Weekly Chat, Sunday, May 23, 2010

Evening all: 

Hi OG:  My goodness - that's an imperious looking peacock!!  Dare I say snooty? I guess if I sported plumage as extravagant as that, I'd have my nose in the air too!  The Rhea looks a little punky with that hairdo - the circular patch on its side looks like an earring....   Rose Garden season is indeed well underway, but I've only got 20 bushes this year. This coming weekend is Memorial Day here - the official start of summer - and there's a huge street art festival in front of the Mission. The participants, who range from professional artists to schoolchildren, use pastels and chalk to create original works or reproductions of famous works of art.  It's a huge event that attracts a lot of visitors, so the rose garden has to be picture perfect.  The festival - I Madonnari - goes Friday through Monday, but most locals wait until Monday evening to go take a look -  http://www.imadonnarifestival.com

Where are you off to this time?

Alan: "George" doesn't sound a grand enough name for that fabulous creature.

Tish: That book your sister found sounds like a real treasure.  What a treat!   Don't you love it when you discover "new" old facts about places you love?  I would be excited too.    :-)

Margobird/SueC: Thanks for the goshawk links. Mrs. Goshawk is awake as I type.

dibnlib: I see Dillon has his own mat - but is that bubble wrap around the potted plant on the left!? 

Worked out in the garden all day, repotting succulents, fussing over my own few roses, and tidying up the hanging ivy geraniums. Then hung shade cloth in front of the Stag's Horn Fern, which lives in the Valencia orange tree and doesn't like the sun - doesn't look too elegant, but will do the job until we can come up with something nicer.

Hope they get the cam fixed before the chicks fledge!  :-)

Unknown said:

Diane: Trucker Steve is in Indiana, just west of New Albany, looks like he'll be heading through Hoosier National Forest. Anywhere near your neck of the woods?

Hi, Annette.  Trucker Steve was traveling well south of me today. He was down near the Ohio River. I live about a 20-minute drive southwest of Crawfordsville, Indiana. If you draw a horizontal line right through the exact middle of Indiana, I live on the west side of that line in the west-central part of the state. I'm about an hour's drive west of Indianapolis.

The landscape here where I live is much like you saw on Trucker Steve's webcam today -- forested and lush -- but our hills aren't as steep as those further south where he was. I live right on the line where the hilly deep forest meets the flat prairie. My land is wooded and rolling like southern Indiana. I live between two big forested state parks (Turkey Run State Park and the Shades State Park). But if I travel just a few minutes north to get my groceries, I begin to see the prairie cropland.

Much of the southern half of the state is hilly, rugged, and forested (although there's also open farmland). The Hoosier National Forest is 200,000 acres -- densely wooded, largely unpopulated, and serenely beautiful. There's an abundance of wildlife, including bald eagles, which are thriving after reintroduction -- and they are strongly moving into my area!!! yay!  And mountain lions (cougars) are reported to be returning to the area, too. I lived in southern Indiana when I went to college (aged 28-32) at Indiana University.

Much of the northern half of the state is now flat, prairie farmland (originally it was forested, but most of the woodlands were cleared very early in our history). One can see for miles, and it's more like the big sky country you can find further west. Tomorrow, Trucker Steve will be in Champaign, Illinois, which isn't very far from me, just west on Interstate 74 from Crawfordsville. I'm not far from the Wabash River, and I keep hoping that ospreys will settle into this area again.

Patricia: Farmers do grow wheat in Indiana, but the main cash crops, especially in my area, are corn and soybeans. Here, much attention is paid to the status of the cornfields. Is the corn tall enough? Has there been enough rain? Too much rain? etc. Weather is a BIG deal. :-)

Thanks for your interest, and I'm sure this is more than anyone wanted to know. LOL LOL

Oh, Annette, that mission is just breathtaking and made even more beautiful by the art (I looked at your I Madonnari link). Really awe-inspiring!!! I would love to attend! I'm glad you only have 20 rose bushes this year. That's probably plenty to be responsible for. 

Will have to look up Stag's Horn Fern. I dearly love ferns. We used to have a very, very old variety of fern growing in a bed beside our front door. But then the pine trees along the driveway lane grew large, and the new-growth trees in the woods on the other side of the lane also grew, so there was too much shade. The ferns died, and I was utterly heartbroken. But I just found a patch of them in the woods (not on my property, but the land doesn't have clear ownership), so I'm thinking about trying to transplant some of them to another site near the house. But I can't really find a spot with enough light. It's like a jungle here right now.

Sounds like you're making a lot of effort to do the right thing with your Chinese Elm tree.

OG: I hope you enjoy your trip!!! My Dad and I both liked the Rhea picture. He looks quite counter-cultural. Loved the jewel blue color on the bird in your earlier photo. Astounding color in nature. We also enjoyed the meercat. Dad pronounced him to be "silly." The meercat, not the photo. dibnlib: My Dad and I also liked the photo of Dillon. Dad kept saying, "What a beautiful dog!" He looks like such a gentle, serene doggie.     Lindybird: Loved that cow pic. I really like cows, and most of them are quite sociable. I always have to stop and chat with them. I think that's why I'm a vegetarian. :-) Alan: Such an elegant and expansive display by George, the peacock. I hear they are quite noisy. Good watchdogs -- er, birds.

Sorry if I've misssed anyone. Very tired tonight. Spent hours cleaning my enclosed porch. Lots of spiders. :-O Night all.

Diane: Geez. I typed a response but don't know where it went.  I really like it when Steve takes the county/back roads; you get a flavor of the area that isn't apparent from the generic interstates. Tree guy came this morning and agreed our Chinese Elm needs a lot of TLC. He suggested we cut back enough of the new growth at the end of the branches on the healthy to reduce and equalize the proportions, and take as little as possible off the damaged part to stabilize that while still leaving some growth on that side! . He pointed out that some of the branches have canker on them, which weakens the tree, and said we might want to consider planting a replacement now (we've got the space for a big tree) since we'll probably lose this one in 5 years or so. "It's not a good specimen," he said. :-(    We have another person coming tomorrow morning.

Really tired tonight (a good tired though from working in the garden).  I'm watching Frontline right now and will fall into bed pretty quick after that.  Night all.

Gee Diane: We've both been working like idiots. FYI, our Stags Horn Fern (was here when we bought the house), is about 6-feet across and 5-feet tall; it surrounds the entire orange tree.  Needs lots of moisture/misting and shade. Totally unsuited to this climate.  Darn things easily cost more than $500 to buy at the size this one is.  A local botanic garden would take it as a donation and we were thinking of doing that when the tree was sick last year and we were worried the fern wasn't helping, but now that the tree is doing so well again, will probably leave as is.

OK really am off to bed.

BP is continuing to make the webcam available during the "top-kill" procedure -- a major effort to stop the Gulf oil gusher -- which will take a couple of days. The video right now indicates that they have begun the process. The footage is riveting. Explanation of "top-kill": http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127113328

Webcam (Click on Watch the Live Stream): http://www.bp.com/bodycopyarticle.do?categoryId=1&contentId=7052055

or:

Webcam direct: http://mfile.akamai.com/97892/live/reflector:46245.asx?bkup=46260

Today's headline news: "There is Hope".  She has been seen, but her Mom is up to four miles away.  A feed has been left where she was seen, and various agencies are joining the search, the idea being to keep her alive till Lily returns after exploring the bounderies of her territory.

Morning, All:   Dull again here, but no wind at all and we are promised 'bright spells' later today.

That's great news to start the day, OG.  Glad that Hope has been seen and perhaps she is old enough now to manage on her own for a while. Could be a happy ending on the way.

Lots to read above, thanks to the Night Shift - will get back to it when I've done some early chores.

Morning all ,

Thanks for all the overnight chat,pics and links.

Dibnlib: Really nice pic of Dillon. I would show it to Hamish but he would probably just ignore it. 

OG : Nice pic of Rhea. I dont think I have ever seen one apart from on tele.

Annette : Glad you are getting on with your gardening. I have quite a bit to do. There is always lots to catch up on after a holiday.

Lady P has taken Thunderbird 2 and gone to her sisters for the day so I will have to get on with what needs to be done. Still at least I have Hamish to help.

Weather cloudy and cool. Temp 9.6.

Peace and tranquillity at Lynn Gwynant near Snowdon in North Wales: