Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Dovelings are flapping and settling and flapping some more... Parents still drop by to feed, but flight into the world is imminent... It has been exactly a month since they were but little white eggs, which puts them right on schedule. I got out in the cool of the morning to water herbs and plant up a hanging basket with what I hope will grow into a new lettuce garden. The sun is beating down now in the back yard, which puts other gardening on hold. You know how digging into corners of the house... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Starting Tuesday... .again.
A cool morning... and 90s expected this afternoon. Thunderstorms--maybe--will cool that right down. But they are not in the forecast. Could be a downstairs day, where the temps are 10-15 degrees cooler on hot days. The young doves are flapping their wings... The eggs were laid June 8, so they'll fly in the next day or two or maybe three. There is a parent there now, feeding the big littles, and it's quite a crowd in the nest! Today I will finish reading/polishing Charlie's Guardian of Taihar. It... Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, July 6, 2020
Here comes The Week!
Last night, after several nights of not sleeping well, I took a sleep aid, and slept through to 9:30 only having to turn on the light again and read a while, only once. So far, it's a good morning, not yet hot--We expect 90s today--and feeling well rested, there is not that Monday morning stupor and meh... Also, Charlie grocery shopped for me yesterday, so there are many easy choices for making a breakfast that does not rely on high carbs. My weight is actually down a few lbs from last week,... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, July 3, 2020
Afternoon darkness
It has been a hot week, and today was predicted to be the same, but while I was having a little nap, the clouds moved in and the temperature dropped maybe 10 degrees or more. Then the rain came with a few flashes of lightning and rolls of thunder, and the wind that blows plants off their stands. And then, a return of sun in time for a 'golden hour.' Beautiful! Now a cool evening is coming on... I expect there will be some fireworks tonight. There were a few noise-makers during the day. So I am... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Committing to Life
I woke this morning feeling even more intensely than usual, my mortality. I am 67, have diabetes and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis, and used to experience asthma symptoms and chronic bronchitis. I have learned to do end-runs around chest colds, to avoid those things. I have a real dread of dying of suffocation. I lost a mother, a grandmother, and the little dog who was my best friend, all before I was 6, and in each case, without warning and without closure. Then, for the rest of my childhood... Sign in to see full entry.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
I think it's Wednesday...
Some mornings start with a groggy stumble about the house on the way to the comfy chair from which I use the laptop, can see the tv, and when the deck door is open, see what the doves are up to. This morning was the other kind... A particular bird-song drew me from bed to deck to see if I could spot the source of the sort of 'cheep-cheep-trillllll' I was hearing. It went on a while, but I never did see it. But I did notice some of the plants were limp, so I went in to fill a couple of 2-litre... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Cool and quiet... so far!
The day is sunny but more cloudy and a little cooler than the forecasts I have read. There is a light breeze, and I have bent back the reed-wall that I shifted when the storm winds were strong, to break the force of it a bit on the doves. Embers has been wanting to be outside a lot since summer turned real. And she sometimes goes out of the yard, something I wish to discourage. I need to get her a new collar with a bell so she is easier to locate, or failing that, easier for someone else to call... Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, June 29, 2020
Housekeeping and doves
Looks like the doves have over-built the nest. More twigs with every brood, and after a while, it gets pretty flat on top. So this time I am a little concerned with the dovelings, as they grow bigger, that one or both might be actually fall off. So the other day, I stuck a basket on the table underneath the nest--a wide open thing, one of those ones that you put a pad of some sort in, then fill in with soil, then plants. This is an old one, the pad of shredded stuff pretty stale under what's... Sign in to see full entry.
Saturday, June 27, 2020
just a few photos from yesterday
https://flic.kr/p/2jfJYxS start here, click left for the right sequence. The trees in the neighborhood have grown some since I moved in here 6 years ago, and there is less sky to see from deck and front porch. Yesterday, though, I could see the rain coming out of the west even as the big storm clouds moved in from the northeast. Then there were camera problems, and I had to switch out to the smaller one for the first shots. Problem, apparently, was a full memory card, because it worked without... Sign in to see full entry.
Thunder and lightning!
This morning all is quiet and for a while, cool. Yesterday, though, it was an afternoon of weather alerts warning of coming thunderstorms, big hail, an 'a couple tornadoes' as the report online put it. And, of course, with all those, flash flooding in all the creeks and rivers in the region. Hail did not fall here, nor did I see any twisters. But the downpour was great, and the flooding a certainty. People who shelter under bridges by creeks... In past events, lives have been lost. The alert was... Sign in to see full entry.