Hi all: Thanks for chat and Ernie info - don't forget to read the last few posts of last week to catch up on folks.
Brenda: My sister has been to the Chelsea Flower Show several times and has always loved it. Do hope the weather is kind on your day.
Patriciat: How nice that people were so generous with your fund-raising efforts. Good for you - you must have a winning way!!
dibnlib: Thanks for spelling out Ernie's "real" name. Doesn't sound half as much fun as his more familiar name. Actually, I remember now - Premium Bonds - they were being sold when I was still in the UK. I think my sister also has some that she bought way back when....
Emma: Painting is done - although just noticed a smudge of Pot of Cream (the paint) on a wood ceiling beam. How did it get there!! Took all the blue painter's tape off the glass panes this afternoon and put the hardware back on and it looks pretty nice. Do need to do some tidying up where paint trickled under the tape and also onto the hinges a bit, but all pretty minimal.
Have been keeping tabs on Trucker Steve, whose cat has an eye problem. He's going to take her to the vet. He's got a hard trip this time - three days of 11 hours a day to the next stop in Wisconsin. He's in Montana now, where it's well into the evening.
Off to see how EJ is doing. Have a nice Sunday morning all.
ps: Or an ironing board, or a toilet brush......
My Dad and I were sitting in the living room watching The Ed Shultz Show. Suddenly my Dad said, "Look!" A beautiful red fox was trotting across our yard right in front of the window beside the apple tree. It went into the woods for about 5 minutes, and then trotted back across the same path toward our creek/burn. It's been raining here today, and his fur was wet, but he (or she?) was still glorious -- so intelligent and alert. Foxes are usually nocturnal, but it's still light out. We thought it looked like a young one, so maybe he is establishing this as his territory, if he's one of last year's kits. I don't think I've ever seen a fox on this property, probably because the coyotes have been dominant here. I really hope there is or will be a den along our creek. http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?allSpecies=y&searchText=red%20fox&curGroupID=5&lgfromWhere=&curPageNum=1 Yay!!!
Have to be off early today. I am speaking to dau’s class of 6-7 year olds about me doing lessons by correspondence in the olden days. I’ve found my Grade 2 diary and a slightly older nature studies book. What a hoot. The diary not the speaking.
Back to bus trip. We were given the option of walking to Yourambulla Aboriginal Caves or remaining on bus for a visit to Hawker for coffee & cake. Well, in the interests of the bird bloggers I forwent the c&c and attempted the caves so you could see the paintings & carvings. Bus was returning in 45 mins. After trudging uphill for 20 mins, I turned back. Apart from the time, I doubt my knees would have climbed the ladder-stairs up the cliff. I tootled back slowly photographing almost every rock -the colours (reds and blacks, covered often in lichen) and the odd shapes were fantastic. This first pic is the beginning of the track.
The next shows as high as I went. The path continued around to the right. You may see a head above the word ‘path’ (centre right). The lower ladder can be glimpsed through the tree (marked with ---> just left of centre). To see paintings etc, you will have to Google Yourambulla and click on Images or check one of the websites.
This is the view from ‘my’ top point on Yourambulla path. No wonder my knees were complaining.
I won’t bore you with all the rocks I snapped. LOL. Just one.
Oh well, one more.
Evening all: Just back from my last official shift whale counting. Seems like it was a very fast season this year. We had slightly lower counts on the adults, and three less on the calves than last year (at least to date), which was the lowest year so far. We'll see what the next six days bring. Anne, Brit friend who counts with me, arrived saying that her neighbor told her rain was forecast between 1 - 3 (our shift time) and at 1:05 it started and rained on and off until we left just after three. No gray whales today - BUT - we were watching some humpback whales (non migrating) a ways out when one of them suddenly breached. Threw himself straight up out of the water so you could see the fins and most of the body, then slid back down again. Amazing. We were so surprised since they'd barely been breaking the surface prior to that.
Lindybird: My husband does know what a toilet brush is for (when I met him, I noticed he was skilled in the laundry/washing dishes areas too). Dusting is a breakthrough; ironing? not in this lifetime I think.
Diane: A red fox? What a treat! A front row seat. Do hope he manages to establish himself.
AQ: Good decision re cake and coffee. Climbs can be harder than they look/sound, but those rock are fabulous. I love things like that. Do you know what kind of rock it is?
Off to book club tonight - haven't read the book, didn't even manage to get it was so busy painting, etc., but will be nice to catch up with the others.
Hi, all. The Indianapolis peregrine falcons were banded today, as scheduled. There are two females and two males, and they were all pronounced healthy. Their names are: Geneva, Maxie, Hatton, and Coach. Here, you can see a short video taken at the banding: http://blogs.indystar.com/falconblog/ The Indianapolis news media covered the event. A noisy crowd was allowed to be in the room during the banding. The TV footage showed the chicks being held by at least one person not involved in the process, and members of a class of school children were allowed to pet the birds. I hate to be critical, but I think if banding is to be done, it should be completed quietly and as quickly as possible, with an absolute minimum of stress on the birds. I think handling should be restricted to only those involved in the procedure. I admit that I have some reservations about banding/tagging, so maybe that colors my perspective of the event. I do respect everyone's efforts to restore the peregrine population.
Annette: So glad that you got to see the humpback breaching. Wonderful! Sad that the whale numbers are down overall, though. I remember "Governor Moonbeam" well. I always liked him, too. He was unique among politicians of the day -- and now.
Cirrus: Your holiday sounds terrific. So glad you saw such a great variety of wildlife and had a good time!!!
Lindybird/Annette: My husband never touched a vacuum, a toilet brush, an ironing board, a cleaning sponge, a dust rag... Just one of the reasons that he's my ex-husband. :-)
AQ: Sorry about the time constraints and the difficulty of the hike to Yourambulla Aboriginal Caves. The photos you took on the way back were well worth the effort!!! They are really spectacular! Such a special and breathtaking place. Like, Annette, I'd like to know what kind of stone that is. (Caerann would love these pictures; she's also a rock hound.) Is the red color from iron deposits in the stone? Thanks, AQ.
Hope everyone has a nice Tuesday.
Hey all: Speaking of Caerann, I wonder how she's doing. Has anyone heard from her?
Diane: That peregrine banding sounds like a zoo! Awful. Who's in charge of all that? Is it worth writing a letter?
Just back from "book" club, where we had tea and wonderful apricot tart from a local bakery. Lots of chat and laughs. For some odd reason, no-one bought a copy of the actual book, which was fine, though we're not usually that disorganized. Anyway, it was pouring with rain when we drove home. This is May, right? And I am in Southern California? Hmmm.
Off to bed now; house is clean, laundry done; I'm even feeling philosophical about the ironing. :-)
Sleep well Annette :)
my photos in flickr
Morning, All. Sunny morning here, which is just as well as I'm off to the town, on foot later.
Great Rocks ! AQ ! Thanks for interesting pics. My knees are the same, they will go 'up' quite a long way, but its the coming down again that's the problem. Now when we go to mountainous areas I take a walking stick which makes me feel like Methuselah. Sorry you missed the coffee & cake bit, but worth it I hope for the great pics.
Annette: Wondered when you described your Book Club meeting if you would get your wrist slapped for not reading the relevant one - but sounds as if you're all fairly relaxed. How wonderful to see the breached whale! Bet you wished you'd all had a camera trained on it at the time.
Diane: A red fox! Well done to spot him. Wonder if as you say, there may be more on your property or nearby.
Have a good Tuesday, All.
ps. Diane: Horrified to hear about the noisy room full of people for the Peregrine banding. That's awful. I know they might mean well, to have children involved, but that sounds just awful for the birds.
EDIT Just watched your link to the video clip; much too noisy for the poor things, why don't they see that the whole thing would be traumatic for the birds?