What Is This Blog About?

I’ve recently joined a group of bloggers on a site caller Triberr.com. I suspect, over time, this blog may get some increased traffic, not that I’m looking for that, and one of the first questions I’m sure new visitors will be asking themselves is, “What is this blog about?” Let me answer this in a shorthand and a longhand way.

Shorthand: This blog is about nothing in particular.

Longhand: This blog is about everything I experience in my life here in Tennessee. That’s actually quite a bit even though I’m pretty much a hermit. I’ve been writing this blog for over two years and I’m closing in on my 500th post. What you’ll find here are short tidbits about everything anyone might experience in Tennessee and most other places. You’ll also probably read more about this paranoid schizophrenic (yes, I’m diagnosed and if any of you know me personally you’ll know that explains a great deal) than you ever want to know. You’ll read about bats, spiders, galvanized bees, dancing leaves, poke salad, super moons, blue moons, thunder rolling through the valleys, sunlight warming the floor in the winter, meteor showers, hummingbirds, birds in general, ninja snapdragons, seasonal changes, and dozens of other things. Yes, this blog isn’t about anything but at the same time it’s about practically everything.

From time to time You’ll read me mention my authors site at www.AnthroTales.com. Since I retired as an IT professions a couple of years ago I have taken up my love of writing. I use the “imaginary” animals I talk to on a daily basis for inspiration and sometimes as characters in my stories. Maleen, my ferret (never, never cal her a weasel!) is still waiting for me to work her into one of my stories. She’s been much more patient than I would have expected. I have promised her and I will, but I have to have the right story to bring out all of her characteristics.

You’ll also watch the seasons change here with me. You’ll see fireflies and birds. In a long explanation this blog is a slice of my life. It’s about the beauty surrounding us that most of us miss. It’s a few minutes of your time, encouraging you to slow down and smell the roses, the coffee, the chocolate, the dog, the hyacinths, and the freshly mowed grass. I missed much of it when I was in the rat race and I regret that. Quinn kept telling me to slow down and pay attention but I was too busy to listen. Once I did slow down I understood the wisdom in what he had always told me and decided to pass that wisdom on to the readers of this blog.

So, what’s this blog about? It’s about nothing, and everything.

Hope you’re now as confused as I normally am. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

Buds

No, don’t get excited if you’re an old stoner. I’m not referring to those kind of buds. I’m talking about buds on my Shasta Daisies. The real Shasta Daisies, not those imposters I planted last year. Real Shastas are perennial and will take over an area within a few years. Not only do they come back from the roots but the flowers produce a ton of seeds which also fall and grow readily. My flower garden will be a riot of tall dasies this year. As you can see from the picture on the right they are already starting to bud out. Within a few days I expect I’ll have some blossoms.

Now, don’t count out the mutant snapdragons. They are already growing taller than any snapdragons I have ever seen. They are towering over the shastas and giving them a run for the real estate. This winter will be very interesting. I’ve never seen Snapdragons survive through the winter but these obviously did. Maybe the shastas will too. We’ll all see together!

I saw a turkey in my front yard today. It was feeding in the tall flowers growing outside my fence line and it stayed there for well over 30 minutes. I believe it was from this years hatch since it was not terribly large. I kept expecting to see others join it but that never happened.

Hope your Monday was a great one. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

Lime Rickey

I have a favorite summer drink and, now that it seems summer has arrived early in Tennessee I’m thinking about it more and more often. It’s a wonderfully refreshing drink called a Lime Rickey. Now you can find recipes for this drink all over the Internet. I have my own version which is the way I have made them for over 30 years and I have not found a recipe that beats it for taste and as a refreshing hot summer day drink. The first thing you need is the correct glass. A very large goblet will do nicely. If you don;t have one a large brandy snifter will also suffice but go and purchase some large goblets. Glass is preferable.

The recipe is simplicity itself. Fill the goblet about 1/2 fill of ice. Cubed or crushed works just fine. Pour in 2 ounces of gin. pour in limeade, made from concentrate, to cover the ice and fill the goblet to about 3/4 full. You can add cherries or superfine sugar if you want but it’s honestly great without either. Stir and enjoy.

A slight variation, and slightly sweeter is to use the exact same recipe but add a dash of Maraschino cherry juice and blend the mixture in a blender and return the drink to the goblet. Superfine sugar can be added if you want a sweeter drink and the calories that go with it.

On the next hot day in your area give this drink a try and let me know what you think. Do not attempt to work outdoors, especially if you’re trying to build anything. This drink, and functioning competently in the heat, do not go together.

Hope your Sunday was cooler than it was here. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

 

Night Shots

I waited until late tonight because I wanted to get some shots of the moon and some night shots of the land around where I live. I think many of them came out quite good. You’ll also see some of the shots with streaks and bright spots of light in them. Those are fireflies. All pictures were taken in time lapse without the use of flash. As always, clicking on any image will show a higher resolution version. Enjoy!

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Supermoon

Anyone who knows me knows I love anything science. If it has to do with math, astronomy, meteorology, archaeology, virtually anything having to do with science I’m all over it. Tomorrow night the moon is what’s being called a super moon. It will be as close to the earth as it’s going to get at any time in 2012 and it’s also going to be full. Those two things will make the moon look larger than it normally does.

Now, don’t go crazy. Every so often someone sends me something saying Mars will be close to the earth and will look as big as a full moon. First, Mars is over 300 million miles from us. To get to appear as large as a full moon it would have to travel almost half that distance to us and, if it did, we’d have far more to worry about than a larger than normal Mars in our sky! Most people don’t realize the orbit the moon has around the earth is not circular. It’s also not in the same plane as the earth. If it were eclipses of both the sun and moon would occur once a month. Instead they’re relatively rare because the sun, moon and earth have to be in exact alignment with each other for that to happen. The moon does get close to the earth frequently but not in the full pahse. That’s what makes tomorrow night’s full moon something special to see.

If you get a chance, go out just after sunset tomorrow night and watch the full moon rise. It’s best if you can see the moon rising over the horizon and compare it to the scenery on earth. It appears even larger when you do that because, once in the sky, there’s very little to compare it to. However, when the full moon, even a normal one, is rising over buildings and trees it looks that much larger than normal and tomorrow night’s moon should look spectacular.For those of you on the east coast of Florida, watching the moon rise over the ocean should be a awe inspiring sight tomorrow.

I’ll probably go out and howl at it. I do that from time to time. Yes, my neighbors think I’m crazy. If they only knew the truth. *laughs*

Hope your Friday was a great one. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

Catbird

I have a cat named Sparky. You’ve seen pictures of him on this site from time to time. He’s a black cat with touches of white on his stomach and chest but, he’s mostly black. Sparky is also a predominantly outside cat. Oh, when the weather is lousy or really cold he loves to come inside and curl up at the foot of the bed, but otherwise you can’t keep him in the house. In the winter, because he’s outside 90% of the time he eats like a fiend and stays pretty thin. In the summer he doesn’t eat quite as much. It’s probably due to a combination of it being warmer and the plentiful birds and mice I have around the area and in the nearby woods. I have seen him tormenting a mouse a few times so I suspect he supplements his food with what he catches.

I noticed the other day that the food dish I put out for him has been being emptied by the end of the day. Now the weather has warmed considerably recently and I expected Sparky’s food consumption to drop off. I also suspected my dogs might have been getting into Sparky’s food but that’s not the case. I set the bowl on my patio table surrounded by deck chairs so they simply can’t get at the food. Still it was disappearing. Today I discovered why and you can see the culprit in the picture to the right. I don’t begrudge them the food, they probably are raising little ones. I’m just concerned I’ll begin hearing meowing coming from some of the birdhouses in my yard. That would disturb me greatly.

Hope your Thursday was a good one. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

 

Strange Hummingbirds

My sister and I have a friendly competition when it comes to hummingbirds. We are both trying to see who can have the largest number of hummingbirds at their feeder. This probably goes back to our days competing at kickball. Sometimes she would win, sometimes I would win but it was so much fun that we still joke about it to this day. My son is like that too. One time we went fishing near where I lived in Florida and we were competing on who caught the most. People would think we meant fish but that’s not how the competition between us turned out. You see, that day I snagged my bait on a rock but when I got it loose and pulled to shore I had actually gotten my hook inside a clam and it closed on it. So, I caught a clam! Jason later caught a stick, and I think a shoe so he won the contest. Neither of us caught a single fish!

So today I claim the lead in the hummingbird contest! I am so far ahead my sister will never catch up. Oh, she might be able to claim a larger number of ruby-throated hummingbirds but I can most certainly claim the most different KINDS of hummingbirds and I have the photos to prove it. Take that sis! You can’t possibly win. My son Jason would be so proud!

Hope you had a great Wednesday. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

Dry

I was hoping for some rain today. There were storms around early this morning. When I got up this morning around 4am to feed the puppies there were frequent flashes of lightning in the northwest. As frequently happens here in Tennessee I didn’t hear any thunder but the lightning was definitely visible in the total darkness. Unfortunately the rain passed us by completely. I watered my trees today and they’re doing well but I’d really like to get some rain for the grass and flowers around the property.

I went out last night looking for bats and didn’t see any. I’m now wondering if the one I saw a few nights ago was one of the earliest ones just passing through on its way to where ever it is heading. I’m going to watch for them again tonight to see if more are coming into the area. Its not that I usually have a large number of bats in this area, I don’t but I have seen three or four at any given time in the early evening and with this heat they should be comfortable enough to come back into the area. We’ll see.

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Hope you had a Great Tuesday. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

Bats and Berries

I saw my first bat of the year last night! Only one but it was here flying quite high and obviously feeding. I watched for almost 15 minutes but only saw the single bat. I expect there will be others before long. I’m going outside to look for more tonight. I’m seriously thinking of putting up a bat nesting house but those things are expensive so it may just wait until next year.

In my travels today I drove past some wide open fields. Those are very common here in Tennessee but, over the year, that change appearance dramatically. Early in the spring they’re almost a uniform brown or sickly yellow from the winter. Then in the early spring they are a vibrant green. Later in the spring, where we are now, many of them look almost snow covered. It’s not because of snow of course but because the blackberry and raspberry bushes are in such prolific bloom. Today was no exception. Field after field, filled with brambles, were a riot of white. The berry bushes were in full bloom. It should be a good late summer for the birds when all of these blooms come into fruit. If we get sufficient rain we will have a ton of berries this year. I can’t wait!

It’s wonderful to be able to see what’s happening around the open fields in Tennessee. I hope you folks are keeping your eyes open in your little area of the world. There’s just so much to see.

Hope you had a great Monday. Here are today’s pictures:

 

 

Leaves

The heat has returned and, as I expected, the field around me was filled with fireflies last evening. There will probably be a few more tonight. I’m going to go out, sit on one of my patio chairs, and watch them. I did go out at dusk last evening and didn’t see any bats flying around. Maybe tonight. I’m going to look for them again tonight as well.

Tomorrow I think I’ll go purchase a bottle of wine. I talked online with an old (well, she’s not old, just a longtime friend) friend, Melinda. I used to go over to her home a couple of times a month, share a bottle of wine with her and talk about what’s going on in the world. Much of it was work related seeing as we had both worked at the same place for awile, but other conversations were about politics, dogs and almost anything else we could dream up. Her dog Sadie was a riot. Melinda has an in-ground swimming pool and Sadie, being a lab, loves to swim. When no one is watching she’ll doggie paddle quietly around the pool, chasing a ball of a Kong or anything else she feels is one of her toys. However, if you’re watching her she lifts her paws high out of the water and splashes mightly as though proving what a great swimmer she is. If nothing else, Sadie is a ham. I miss those visits.

As you can see from the above picture on the right, my chestnut trees, all of them, have now sprouted leaves. Soon, well within 15 years, I’ll have chestnuts! You are al invited over for a roast in late October of 2027! *laughs*

Hope you had a great Sunday. Here are today’s pictures: