Just need to talk to my friends (204)

Lorita, what is Rusty? A squirrel? One of my aunts kept the squirrels out of her bird feeder by making a squirrel feeder atop a fence post. It was just a big nail driven vertically into the post top with an ear of corn spiked on it. Squirrels love corn, as anyone who has tried to raise corn near the woods knows.

If I get a dog I will get two, so they aren't lonely when I go somewhere without them. I used to work with a woman who shut her dog in a windowless bathroom all day while she was at work. I wouldn't have a dog if I couldn't do better than that.

My son loves dogs. He shared a beagle named Walter when he lived in an RCF that had been built as a hospital about 1890. They had to dig up the sewer line for repairs, and the reburied dirt was odorous. Walter had the most fun sniffing that dirt! It held odors that had been buried for decades. I guess if you are a connoisseur of odors, as beagles are, an old sewer line is about as good as it gets.

Elephants are quite intelligent and probably good company, but I don't think my yard is large enough for a pair of them. (I'm kidding, Iris, I know what you mean.)

A vet is a good idea. Also, a woman with whom I worked before I retired is involved with rehoming dogs. Her mother, who lives next door to her, spends much of her time on it and typically has a half dozen foster dogs.

You are right, Lorita. We never know when we walk out the door if we are coming back. The young man shouldn't blame himself, but it's hard not to.

I've never raised caladiums or gladiolis, but I understand they can't stand midwest winters. You have to dig up the bulbs before it freezes and replant them after Mother's Day, or treat them as annuals and plant new every year. My grandfather mistook Grandma's gladioli bulbs for potatoes and fried them with onions one winter. It was a good dinner but left nothing to plant. The poor man. He farmed all his life, made one mistake, and I'm still talking about it 50 years after his death.

Some plants like caladiums can be grown indoors so you could use them as house plants in winter. I would repot them if I brought them in to keep insect pests out of the house. I repotted a plant to take in one fall and found a whole nest of ants in the pot.

Good to hear from you, Beth. You will love that serviceberry. In Missouri and Arkansas, serviceberry blooms when the woods are still dark and the white blooms make a beautiful sight. I didn't know they grew in Iowa but know of no reason they wouldn't.

I think my redbud is dying. The place it's planted is mostly fill, and I think the poor thing is starving. it's too close to the house anyway. I'm going to remove it when things settle down a little and plant some red oaks farther from the house. Red oak grows wild in large numbers in SW MO so they should do well whether I take good care of them or not.

All the talk of exercise makes me think I should get back into water aerobics. It is a great workout and stretch, and my bum foot and knee don't bother me because I'm not putting my weight on them. I used to enjoy aerobic dance, but it's too painful now.

It's nearly ten. I'm going to shower and get some sleep. Sleep tight, friends.

Thanks Beth, good to hear from you too. You had such a beautiful garden; did you start a new one? Would love to see pictures.

Lorita, what a tragedy for that family! I'll never forget when I lived in Miami, years ago, reading about the grandmother that didn't see her toddler granddaughter when backing out of the driveway and killed her. That must be so difficult to live with.

I'm going to order from the Florida Boys today. I can plant them in a large pot right?

I love both dogs and cats too. All creatures really, except cockroaches, palmetto bugs; those I can live without!

Judith, thought of you when I saw this. Hope to learn more about his work!

Here are my girls 😍

CaroLynne, your Scottish fold is beautiful! Sweet little doggie too.

We had a serviceberry at the other house. Whenever we are in that town, we drive past and I noticed how beautiful it looked so decided to get another. I also considered a flowering crabapple - had 2 of them at the other place and they also are beautiful. Serviceberries have the lovely white flowers and produce blue/purple berries that are edible. They can be grown shrub-like or tree-like (single stem vs multiple stems).

We're getting a good rain today; much needed. I'm grateful.

Mint, how is your garden doing? Have you planted yet this year? I have not planted my seeds or flowers yet; but I have started my garden clean up (not too much to do here, just remove spent flowers on the hydrangeas and cut back the ornamental grasses and remove a few things that died over the winter).

Judith, the white redbud sounds lovely and has very special meaning.

David and Jo, if you are reading this, know that we miss you.

Beth

Ansel Adams…..No he did not originate Earth Day and he was born in February. He was on the board of directors of the Sierra Club for 40 years…1934-1971.

The photo Moonrise, Hernandez New Mexico;

"It was made after sundown, there was a twilight glow on the distant peaks and clouds. The average light values of the foreground were placed on the "U" of the Weston Master meter; apparently the values of the moon and distant peaks did not lie higher than the "A" of the meter ...

[b]

 Some may consider this photograph a "tour de force" but I think of it as a rather normal photograph of a typical New Mexican landscape. Twilight photography is unfortunately neglected; what may be drab and uninteresting by daylight may assume a magnificent quality in the halflight between sunset and dark."

Adams encountered a "fantastic scene", a church and cemetery near Hernandez, New Mexico, and pulled to the side of the road. Adams recalled that he yelled at his son Michael and at Wright to "Get this! Get that, for God's sake! We don't have much time!".

[5]

 Desperate to capture the image in the fading light, they scrambled to set up the tripod and camera, knowing that only moments remained before the light was gone

Adams personally made 1000 prints.

Hello Front Porch Friends.

Lorita. I'm glad you found a soup, Max, likes. Sammy, has it in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings, along with his hard food. That's nice you will be helping Todd, get on his feet.

CaroLynne. It was nice hearing from you, and thanks for remembering me.

JeriLynn. I agree with Beth, I also think you're a animal whisperer. Speck, is so pretty, I would love to have a chicken, for a pet. He looks so comfy. Is his basket open and he just lays in it?

Eaglemom. I wish I had some rain and a cup of tea. I miss the rain I had in Oregon, there is not much rain in Arizona. I do take my morning coffee on the back deck, along with 2 dogs and 3 cats in the morning for a little while, at least till my coffee is gone. I'm sure your DH, will be busy and enjoy a smaller garden.

Carl. It's wonderful that your DW, is in a nice place, with a lot of loving care. Now its time to take care of yourself. It's nice you had a good nights sleep, I hope with many more nights to follow. You will have so much love and companionship with a pet. I have always had dogs and cats, all been outstanding pets. I like having two or more at a time, because they entertain each other. Some dogs are better cuddlers then cats, but they will all love you. Here are pictures of my fur babies. This is Molly, my dog she is 11 and my cat Sammy, he's 3. They are both on my lap and we're in the recliner. This seems to be their favorite place. They play together a lot. ❤️❤️

Now that I live with my daughter and her DH, I have inherited 3 more fur babies. That is Fiona, the dog she is 2, and Lilly, she is 2 and Timmy, the black one he is 3. All 5 of these fur baby's, play together sleep together and eat together. And they love me, best companions ever. 😍 sounds like you will have help finding the right one/s. I'm looking forward to a picture.

Hugs to all, Zetta

good evening

we have had some pretty sunrises the past few days too Lorita. I think my is adjusting more and more to not having to worry about mom. I’m getting up later in the morning now not really that late though.

We have had three beautiful days of weather. My nephew has been living with me for a while now and so he helped me and we have the yard completely weeded and mulched. That’s a beautiful thing. All I have left to do is to get my grow bags refreshed. I’m not going to have near as many this year. I got rid of all of them except for in my garden area. It’s gonna cost me a bit of money, but I’m putting nothing in but supertunias in my front yard other than the few perennials that are already there. They are easy to care for and don’t require very much water. That’s a big focus of mine this year is keeping my water use down in the summer. Most of the stuff in my backyard will be from seed other than I might buy my herb plants. I’m only planning on racing tomatoes and herbs and flowers. I’ve cut way back this year. What are you going to do this year Beth?

My tulips are blooming, but they’re not gonna last that long probably because it’s hot and dry. My sister and I bought half of a beef from the Mennonites and we went out there today to pick it up and the farmers were working, the dust was flying. We were in severe drought at the end of fall. We’ve had some rain but not a lot of rain. We’ve had days of high winds which dries the soil out. We’ve had quite a bit of cloudy weather, but we don’t get that much rain.

It's been a really nice day today - we got up to 71 degrees today with full sun. No complaints from me! I got a lot of errands done and went to the gym.

There was another story in the news today about the guy who's trying to make his Fyre Festival happen. It's been a source of amusement for me for several years now (except while he was in jail and there was no news). He just doesn't know when to quit. It's just one train wreck after another. NPR had an article today about him trying to sell off the "Fyre Festival brand." I'm wondering if he's going to end up in jail over this —- again.

HB - your ex-BIL and my brother are not so far apart. I never had actual loathing for my brother, just a lot of anger. I decided it wasn't good for me so now I avoid him - which is pretty easy since we live two large states away from each other. 🙂

JeriLynne - I'm glad that Speck is doing better!

Lorita - we used to have more squirrels than we do now, but I think it's because we seem to have more owls now.

jfkoc - we had "ghost cats". The ghost cats left paw prints on the glass kitchen table we had in San Francisco. We knew our cats didn't leave the prints because our cats knew they weren't allowed on the table. Also, one day when I got home from work I found that the two cats had worked together to roll up the top to my roll top secretary desk to get to all the cat toys inside (envelopes, tape, sticky notes, etc.). I was so impressed that I couldn't get angry with them.

Caro_Lynne - I love your little fur babies! So cute.

Zetta - I love all of your fur babies too! Seeing all of the animal photos makes me realize it's about time for us to get a couple of kitties of our own. I miss not having cats.

Carl - I'm glad that your DW will live in a great place, and that you're doing well! Good genes are nice to have.

Lorita…have you thought about a multi-trunked river birch…they grow fast…something to think about at our age.

@jfkoc

Thank you so much for this study of Ansel Adams. I have a copy of this print in my home office. I love the lighting and have always wanted to know more about where, how, and when it was taken.

Adams encountered a "fantastic scene", a church and cemetery near 

Hernandez, New Mexico

, and pulled to the side of the road. Adams recalled that he yelled at his son Michael and at Wright to "Get this! Get that, for God's sake! We don't have much time!".

good morning

River birches are a pretty tree they have shaggy bark.

Lorita Beth made me aware of the supertunias. They spread really nicely, require very little water, and they do not require deadheading. It’s nice having my nephew living with me. But I realize when he goes, I’m really going to miss him.

Carl, I understand your newfound freedom.