The other morning I received a text and pix from our friends across the street: there were a pair of Sandhill Cranes in their front yard who eventually walked over between our place and Johnny's.
Research says that the reddish tinge indicates that these are juveniles who turn grey as Fall approaches.
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Due to the vicious attacks by the Pruners on their homes, the gnome brothers Cyril and Michal have moved. They are now hanging out around the bird bath.
MamaC looks to be bulking up for her Winter weight:
Mr. Redbird joined her and had a bite at the buffet while she was foraging-look how big she is compared to RB!
Later, one of the young nutkins stopped by:
#cuteBuddypix:
Sometimes, he just loves to sprawl out of his basket located in my closet.
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8/22-finally, we had our ritual first ripe big tomato BLTs. Yum!
Sadly, the new fruit is not ripening. Johnny stopped by with a couple of giant zucchini (made bread out of one) and he said he was having the same problem. Now, the cherry toms are doing ok so at least we are getting some tomato goodness this year.
8/28-This odd early cold outbreak has brought late-September weather. The Diner has been busy as Avians and Mammals alike, triggered by the cooler weather, have begun their pre-Winter bulk up. Little Guy has been quite persistent in his quest for peanuts-he recognizes both of us and will run up onto the deck when we step out. His tail is a bit weird-it has a segment that looks like he got an extension. His tail and behavior reminds me of earlier squirrels and we wonder if he is an offspring. Are memories of finding food passed on? He seems to be part of that group from Rolla to Stubbs.
The morning had started out rainy although it just got stuff wet with little accumulation at our house. It cleared in the late afternoon with brilliant blue skies with bright white cumulus piles sliding by in the distance:
8/30-good grief, temps up in the UP Copper country dropped down to 29° this morning! Our readings were 46°.
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Damn deer
One of the bastards yanked one of the transplanted coneflowers practically out of the ground with it hanging on by its roots. Bad enough they are barely getting used to their new place after I yanked them out of their homeland where I planted them. So, I put most under cloches, others with fencing. While I was at it, I put fencing around the smaller Sharons who both Pruners and bunnies have been nibbling on. It appears that the Pruners attacked the undisturbed hostas around the shed and one by the picture window. I don't think it was MamaC, who has a voracious appetite. She would have mowed those down long ago. Tis odd that they should have attacked now after leaving them alone for months. They mowed Johnny's hostas some time ago, so what gives? Well, my theory is the attack was done by teenagers. Here's my tale of scenes we'd like to see:
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One August evening, two male teenaged deer were out wandering around their neighborhood. The intense heat and humidity had gone so it was a pleasant night. They were just messing around as yearlings often do. Both had developed their antler spikes, were full of energy and horny looking forward to their first rut in about 3 months. Moseying through one backyard, they spotted a delicacy: hostas. In August! They picked up their pace while keenly looking around. No dogs, no apes. Oh, they couldn't believe their luck! As they strode over, the smarter of the two stopped and expressed some concern: odd they these had not been eaten and it's August. There's got to be a reason. Plus, weren't we warned about these? Perhaps we should restrain ourselves and just take a few leaves. Make it look random leaf loss, after all, there's a drought going on. His buddy stared at him like a coke head confronting 10 lines on a table in front of him. Ahhh, screw the adults, he replied. They're just saving these for themselves. Look, you do what you wish on the hosta you choose and the same goes for me on mine he said. Fair enough answered the smart one and they got down to some premium feasting.
The lads got home before first light and settled down in the vicinity of their herd, which these days was just them and their Moms and a couple of aunts, who they generally saw only when they got up around midday. Both were rudely awakened by their Moms early in the morning, not with a nuzzle but with a hoof. Blinking, the two lads struggled to their feet, shocked at their Mother's behavior. Lurking in the undergrowth about 20 yards away were the aunts. The smart boy's Mom began: do you want to get us all killed? Again shocked, the lad's jaw dropped as his mother glared at him. The other mother followed: we have a bad situation here because of you two idiots. The herds in this neighborhood have an understanding with the apes concerning some properties. The one you attacked last night is off limits. We told you it was off limits. It is off limits because that homeowner is pretty tolerant of most species. In fact, he helps feed the community, even the crazy groundhogs. In return, the herds have agreed amongst ourselves to not eat certain plants of his. You two have violated our understanding and it puts all of us at risk. Why do you think we're able to live here in this safe area? Because there is no hunting. Too many violations of the understanding and the apes who live here will get pissed and go talk to the Big Apes. And then the Big Apes will go to the apes with guns and we will all die. The first mother spits out: do you understand? WE ALL DIE! Just go away from us. We don't want to see you for awhile and the mothers turned away and joined their doe sisters who were waiting nearby.
The two lads grew up that day, learning the shocking reality of their lives which up to this point, had been fairly idyllic. Sure, there were things to learn and watch for: dogs and those big shiny things with apes inside that moved very fast. But this, was astonishing. They walked together along a creek, both just staring ahead, silent and ashamed. They came to the edge of the woods where the creek turned into a stretch of flat swampland. This marked the edge of their herd's territory and they had been warned not to go beyond. But of course, boys will be boys and often, upon a dare from others, they would venture out into the swamp for a quick nibble on some exotic plants. But not now. The fear had sunk in and they remained in the safety of the shadows. Life was forever different now and those idyllic days are now a wistful memory.
Josh Honeycutt
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Old Boy Shtick:
Don't you just hate security seal fails? Like when the flap that is supposed to give you leverage to pry off the seal rips off? Now you have to take a short knife, poke a hole in the seal and either use the knife or sometimes a small pair of pliers to peel the MFer back. Oy!
And don't get me started about (air quotes) "self-seal" plastic bags for cheese, meat, whatever. First, finding the right area to clip off. You have to leave enough plastic ABOVE the sealing clips to be able to open the damn things. It just never seems to work. I often just cut the product out and wrap it in something else that is easier to handle.
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Wild Weather scenes:
2024 Tornado near Carbon Iowa:
Aaron Rigsby
Drone footage from inside a tornado in Spiritwood, ND:
8/25/25-A Haboob roars into Phoenix, AZ-excellent vid of the storm approaching the suburbs:
A Haboob also hit Phoenix in 2011 producing very apocalyptic scenes as it blew through downtown at night:
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Fun Vids:
Some intricate crop circles:
Even if all crop circles have been made by human hands, they are beautiful examples of landart.
The Old Wolf Under The Tree:
Dip into the first minute-nice combination of image, prose, music and tales. After this, it's all music. I think this would make a nice series of animated shorts with the tale presented on the chyron. That is how I originally thought this vid would be.
Strange ad for product to treat Demodex Eyelash Mites:
Yet another example of weird shit that can afflict our species. I had never heard of the Demodex mites nor have I encountered anyone with this issue. While remotely entertaining and a bit trippy, I can imagine the horror for some deeply neurotic folk who worry about everything. This points back to an old saying I am fond of-probably from MAD magazine: if you are afraid of everything in the world, stay in bed. But then, you have the dust mites in the covers to contend with.
AI from Kelly Boesch-Transforming scenes:
I stumbled across this wild short:
Blahaj is a plush toy made by IKEA and according to the blurb "The
product details on IKEA's website highlight the toy's gentle nature,
reassuring customers that this blue shark is not dangerous at all, just
soft to hug and safe to have by their side.The idea of the shark being a "reformed predator" is an element of the fan lore created by its online community. Note towards the end as the camera pans across Blahaj's desk, there are workbooks on "de-escalation strategies" and confidence building. Not sure why the sharks have such love for waffles. Perhaps it's something they can really sink their teeth into vs pancakes which are soft and meh.
One squirrel's solution for beating the heat:
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FUBARland:
Flashback to the 60's-you know things will be really bad when folks
like Bernie Sanders and Gavin Newsom are assassinated.
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