Daily Musings

creeping_jenny (one of my favorite shady garden plants by the way) cudos on the backyard habitat. I'm working towards that myself along with growing enough food to supply most of my needs during the season. You have much more land than I - mine is 100' x 50' with a house and oversized garage (I don't know why they call them garages - I've never been able to get a car into mine) taking up a large part of the lot. I want to work in a water feature - some kind of small pond that won't take up too much room but give host to birds and small animals. Any suggestions you have - or anyone has - would be welcomed.

andy- that looks cool. i took my son to see the human body exhibit where they sliced up a body really thin and put it in slides. it was very interesting. i minored in museum practiccum and medical illustration in college.spent a lot of time drawing muscles, etc. it's amazing how intricately they interlock. hope that exhibit comes to ny. i'd love to see it.

Hi and welcome, Jenny. I adore the cardinal photo, and would love to see some grown up cardinals if you have any.

Hi Jenny and welcome. I love the cardinal's mohawk in your picture! Too cute.
Dave

I've neglected this thread lately, slap me silly. LOL
On my morning rounds yesterday I found another praying mantis, this one was in the Dahlias. It was very smart, sitting next to a flower. I watched it capture breakfast. An hour later it was stalking a large wasp and wisely retreated. Last week I watched one capture and quickly release a stink bug.
This morning as I stepped out, there was a large family of Robins on the wet lawn, the youngsters have not colored up their red breast. Another family of Orioles were eating fruit in the trees and I could hear Flickers in the area.
Someone here mentioned Hawks, I had not seen any this season until a few days ago. Now almost every day a very vocal one drifts by. How can it hunt when it announces it's presence.
My little grapes have been found by something, a few riper ones were shreaded.
We had 3/4 inch of welcome rain this morning.
Andy P

My second set of robins have flown the nest and I actually miss them. Mama had 2 baby birds in the nest in the spring and I was not happy because I wanted to hose that corner of the house....by the time they left I had moved on to other things and fogot about them for a while. When I finally remembered, there were two more little beaks sticking out of the nest.

OK, so we wait again. But this time, I watched them every day. She didn't seem to mind and allowed me to work in the flowers directly below them. Finally, one evening as I was looking at the nest, one of them stood and started flapping his/her wings - much bigger than I expected - and with soft feathers. I actually had goosebumps as I sat in the grass and watched. I had a feeling that he was going to fly out and I keep saying, silently, "please wait for mom". When he settled back down, I just knew that they'd be gone the next morning. They weren't, but when I went out after lunch the nest was empty. I still haven't hosed that corner ..... although I guess it's too late to expect another pair.

I think my Robins are the second brood, also.
Andy P

You guys, thanks for sharing those wonderful little 'musings'. They made me happy.

I haven't seen any robins since the first brood fledged. I think they were mad at me :-)

Sitting in the yard yesterday, I heard a Robin making 'warning' calls. I didn't see any cats or anything. The bird persisted long enough to make me look closer.
A large hawk was perched in the tree above me. I ran for the camera but the lighting was bad. As I was checking my settings the hawk flew off, only yards above my head. Missed it.
Today, I decided that the old Spider plants that are out for the Summer will not come in this Fall. They are too big. So I was taking babies to start new ones and found a few had grown roots into the seat of the old wood picnic table they were sitting on. I think the old table is also 'finished', LOL.
Andy P

the last 2 days the activity at my hummer feeders has increased. we have yet to see a mature male, but they each have their own little personalities. we have had one steady visitor all summer and another that comes on occasion. now there are several others...the skinny one (reminds us of a runway model..turns sideways and you can barely see it), the nervous one (never perches, takes a sip or 2 and zips away), and the dark one (very deep green, also very relaxed, sits on the perch, drinks, looks around...I really need to keep the camera ready). oh yes, woody woodpecker...a hummer with a topknot. molting feathers have caused the oddest little arrangement on top of it's head.

I have 3 feeders, one of them right on the window of our great room so we don't miss anything. I had the 3rd one across the yard, but moved it so we could see from the window, too. can't tell if these are females or juveniles. looking for a telltale glimmer of red. we had hummers last year, but this is my first year with feeders. sure beats the summer re-runs on TV

gram

I've seen hummers 3 times this season. There is no way I can photograph them, too shy, small and fast.
Summer TV? I swear it gets worse every year.
Had a half inch of rain last night.
Andy P

I only have one channel (too thrifty to buy TV reception) so summer reruns are really the pits. Reading a number of "gardening" books that are very interesting instead. Working on "The Earth Knows My Name" and "Noah's Garden". It depends where I'm sitting which book I'm reading. Unfortunately summer is almost over and I have to go back to school. Sigh. I like school - and the money I earn for teaching - and it is always fun to meet new people (students) but I miss my house and kitties and working around the yard and I hate the extra driving. Then there is putting up all the tomatoes I grow - pasta sauce, green tomato relish and green tomato chutney. Towards Christmas I make apple butter for everyone at work. (This year I'm keeping some for myself.) Then there is the *snow* and waiting and waiting and waiting for spring so I can plant tomatoes and start the whole thing all over again. I'm lucky to have such a good life!

I just get sad about how fast it goes by. I still can't believe next week will be September!

I agree. Personally, I would like to remove Jan. & Feb. from the calendar.

I second that. all those in favor?

i'd be happy to lose february. (i'm a florist and valentines day is absolute hell) but i like to ski and skate so january is a keeper. the cold isn't so bad if you have the right clothes on. this years oil bill is going to kill us. we spent over $5,000 last year and it was not a very cold winter.

Maybe January and February could just be optional? But really, isn't it April that is really the problem? April is a big tease - sunny sometimes but too cold to plant. If we eliminated April maybe we wouldn't have to file our Income Taxes! Any seconds for getting rid of April?

Ok, Yankee, you may be on to something...no taxes and my b'day is in April so I wouldn't get any older....I'm switching my vote.

I third it! I'm saving my pennies so I can move in about 15 years to the Carolina's. Then I can be done with these nasty winters! Funny, I used to love winter when I was young. It's pretty when the snow first comes down, but then it gets dirty and/or causes problems with traffice.

I add my 2 cents and say my 3 least favorite months are March, November and August.

traffice? youz makon up words now.

that's the feminine form of the word traffic

Al, That's an odd trio of months. Too much winter, too much summer, too much fall???

November is certainly the darkest month for me as the days have shortened almost all the way and there isn't really anything going on until Thanksgiving.

March is the tease month for me as things dry up enough to work outside.

August - well it's not always hotter than July, but it takes less heat to bother me by the end of the summer.

I don't trust any month with an "r" in it.

Instead of skipping months, maybe we could just trade, like seeds. Al, I'll take your August, what would you like in exchange.

I'll give you Jan. & Feb. for it. (They have Rs)

Dave, you're gonna wind up with a pretty short year :)

Gram - I'll take your October LOL. I'll swap my March and November for a May - Fantasy calender league ;)

Man I was just out working in the garden and the mosquitos have been missing all year, but the biting flies have been awful lately - darn near need to wear pants outside now. Has to be an old farmer saying about when the flies are biting.

Not sure about old farmers' sayings, but I did find these proverbs...
A fly follows honey.(2)
A fly may conquer a lion.(2)
A person is not a fly.(2)
Big flies break the spider web.(2),(7) (Italian)
Can't kill flies with a spear.(2)
One dead fly spoils much good ointment.(14) (New England)
Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment.(2)
Even a fly has its spleen.(2),(4) (English)
Even a fly has its anger.(7) (Italian)
Flies do not swarm on a new pot.(9) (Tamil)
A fly to a fly.(9) (Telugu)
To a boiling pot flies come not.(7),(8) (English)
Flies never bother a boiling pot.(2)
Flies will not light on a boiling pot.(7) (French)
No flies land on a boiling pot.(7) (Spanish)
No fly dares to get near a boiling kettle.(7) (Mexican)
You can catch more flies with molasses than vinegar.(2)
You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.(2),(7)
With honey you can catch more flies than with vinegar.(7) (Yiddish)
Eagles don't catch flies.(3),(4)
Make yourself all honey, and the flies will devour you.(4),(8)
Flies hunt (go to) lean horses.(4)
Into a shut mouth flies fly not.(4)
A shut mouth catches no flies.(8)
Into a closed mouth no fly will enter.(7) (Moroccan)
No flies get into a shut mouth.(7) (Spanish)
The biting fly gets nothing by alighting on the back of the tortoise.(7) (African - Ashanti)
The biting fly has no one to come to his aid in trouble.(7) (African - Ashanti)
The busy fly is in every man's dish.(7) (Spanish)
The fly does not kill, but it does spoil.(7) (Hebrew)
The fly flutters around the candle till at last it gets burnt.(7) (Dutch)
The fly heeds not death; eating is all to him.(7) (African - Yoruba)
The fly that bites the tortoise breaks its beak.(7) (Italian)
The fly that stands on the carabao's (water buffalo) back thinks that it is taller than the carabao.(7) (Phillipine)
The flight of the eagle will not stop that of the sand fly.(7) (African)
A fly can drive away horses.(7) (Greek)
A fly does not mind dying in coconut cream.(7) (African - Swahili)
A fly is nothing; yet it creates loathsomeness.(7) (Egyptian)
Every fly has its shadow.(7) (Portuguese)
Flies and priests can enter any house.(7) (Russian)
Flies are caught more readily with a single drop of honey than with a cask of vinegar.(7) (Turkish)
More flies are caught with a drop of honey than a barrel of vinegar.(7),(8) (Danish)
More flies are caught with a spoonful of syrup than a cask of vinegar.(7) (Dutch)
More flies are taken with a drop of honey than a tun of vinegar.(7) (English)
When a fly does not get up off a dead body, he is buried with it.(7) (African - Ashanti)
You must lose a fly to catch a trout.(7) (English)
Flies come to feasts unasked.(7),(8) (English)
Flies flock to the lean horse.(7) (Italian)
Flies go to lean horses.(7) (English)
Flies swarm where there is honey.(7) (Indian - Tamil)
Fine fruit will have flies about it.(14) (New England)
Flies will tickle lions being dead.(7) (English)
Even a lion must defend himself against the flies.(8)
Hungry flies bite sore.(4),(7) (English)
Let every one keep off the flies with his own tail.(7) (Italian)
Only a gadfly can sit on an elephant's back.(7)
Worms eat you up dead (maggots?) and worries eat you up alive.(7) (Yiddish)
Almost never killed a fly.(8)
He can swallow a camel but chokes on a mosquito.(6) (Lebanese)
A fig tree with figs turned out to be a ruin with mosquitoes.(6) (Moroccan)
The mosquito is without a soul, but its whizzing vexes the soul.(7) (Turkish)
A cunning person's kiss is like that of a mosquito.(15) (Rumanian)
Flies know well the sweet seller's beard.(6) (Lebanese)
Do what we can, summer will have its flies.(8)
Laws catch flies but let hornets go.(11) (English)
Foul-smelling objects swarm with flies.(11) (Japanese)
Laws are like cobwebs where the small flies are caught and the big ones break through.(13) (Vermont)

Anita, Way too much time on your hands!

The salient point in all of those to me: Why, throughout history and across cultures, have people tried to catch flies with vinegar?

"A fly follows honey" Again, I discover this thread. What a nice journal about life in the Northeast. With my children, my mother, etc. I don't get to visit regularly, but when I do, I'm enchanted. The summer is coming to an end so rapidly. Two weeks from today school starts. No more morning walks in the garden. I have brown bunnies galore, all the insects Andy shoots, definitely bind weed... these postings are honey in deed.

Candis

I hope everyone has voted in the BugFiles Banner competition. In the Photos forum. There are some outstanding images there.
My insect pics may come to an abrupt end. The state has decided to use an aerial spray for mosquitoes over a half million acres here in southeast MA. This includes my city. There have been 2 confirmed cases of EEE in the past week.
Candis, here is a dragonfly I shot last week.
Andy P

Anita - I hope it's the hungry flies one and not the foul smelling one.
Whatever it is I've had them all over my ankles and biting now for a couple weeks.

Andy P. I went on a walk this morning after I read this thread. So, here's one for you.

And another one. My goldenrod is taking the place of the agastache I think.

Just dropped by to say I sure have missed you and your pictures over in the daily weather!!!!
Sidney

Andy & Candy (Hey you rhyme!). Great bugs!
I have no photos to share (What I do have are stuck in my camera for some reason.) But my son (7) was enchanted with a toad he found tonight. After that we followed some dropping sounds until we were getting showered with nuts and nut pices courtesy of a couple of squirrels.
The other day saw my first hummer of the whole year. They always blow me away.
Dave

I don't know what this is hanging out on the coneflower, but it was the only interesting thing in the whole garden. We got aerial sprayed last year (just our town) when the mosquitoes got bad. Nice to get rid of the mosquitoes, but I have no idea what else it kills. I do know that they advised everyone to stay inside that day :^(

I shouldn't have said the bug was the only interesting thing...I've been getting hummer pics every day. today there were 2 of them playing pretty nicely together at one of the feeders. they usually chase one another off.