There is No News

Posted on October 13, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

I haven’t been as on top of my trailcam as I used to be. Partly because of the raised beds there isn’t as good of a view of the whole yard. I suppose I could figure another spot to put the camera but then it becomes a project and I haven’t been able to deal with projects lately.

Also partly because I don’t really use an app anymore this is the only place to post the videos.

Here we go and as long as I have been doing this I still have to think every time how to spell raccoon and opossum. The cam is mostly raccoons. I saw one of my neighbors complaining about having five living in the backyard so I’m guessing it’s this crew. I’ve spotted the skunk recently, too. It doesn’t look like there’s anything living under the shed right now but I haven’t looked too closely and the weather has changed.

Like every year, October is busy. I am normally in Orleans this week but [for reasons] I am not. There is a lot going on and the thought of being out of town for over a week is overwhelming.

I wish I had a great story to tell but my mind is blank at the moment.

I ordered a ton of garlic to plant because I’ve never planted it before and now I have no idea where I’m going to put it. I haven’t had time to prep anything.

I’ve had a long weekend and it seems like all I’ve done is chores and errands and the same planned for today.

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The Cuc that Got Away

Posted on October 5, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

If you ever wondered what happens when a cucumber gets lost in the vines, here’s a great example. See that big orange thing?

When I was in Atlanta, Bob was in charge of the garden and the yard is not his thing. He freely admits he hates yard work. “It’s boring,” he says.

He did find some of the cucumbers but they do hide and this one got away and is now happily composting elsewhere.

I haven’t been able to spend as much time in the yard as I’d like and the weather will be leaving me soon. I have a bed I want to yank all the stuff I have and put in native plants and not sure I’m going to make it in time. Maybe next weekend.

I am still getting the orange-ish ever-bearing raspberries. That’s about it. I’m going to pick the last of the apples and make a little pot of applesauce for us to eat this week.

The trailcam is alive and well. No brilliant clips lately. Lots of raccoons scampering around the bucket of water. I caught Skunky running through the other night. The opossum is a regular. Lots of cat clips. I haven’t seen bunny in a while but I’m sure he’s out there.

I bought one of those consumer “wellness” glucose monitors to see what’s going on with me since my previous doctor made me scared about my blood sugar being in the pre-diabetes range. I am just barely into that range and it coincides with me becoming a crone. It’s been stable since then and I only have a few days worth of data but I think I’m pretty normal for my age. As long as I pay attention to protein and get regular activity, I don’t think diabetes is going to kill me.

I’m trying a new fitness app. I like workout circuits even though I do the easiest iterations. I could probably make money filming myself doing these because I am so uncoordinated and it helps me if I talk through it. So I’ll be grunting and huffing and puffing and then: reach! reach! punch! punch! tap! tap! left! right!

I think it’s fun but it reminds of when I used to take step-aerobic classes taught by my cousin Jennifer. She was a really good teacher but as she built to longer sequences, I was hopeless. Is step aerobics even a thing anymore? It probably is but has a new name like the kids today invented it.

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Middle Seat

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

Last weekend I was in Atlanta to visit with friends. I didn’t take many photos and our “adventures” mostly involved eating and wandering around and talking. We did spend a couple of nights in Covington where a number of movies and TV shows have been filmed including The Vampire Diaries. But no big tales to tell.

The dog above is the adorable monster Arky (Archimedes) who will begrudgingly take treats from me but mostly just barks.

It cracks me up that pine needles are used for mulch in Georgia. We rake and rake and rake and rake pine needles at our place in Orleans and then burn them.

On the way to ATL I had the middle seat.

I’m a small person and I can easily fit in an airline seat but the arm rest. I don’t even need the arm rest but inevitably the person(s) next to me not only need the arm rest but they need more than the arm rest which means they are in the space that I paid for. On this trip the window seat person, at one point, leaned against the window so that their back was bumping into me. Also, they kept the window shade down the entire time!

Last year I did this same flight and the view was amazing.

On my other side there was a lady smaller than I am who was cold. I hear you, lady. I am always cold on a plane. I always have a sweater and often bring fuzzy socks because I am always cold on a plane. We had to check the fan above the seat. And then check it again. And then check it again. “I’m cold,” she kept telling me.

I’m not sure what I was supposed to do about it.

From the Public Domain Ragnarok: The Age of Fire and Gravel (1883)

Speaking of incredible views, on the way home we flew at night and I got the window seat.

There were several lightning storms along the way but at one point, it was like there was two levels of clouds and the lightning was in between — lighting up these incredible cloud structures. It was other worldly. I had a show on my screen but I barely watched because the show outside the plane was so incredible. It wasn’t scary. It was a medium bumpy flight but during the lightning everything felt stable. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I wanted to ask the pilots about it but did not get the opportunity.

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Babies!

Posted on September 21, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

This one time I caught an opossum with a back full of babies. I can’t remember if I ever posted the clip. I always hoped to catch them again.

According to the search engine AI – opossums have the shortest gestation period of any N American mammal lasting 11-13 days. Then they are about the size of a bumblebee and have to crawl to the pouch. Seems like a lot to ask. If they make it they live in the pouch for 2 months. After that they cling to Mom’s back for another month or so.

It says a litter can be 4-25 joeys. YIKES. But there are only 13 nipples so for most of them: sorry, bub. Generally only 1 in 10 makes it to reproductive age. That explains why we aren’t living in a world of opossum packs.

Last month I caught these pretty big guys on camera again but only for a few seconds and to close to the camera so it’s not a great shot but still exciting. I kept hoping to catch them again but they look big enough to walk by themselves. I’m sure Mom kicked them off right after this pic.

If all goes as planned I am out of town and hopefully have a relaxing weekend. More when I return.

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Mantis

Posted on September 14, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

I had to look up whether it’s praying mantis or preying mantis. In wikipedia it’s just Mantis.

I’m not sure if this is a big year for mantises or maybe I’m just better at seeing them?

I have seen a bunch in the front and the back. Some were tiny. I thought I had more pictures but I guess it’s hard to get a good mantis photo when you’re in the middle of yard work and pull your phone out of your pocket for a quick shot. I probably deleted them. Actually probably hard to get any good photos since they blend so well.

In my memory I thought they were good luck or something. The wiki says in some early cultures they were considered to have supernatural powers. I think maybe they are considered good for the garden.

Earlier in the summer when it was hot I opened the front door early one morning to get a little more air flow. There was a big praying mantis on the screen. I told it hello and was glad to see it. Not long later I heard the bluejays bickering back and forth around the house. The next time I looked the mantis was gone and there was a green wing on the porch.

Not so lucky, I guess.

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Apples from Other People’s Trees

Posted on September 7, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

One of my neighbors picked up a bunch of apples from another neighbor and offered me some. When I got over there he offered me the whole bucket.

I accepted. I still have my own apples but the tree is still young. I might have enough to make a bowl of applesauce but not enough to can.

I knew I was going to make applesauce. It seems like last time I made applesauce I was surprised by how fast it went.

Must be a fake memory leading to today when I was surprised by how long it took. I started at 9:30 thinking I’d have everything sliced and diced and cooking in the pot by 10:00. Insert 100 laughing emojis.

But also: that’s a lot of apples. I even have a little sore place on my hand from cutting up so many apples.

I just cut out any bruises or icky spots and the core and then cook. Then I run it through the applesauce strainer.

I intended to research if there was anything I could add that might boost the flavor but never did so this was just apples and water and it came out *amazing.* This is a poor photo which is why I am not a food blogger.

There’s a lot going and and I’m still getting through by the seat of my pants. Coverage will continue in this fashion until further notice.

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Late Summer Harvest

Posted on September 3, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

I have so many photos flagged and half posts written and I can’t seem to ever settle in and finish anything.

At the end of July I said to one of my colleagues: You know that old saw about having kids? The days are long but the years go by fast? That’s how July has been.

The days felt long but it was over in a flash and now we’re done with August, too. I felt like I had plenty of summer and it was good but also it went by fast.

Here are some harvest updates.

Cucumbers are like zucchini. One minute you notice “oh look at these cute little vegetables coming in.” The next thing you know you are out watering and you move a leaf and there’s this giantic thing.

This is my best cucumber crop in years. I already made some refrigerator pickles and hope to make some more tomorrow.

This is also the first year I’ve had such a huge second crop of everbearing raspberries. Still coming in, too. Enough for a big scoop with our cereal every morning.

The tomato crop was only adequate. I think I goofed with the raised beds. I didn’t expect the dirt to settle quite to much so they aren’t full enough and the metal gets hot so it was like no matter what I did they were underwatered unless they were overwatered. I tried some different things to drip the water without success. Will put more dirt for next season.

Those big tomatoes were gifted from my neighbor. The day Natalie left them here I ate 3 tomato sandwiches.

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Pretty Bird

Posted on August 31, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

For the second time recently I’ve heard a loud bang in the kitchen and ran outside and found a conked out bird on the deck.

If I wrote about it last time I can’t find it.

I ran out there and carefully picked it up in a t-shirt while assuring it that I would take care of it until it could fly away. I put it in a little box and left it outside.

The issue is we have two cats that hang out in the yard and target the bird feeders. One of them I can chase off. The other doesn’t care what I do except when I run the sprinkler.

I have found feathers out there more than once.

The hurry was to keep the stunned bird away from the cats until it regained its wits. Last time it took about 45 minutes and it was a sparrow.

This time it took only about 20. Look how pretty it is.

The first time I checked on it a bunch of times and it took awhile to fly away. This one zoomed away the first time I checked.

I wonder how many times this has happened and I didn’t know about it? I’m going to get some stickers or whatever you’re supposed to do for the window to save future birds.

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Today’s Lesson is About Bunnies

Posted on August 24, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

Once I started seeing it, I couldn’t stop seeing it.

There are little bunny turds all over my front and backyard. 😂

I still don’t mind the bunnies. They are so cute. Everyone I talk to in the neighborhood comments on all the bunnies. And then I talked to someone in Portland who mentioned all the bunnies. Then someone in Seattle. Then an author I follow who is in rural Washington.

Is this a big year for bunnies?

I asked my search engine. This is the quick version.

According to WA Fish and Wildlife there are a bunch of species (rabbits and hares) native to WA plus 2 species introduced. Also there a number of articles about people letting their pet rabbits go in the wild. Why would anyone do this?

(There’s a neighborhood east of us that is known for its feral rabbit population. This is an older article about it.)

The most common neighborhood bunny is the Eastern Cottontail (even their name is adorable!) They were brought to WA a long time ago as a game species and they adapt well to urban living.

It is normal for them to have boom population years.

It’s funny how often I will pull clips from my camera card and there will be an animal in the front: raccoon, opossum, skunk. And the bunny will be in the background.

Here is an 8 page PDF from WA Fish & Wildlife if you want to increase you bunny knowledge.

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The Mange

Posted on August 20, 2025 by Pamela Rentz

Finally! Something I’ve never caught on camera before.

Little mangey raccoon kit. It is so funny and tiny. Other than being bald it seems active and curious.

The new camera has sound, too, so you can hear them drink and squeak if you listen carefully.

I only caught them on camera this one time which is probably a good thing. One website suggested I report it to wildlife officials. I don’t know where they went. Reporting their existence doesn’t seem helpful.

I recognize the mama. She didn’t look too healthy previously and she’s looking pretty ratty here.

Tough out there for urban wildlife.

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