Yard, Gardens, Birds and Critters

I wanted to write about my two Grandmothers.  They were both so talented but in different ways.  I feel like I inherited some of each of their talents.  Grandma Iza Covert Dietz was the step-mom of my Dad, Raymond J. Dietz.  She was a wonderful lady!  Her talent was in her stitching and her knitting.  She knew I loved horses and did a needlepoint of a horses head.  I also took tap dance and ballet. Grandma Dietz did, what I believe is cross-stitch, of a ballet dancer.  After giving it to me, she told me she wasn't happy with the chartreuse background but I loved it!  Years later, my mother gave me a flower that was also done in cross-stitch.  Grandma Dietz was a talented knitter and made me many pairs of gloves, which I, being a kid, promptly lost most of them. All but one of the gloves usually.  When I went out to California, I wrote her and asked if she would knit me a pair of gloves.  I took a pencil and went around my hand...

Interesting day so far and it started shortly after 3 a.m.  Chief decided because I got up to use the bathroom then he should go outside.  It had been raining so I went downstairs to let the dogs out the back door in the garage!  Big mistake!  First of all the outside light is not working, so I couldn't get light out there.  Second of all, Rosebud takes off and runs up on the deck and starts barking and growling. Normally, I turn the light on and wait before letting the dogs out, just in case there is a critter.  I ran upstairs and turned on the light.  There was Rosebud and now Lacy barking and growling. A critter, I believe raccoon, behind the planter and the Bar-B-Que grill.  I was screaming at them to get down off the deck. I grabbed the collars and pulled them towards the steps. They finally went down them!  I went back over in the area and couldn't see anything! Of course, I was slightly occupied trying to get my dogs away. Sure didn't ...

Squirrels are some kind of critter!  They are gymnasts, thieves, demolition crews, and more!  They are so cute, is what you normally hear! If they aren't tearing up your plants, chewing wires in a home, digging holes in your yard, stealing bird seed and anything else they can do, yes, they are cute!  So is a mouse! The little gymnast squirrel was at my feeders the other day. Hanging upside down by his hind legs and eating the seed from the feeder. Then yesterday, I was cooking dinner and looked out the window. That squirrel was on the round feeder that has a donut type shaped seed cake. You slip the cake over the center pole and down to rest in the base.  Somehow, as I watched, he flipped the hanger off the hook grabbed the seed cake as the hanger was falling to the ground 10-12ft below.  He made a mad dash as I was yelling!  I let the dogs out!  The squirrel ran to the top of the Pin Oak tree, my dogs barking down below.  Picture opportunity!...

It's really a long story!  I had to get up to use the bathroom this morning about 3:15 a.m. Well, my darling, Chief, decided it would be a good time to go outside also. I let the 3 dogs out the door.  I figured they wouldn't be out long. Boy, was I wrong.  Lacy came in right away.  Chief about 15 minutes later. Rosebud, would not come in. I walked out on the deck and there she was at the bottom of the steps.  She wouldn't budge! Would not come up the steps!  I walked in the house and went back to the computer and waited. I heard her bark finally, so went to let her in. Nope, she wasn't at the back door on the deck. In fact, I didn't see her at all!  I finally gave up and went downstairs and went to the back door in the garage.  There she was, waiting for me to show up!  The only thing I can figure is she doesn't like climbing the steps through the snow path.  Okay, I finally went back to bed. It's about 5 o'clock in the morning now....

by Mary J Williams I put out the suet for the birds to eat put it out all year round even in the heat                                                                                Woodpeckers and Nuthatches Sparrows eat all day suet goes fast enough oh, here come that old Blue Jay I was taking the suet in at night because I saw that critter the old raccoon eats it all and leaves a lot of litter He even does something To the water in the bird bath It looks mud and stuff he is gaining all my wrath I know, I know what you will say they have to eat too and that very well may be I put out corn to chew I collected all the suet it's no longer hanging out the raccoon will continue to visit of that I have no doubt Wonder if he will start on the seed    ...

  Earlier, I wrote it was warm outside.  I had a choice, vacuum up all the dog hair in the house, or go outside and rake the dog yard!  Hmm, didn't think long on that one!  There was only one problem!  One grass rake had the plastic tines and about two or three were missing.  The other grass rake was missing half of the handle.  I am not a tall person, so I opted for the short handle with the metal tines that were all there.  It took me over two hours to do the dog yard.  I had to stop and take a few pictures along the way.  I was tired anyway and that was the best reason to try and get some bird pictures.  I didn't do too well on them. Chickadees are so fast!  They fly in, grab a seed and fly out. They find the perfect branch and pound that seed until it pops open. They eat that tiny little seed and then they are off again to the feeder for another.  The Cardinal hid behind the branches so the camera kept focusin...

Well, let's put it this way, warmer than it was the last couple of days. Right now, at my house, on the deck, it is 59°F and I'm loving it!  I need some vitamin D from the sun! I have to go pick up dog poop! LOL! Today is a good day to do that! When I was fixing my lunch earlier, I looked out the window and caught sight of a couple of Bluebirds.  I thought, "By the time I go grab the camera, they will be gone!"  I tried anyway.  Shooting through a screened window leads to challenges. The first picture was an awesome picture of the screen.  The second one I took was so blurry I deleted it.  There were 3 more. Not the best but not the worst either. When I was going through the pictures, a flower picture showed up. I thought, "that's strange, as I didn't have flowers to take pictures of."  I checked and the picture was taken back in April of 2018.  Such a lovely sight to see and I can't wait to see the Azaleas in bloom again! All the Blue...

My 12 year old dog's name is Chief.  Ever since we had the time change, he has not done well as far as going outside potty!  He never peed in the house since he was just a little one!  Since the upheaval of our family with the medical issues of "Dad", and the time change, our boy, Chief, has been a different animal.  Heck, who knows, could just be his age. Like all critters on earth, the older you get the more there is change! The other thing is, I think his hearing is still very, very good!  There have been critters on the deck eating my suet!  I think the old boy hears them out there.  One morning, when he waited to wake me up at 4:15 A.M., there was one I saw.  I turned on the light, and let the dogs, oh yes, Chief wakes up the other two, out and a critter ran across the railing of the deck and down into the back yard.  I didn't see a long tail, so didn't think it was a raccoon.  I did look up the information on a ground hog. Yep, th...