Replies

“Home” again, home again, jiggity-jig ....

Back to the flatlands for a couple of days.

Mower:
Trailered LB back today & the slow leaking tire will be coming off tomorrow evening & going to the repair shop Tuesday for a new tube. Something is ‘clickety clacking’ & I think I see what it is ... if I can’t tighten it up or if I can & that’s still not what is making the noise, I will have the bro take a look.

Wildlife:
Friday, spotted a groundhog scuttling across the front yard, tree to tree, trying not to be out in the open too long. It disappeared into the overgrown lot next door that has a falling down shed on it. The shed is hard to see it has so much stuff growing around & up on it. I suspect that is where ‘home’ is for the groundhog. If I see any holes around our buildings, it’s going to be ‘war’ and I don’t mean live trapping.

Went to dump some tree debris (trimmed more branches that were in the way when mowing) and almost had a heart attack ... a doe was just behind the debris pile and when I pulled around the side & got off the mower, she “exploded” out of the brush & jumped the fence into the neighbor’s field, then was flagging that white tail as she ran for the woods. I probably about gave her a heart attack as well - she hit the fence going over, but seemed ok - usually they clear those fences with plenty of room to spare.

Flowers:
Oh those peonies ... I am SO in love with them. The shades of pink are just fabulous ... no one does color like Mother Nature. I brought some home for mom - I’d sent her a picture, but she needed to see the real thing.

Birds:
Saw the bluebirds catching insects in the yard & flying up towards the sycamore tree. I am sure they are feeding young, but I haven’t been able to pinpoint where they have their nest.

Recipes:
Made Chef John’s green beans with bacon. Since I didn’t want to simmer them on my gas cooktop for an hour & a half, at the point they were to ‘simmer’, I transferred them to a pre-heated crockpot. I had them in there for at least 2.5 hours, so they did take a bit longer, but they were very tasty ... when you eat leftovers for breakfast, you know they’re good.

Next couple of days will be busy - mowing here, trading in two old golf carts on a newer one for mom, mailing a baby blanket to a cousin who just had her first kid (and probably the last) at age 41 ... shocked us all. :-) I’ll be ‘on the road again’ probably by Thursday.

That’s quite an update!!

The groundhog around here stays out of the way. He lives just off the path we take to get to the creek. Technically it’s my neighbor’s property, but we have a borrowed view. The neighbors can’t see into the woods as clearly as we can. I leave the groundhog be, and long as he doesn’t get in my way. Our problems come more from piney squirrels and chipmunks, but sometimes raccoons, possums, or skunks give us headaches.

We have deer here also, but they are harder to see when the trees are filled out. I keep my eye out for fawns at this time of year. A couple of years ago, I was refilling the bird feeders, and a fawn popped out from our terraced side yard , and ran towards the creek where I’m sure his Mama was. What a cutie! I love their speckles!

Peonies are so special, and ours didn’t last very long this year due to a full day and a half of rain. I got a surprise though. My daughter had peonies sent and they got here mid week. They were supposed to be here for Mother’s Day, but something went wrong, so they sent about 3 dozen! I have pink peonies all over the house now. They’re still going like gangbusters, so it’s really making up for the bust in my yard. They are spectacular!

Keep looking for that nest! I’m looking for the catbird and grosbeak nests.

Congrats on the green beans! I think I’m doing simple meals the next few weeks while I finish planting and working outside. I have given myself until June 1 to get it all accomplished. I’m sure there will be some days where I can’t get outside much. Usually it rains a bit around here at this time of year. Maybe those days I will do some real cooking.

Enjoy your week! I know your mom will be happy to have you around.