Despite the fact that y'all think I know a lot about critters and flowers and stuff, there is still a lot I don't know. Case in point, the wren family.
The more I looked at the picture of the wren going into the house with a bug and coming out with one that looked so different, my first thought was that it was a different bug. One of those fat, white, juicy, slugs with black heads. You know the ones I mean? Well, it bothered me and kept rattling around in my head.
Could it be poop? I wondered and then dismissed the idea. Since when does poop come in neat little packages that the mama bird could pick up? Well, it seems to me that I may have seen this at some point in my life, maybe on one of those wildlife shows I like to watch. But time was pressing in on me and I had to get my letter blog finished and sent.
"Patti wondered if you were going to post a blog this week or wait until next week?" Momma asked me during our daily call on Tuesday.
"I'm getting ready to post it right now," I told her.
"That's what I told Patti; that I thought you intended to post something."
I do try to keep Momma up-to-date on the status of my jibber-jabber. She loves me and looks forward to them and now I find out my oldest sister looks forward to them too! So I was under the pressure of missing my self-imposed deadline and rather than do any fact-checking, I posted it. Days later, if I re-read my blog, I'll find my mistakes. I know that daddy's refers to one daddy and daddies is all daddies but did I do it right? No! I can fix my blog, after it's been seen by a dozen people or so, but the rest of you are stuck with my mistakes.
And the bug thing with the wrens bothered me so I did a little research. As it turns out, and would you believe, that baby wrens do produce a fecal sac! Other birds do too. It allows the parents to keep the nest clean thereby reducing the chances of disease and predators smelling the nest. But here's something you may not know — something I didn't know — is that sometimes the parents eat it! Ewww! Gross! But the guess is that it replaces lost nutrients to the mama bird who is more likely to display this behavior and who's more stressed than the male. Ain't that the truth!
Momma knew what it was and told me about it the next day. I'm not surprised that she knew and I'm wondering if anyone else knew about it too.
I could have done a better job of telling you when Andrew's goodie box arrived at his house. I know when it got there but after I re-read what I'd written I realized it was a little ambiguous. Momma got her box in Phoenix, Arizona two days after I sent it. Andrew's box didn't have as far to go and he got it three days after I sent it, the day after Momma got hers.
Now aren't you glad we got that all straightened up?
I ended last time having shown you 61 of the 94 pictures I'd picked out to show you. That means I'm starting this time with 33 pictures and I haven't even downloaded my camera yet. I expect I'll have to skip over some of the pictures just because you've seen Hawkweed...
...and Multiflora Roses before — even if the pictures are pretty.
Mike and I finally took a day and ran out to the greenhouse to pick up some garden plants. I got regular tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cherry tomatoes, yellow squash, lavender, and pansies. They sat for a couple of days before I got around to getting them planted but they're all in and I have my mouth set for tomatoes and cottage cheese, one of my favorite summertime eats.
The greenhouse is out in the middle of the country and I took some road pictures for you.
No open barn or garage door is safe from this girl and her camera!
This wagon is almost swallowed up by the brush. I didn't get out to take its picture, just shot it through Mike's window.
At home, I'm enjoying hanging my clothes out to dry for the summer. I love the way they smell when they come off the line; full of sunshine and fresh air.
"That's all well and good, Peg," you say, "but I hate how stiff and rough they are."
That's true. If you don't have a nice breeze, things will dry a little stiffer but it's never bothered me or Mike. If you like your bath towels to be a little softer, tumble them in the dryer for a few minutes as per my mother's sage advice.
"Has Mike gotten his mower stuck again?" you wonder.
No. At least not lately. However, he did tangle with some old phone wire. He lost. He had to get under there and take the blade off the mower to get the wire out.
Last time I talked about the mama deer and her fawn. There was another event took place that week with another fawn and I wanted to circle around, pick it up, and tie it in with that other story but I didn't do it. No matter. I'll just tell you about it now.
Mike and I had gone for a short ride on the golf cart. We were going past the Kipps and heard the mower running. "Wanna stop and say hello?" Mike asked.
"Sure."
Lamar was mowing down by the creek and Mike drove the cart right down there to visit. Lamar shut his mower off, removed his hearing protection, and visited with us for a while.
This is the single-lane open-grate bridge as seen from the Kipps yard.
We had Itsy and Ginger with us and I let them run around without leashes on. They've been so good about staying with their people. That means us, you know.
The beavers aren't taking care of the dam by the Kipps house anymore. "They've got another one a little further up the creek," Lamar told me. I got off the cart and moseyed around while Mike and Lamar talked about boy stuff.
I saw raspberries coming on and then I spotted this. "Hey! You've got one of those plants here!" I exclaimed.
"What plant?" Lamar asked.
"False Hellebore!"
"That skunk cabbage?"
"Yeah!" And skunk cabbage and False Hellebore look very similar. "That's the plant I was going to take Rosie down to the other bridge and show her, and here she has some right in her own backyard!"
"Lamar, can you see the other dam from your yard?" I asked.
"Yeah, if you go further up in the yard."
We were making our way to where Lamar pointed when all of a sudden Ginger starts barking. "GINGER!" I yelled. She looks so innocent here.
She kept barking and I spotted her running across the yard chasing a fawn.
"GINGER STOP!" I demanded. But did she listen to me? No! She didn't stop until she hit the tall weeds at the edge of the yard.
Lamar took her side. "She's a dog. If it's in her yard, she's going to chase it."
"Yeah, but I'd rather she wasn't chasing baby deer."
At the upper edge of the Kipp yard, I could see the new beaver dam.
Mike and I spent part of one afternoon driving around the little town of Monroeton and Mike wanted to visit the furniture store again. While he talked recliners with Connie...
....I wandered around to areas of the store I'd not visited before. They have a great selection of... what? Early American, rustic, upcycled, reclaimed, country charm, stuff. I don't know what you call it. But I was tickled when I went around a corner and came face to face with the stairs leading to the upper floor.
When I was done looking around I joined Mike and Connie. It wasn't long before Connie said something that grabbed my interest.
"I'd love to put you on my People's Page with that quote."
"What's that?" Connie asked.
"It's just a web page I do. When I meet interesting people — like you — I take their picture and put their quote on my page."
Connie agreed.
After we left the furniture store we drove around a little and...
"WAIT! Wait, wait. Peg, aren't you going to tell us what Connie said?"
Well, I should make you go to my page and check it out but some of you aren't on the internet so I will tell you. Connie said, "I'm just so afraid to drive anymore! People pass me all the time and they'll tell me, 'I waved at you but you were stuck up.' And I'm not! The thing is, when I'm driving I have like, tunnel vision. I'm just so focused on the road, I don't see anything else. I have to drive everyone else's car for them because they're not driving them!"
After we left the furniture store we drove around a little and I took some pictures for you.
Hmmm. This house has a lot of different angles.
"Look at the pallets stacked up there," Mike said.
"They probably do pallet art," I guessed. Then when we passed the front of the house I knew it was true.
The mill in Monroeton.
Hinges.
Another day Mike saw a mobile office go past on the flatbed of a truck — oh! That reminds me. The Kipps lost another mailbox. That's five in the past year! I saw a full-size semi come down our road on Friday while they were gone to Lancaster but I didn't think anything about it. Mike said because of the way the road curves, they can make it coming in, it's going back out where they run into trouble.
But, I digress. Mike saw a mobile office go past our house so he decided we'd go for a ride and see if we could see where it ended up. I took a few road pictures.
"There it is," Mike said.
Out near the compressor station, a whole big lot was cleared and there were mobile offices and trucks and generators and a bunch of other stuff parked in there.
"What are they doing?" I asked.
"I don't know."
A little further down the road, I see a friend of mine; a lady I met at my church. "There's Jenny."
"Want to stop and say hello?" Mike asked.
"Sure! Why not."
We visited with Jenny and her daughter Gracelyn for a few minutes and Mike found out what was going on down by the compressor station.
"They're putting in a new compressor," Jenny told us.
On the way out, I got a picture of two more of Jenny's kids while they were raking hay. Alison was riding while Caleb drove the tractor.
Last weekend was the second of two busy weekends in a row. Although I spent Sunday going to church and working on my letter blog, we went down into town on Saturday for the arts festival and that's why my letter blog was two days late.
Mike went for the food, I went to hear two of my church family sing. Linda and Shawn (clapping in the back row) both have fabulous voices and I love to hear them sing.
A third person was to join them and that would be the pastor of Steph's church. I don't know if that's the only reason Jon and Steph Robinson came but I'll tell you what. Shawn hit the nail on the head when he said, "Robinson Road is well represented here."
Mike and me, the Kipps, the Robinsons, and down on the end are Sally Kyle and her brother Dean Robinson, they live across the road from me.
As we waited for Linda, Shawn, and Barry to take the stage, I spotted an eagle gliding overhead.
"Hey Peg," Jon said. "There's a lady up on Second Street that has a box of glass she just wants to give away."
"Really?" I have a bit of a glass fetish. I love glass — and copper. Especially together. I love glass and copper. "Mike, let's go get the glass and come back."
So, Mike and I left — and didn't go back. Once in the car, we just wanted to go home.
Now you're all caught up (except for a few critter pictures) so let's call this one done!
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