Bogieblog

Mother's Day 2009

Happy Mother's Day to Cop Car !

Sights and Sounds of Spring

Birds are arriving for the summer. I put the test-tube hummingbird feeder out on the deck two weeks ago. This is a feeder small enough that I can tell if a hummer has been by for even a sip - a good feeder to give an indication when to put out the larger feeders.

 There was no interest in it until last weekend when WS and I both were out on the deck and a we heard a hummer. We both froze and a male drank the nectar conncoction for 45-60 seconds straight then flew off to a tree to rest. Evidently he was a traveler on his way to somewhere else as the feeder went down only a little more that morning, then was quiet for a couple of days. A couple of times during the week, the feeder was hit, once again, evidently by travelers.

Then yesterday morning I changed the feeder and put another test-tube feeder out front by the lilacs. I saw a male hummer at the feeder on the deck a couple of times, and heard a hummer at the front feeder a couple of times (while I was planting and mulching in that area). I was unsure if they were travelers or locals coming home for the summer.

This morning, while feeding and watering Fuzzy, I looked at the feeder on the deck and it has been hit very hard. Either we fed a lot of travelers since yesterday afternoon, or some of the locals are back. I'm guessing the latter.

Along with hummers, I have spotted two male red-breasted grosbeaks at the feeders for the last week. They don't seem happy that another male is around, but eventually quit sqawiking and hissing at each other to settle down for a meal.

I've heard cardinals around also, but I haven't seen any. We do have lots of fat robins around and the honeybees are buzzing in the flowers - sounding furius, but actually being excited by the abundance of flowers in both pots and in the yard.

I love the sights and sounds of all these reminders of spring arriving!

Spring Fling with Color

Warning - lots of pictures ahead. I took pictures of spring on Monday, Friday and yesterday and am placing them in one post. Put on your sunglasses because you are about to enter the Colorfull Zone!

HD Wonders Why It Doesn't Attract Women Motorcyclists

A couple of Saturdays ago, when we went for a long ride with Jimmy, we stopped at Heritage HD to check out their tent sale. While I was looking at the women’s stuff (which was either pink, had flowers on it or had rhinestones/glitter - not my style), WS and Jimmy were over looking at some parts. One of the sales guys was saying (according to WS) something to the affect of, “I never realized how many women were getting into riding – but most of them seem to go for metric bikes instead of Harleys, I don’t understand it.”

Well, it is a totally understandable phenomenon from my point of view. Here are some pointers from someone who tried to talk herself into getting a Harley, but got a metric cruiser instead.

Misinformed

Some say that the coverage of, and reaction to the swine flu is overblown. I must agree.

A dear friend, who shall remain nameless - who works in a doctor's office that is part of a local hospital came up with this statement Saturday night:

"I heard that there were over 100 deaths from the swine flu in the US alone."

Wow, such mis-information is being passed around in the medical community that it isn't even funny.

WS and I asured her that the US has only seen 1 death, and that from a non-native visitor that made it to a United States hospital. We also had to explain how the regular flu kills several thousand people per year (something like 16,000 - but don't quote me because I am going by memory).

So, we fed her pork chops and sent her on her merry way - hopefully a bit more informed than when she arrived.

Correct Identification is Important

LawDog has an amusing story about mistaking a baby rattler for a bull snake. A couple of quotes:

Oh, bugger," think I, as I gaze in some consternation at the eighteen-inch long prairie rattler who is apparently expounding at length with regard to my ancestry, sexual habits and intelligence.

And

I will admit to executing a fast-ball pitch that would have made Nolan Ryan all misty-eyed, but I emphatically deny that I "screeched like a Newhaven fishwife" while doing so.

All's well that ends well, which is why it makes such a funny story.

Rainbows At Home

And speaking of roses, I scored a couple of Rainbow Knock Out roses at the local Shaws. These, unlike the red ones that I have, have a light scent to them.

Hu, walked into the store intending to buy $6 worth of pork chops (in honor of Swine, H1N1, The-Other-White-Meat, It's all Bush's Fault, whatever else it's being called, flu), and walked out with some roses I have been coveting for a couple of years.

Searching for a Rose

Recieved an email yesterday from someone who was looking for a Softee rose. She must have run across a post from years ago listing some of the roses I had ordered.

It seems that Softee cannot be found on the market anymore. However, by doing a little research on HelpMeFind, I determined that Softee was now called "Jefferson" and could be found at several reputable online retailers. I emailed my findings from the searcher, wishing her luck.

This morning, I found in my email:

Success! I sent an e-mail to Angel Gardens to determine whether their
"Jefferson Rose" was indeed Softee - and it turns out that her mother
plant was indeed bought as Softee.
Thanks again for the information, and for your kind response to my
out-of-the-blue e-mail.

You are welcome searcher - and thank you for letting me know that the findings of my research were correct, but also that you appreciated my efforts (little as they were).

Enjoy your new rose!