Friday, June 29, 2012

random

The bluebirds are almost a week old, I think.  All five are doing well; I guess the sparrows finally got tired of killing bluebirds.  It amazes me how such ugly babies can grow up to be such beautiful adults.  
Patsy found a snake in her henhouse and killed it because snakes have been known to kill baby chicks.  They'll eat eggs, too.  
I once heard a strange noise near my garden and went to investigate.  A snake was eating a toad that you would swear wouldn't fit in his mouth, and the toad was making the noise.  It's the only time I've heard a toad's voice.  
It always bugs me when city folks look at a toad and call it a frog.  Toads are brown and fat and can't hop very high; frogs are green and can cover yards of space with one hop.  (Hey, I warned you this was random.)      
It's amazing how many varmints like to eat chicken.  We have a fox that runs through my back yard almost daily, and will play in the horse pasture catching bugs to eat, with me and Cliff watching and talking.  If I had chickens, that would be a dead fox, but right now I really don't have any good reason to wish him harm; maybe he will get some of the moles that tear up our yards.  
Some people assumed that when we went to Colorado recently, we had decided not to go to Canada.  Not so.  We have changed our agenda numerous times, but we have our passports and are going, probably in July or August.  We were going to wait until September, but Cliff's brother and his wife have decided it's just going to be too tough to squeeze into their plans, so we'll go sooner.  Maybe it will be cooler there, and we can get a break from the heat!  


P.S.  I just checked:  the high today in Calgary is supposed to be 73.  Here, it will be 101.  Yesterday was 104.

8 comments:

  1. Donna -

    I haven't tried this recipe, but I'm going to soon and it looks like a yummy and lower fat way to use up extra zucchini!

    http://curiouscountrycook.blogspot.com/2012/03/zucchini-tots.html

    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  2. In this part of the Show-Me state, we are seeing Mountain Lions. One of the guys at work was telling us that they set up a camera and filmed a mountain lion attacking a deer. The next day they found the deer laying over a branch high up in a tree. If I have my choices, I'll take the toad and chickens over the snakes and mountain lions any day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you can still make the trip north. It would be a good time to go and cool off. It's 90 degrees in the shade and still climbing here at noon today. The good news is that my a/c decided to work in the camper this morning. I'm inside keeping cool for awhile. I only go out for awhile and then have to come back in.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Calgary sounds like a breath of fresh air. You will love it, I'm sure. I have no use for snakes, they can just slither on down the road. I did however have a pet toad. It delighted me to no end as a child. I must admit I never heard it whimper. THANK GOODNESS. Stay cool. Like jerry reed used to sing, When you're hot, you're hot. take care.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am seriously considering changing my address permanently to Canada or somewhere far north like that. This midwest heat is killing me!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yep...chickens and eggs are a favorite of lots of varmits. We've had our fair share of 100+ temps here in SE Texas. At least we are getting rainfall at fairly regular intervals this year. - Barbara
    Life & Faith in Caneyhead

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow! I thought I was having fun in my retirement! First Colorado - before the big fires and now Canada. I really envy the Canada trip -- I know you will have great fun! MGW

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eler Beth would love it if we had a fox that ran through our back yard periodically. Foxes are her very favorite animal. She also gets irritated when people call frogs toads, or vice versa. I learned a long time ago that frogs have smooth, moist skins, and toads have dry, rough skins.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!