Wildlife in the Midwest, Part 3?
We have a tenant in the big, partially hollow tree in the backyard -- no, not Keebler elves, nor Pini elves, nor even named 'David'. We have a Raccoon. Which is driving Jethro crazy, especially at around 2:30 in the morning when it decides to go walk-about in the (mostly) vacant lot next door. I've seen it a few times; so has Daughter. Husband got to see it one evening around dusk, when, for reasons only known to the critter itself, it decided to emulate our acrobatic squirrel troop and attempt a tree-to-tree maneuver and thence to the ground before trundling its way down the sidewalk and out into the alley. We suspect that due to the tons of rain during the latter half of May, the varmint was flooded out of its usual habitat (we are approximately 1/2 mile from the river, as the crow flies/raccoon trundles).... the real question is whether or not we have a SingleRaccoonMale, or an ExpectantRaccoonFemale -- it being that time of year..... Hopefully, SRM will return to its usual foraging grounds once the water goes down; ERF, on the other hand..... well, we had a Mama Possum a few years ago that we only discovered once the babies were mobile enough to crawl out of the tree, not to mention the rabbits which persist in digging their baby bunny burrows within tie-out reach of the mudroom porch....
In the meantime, we are being careful about putting Bel or Jethro outside after dark. Bel has always been pretty chill with wildlife antics -- she'll watch from the porch. Jethro, on the other hand, raises the roof....and has to be restrained from dashing down the stairs.
Over the past weekend, my Jazz-loving, mathematical genius of a nephew graduated from high school; Mom flew down to Texas for the festivities. Nephew -- National Merit Scholar that he is -- has already been accepted by the University of Oklahoma, AND has a slot in the university marching band!!! I am about a third of the way finished knitting an afghan in school colors (crimson and cream) for his dorm room, and will really have to double-down for the next few weeks.
Also over the weekend, we accomplished some house-cleaning and bad weed removal in the butterfly garden. I think this year we will forego the usually futile attempts at a vegetable garden. I pulled 'bad' weeds, and cleared areas for more of the desirables (Milkweed, Joe Pye Weed, Butterfly Weed, etc.) Looking to expand into Hummingbird-friendly plants as well.
Also trying to find the type of Sage plant that I had up at the trailer -- the one with the gorgeous silver-white flowers.... the thing is, I'm pretty sure that it was an ordinary culinary sage variety, picked up at random at a local garden shop.... but! The closest I can find anywhere is either "White Sage", which is considered a desert climate variety (not suitable for Midwest growing) and reportedly has light purple flowers, or "Bee Sage", which does have white flowers, but not only looks nothing like my plant but is not suitable for cooking use. Considering that the original purpose of the plant was for cooking, I'm starting to wonder if my lovely little plant was a mutant.... Oh, how I wish I'd thought to take a cutting or even dig up the plant during the spring after the move but before the trailer sold!!! **sigh**
On the Knitting Front: finished the 'Waves and Scallops' shawl, and gave it to our church's Music Director who went in for knee replacement surgery the week before Memorial Day. She is also the organizer of the Prayer Shawl ministry -- my thought was:she's always making shawls to give to other people, she should receive one too. As mentioned earlier, am now in a frenzy working on school afghan for the Nephew. All other knitting is now on hold.
Books read: Um. Too busy knitting.
Birthday Shout-Out to my One and Only Moffett (aka "Reziac")!!!
In the meantime, we are being careful about putting Bel or Jethro outside after dark. Bel has always been pretty chill with wildlife antics -- she'll watch from the porch. Jethro, on the other hand, raises the roof....and has to be restrained from dashing down the stairs.
Over the past weekend, my Jazz-loving, mathematical genius of a nephew graduated from high school; Mom flew down to Texas for the festivities. Nephew -- National Merit Scholar that he is -- has already been accepted by the University of Oklahoma, AND has a slot in the university marching band!!! I am about a third of the way finished knitting an afghan in school colors (crimson and cream) for his dorm room, and will really have to double-down for the next few weeks.
Also over the weekend, we accomplished some house-cleaning and bad weed removal in the butterfly garden. I think this year we will forego the usually futile attempts at a vegetable garden. I pulled 'bad' weeds, and cleared areas for more of the desirables (Milkweed, Joe Pye Weed, Butterfly Weed, etc.) Looking to expand into Hummingbird-friendly plants as well.
Also trying to find the type of Sage plant that I had up at the trailer -- the one with the gorgeous silver-white flowers.... the thing is, I'm pretty sure that it was an ordinary culinary sage variety, picked up at random at a local garden shop.... but! The closest I can find anywhere is either "White Sage", which is considered a desert climate variety (not suitable for Midwest growing) and reportedly has light purple flowers, or "Bee Sage", which does have white flowers, but not only looks nothing like my plant but is not suitable for cooking use. Considering that the original purpose of the plant was for cooking, I'm starting to wonder if my lovely little plant was a mutant.... Oh, how I wish I'd thought to take a cutting or even dig up the plant during the spring after the move but before the trailer sold!!! **sigh**
On the Knitting Front: finished the 'Waves and Scallops' shawl, and gave it to our church's Music Director who went in for knee replacement surgery the week before Memorial Day. She is also the organizer of the Prayer Shawl ministry -- my thought was:she's always making shawls to give to other people, she should receive one too. As mentioned earlier, am now in a frenzy working on school afghan for the Nephew. All other knitting is now on hold.
Books read: Um. Too busy knitting.
Birthday Shout-Out to my One and Only Moffett (aka "Reziac")!!!