It's Always Something

 

In our area, after a long hot summer, there was approximately one week of what could be described as "nice" before the temperature dropped like a rock and the skies turned to lead. Outside a restaurant, where we were having lunch, there was this grumpy heron, just staring at the choppy water. He was probably cold and thinking it might be time to fly south. That was easy to understand, but who would want to miss out on fall?

The Crew always get excited when the gloomy weather shows up, then spooky season can really begin. Right now Burt and Kib are keeping an eye out for what's happening in our front yard, supervising the very last project that will make this Halloween a lot more fun and keep the trick-or-treaters safe from twisting their ankles.

Over the year and a half it took to replace the water pipes, storm sewer, the entire street and all the sidewalks in our neighborhood; His Madness had a wonderful time documenting the process. Like we were ever going to forget it happened? Still, a big ugly problem remained. We're not counting the "X" defacing our magnolia, since it's finally starting to fade. After cutting down over a dozen mature trees that lined our street, the contractors had a hard time accepting the fact that there was one left standing. They were so disappointed.

All summer long we pestered the city to fix the temporary asphalt walkway they put in last November. Actually, we wondered if they were intentionally putting it off because they didn't get to cut down our tree. Eventually, they came by with more spray paint, a beaten up traffic cone and a broken barricade to make it into an even bigger eyesore. Then they disappeared for a few more weeks. During this time we had to replace two of our kitchen appliances that could only fit through the front door. At least no delivery people were harmed in the process.

 Just as we were about to complain again, a crew finally showed up, dressed to match the hydrangeas. So, how many construction workers does it take to pave ten feet of sidewalk? Sorry, for the weird pattern, I took this photo through the window, not trusting in my ability to interact civilly with these guys.

That took care of the problem at our front door but we still have to deal with the one at the back.  I'm sure this isn't going to work but it's a start. We would like to decorate our patio for Halloween!

Following a careful application of the repellent we noticed the weather had improved.  It seemed like a good day to take a drive around the lake while waiting for the rhodent squatters to leave and we ended up at an apple orchard almost directly across the water from our town. Nothing beats running away from your problems. 

In their gift shop, the already spooky atmosphere was enhanced with a huge, intact (but abandoned, of course) wasp nest. It was the size of a microwave. This is why I don't go apple picking. Guess we aren't the only ones with pest problems.

After a nice day and pleasant drive, the mice were still there and we are looking into other options for dealing with the varmints. We did bring home plenty of comfort food to stuff ourselves with while we wait for inspiration or the exterminator, whatever comes first. Hopefully, before the donuts are gone.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!

A Summer Sunset Situation

It's finally cooled off up here in our neck of the woods and the breezy evenings of late summer have moved in to coordinate perfectly with the early sunsets. Normally, we enjoy this time of day from the bug-free comfort of our screened in patio, but tonight we decided to come to a restaurant by the water to take advantage of these rare moments and avoid a situation we aren't sure how to deal with.

It all started because the garden was not looking it's best lately, so The Crew decided some dahlias from the Farmers Market would give a little lift to the surroundings. 

While adding the last blooms to the basket, The Crew heard some scratching sounds coming from the baker's rack. Kibitz was dispatched to check it out.

It seems there's a new resident in one of the birdhouses.

 

There's nothing like overreacting. Really? Is it that bad?

Then, after a more thorough investigation he discovered something else.

There's two, at least. One is cute, two is a problem and there could be even more. About a month ago, when I was outside, watering our kitchen window box, something very small and soft jumped onto my shoulder and then onto the ground. After I stopped screaming and ruled out it's being a bat, the only critter it could have been was a mouse. Field mice have stonger hind legs than house mice and are supposedly excellent jumpers. (Isn't that just great?) Several of our neighbors are avid campers, and they may have been stowaways. We've never had mice around before but our sweet kitties, who have sadly crossed over the rainbow bridge, probably took care of the problem. 

(They only leave their nests at dusk, so the photos of the mice were taken in the evening.)  

In the end, The Crew had a good laugh over how scared they were of a tiny creature that weighs about as much as a AA battery. We will pick up some humane traps somewhere and relocate them to the county park, several miles away. As for the birdhouses, they were about to go back into the garage to make space for pumpkins anyway, and we'll toss the ones that were occupied. The birds that nest in our backyard never cared for the birdhouses, they're probably better hidden in the shrubs and rose bushes. So the cute little houses ended up as decor, until the mice came along.

So, the sun has set on another weird day. It was a good excuse to enjoy a beautiful evening and to have a break from wondering how to evict two tiny creatures from our patio without too much effort on our part. We did have five raccoons living in the upstairs of our garage once but there are professionals to handle that scary a job. This is going to be a DIY because it would be too embarassing not to do it ourselves.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

See you soon!

Those June Celebrations!

The local university, where His Madness spent most of his career, installed a new Chancellor recently. Given that the new guy is not only an immigrant but also a person of color, showing up was important to send a message to our Republican members of Congress, both state and national. However, attending the induction ceremony required a great deal of digging around in the depths of our closets to locate the appropriate academic regalia. At one point ordering an outfit from Amazon seemed inevitable but luckily we were persistent and found way more caps and gowns than necessary. Now, we are thinking it might be a good idea to keep them handy as last resort Halloween costumes. Zombie Graduation anyone? 

Meanwhile, the cute critters in our backyard are growing up fast and being extra destructive.

They're not picky eaters and will chew up a row of tulips as easily as a dandelion patch. They're smart though, and give the poisonous ones like this Calla lily, a pass. Then, what they don't eat, they excavate. It was lucky that I took this photo before planting it in the garden because it hasn't been seen ever since. Maybe it will show up this fall, if it grows back from the roots?

 

To kick-off Summerween and the arrival of the first strawberries of the season, The Crew decided to make a batch of chocolate waffles. There was whipped cream and oddly, bacon too, but they didn't make it into the photo.

Ivy did her best to set the mood with all the spooky decor she could find that wasn't orange. Maybe it will look better at night?

  

(Or not!)

Burt was unavailable for suggestions.

The beginning of summer wouldn't be complete without a road trip and since our friends were having a huge party to celebrate a very big anniversary, His Madness and I hit the road.

As you can see, we're keeping the party going.

Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary Laura and Gene!

Continuing on with the joyous occassions, I hope everyone who celebrates had an amazing Pride Month. The Rainbow Flag was sadly missing from it's usual spot here on the riverwalk but the umbrellas sort of make up for it. There were thunderstorms that came through and I think the parade was moved to the arena.

Not sure if our neighborhood middle school was participating but they are certainly doing a lot of practicing even though school isn't in session. Up and down our street, over and over and over, again. Did The Tartan Army have that many drummers? Can't wait for the 4th of July to be over, in fact I can hear them as I'm typing this!

See you soon, and thanks for stopping by!

No More No Mow May?

 

We recently learned that our town ended the No Mow May program due to concerns over lawn health, the administrative burden and complaints. Seriously? Who knew letting grass grown taller that 8" was so controversial or that there are actual "standard turf requirements" and the city has a Weed Control page. Even the squirrels are stunned.

Apparently, the cancellation happened last year, when our street was being torn up and everyone's lawn looked looked like the surface of the moon. At the time most of us were so outraged by the toddler in the White House destroying democracy that nobody even noticed the city enforcing the "Lawn Care and Weed Cutting Ordinance". Actually, I never knew there was one.

The last of the excavating was done in February. Why do projects in a timely manner when you can drag it out for months? 

Then the snow melted and things got really ugly. So far our ignorance of the legal height requirement for our lawn has not resulted in a fine. Maybe it's the "mullet" approach? Short grass in the front yard, overgrown free-for-all in the back. Besides, there really isn't any grass back there to measure.  

On the bright side, our silly two-tone crabapple put on a great show this spring and was a big hit with the bees. Maintaining biodiversity isn't hard when you have a very tall hedge and nice neighbors.

The weird pattern in this photo isn't AI, it came from the window screen which started showing up right after a system upgrade to my phone. Why do these improvements always end up making things worse? At least the fuzzy patterning obscures the power lines.

Dealing with all the construction issues and city ordinances and crazy laws is exhausting. There's a full moon tonight, which usually means The Crew are looking for something fun to do that involves decorating or thowing a party. This one happens to be a blue moon.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really turn blue and the whole concept is based on a mistake printed in Sky and Telescope magazine in 1946, but that doesn't bother them. Since it's a Sunday night and they didn't have anything else interesting going on, they decided to give the second full moon of May some totally unnecessary attention.

In folklore, it's a good time to harvest herbs and flowers for home remedies. Right now, there are mostly poisonous plants blooming in our backyard so that's definitely out.

Then the new summer lights for the backyard were conveniently delivered this afternoon.

There certainly were a lot of them and since the squirrels have nibbled their way through several previous sets, these have an extra heavy cord. 

That was definitely too much of a good thing and they will probably look way better outside. Since a blue moon is a rare occurrence and nearly over already, they decided to spend the evening checking out the new Halloween decor online. Maybe even brush up on a city ordinance or two.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!

A Springtime Ramble

Those of us who inhabit the frozen north don't get too optimistic about spring.

Those April showers can turn to something solid at the blink of an eye.

Then Easter comes around we start to think maybe winter might actually be over, which is a pretty good reason to party. Fortunately, there are individuals around who are always cheerful and ready to celebrate anything, anytime. A belated Happy Easter to those of you who observed it.

Thanks to a creative farmer at our local Saturday market we have Easter Eggs all year round. The colors are interesting enough and no messy dyes to clean up. I'd love to see their flock someday.

 A few days ago, on a dark and stormy night complete with lightning and buckets of rain, we thought, "it's pouring down, let's go out for dinner."

Anytime it's not snowing is reason enough to leave the house. 

This photo was supposed to capture the rain dramatically falling on the river but it just ended up looking like a wet street. I was reminded of Nighthawks, a painting by Edward Hopper, which has always seemed a little forlorn to me. Maybe it's those empty, mid-century tables against the dark night that are giving off such a lonely vibe? In reality, they were about to be pushed together and taken over by a raucus group fresh from happy hour. Not a sad story unless your were seated next to them.

The following morning our backyard was flooded but compared to nearby towns, we were really lucky not to need a boat. Somehow, the tulips and daffodils survived and so did all the bunnies. 

Burt was ready to do some gardening but that didn't seem wise under the circumstances.

Since there was no way those pansies were getting planted in the swamp, they ended up in the springoween decorations.

 

Who can't use a little extra color this time of the year?

Eventually, what goes up must come down . . .

and spooky spring has to be swapped out for Halfway to Halloween . . .

. . .  because spring has actually arrived and so have the Halloween decorations at Lowes.

It was a huge relief when our magnolia started blooming a couple weeks ago. During the street work last summer, it lost three big limbs to sloppy digger operators and worst of all, a lot of its root system. We are cautiously optimistic. So far it's acting like nothing happened but that seems too good to be true. At least the neon X is fading.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and a wonderful spring!

and . . .

a Happy Birthday to Laura!

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.