thisendoftheswamp

And again. And yet again!

I’ve been working on raking our back yard for the last week. We have two acres and are surrounded by woods on three sides so I’m not apt to run out of leaves to collect. I put down a huge old tarp, rake up a heap of leaves, then drag the whole shebang out to the compost heap.  Rinse and repeat.  I spend about an hour a day at this project.

The problem is that it has rained almost every day. Fortunately, it’s not been a downpour and there’s no wind, but wet leaves are heavy.  At least I don’t have to worry about them being blown all over the places I’ve finished.

This is a rather hazy picture of the feeders in our front yard, but I took it at 7 PM. I was watching out the den window this afternoon as a squirrel shimmied up the pole on the left, and then slid back down. The third time, he reached out and grabbed the finch sock, which did NOT please me, but he managed to swing himself up and onto the bracket at the top. From there, he scooted across to the top of the yellow feeder. I though he was going to reach down and raid that one, but instead he leapt across to the hopper on the right side. It is four feet from one to the other, as the squirrel flies. He managed to get inside the hopper and eat his full before he jumped back down.

We’ve had this arrangement for several months, and this is the first time any of them have figured out how to reach the hopper. We originally had the finch sock on another pole in the yard, but they climbed up that pole with no trouble at all, and managed to pull the bottom of the feeder off. I have no idea where it is, but we’ll probably find it when we start mowing the lawn. I’m more concerned about the little claws – and teeth – tearing the fabric than anything else. Niger seed is not cheap, but well worth keeping the gold finches happy.

Oh. The length of PVC pipe is where we stash our peanuts. The squirrels gladly go in after them, but the blue jays don’t like the tight space. There’s another one on the patio.

I picked this up after a Cub Scout meeting at our church. If you can adjust your eyes and see that all of the “a’s” are backwards, this is a lot easier to read. I love the way youngsters sound out words!

Here’s an interesting chart, updated daily, showing the active Corona Virus cases by country. The locations seem to be listed by the number of cases, so you may have to scroll down to find your home country.  You can also enlarge the map enough to find your country or state/province and click through the reporting towns.

The yellow line on the lower right is the number of reported cases. We are nowhere near flattening the curve. Stay safe, folks!

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html

Old Bay is a seafood seasoning, most commonly used on Maryland Blue Crabs. It is made of both Cayenne and black pepper, loads of kosher salt, and mysterious “spices”. It is, as the picture says, HOT.

After you’ve used the Old Bay sanitizer, you might want to take a page out of the vet’s handbook.

When I first “retired” in ’83, there wasn’t much traffic on this road, so every morning at 8:30 I’d take the dog and go for a walk.  Bogart and I would go about 3/4 of the way around the block and back, which was 2 miles. The last leg of the journey had NO shoulder, and I wasn’t keen on walking in the street. Over the years, traffic picked up considerably, and it just seemed a little risky to be out there. Now, with so many folks staying at home, there aren’t many cars, so I may give it another go.

The weather here has been simply beautiful – it was 77° F yesterday (25° C) so I drove over to the park to take a walk. The “loop” is a mile and a half, and it seems a bit silly to drive that far to walk so short a distance.  Still, it was fun watching the squirrels and the birds, but the place was mobbed. School aged kids, adult men and women, and a few dogs to pet.

It was disconcerting to see so many folks sporting masks.  I felt as if I’d wandered into downtown Beirut by mistake.

I went to Costco yesterday to pick up peanuts for the squirrels and kitty litter – basic necessities at the Rice Paddy. A nice fellow helped me wrestle a case of “squirrel chow” into my cart, and then I headed off for the kitty litter.

The line stretched all the way back to the meat section.

I pushed my way back to the front, asked the same gentleman to help me put the peanuts back on the shelf, and came on home. The little buggers can eat sunflower seeds – and like it.

I went over to the grocery store this afternoon to pick up a prescription, and you’d have thought there was a blizzard on the way. People were lined up ten deep at every single register.  The Governor has closed all non-essential offices until the end of the month, including schools and libraries. Grocery stores are not in that category, folks.  I swung into the library and took out four books to tide me over the coming week.

Bishop Sutton has also ordered Episcopal churches in the Diocese closed for the duration, and I overheard several people in the library saying their churches – Catholic for sure and I think Methodist – are also shut down.  There is a traditional Episcopal parish (1928 Prayer Book) not too far from here, which is not closing so we will trot over there on Sunday morning. It will be good to be “home” and I won’t have to wonder if there are readers or ushers, or if I have to “suit up” and serve as chalice bearer. Bliss!

The high today was 71° F (21.6 C) and most people were out in shorts and sandals, but I crossed paths with one woman who was bundled up as if it was 10 below. Boots, snow coat, and a cap pulled down over her ears. I’d have melted into a puddle!

I need somebody to follow me around with a basket to pick up the things I misplace.

Yesterday morning I went to the dentist. Normally I just put my sunglasses on top of my head when I’m indoors, but that really doesn’t work too well under those circumstances. When I got ready to leave I couldn’t find them. I looked in my purse, and the technician looked around to see if I had left them on the counter.

Nada. I stopped at the Dollar Store and bought another pair.

I swung into Aldi’s on the way home. Grabbed two bags from the back seat, but only had one when I got into the store. Just as well, I think, as it kept me from buying too many goodies. I’ve found two ways to control impulse shopping. One is to take only what you think the item will cost; a five dollar bill will prevent you from buying a $30 gallon of milk. You know exactly what I mean! The other is to not get a cart; carry a shopping bag that you think will hold the things you need. That bag of chips will not fit in the bag, so they stay on the shelf.

Anyway, as I was saying before I wandered off, I found the bag later, still on the front seat of the car.

The sunglasses? I hadn’t even worn them! They were on the kitchen shelf. I really, really shouldn’t be allowed out alone.

This isn’t original, but I certainly wish I knew who did write it.