All Kinds Of Spotted!

         I promised — sort of — to tell you this time about my experience selling sun catchers.

         Mike and I set up two weekends in a row, the first time in Wyalusing at a car show and the second time in Dushore at their first annual community-wide yard sale event.

         I actually sold more at the car show than I did in Dushore — money wise anyway. Item wise they were within one number of each other.

         I walked around the yard sales in Dushore and found a few treasures of my own and it seemed like every time I left our tent Mike sold something.

         "She picked up that bracelet right away and said how pretty it was but then she put it down," Mike told me. "They went out on the sidewalk and talked for a minute then he came back in and bought it for her."

         A little while later they are walking down the other side of the street and she's wearing the bracelet that I made. How cool is that!

       

         In Dushore I sold four of these little guys. "Butt Heads!" one lady exclaimed. "You can't find these anymore." She went on to tell me that when people empty her ashtrays for her they dump the Snuffers in the trash too. "I wish they'd learn to take the Butt Head out before they dump it!"

         A little girl liked the owl so much her mother bought it as a pencil holder for her. "It does roll away a lot," she said.

         On the way down to Dushore that Saturday morning we saw someone had hit the bridge that crosses our little creek.

         "I wonder if the Kipps know who did it?" I asked Mike. I glance at the time — 7:20 "I'll call them after a while." Everyone knows the Kipps rise at 7:30 every morning so don't call them before that.

         "No, we don't know anything about it. It must have happened while we were sleeping. Did they get my mailbox again?" Lamar asked.

         "I don't know. I didn't pay any attention to that." I was too busy gawking at the crumpled up rails.

         Rosie called when I was out browsing the yard sales in Dushore. "Lamar found a notice on our front porch from the State Police," she told me. "He tried to call but the reporting officer was off duty. He'll try again later."

         By the time we came home from Dushore, Lamar had a new mailbox put up.

         "You guys are keeping Ace Hardware in business just buying new mailboxes, aren't you," I said to Rosie.

         The Kipps have lived on this road for many years. "We've lost one or two before, but over the course of a few years. In the past year we've had to put up at least three new boxes," Rosie replied.

         You can see the path right behind the Kipps mailbox that the truck used to plow it over and tear up the bridge.

         A week later the county welded new rails on and the bridge is good as new!

         "Peg, how's your renovation project coming along?" you ask.

         Well, my goodness! Thank you so much for asking! As a matter of fact, we've made great progress this week alone!

         Mike bought an airless sprayer. Just a cheap one from Harbor Freight plus we had a 20% off coupon on top of that. So! We are now proud owners of an airless sprayer and no experience using one.

         "Once you use it, you'll love it!" the salesman told Mike.

         We unboxed it, put it all together and read the instructions. "I don't understand it," Mike says. "Will you help me?"

         "Mike!" I was frustrated. "How do you eat an elephant?" I didn't wait for him to answer, not that I thought he would. "One bite at a time!" I left whatever I was doing and went to help him. "Let's just take it one step at a time!"

         It took us a while...

         "I hate this thing! I'm gonna throw it away!" Mike complained.

         "Cool your jets!" is my standard response when he's impatient. "We'll figure it out!"

         ...and we made several mistakes...

         "I hate this thing! I'm gonna throw it away!"

         "Just cool your jets, mister! It'll get easier — when we know what we're doing."

         ...and a few small messes...

         "I hate this thing! I'm gonna throw it away!"

         ...but eventually we figured it out, and what a time saver it was. Mike sprayed the whole ceiling, with all of its nooks and crannies, in about twenty minutes. It would have been hours and maybe days if he had brushed it!

         Once the ceiling was done, we stood back and admired our work.

         "Rosie's gonna hate it," Mike said.

         "No she won't," I stuck up for her. "She said she likes the natural wood and she wouldn't paint it if it was hers, but we could do whatever we wanted."

         We masked off the ceiling and painted the walls. This time, since we knew a little better what to do and what to expect from the airless sprayer, it was easier.

         Again, the sprayer is a tremendous time saver. It takes longer to mask off than to paint.

         Even though the photos don't do it justice and you can't really tell, we mixed up the colors of the bedroom, choosing Avocado Green for two walls and Meadow Green for the other two. The third time we used the airless sprayer it was even easier.

         We aren't planning to do the crown molding or the carpet right now so we decided to paint the floor.

         The fourth time we used the sprayer, things went smoothly and much more quickly. "What do you think of it now!" I exclaimed triumphantly.

         "Mumble, mumble, grumble, grumble."

         "What did you say? I didn't hear you!"

         "I guess it's alright."

         I felt vindicated.

         We gave the floor a good two days to dry then we pulled the trailer up to the house and unloaded the bedroom furniture.

          "Peg, it looks like someone has a Christmas Bear fetish!" you say.

         Someone does. I just happen to be the recipient of someone's bear fetish. And this is only a small part of them. There are more in the way-back of the mill, in storage. When we get around to unpacking them we'll see how many have survived the birthing of kittens.

         Well, I think that's about all the news I have right now. Shall we move on to pictures?

         Barn quilt!

         This one is on the meat processing plant just outside of town.

         We are still having issues with whistle pigs. It seems like as soon as you get rid of one, another moves in! He must have known where the old burrows were because he pulled out all the rocks Mike had in there. And we have a young guy up at the other barn.

         After catching the first one so easy I thought this would be a piece of cake. We bought another cantaloupe, I sliced half of it up, giving most of it to Mike who likes the melon, and I used the rest to bait the trap with. "Do you think it's really necessary to camouflage the trap?" I asked.

         "I don't think so and Jon Robinson doesn't think so either."

         We checked the trap several times every day and we didn't catch anyone. I'd let the field camera go for several days before I finally decided to check it. I saw deer and rabbits and cats and a possum and then, "There he is!" I exclaimed to Mike. "He nosed around the trap but he didn't go in!"

         "I guess you do have to camouflage it then," Mike said.

         I put fresh bait in the trap and Mike cut me some branches. The next morning this guy was in the trap.

         "What do you want to do with him?" Mike asked.

         "Turn him loose. They don't burrow and they eat mice. Okay?"

         "All right."

         I opened the door and he skedaddled, never looking back.

         I've re-baited, re-camouflaged, and re-set the trap. By the time Mr. Whistle Pig came around the wind had knocked my camouflage asunder and he wasn't interested in going in.

         And so the battle continues...

  

  

       "Peg, I thought you said you didn't have any more stories," you say.

         I know, right! Sometimes I don't even know I have a story!

         As I was taking pictures of this ladybug baby, aka, larvae,

 this guy decided he wanted his pictures taken too. I think he's a damselfly nymph.

         This one I didn't have to look up, I knew what he was. Do you?

         "It's a bug," you say.      

         Yes, it's a bug. It's an Emerald Ash Borer. These are the guys that are killing all of our ash trees.

         Stephanie! We haven't talked about poop in a while...

         "Good grief!" I hear her say. "Not another poop story!"

         Well, not really a poop story, just the poop. Bear poop! I haven't seen a bear here but I know one's been here!

         Ginger found a toadie! I wouldn't let her have it.

         Then another day she found a snake! I didn't let her have that either! I showed Lamar the picture, "It's just a little garter snake," he said.

   

      Do you remember this photo from a month ago? I told you I thought it was some kind of honeysuckle?

        These bushes now have red berries in pairs where the flowers were. I spent a long time Googling both the flower and the berries and even though I didn't find the flowers (yet — I haven't given up, I've got a couple of more books to look through). I've found lots of pictures of these berries— berries just like these with leaves the same or very similar are identified as bush honeysuckle. I just can't trace the berry back to this flower. So here's what's going on. Either these are not bush honeysuckle or I've got the wrong flower on the wrong bush. I've reached out to the PA Dept of Natural Resources and we'll see if I get an answer.

         Spittlebugs! I haven't actually seen them, but I know they were here!

        Look at our cherries! I don't know what variety of cherry we planted but they are ripe and starting to rot without turning completely red.

         The very next day, the day after I took this photo, Mike and I went up on the hill to pick rocks and there was not...

         ONE!

         SINGLE!

         CHERRY!

         Left on the tree!

         Okay. That was slightly more dramatic than the real truth. There may be a little green one or a dried up, shriveled one left on the tree but it was pretty much picked clean.

         It amazes me that they knew just when to eat the cherries.

         You know something? I was sitting here remembering the time I'd watched the Cedar Waxwings clean out a wild grape vine and I'd gotten some great pictures, I wished I'd have seen the birds pick my tree clean.

         But how am I going to know when they are there? I wondered.

         And it downed on me — the noise!

         Now that I think about it, I did hear a lot of noise from up on the hill about the time the tree was picked clean. I think I'd even made a comment to the Kipps who were just leaving after a morning visit. There was such a ruckus I'd said, "Listen to those birds!"

         Well, at least I'll know what's going on next year! It'll give us something to look forward to.

         Look at this cat! Rascal is enjoying his head rub so much that he's just really relaxed.

         On a golf cart ride down our little dirt road, I snapped two pictures of this guy before he took off.

         This, my dears, is an Indigo Bunting! I don't think I've ever gotten a photograph of one of these guys before!

         On the way back to the house Mike noticed our mailbox was becoming engulfed in weeds. He got off the cart and took his manually powered weed-whacker to the task. He keeps basic tools on the cart. Mike made it look easy but I know its work to swing one of these things and he made short work of it. This is how we used to have to do it before they invented the Weed Eater in 1972, and even then, who could afford one?

         This guy is a small skipper butterfly.

         I was walking Ginger down by the creek when I saw this pretty blue flower.

         Mist Flowers! I thought. Then I got closer and saw that they are not Mist Flowers. In fact, I've never seen these before. Another first for me!

         I think these are Forget-Me-Nots!

         I do the best I can telling you guys what the things are that I photograph but if I get something wrong, you have to tell me.

         Day Lilies are blooming. Did you know you can steam and eat the unopened buds of the lily and they taste very much like asparagus? I've never tried them, I'm going by what I've read. But someday maybe!

         I don't know what either one of the next two trees are either, so when I get my tree book out I'll have to see if I can identify them.

         The milkweed is just starting to bloom. This picture was taken in the early morning with the dew on them.

         If you never look at the flower close-up, you never see just how beautiful they are, and the ants like them too!

         Wild Basil, and yes, you can use the leaves in your cooking or make them into a tea. They can also be used in making brown and yellow dye, if you've ever thought about making your own dyes.

         Spotted Touch-me-nots are also known as Jewelweed. The juice from this plant is a remedy for skin rashes.

         "That's why you will often find it growing close to poison ivy," my cute little red-haired sister told me.

         Are you guys bored with my flower pictures, names, and facts? I wonder as I'm putting this blog together.

        

         Mike and I were moving stuff around in our unfinished utility room. It's so unfinished that there are no walls yet, just studs. Right next door is where the dryer sits, waiting for his mate, the washer, to join him someday.

         "Get it out of here!" Mike says in a bit of a panic.

         I immediately went on high alert. "What?"

         "That thing!" and he points towards the dryer.

         I stepped forward and looked behind the dryer expecting to find a mouse or ground squirrel maybe. I wasn't surprised when I didn't see anything. Did it go under, I wondered. Maybe it was a snake!

         "What?" I asked again.

         "There on the wall!"

         My focus shifted and I saw him...er, her. "It's just a spider!"

         "I don't want it in here — get it out!"

         I got an empty coffee jar and used the lid to nudge her inside. She didn't want to go. "She's carrying her egg sack," I said.

         "Mumble, grumble."

         I must have been too focused on the spider to pay attention to what he said. "I'll take her out to the pond." Only I didn't make it the whole way to the pond. I was afraid the frogs might eat her — I know! I'm silly! I turned her lose in the weeds down away from the house.

         She's a Spotted Wolf Spider. These spiders never spin a web and the female will carry her young around on her back until they get big enough to take care of themselves.

         Wild garlic! I'd never seen it here before. You can use all of the wild garlic plant, but just remember, if it looks like wild garlic but doesn't smell like garlic, it's not garlic and don't eat it!

         Black-eyed Susans! I just love the wildflowers — but I bet you knew that about me.

         The Black-eyed Susan is the state flower of Maryland. These flowers were used as medicine by the Native Americans. The roots were used to boost immunity, fight colds, and infections. They used it as an astringent to wash sores and swellings. The Ojibwa people used it as a poultice for snakebites and to make an infusion for treating colds and worms in children. The plant is a diuretic and was used by the Menominee and Potawatomi peoples. The juice from the roots has also been used as drops for earaches.

         So much of our natural healing ways have gone by the wayside, but don't get me wrong — I love modern medicine.

        Here's another Twelve-spotted Skimmer from the pond. I love the dragonflies too.

         Here are a couple of beetles I found hanging around. I'm not for sure what their names are but did you know there are as many as 350,000 species of beetles.

         There are still a few late blooming buttercups around.

         The Deptford Pinks are coming into their own and are all over the place! Aren't they pretty!

        This little guy is an Eastern Tailed-Blue and about as big as my thumbnail. He's different from the Summer Azure I showed you last time in that Azures don't have tails on their hind wings.

         Eastern Tailed-Blues feed on various legumes and are known to secrete a substance which is favored by some ants. The ants in turn protect the butterfly larva from other predators. How cool is that!

     

         You may know what this is. I generally just call them stick-tights but they have a real name. They're Cleavers also called Bedstraw and Goosegrass. This is another plant used by the herbalists.

         The raspberries are starting to ripen! I picked three or four and gave them to Ginger. She loves them.

         I have a bit of family news to share.

         Welcome, Elliott Wayne Mancha, to our world.

         Elliott was born on June 8, 2017 and weighed in at 6 pounds 1.2 ounces. He was 18.5 inches long.

         Elliott's mother is Kayla, daughter of Yvette, and that makes Elliott my brother Richard's great-grandson.

         Congratulations! He's a beautiful baby.

         Let's call this one done!