You're Doing It Wrong

The blue jays are my favorite.

They are loud and bully the littler birds and hog the best bits of bird food for themselves.

But they have so much personality and crack me up every time.

From October. Like the arty light effect?

How many dogs can you find?

Luna, Arky in front, Millie.

Which one do you think barks the most?

Arky, Clover, Millie.

Answer: ALL OF THEM! (But if we were forced to choose, Arky.)

MARTA – West End Station.

Beltline — anyone take a look at this and think they would have done it differently? Or differentic?

This is the last of the Orleans apples mixed with apples from the farmer’s market.

I peel and slice into pie sized bits, mix with sugar and cinnamon and then gracefully fill the freezer bags.

Then I flatten and use a straw to get out extra air and freeze them on a baking sheet.

Then they are in flat, easier to store packets. And this January when we want a pie all I have to do is make a crust, dump, and voila!

Hey, what else can I tear apart?

The little monster in the back has torn a chunk of insulation off our A/C unit and is now wrestling with it.

I recently ran across an article about raccoons — they are smart and learn quick.

There was a study in Wyoming, Wyoming Raccoon Project — Animal Behavior & Cognition Lab where they trapped wild raccoons (And skunks! If they were in this area they would certainly have used my backyard in their study).

Raccoons have adapted well to humans and do fine in an urban environment.

I encourage you to visit the website. There are photos of groggy raccoons and their names. Molasses is particularly cute.

“Molasses was captured in the backyard of a Laramie resident. She is the oldest raccoon we have captured to date! We can age raccoons by the amount of wear on their teeth, and Molasses had very worn teeth. Not to worry- she also had swollen teats which indicates that she bred that summer, so she’s still fit enough to produce offspring!”

I think I’ve said it before but I don’t feed the raccoons. I only put out the water bucket and even that sometimes seems like too much.

My big observation from the trail cam is that our lawn is a delight of earthworms. They walk back and forth pouncing on it which must be the secret to finding the yummiest worms.

Completely inappropriate rental car for work trip to N. Idaho. Colleague was so frustrated with the poor service at the rental counter he didn’t want to deal with getting it swapped for something else.