July day

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Kathy

I’m getting a late start today and wasn’t on the computer much yesterday. Thunderstorms rolled through late yesterday morning and again in the afternoon, cooling and cleaning the air. We really needed the rain. When Bode scratched the ground after marking posts, he was raising clouds of dust that darkened the fur on his legs and underbody. By evening it was incredibly nice out, making the indoor air seem stuffy. I took Bode out to walk and found there were so many people (and dogs) out on the bike path that we almost needed someone to direct traffic.

It is in the 60s this morning and clear again, and to be cooler. I was waiting for cooler weather to transplant some of the seedlings from the back deck, but today will need to be the day. Apparently we had a visitor last night who dug out the biggest potted pepper and rolled the pot. It also moved the window box with the surviving nasturtiums off the shelf under my bedroom window and dug them out too. It overturned the small pots of alpine strawberry plants and the egg carton with newer seedlings and left dark paw prints on the white siding underneath my bedroom window and on the window sill. I suspect it was a rather large raccoon.

I rolled back over when Bode got me up at 6 am and didn’t wake up until almost 8 am. I cooked a slice of bacon and put the leftover mush from yesterday into the pan to fry and added an egg. I am just finishing the tea. Main projects for today are to take care of the plants and give Bode a bath.

No photo today but here is Bode’s Dogster badge:

Dogster

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Ross Avenue adventure

Posted on July 10, 2007 by Kathy

Tuesday seems to be the adventure day for July. Last week we ventured across Veteran’s Bridge (Route 128) and drove through Cadogan, Freeport, and Sarver. While we were out one evening last week, someone said that the boat launch area in Rosston was a nice place to go. This morning it was 65°F, well in Bode’s comfort range, so instead of going up the street, we went into the car just as the sun cleared the hill.

Looking north on 5th Avenue as sun clears hill.
Continue reading →

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July – glorious summer

Posted on July 7, 2007 by Kathy

I took a picture of mist rising on the river on Monday morning when it was in the low 50s, but then decided to use it on Rowly’s Mito Matters site, post is here.

I haven’t seen the turtle in the yard since I put it part way up the hill behind the house in the evening of the day I last posted. I picked it up from beside the street in front of the neighbor’s house to the south. It looked around, took a bite from a leaf, then disappeared into the underbrush. Bode still checks for it out front every morning. I hope it is happy in the woods and stays off 5th Avenue with its traffic.

Despite having rain several days, the soil is still dry in many places. The pea flowers burst into pods and there are good sized tomatoes and peppers although they are not ripe yet.

This was my first Heritage Days festival, June 29 through July 4. In addition to the food booths, foot race, fireworks, and parade, there was an organ concert at Christ, Prince of Peace church last Sunday afternoon. It was rainy on July 4th, but the skies cleared in time for the fireworks display to start on schedule. The sidewalk across the street was an excellent vantage point. I was a bit worried about how Bode would take it, but it was about the same as for a thunderstorm. The next morning he let me sleep in until after 8 am though, the noise kept him up past his usual bed time.

I am just back from a yard work break. My neighbor John and his son were out back and they loaned me their heavy duty pruning shears. Some shoots from the stump of a tree were growing out over the roof of the deck and the storage shed. It was time to get them trimmed before they turned into another tree.

We had a microburst early in the evening of June 27, pretty spectacular, power was out from just after 6 pm until almost 8:30 pm — made for a lot of getting to know the neighbors and a long dog walk. Then on Friday, June 29, we had this stunning sunset:

Sunset

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thirsty turtle

Posted on June 25, 2007 by Kathy

turtle as landscape
When we went out this morning a turtle the same size and species as the one last week was digging through the decorative gravel between the bush and the front walk. I guess turtles don’t quite fit Bode’s conception of things, must be a herd dog thing. He wants to chase it, but as a second option is treating it as vermin. He again tried jumping on its shell in an attempt to flush it out. It was hard, but “walkies” won out. The turtle had some dog saliva on its shell, but seemed unharmed otherwise. When we returned the turtle was in the same spot. We went in the back door.
Depending on which weather report you believe, we have somewhere between 20 and 40 percent chance of rain today. I decided to go ahead and water the vegetables and flowers anyway, figure they could use the drink right now and with the way thunderstorms can be spotty, might be their only water today.
The turtle went onto the walk and put its nose down onto the place moistened by the spray. I got a dish of water for it, which it seemed to appreciate. I don’t know if perky is a good description for a reptile, but it certainly became more lively after its drink.
Bode on watch at the front door
Bode watched it from his post behind the storm door. The turtle has moved enough gravel that quite a patch of landscaping cloth is showing.
Bode alerted me when the children next door returned from visiting their grandmother. When they came over to look, the turtle made its way quickly across the front walk and into the side yard.

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the stone that moved

Posted on June 22, 2007 by Kathy

Early morning turtle sighting

Perhaps reading “The Bagman’s Story” in Chapter 14 of The Pickwick Papers last night set me up for it. More likely though it was the usual early morning fuzzyness. Bode has established a ritual, so was able to get myself dressed and him into his harness and on the doorstep just after 6 am.

My first impression was that someone had put a new rock on the gravel mulch beside the mailbox post. Then it moved! Continue reading →

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