Random stuff

I stepped into the back yard to scoop poop this week and realized something.  The cicadas are gone!!  I'm not sure exactly when I last heard them, but I think it's been awhile.  I'm glad their lifespan above ground is short and I'm also glad I won't have to listen to that again for another 13 years!

I'm getting excited about our pears.  Wait, let me back up for a minute...  My husband has always wanted to have pecan trees and fruit trees.  When we first moved to the country, he planted quite a few on a spot he cleared at the north end of our property (pre-pasture/livestock/pond days).  Despite meticulous care, they didn't make it.  I think the worst was when kids(?) on ATVs destroyed quite a few of them by running over them!  He tried again when we were big into the goat business.  Well, you can imagine what happened with that.  Just think goats, horns, and the need to butt things.  A few years ago he decided to give it one more try with three pear trees in our front yard.  Two of them have fruit this year!!  I'm hoping to at least get a pie or cobbler out of the deal if we can fend off the bugs, birds and whatever else might get in the way.

For this final item you might want to quit reading if you're the type who switches the channel when the lion starts chasing the antelope during the nature show.  My husband was working in our new "pool garden" (which deserves an entry of its own) and I was standing on the back steps calling for Alice and Mabel to come in while taking in the heavenly aroma of our gardenias that are blooming.  All of a sudden we heard a huge crashing noise and I saw something fall from a tree.  Immediately Suzy and MamaDog went tearing into the woods.  My husband asked "What was that??" and I told him I thought it looked like a squirrel fell out of the tree.  He looked a little skeptical and said that squirrels were very sure-footed creatures.  I said maybe the branch broke off when it jumped on it.  Before he could counter that, here came Suzy prancing out of the woods with a live squirrel in her mouth looking very pleased with herself.  I'll stop my story there.  Besides... I decided it was time to come back inside at that point. 

 

Cobwebs at the pond

Start with a loop from one dead tree to the next.

Cobwebs are at the top of the dead tree, not between Suzy's ears!

This is my favorite.

Spiders at the pond stay busy!

Brief update of fish, no fish and cicadas

A quick update on a post from earlier in the month...

My lone angelfish is thriving (so far!). In fact, it spends more time out on display now than it does hiding. I should know from past experience that angels like to be solitary creatures.

We've taken a couple of spins on the pond this week.  The fish aren't biting that well, but I did manage to catch a few (including a big one!).  At least I remembered my camera and got some photos this time.  The first will appear in my SSS entry this weekend.

The cicadas are STILL singing at full blast.  They sound like they've changed location a bit, but they're still at it.  I've seen several clinging to the window screen when I've opened my bedroom blinds in the mornings.  I've also seen a number of carcasses littering the yard.  I even had one bean me right between the eyes when I was out scooping poop in the backyard last week! 

Fish, No Fish, and Cicadas

I currently have two tropical fish tanks, a 23-gallon hex-front flat-back in the kitchen and a 55-gallon rectangular tank in the living room.  The kitchen tank houses a gourami and a tiger barb.  The larger tank has two glowlight tetras and three large silverdollar fish.  I recently saw the cutest little angelfish at WalMart and decided to buy some for both tanks.  In addition, I got a plecostomus for each tank to cut down on the need for algae scraping.  *sigh*  My fish obviously didn't roll out the welcome-wagon for the newcomers.  Both the plecostomus and the angel I put in the small tank are dead.  I found the bones of the former this morning and all traces of the latter were gone within the first 24 hours!  Of the three angels and one plecostomus I put in the larger tank, only one lone angel remains.  I've noticed it hides all the time.  Good luck little angel!

We've had so much wind and bad weather lately we haven't been able to do any fishing.  We finally gave it a go yesterday evening.  Temperatures have been fairly chilly during the past week and there is a lot of new water in the pond, so I wasn't sure how well we would do.  It was really slow at first, but my husband ended up catching three - one of them fairly large.  Me?  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  The sad thing is I forgot to carry my camera with me and I missed some nice photo opportunities.  Cows, Cormorants, Canada Geese....all sorts of nice "naturey" things.  Oh, well.  Maybe next time.

I should have waited a week to post about the Cicadas.  The volume of their "singing" has doubled and there's no doubt now what is making it.  It's truly amazing!! 

What IS that noise??

About a week ago I stepped outside and heard a curious sound.  At first I thought it might be a small leak on the gas pipeline near our house, but no... it wasn't coming from that direction.  There's a set of high-voltage power lines in the direction it did seem to come from, but sound can be deceptive.  Either notion was mildly disturbing.  Occasionally I wouldn't hear it, but other times it was so loud I could hear it in my home with the doors and windows shut! 

Turns out "Mother Nature" is to blame.  It's nothing more than Brood XIX of the Periodical Cicada!!  It led me to do a little research and see what I could learn.  I grew up plucking little brown shells (the exoskeletons they leave behind) from trees.  We knew they were left by what we called "locusts", but I now know are actually Cicadas.  There are annual varieties (which is why I found the shells every year), but there are also Periodical Cicadas which only emerge on a 13 or 17-year schedule.  The ones in our area are the 13-year variety and belong to Brood XIX.  Come 2015 we may see some again when Brood XXIII emerges.  The little critters spent the past 13 years underground and have all emerged simultaneously to "sing" for the next month.  It's an amazing sound!  My newspaper reported that there was a case a few years back where the sound was so intense near the Memphis Airport that it was louder than the jet engines!

I tried to capture the sound on my cellphone to share here.  It's a poor video, but maybe if you turn up your volume you will be able to hear the steady hum of the Cicadas in the background.  Oh, and that tree in the clip is the same one pictured here.    

My cockroach

Sometimes there are things in real life that aren't very cute, but when made "plush" seem entirely different.  A good example of this can be found in a recent post by Cruella.  In the real world, slugs totally gross me out!  However, I thought "Sluggy" was just too cute for words!

Reading about Sluggy got me to thinking about my cockroach.  Many, many years ago my sister gave me a cockroach hand-puppet.  His six legs are designed to accomodate either a right or left hand and his wings are made from leather. 

Isn't he a fine looking fellow?!?

Shadow Shot Sunday #2

I just used this photo in a September blog post, but it has such a nice shadow I wanted to use it again for Shadow Shot Sunday. Be sure to check out Hey Harriet for more shadow photography!

Open your eyes!

You never know what you're going to see when you make the effort to really notice things! You should be able to click on these to enlarge them.

This little guy barely slowed down to get his picture snapped!

I prefer green lizards to this kind.

These died off in the middle of the summer, but came back beautifully later.

This little grasshopper thought he was hidden.

These green dragonflies are my favorites. They love to pose!

My camera never would focus on the flower.

I hate worms, so it was difficult for me to take this one. Ugh!

These flowers (weeds) are everywhere!

Want a closer look?

Another weed, but still quite pretty.

This thing turned its head to look at me. How creepy is that!?

I have no idea what this plant is, but it's sure interesting!

(Least) Favorite Five - Bugs!

If you are an entomologist you probably like bugs, but I'm not and I don't. In fact, I don't think I could come up with five that I do like. So instead of making this a favorite five entry, it's going to be a least favorite five entry!

1. Worms - I can't stand any kind of worm. That includes millipedes, centipedes, earthworms, inchworms, tapeworms, any worms. The only kind of worm I want to come into contact with is the plastic variety I bass fish with.

2. Horse flies/ deer flies - The former are quite large and often found around swimming pools or watering holes. The latter are smaller but more aggressive and seem to be everywhere! I remember seeing horse flies when I was growing up in town, but don't think I ever saw a deer fly until I moved to the country.

3. Fire Ants - These vicious things are next to impossible to get rid of. Destroy a mound and it just pops up somewhere nearby. One of my worst encounters was the time I thrust my arms into a hay bale not realizing it was loaded with ants. I stopped counting the bites when I reached 100. The bites itch and sting for days! I've had more than my share on my feet, too. Oh, and when they do get on you... they stick like glue and have to be brushed off.

4. Fleas - With all the dogs we've had over the years it's a wonder we haven't had more problems with fleas than we have. They're definitely a nightmare to deal with when they get in the house... not to mention how miserable it is for the poor pups.

5. Ticks - Ticks are bad enough, but what I really hate are seed ticks! It's one thing dealing with a bug or two that is easily seen, but tons of them that are almost too small to be seen without a magnifying glass? Ewwww! I shudder at the thought!

This certainly doesn't cover all the bugs I hate, but these are the ones I hate most. Care to share any that bug you?

Dragonfly Garden

I had Marion (my dragonfly friend) in mind when I got this puzzle. It’s by artist Alan Giana and titled Dragonfly Garden.

I didn’t realize how long it would take to finish. If I’m not mistaken, it’s been in progress for three months! Yes, it was a little more difficult than I anticipated, but also I didn’t spend as much time at my puzzle table each week as I have for other puzzles.

Would you like me to send it for you to work next, Marion?

Gallon Nippers

Seen any gallon nippers lately?

Wait, maybe you know them by another name. How about mosquito hawk, jimmy spinner or gollywhopper? All are names for the crane fly, an insect that resembles a gigantic mosquito. A few weeks ago we saw one in our church craft room that captured everyone’s attention. It had picked up a dust bunny from the floor with some silver glitter mixed in and as a result looked quite interesting cruising around the room.

Like most folks, when surfing the internet I’m easily led from one link to another. While looking up gallon nippers I happened on this page of AR-bonics. Despite living in Arkansas the majority of my life, many of the words listed were “foreign” to me. There were a few, though, that I’ve used a number of times.

Getting back to crane flies... according to Wikipedia it is a misconception that they prey on adult mosquitoes. That’s too bad since the only reason I ever refrained from killing them was the thought they were keeping blood-suckers at bay. In the future they better watch out for my swatter!!