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Post by Phalon on May 21, 2019 5:00:18 GMT -6
I never did get much of anything accomplished in the yard on Sunday - pulled weeds in the vegetable garden paths that had grown a carpet of them, and got about a quarter done before it started to rain. The rain stopped early afternoon, and I was just going to get back to it, when LX showed up unexpectedly. It was moving day for the kids - they finally found an apartment on the Michigan side of the border.
Still planning on working in Indiana, they've been looking for a while for something in Michigan within a half hour commute to their jobs, and there is just not much available for rent in the small border towns. I thought on Sunday they were just going to move their stuff from the Boyfriend's grandma's house where they were staying into the apartment, but he was able to borrow a big work truck and had a co-worker to help them move, so they decided to do it all at once. We packed up LX's car to the brim just in time - it started to storm severely. While we waited for the storm to pass, and while the Boyfriend and co-worker were on their way after loading the truck with stuff from the grandma's, we dragged up what we could from the storage room in the basement, but some of the furniture was just too heavy to move without the help of the two young men on their way.
Thankfully, just before the truck pulled in a little more than an hour later, the rain stopped and the sky cleared. They got everything loaded from the basement, and more importantly (to me!) all their other furniture that's been sitting in the back half of my office for two weeks shy of a year because it was too awkwardly large to get down the narrow basement stairs in the first place - that's all gone too! Except for a few boxes in the storage room that absolutely wouldn't fit in either vehicle, I have my house back!!!!!!
It was a huge accomplishment! Though I didn't reclaim the vegetable garden paths from the weeds, I'd much rather have the house reclaimed from their stuff!
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Post by moonglum on May 21, 2019 13:29:00 GMT -6
Sounds like you've had a strenuous, if not weed-free weekend Phalon. I got all the concreting done, finally. We were rained out at the beginning of last week, but by Wednesday it was back to sunshine and hard work. Vox's hospital appointment went ok, they have adjusted her medication for her hiatus hernia and she's back to her old self. Dexter dawg had a flare-up of his neck disc problem and necessitated a trip to the vets. he's on medication and cage rest now. It'll be interesting to see what happens next during my restful retirement.
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Post by Mini Mia on May 21, 2019 22:12:51 GMT -6
MG: Good to hear Vox is doing better. Sorry to hear about Dexter.
Phalon: Glad you have your house back.
Storm is moving in as I type, and I need to hit the hay soon anyways. I have a routine checkup with the doctor tomorrow.
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Post by Phalon on May 22, 2019 5:06:49 GMT -6
Glad to hear Vox is feeling better, Moonglum; I hope the same for Dexter too.
Rain this morning; it's coming down quite hard now, but is supposed to clear up in a couple of hours. Then, the temperature is supposed to rise to 80 degrees - by far the warmest we've been all spring!!! By comparison, Friday, Sunday, Monday, and yesterday it was in the forties, with a day in between on Saturday when it reached almost to 70!!!
We had a couple of huge treats at work just within a few minutes of each other. First, a bald eagle with a rabbit in its talons flew down the center of the road as if he was using it as a landing strip, before it veered off and landed in the field across from the nursery. It sat there, eating its lunch for about 20 minutes. I've only seen a bald eagle a few times, flying overhead; I've never seen one sitting still, and never seen one as close as this one - they are huge!!!
Still not over the excitement of the bald eagle across the street, right outside the store, sitting on the stump of a spruce that was taken down late winter, was a pileated woodpecker!!! Again, I've never seen one as close as this before, and didn't realize how danged large they are - it was as long as my leg from knee to foot.
A much smaller treat in size, but just as fun to see as the eagle and woodpecker, greeted me when I got home - the eggs in the nest in my Seven Sister's rose bush hatched. We now have two very ugly, naked baby cardinals to watch grow to cute, fluffy, feathery fledglings.
(Edited to change "beak" to "talons"; I was corrected at work yesterday when a co-worker heard me tell a customer about the eagle. I knew what I meant.)
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Post by Phalon on May 23, 2019 5:06:04 GMT -6
We actually did get up to 80 degrees yesterday; the thermometer read 81 when I got home from work. Weird to think we started off the day in winter coats!
I had meant to get back to that, Stepper. Did the geese fly off, or one day they were just gone? The same thing happens with the geese on the pond at work - one day they're there with their goslings, and the next day, they're gone, seemingly before the goslings are old enough to fly. In fact, they are probably not able to fly yet - they walk away. Curious, one year my boss followed them in the evening. They walked the entire length of the property (which is about 30 square acres; I don't know the length, but it must be quite a trek for the little goslings), across the road and into the woods with a stream running through it, where they stayed until the goslings were old enough to make it on their own. It'd be interesting enough that they did it just that one year, but it's been the same every year; they nest, the goslings hatch, then a week or so later, they walk away. Maybe they leave because they want to raise them in a more secluded spot?
Sadly again, as in many years past, the nesting geese at work were not successful. A week or so after the mother was sitting on her eggs, we saw her off the nest, and a day later, the pair was gone; a racoon or coyote had gotten the eggs.
Neither Hubs or I ever saw the mallard duck in the ravine again either; without his mate, he didn't stay more than a day.
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Post by Mini Mia on May 23, 2019 14:46:03 GMT -6
That's why there are so many videos of Mama ducks leading their ducklings across highways and getting them stuck in drains.
It's getting up into the 90s, and the humidity is climbing. Oh joy. Nice weather doesn't stick around for very long. It always seems to have to be one extreme or the other.
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Post by Phalon on May 24, 2019 5:15:48 GMT -6
What? They get stuck in drains? Which isn't as bad as how I first read what you wrote - 'leading their ducklings across highways and them getting struck in (their) brains'.
I obviously need more coffee! It's been a hellishly busy week at work, and the next four days are typically the busiest of the year.
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Post by stepper on May 24, 2019 18:25:41 GMT -6
It's entirely possible that they walked off. I didn't see it happen, but neither did I see them fly off. As you suggested, one day they were simply gone "seemingly before the goslings are old enough to fly". I'm not aware of another water source within a reasonable distance, but the geese, all of them until there were hatchlings, were known to walk all around the neighborhood - up and down the yards and streets - much to the consternation of drivers. They (the geese) acted as if they owned the roadways and were allowing you to drive there so long as it didn't inconvenience them. More than once I had to help a driver get past my house as the geese tended to take daily siesta's here which included several of them blocking the street at the same time. (Deer, even bulls, will move for blowing horns; these things would sometimes give you a look while they considered what they felt like doing.) They would only move out of the way for people getting too close and rather than one of them becoming road kill I'd shoo them to one side or the other so the driver could pass. Only once was there a problem. A high school kid driving too quickly swerved toward one in my next door neighbors' driveway. She hollered at him about being careful and his response was unsatisfactory and a bit on the profane side. Her daughter is a dispatcher for the local cops and her son in law is, surprise surprise, a Lt in the police force here. That particular person doesn't drive on our street any more. It's not especially inconvenient to avoid our street, but we don't need kids treating it like it's a raceway whether there're geese or kids around.
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Post by stepper on May 24, 2019 18:37:14 GMT -6
The rains have moved on, the prevailing winds are coming from the Gulf of Mexico so it's oppressively humid, and we're in the 90s (32.22c). We're late in the first growing season and entering the second one - I couldn't help myself and started some tomatoes in pots. I'll transfer them to larger tree pots once they seem to be better established. They need bright sunlight but TX direct sunlight can be a bit much, especially for tender seedlings.
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Post by Mini Mia on Feb 18, 2020 0:29:56 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Mar 31, 2020 7:57:10 GMT -6
With the thermometer seemingly stuck at 38F here, bumping this thread in hopes that rising it rises the temperature!
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 1, 2020 0:57:18 GMT -6
Green is popping out everywhere here. My bil mowed the lawn today. I've been walking to the mailbox again ... and totally forgot about the car, but it started today when I needed to unload the dog food, and load the trash to take to the bin. But, then, it hasn't been down in the 20s for a while now.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 2, 2020 8:10:17 GMT -6
A very thick lake fog this morning is starting to taper off, and the temperature rose from 34F to its current 38F.
Yesterday, I watched Puffball the Squirrel and his buddies playing in the ravine, and three rabbits happily chasing each other around and around a tree in the neighbor's yard. HA! Could be that I'm projecting human emotions on the animals? Probably "playing" and "happily" chasing each other is mating. It is the "twitterpated" season, after all.
Mostly though yesterday, the neighborhood seemed to go to the birds. The feeders were busy all day, and in the morning a flock of wild turkeys moseyed down the street. Wild turkeys are very prevalent and a common sight here....in the fields and woods. Seeing them walk right down the center of a neighborhood street though, was kinda funny.
Actually things here were pretty fowl yesterday - turkeys in the morning and ducks in the afternoon. Well, a duck. Mr. Mallard returned to our yard from wherever it is he winters; he was sharing the ground beneath one of the feeders with a couple of mourning doves, while cardinals and chickadees took turns eating from the feeder above. Then he waddled all the way from the front yard into the back yard, and made his way down the ravine hill to the creek. No sign of his female mate this year; after years of the two of them coming together as a pair, she was not with him last year that we saw either. Hoping there's a female hiding on the banks of the creek; her brown coloring would blend in with the still-not-green-yet grass down there making her hard to see. Sad to think Mr. Mallard has gone another year without a companion.
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Post by moonglum on Apr 3, 2020 23:42:27 GMT -6
Couldn't sleep. Been awake since 5 am. Got up around 6 and let the dogs out. The temp was 1.7C. Yesterday was a warm and sunny day, spent some time in the workshop and sitting in the garden. Let's hope today is the same.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 4, 2020 8:52:23 GMT -6
The rain that started sometime during the night, has stopped - it's still cold enough to see your breath though.
I've actually been (mostly) productive the last couple of days, something that's seemed to have escaped me lately. Thursday, it was still cold enough to not want to work outside for any length of time, so I started spring cleaning inside the house - not a work-my-behind-off all out endeavor because can't open the windows because we've still got the heat on, and didn't want to asphyxiate myself with dust and cleanser fumes.
Yesterday was quite nice, warmer and sunny, so I spent most of the day working in the gardens. Pulling weeds, which are the only thing that's seems to be growing with much robustness here right now, is such a relaxing mindless chore, it was probably the first time this week I wasn't dwelling on the grim state of things.
Today is shaping up to be another spring cleaning day. Lots still to do to keep busy inside.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 5, 2020 7:51:13 GMT -6
Frost on the rooftops and car windows earlier. The sun came out just briefly enough to melt the frost, but it's since disappeared behind the clouds. Still in the 30s now, but it's supposed to creep up to the mid-40s by this afternoon.
Yesterday it didn't warm up enough to not see your breath outside, so I continued spring cleaning inside. Mindless task for the day - scrub all the grooves in the beadboard wainscotting with a toothbrush. One of those things that you don't notice needs to be done until you do it, but after it's done, everything looks so much brighter. Started doing the same with the six-paneled doors, and wondered why in the hell, when remodeling, I chose everything that had so many grooves.
Mr. Mallard was back at the feeder yesterday, and he brought a Lady friend! She was shyer than he, hanging back on the ravine hill before she finally waddled across the yard. I was able to coax them both with bird seed though, and it didn't take long before they were both almost at my feet, though I had to stand very still for them to come that close.
The dog, who was inside and saw them through the window, started barking and the ducks flew away. I hope they come back. The ravine has always been a spring stop for a pair of mallards, but they've never stayed for more than a couple of weeks. I'd love for them to decide to stay and have ducklings here. Baby ducks are so cute.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 6, 2020 7:34:11 GMT -6
It was another frosty morning with the temperature just below the freezing mark. The sun is out now though, and they say it's supposed to be quite nice here the next couple of days....before the temperature plummets toward the end of the week; there's even a chance of snow in the forecast.
My daffodils have finally started to open, and there are a few spears of asparagus poking their noses out of the ground. Signs of spring - whoo-hoo!
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Post by Phalon on Apr 7, 2020 7:39:03 GMT -6
It's already warmer this morning than it has been for a long time - it's 53 degrees! It was raining this morning when I got up at six, but the rain just stopped. Perfect weather for ducks, though I haven't seen them yet today.
Yesterday evening though, right around dinnertime, they waddled up the ravine hill to the bird feeder and grazed a bit before waddling to the garden underneath the maple outside the back door. There, they wiggled their ducky bottoms into the mulch in the garden, settling in for an after dinner nap - right out in the open, seemingly without a duck care in the world. They napped there for about 45 minutes, before they waddled back down the hill.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 8, 2020 6:52:59 GMT -6
Despite all the rain yesterday morning, the day turned out very nice - the warmest one we've had yet! I worked outside in the gardens all day, and for the very first time this spring, didn't wear a winter coat!!!
The Mallard couple didn't venture up the ravine hill yesterday, but Hubs said he saw their "little ducks" down by the creek where the adult pair has been hanging out. "Uhm, are you sure, Hubs? It's too early for ducklings; Mr. and Mrs. Mallard just arrived."
"Not just-hatched ducks - their baby 'little ducks'. They just flew in."
"Baby little ducks that flew in? Baby ducks don't fly."
"These did. They're brown like the mother, but little babies."
"Brown little flying babies...?" Then it dawned on me...
"Uhm, Hubs? Those are doves!"
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Post by moonglum on Apr 8, 2020 7:54:06 GMT -6
It's an easy mistake to make. Doves are like ducks, just spelled differently!
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 9, 2020 3:29:20 GMT -6
I've had the a/c on for a number of days. One day it got up in the low 80s. Supposed to cool down now, and some nights I may need to turn the heat back on. Just had severe weather pass through here a few hours ago, and at one point I could hear hail hitting the house like crazy ... thankfully they sounded like sleet, so small.
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Post by katina2nd on Apr 9, 2020 21:33:55 GMT -6
Couple of nice days here yesterday and today, before turning cooler for a few days then warming up again, so can't complain about no variety.
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 10, 2020 1:44:27 GMT -6
The cover on the trash bin keeps banging. (We're having strong winds tonight.) At first I wonder why my bil is messing with the trash this hour of the night ... and then I wonder if thieves are digging around in the trash looking for nice things we may have thrown out. I think my brain is tired, and I should go to bed ... which I will do soonish.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 10, 2020 8:00:18 GMT -6
I was watching the doves in the yard yesterday (they are mourning doves), and to be fair to Hubs, in one aspect they do look like ducks - the way they flap their wings when they're flying, and the loud sound that their flapping wings make, is the same as ducks. The doves though, aren't new arrivals to the yard like the ducks - they stay here year 'round, so still...for Hubs to mistake them for little ducks cracks me up.
It's cold here, in the thirties right now and the temperature for the next week isn't supposed to get much higher. We had snow flurries yesterday, and at one point for just a couple of minutes, it snowed quite hard. The ground is too warm for anything to stick though.
Even though it's cold, the sun is shining!
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 11, 2020 1:47:04 GMT -6
It isn't cold enough for the heat to kick on, and that makes the cold seem so much worse for some reason. I suppose I could turn the heat on just to get rid of the chill, and then turn it off. Or I could crawl under the covers. Laters.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 14, 2020 6:54:51 GMT -6
Though there have been just a handful of days that the furnace hasn't kicked on, we haven't turned the heat off yet.
These last couple of days we've definitely needed heat. It's been cold and windy - at 3pm yesterday afternoon, was the first time I happened to glance at the temperature reading on my phone: 38F, "Real Feel" 23F.
Warmer right now (eye-roll) - the actual temperature is 39F, "Real Feel" 29F. Forecast for the rest of the week is the same.
Some glorious weather this past weekend, though, and Hubs and I spend most of the time outdoors, drinking a few beers, and doing a whole lot of talking about what I want to get done in the yard yet this spring, and very little time it seemed, actually doing it! When all was said and done though, I stood back and looked at the areas I worked on, and dang, I did way more than I thought!
Still a lot to do, but with the weather like it is, think I'll wait until it gets a bit warmer and a whole lot less windy!
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Post by Mini Mia on Apr 14, 2020 11:44:30 GMT -6
I keep getting freeze warnings from my weather app. It has been down in the 30s at night, and tonight is supposed to drop down even more. They believe it will be the last freeze for this time of year. It then rises up into the 40s & 50s on nights after that. The days are getting longer. Which I completely forgot to keep up with these last few weeks. Got distracted.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 15, 2020 5:55:29 GMT -6
Snow! In the sky. On the ground. WTF?!
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Post by Phalon on Apr 16, 2020 5:57:58 GMT -6
It snowed again overnight - just sugar sprinkles on the ground and rooftops now. It was 25F when I got up, and since, the temperature crept up to 31F.
But the sun is shining.
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Post by Phalon on Apr 17, 2020 10:22:33 GMT -6
It's been snowing since I woke up this morning at 5:30 - not sugar-sprinkles snow, but actual stick-to-the-ground snow.
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