Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Sunny Days

It's my last week of holidays, and I'm enjoying it to the fullest. Not by going places. Not by embarking upon long-delayed projects around the home place. Nope. By sitting out on the step, reading, in between pruning out wilted, finished flower blooms, walking to the end of the driveway (too hot to strike out onto the road), and coming into the house to cool down and get a drink of water. 

Yesterday a bunch of crows started making a racket first thing in the morning, and it continued all day. I sat in the Adirondack chair, looking up from my book occasionally, trying to figure out what they were up to. About a half-dozen of them spent the day cawing and cackling and flitting short distances in the trees on the other side of our dugout, which the back step overlooks. I figure the adults were encouraging the young ones to fly, and yesterday was serious flight practice.

Noisy crow.


Then in the afternoon, the merlins started. 
They have a nest in one of our spruce trees, and I guess it was time for their little ones to get some flight practice in, too. 

Noisy merlin, one of three. Click to enlarge.



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Wisewebwoman has left a new comment on your post "When 'Poor' Women Hire Housekeepers": 
Money well spent. I couldn't live without my Emma. I sacrifice on other stuff for this. Win win.

I couldn't have put it better myself and am looking so forward to my "new friend's" first visit.




Maggie Turner has left a new comment on your post "Kitty on the Job": 
It has to be a paradise there for a cat accustomed to competing for food with a lot of other cats! 

It's quite likely the other farmyard was all "fished out" so this guy is quite enjoying himself out here at our place, where the rodent population has had some months to multiply.




Lori has left a new comment on your post "Kitty on the Job": 
We have a few feral cats in our 'hood. They, along with the domestic cats can certainly "wail up" a symphony at night, especially hot summer nights! 

Scott has been talking about bringing a girlfriend over for this tomcat; maybe we're better off without! But we don't want him to get lonesome either.




Erin Kelly has left a new comment on your post "When 'Poor' Women Hire Housekeepers": 
I think that's a great thing to splurge on! We don't deep clean the house nearly as often and I would love to get a house cleaner in there but Henry is all I CAN DO THIS MYSELF but then pulls the "I'm tired from working" card. Sigh. 

Been there, done that, still do! I am the same way when it comes to doing the dishes after supper -- often just don't feel like it and, to be honest, just as often I don't even think about it! I have to admire those like my mother, sisters, aunts and grandmother, who just do it, it's done -- it's a habit or self-discipline I don't have. 
Paying someone to do the things we don't get around to is a luxury that working-class people rarely allow ourselves. I don't spend much on entertainments like movies at the theatre (we don't have a theatre within 100 miles) or concert-going or travel holidays. I'd rather have the floor washed and the bathroom sanitized, because my home is where I prefer to be, while the entertainments are infrequent luxuries I don't crave. 


Annette Erickson has left a new comment on your post "Kitty on the Job": 
It's sad when cats get so matted they can no longer care for themselves properly. At least he'll have lots to eat and who knows, he might get friendly. 

Probably when the weather turns cold and the rodents are more difficult to find, he'll be friendly as heck. 


CrystalChick has left a new comment on your post "Kitty on the Job": 
He has a nice place now to roam free and hunt. :) 

Exactly. It's the life o' Riley for a cat, even if he doesn't have the safety an indoor cat has. And there are no neighbours to complain about him using their flower beds for a litter box! Plus he's shy enough to keep his distance from the house and my flower beds.


CrystalChick has left a new comment on your post "Family Connections": 
Well how nice to meet a cousin like that. We just got to visit with a cousin (and his wife) from Virginia when they were traveling through on their way north. Just an evening together, but loved every minute of it. 

I bet you did. In my case the meetup was a coincidence, which added to the pleasure of it. 


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