyone is doing well.  Stay safe & stay healthy!

[Frybabe]

I just the other day started Ink and Bones by Rachael Caine. It is a steampunk/alternate history novel, first of a series. It revolves around The Library which pretty much runs everything since it has authority over all governments. The story follows a boy from London who is studying to become a part of the library system at its headquarters in Alexandria. The Library controls what the general population may read while confiscating all print books and only allow reading of text via what is essentially an Ebook in order to suppress what it deems are "dangerous ideas". It also has its own police force used to combat smugglers and their clientele. The Library and it's subsidiaries are guarded by them and some pretty viscous automations.  Of course I like it very much and plan to continue reading the series which is up to five volumes now.

[BarbStAubrey]

frybabe the way things are going instead of fiction this may be a version of the truth - did you ever in your worst nightmare dream... and at this point I doubt even the election will bring this nonsense to a halt - Good news though one of our local TV nightly news has realized that both parties live in this town and now they bring the news without any, not a smidgen of opinion - the good, bad and ugly as the movie was called, all spoken with a straight face... I was shocked because I had quit watching all news almost a year ago and just happened to come in on a report while browsing and after the very controversial report given with no show of opinion I stayed and watched - amazed and frankly shocked that I could once again see actual reporting.

Hahaha - while watching of course the weather comes on - a new weather person - not local - cannot figure the accent - too gushy - but then her report - I laugh outloud nearly falling off the sofa - For the past couple of days the online weather reports from several local TV stations have been letting us know there would be some rain on Monday followed by a cold front - OKaaa - cold front in the mid 90s - actually more than a 10 degree drop since currently we float between 106 and 108 - well - revised cold front predicted temps according the this new weather person with the unknown accent, gushing at the screen - On Monday scattered light showers followed by this cold front that will drop temps to the 101 to 103 range!!! - So that is our 'cold front'  - which the words Cold Front - they started to use as a description a couple of years ago where as, we are in the habit of calling them either a Norther (most of our weather comes up from the Gulf) or if decent rain accompanied a sunless couple of days we called them a Blue Norther - but far too colloquial for the new owners of our TV stations so now they are called, as they are called throughout the nation, the homogenized word 'cold front' - not even a simple dip in Temp but a cold front - a cold front that brings triple digits from the north - please laugh at the silliness or is it madness of this scientific reporting of the weather.  Lordy...

My sister recommended I read Overstory  by Pulitzer Prize winning author Richard Powers - I am really having a difficult time staying with it - the way he organized it I cannot get past his stereotyping race - individual stories of what families of various races value as their family heritage - I wish instead he wrote a book of short stories that had a similar theme because as it is written it is about what we know that we have heard was the experience of some families but surely not typical of the entire race - every white person that came as an immigrant did not carve a farm from raw land and build a house used for generations as slowly with changing farm equipment and new methods the land was either leased or sold to mega farm corporations - just like every Asian from China does not have a chart showing 50, 60 or 100 generations with a miniature painting of each. By putting them in one story they become the stereotype for each race - they are not held up as ever meeting each other - their only common bond so far is they came from somewhere other then where they are living and they have a distinctive family history they are passing along which I do not see how you can summarize an entire race by these, yes, common but not inclusive stories of racial history that to my way of thinking divides rather than show the commonality we share as Americans.

I need to get past this and see what he is getting at but I keep putting the book down shaking my head and do not want to pick it up again - I just need to take my guts it up pill and see what in the world my sister sees and evidently book reviewers see in this book.   

[BarbStAubrey]

Interesting - yesterday and now today I notice what appears to be a younger mom with her fawn and from the way she is caring for this fawn and the size and agility of this fawn it appears to be less than 2 weeks old - this is awfully late in the season to see a new fawn - they are usually born starting the end of April into the latest June - I no longer see the one that had to have been 6 weeks old since it was racing around the yard the other day and that mom was hefty in comparison - it is the elder buck that controls the size of the herd so either the elder buck was killed or the elder buck sees a loss in the size of the herd and more fawns are the natural consequences - my concern is if we have an early fall that for us could start the end of October rather than the end of November - have not heard any weather forecast for the next quarter but if we have an early fall then there is not enough time for this fawn to bulk up and mature to get through the winter - this is a first that i have noted so we shall see what we shall see - the local feed store that carried deer pellets closed 2 years ago - i think to be on the safe side I better find a feed store out of town someplace and get at least one sack - it is a sad sad sight to see these deer when they are nothing but skin and bone.