If you ever wondered what a House Finch's nest looks like after Mama Finch has raised three broods, this photo should show you. I'm cleaning up the little swing but will not re-hang it until next spring. Mama Finch deserves a rest.
The first nest that Mama & Papa Finch built is on the left in the photo. The second and third are on the right - stacked, which is more obvious if photo is enlarged.
In Week in Review - July 16, 2022, I posted a photo of three black swallowtail caterpillars feasting on dill weed in our rose garden. Today, looking out our little bay window in the kitchen, I espied a female butterfly that had evidently emerged from the chrysalis of one of those caterpillars. Most of my photos were out of focus, but the best photo is below.
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ADDITION of 8/4/2022: Links to photos of other Lepidoptera posted by blog friends -
Photo of Atlas Moth (my identification - correct me if I'm wrong, please) Mine is bigger ! posted by Stu Savory
Photo of a presumably Asian moth of some sort (identification solicited) Having a wonderful time posted by Liz Hinds
Eleven years ago, in Throwing away perfectly good hand tools, I opined about my propensity for tossing out gardening hand tools with the weeds/cuttings that I threw into my huge compost pile - and wrote, 'I have wasted "vast amounts" of money on replacing hand tools.'
Earlier this year I posted Spring Photos 2022 in which I mentioned, 'I used to have a huge compost pile for leaves and cuttings. Over the years I found that I had tossed many hand, gardening tools out with the green stuff that I was adding to the pile. I rarely found those tools. In the past couple of years, I've discontinued that pile and taken out the trees near it. Every few months another hand tool emerges. I found this pair of inexpensive pruners three weeks ago. I didn't try to revive the poor things.' That posting included a photo of the rusted-out pruners.
A few days ago, my carelessness struck, again. I threw out my last good weed digger with the weeds (as shown in a photo in the first-mentioned posting, above) - into the trash cart. The weeds included invasive plants that I didn't wish to chance having proliferate in our woods where non-invasive plant materials may safely be composted. Aargh!
Going to the website of my favorite hardware store, Hupp True Value Hardware, I was shunted to the generic True Value website which showed the newest generation of weed digging tool, which they labeled a weeder, from Fiskar for $18. I very nearly ordered a couple of them, but I checked back into the Hupp site to see if I could pick that particular weeder up at their store. Yes, they had one in stock - for $9. Eh? OK. Hunky Husband and I ran up to Hupp. As it turned out, they had two Fiskar weeders on hand - which I promptly bought. At the checkout counter I saw why the website had listed only one weeder: the two were actually different models.
From the difference in price, one being $9, the other being $10, and the similarity of the tools, I assume that the cheaper one is "last year's model". Let's see how long I can hang onto them!
The other day, Wichidude picked me up to take me to The Tap, a plumbing supply company that I've visited many times over the years. They've always had good people working the counter, there. I never felt stupid for not being an expert plumber and not knowing the correct terminology. I looked forward to going and it turned out to be more fun than I had imagined. The Tap didn't have the part that I needed (I didn't know the part number, but I had the photos, below, on my phone), but the guy had two worthwhile suggestions: 1) go to the Phoenix Supply from whence I had purchased the faucet in 2013, and 2) call Delta Faucet Company (he gave me the phone number - not having reason to know that a phone call makes me break out in a cold sweat). Here comes the surprise: The Tap guy told me that Delta guarantees their products "for life". Even if I was told of the lifetime warranty when purchasing the faucet assembly, I would have taken it for promotional hyperbole.
I didn't really wish to leave Hunky Husband at home, alone (he had not wished to accompany WD and me), much longer so I asked WD to skip going over to Phoenix for the time being. WD brought me home and HH and I had a good time visiting with him for an hour or so.
While HH took his mid-day nap, I decided to do some online research. Going to the Delta Faucet Company website, I located a faucet that looked similar (4380-DST - PILAR® Single Handle Kitchen Faucet With Spray In Stainless). Of course, the design of the faucet assembly had surely changed over the years. The spare parts for the PILAR did not match up to what I had in-hand, nor did any other parts that I could find.
The Delta people made it simple to send them a message. I gave them the model number of the "looks like" faucet and included the three photos of my own installation at the top of this page, asking if they could provide a part number for the little black jobbie that I needed for my 2013 faucet. Immediately, I received an acknowledgement of my communication and, this morning, two more emails awaited me. One thanking me for my inquiry, saying that I had given them sufficient information to order the parts I would need, and saying that I should soon receive an email with the order they had placed on my behalf. The email with the order came and is shown, below. Yes, the design had changed so they are providing all of the updated parts that I need to replace the old design.
I don't have the parts in hand. I haven't yet installed the parts. So far, I am very impressed. What a pleasant surprise.
P.S. The Tap is located just one block away from the eCycle place that I use, American eWaste Recyclers. Having mentioned the eCycle place to WichiDude & Dudette a couple of weeks ago, and their having expressed interest, I took Wichidude by after we finished at The Tap. The address of the eCycle place is on the same street as is The Tap, but one can only access it through the back alley. Wichidude allowed as how he would have had a really hard time finding the place had I not shown him the way.
Having one more desktop computer than my number of monitors, I went online the other day, and found a reconditioned monitor at WalMart*. The monitor was intended for use with my backup computer - the computer on which I back up the files from this machine and Hunky Husband's machine - and the price was right.
Surprise#1: It arrived within one week of my placing the order - several days earlier than I had been told to expect.
Surprise #2: It arrived clad only between two thin, formed sheets of expanded foam and the none-too-sturdy box - as shown in the photo, below.
Surprise #3: Everything seemed to be in good shape. The box was scraped up, but nothing inside seemed damaged.
Surprise #4: Obviously, the Sceptre company has received complaints from their customers that, if they require one to have a certain size screwdriver (small Phillips head) it should be supplied. A screwdriver was included for the two screws that attach the flatscreen to its pedestal. Photo, below, showing the screwdriver and its safety cap. (As if I didn't have a plethora of screwdrivers in my home and car.)
After setting up the monitor, checking it out, and realizing how much larger it seems than do HH's and my current monitors, I installed it with HH's desktop computer (photo, below).
Surprise #5: I would be remiss not to mention that, unlike Bogie, I no longer do extensive research before making such purchases. Although I knew that the monitor was described as a "gaming" monitor, I don't recall that the website said that speakers were built into it. The speakers have not yet been checked out. (I left HH's separate speakers connected for the time being. I want to spring new things on him, slowly. After/if/when he tells me he wishes to keep the monitor, I'll worry about changing over his audio and getting him accustomed to that. He may never wish to go that direction. As it is, now, he doesn't need to know how to cope with the onscreen settings display.)
ADDITION of 7/17/2022 11:05am
I didn't recall the size of HH's and my old monitors (different models, same size) but I finally woke up to having my computer tell me to what monitor it is connected. It's 22" (see added screenshot & photo, above) diagonal measure, one assumes. All of our newer monitors are "landscape" orientation.
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Old Friend
The most unexpected happening was hearing from an old friend, Dr J, with whom I worked in the mid-1980s. I've heard from him every few/several years since 2009 and I must say that, unfortunately, his is a tale of woe. (The link that I've given leads to an interview with him.) His education resulted in BS and MS in Physics and MS and PhD in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, his specialty being computational fluid dynamics (CFD). CFD is a highly regarded field but esoteric enough that it can lead to difficulties in staying employed. Dr J has been, basically, unemployed for some time. He has physical conditions that have led him to be wheelchair bound, living in the Puget Sound area.
Even back in the 1980s, Dr J labored under a dark star. He was just a youngster of 30 then who hired into the same company for which I worked, only to find that their need for a CFD specialist had evaporated. He was to have worked on one of the programs on which I was involved. As it happened, about that time I needed someone to deal with some scheduling software (this was the 1980s - software's being even less user friendly then). My job was putting together a USAF base plan for Edwards AFB. The scheduling assignment kept him gainfully useful to the company for a few weeks and Dr J's and my contact was rather spotty after that.
Trimming Bushes
It is horrible giving bushes haircuts when they are being subjected to triple digit temperatures for an extended period of time, but other tasks took priority when the weather was a bit cooler. The bush that had gotten most out of hand was the Coppertina Nine Bark, one of two that I had planted behind the house in in 2015 (not, as it feels, in 2019!) The second bush survived but for one year or two. The next two photos show the "before" and "after" trimming views.
The next two photos show the three Crepe Myrtle bushes that I planted in 2002 - "before" and "after" a trim. What? You can't tell that I trimmed them? There's a good reason for that. The only trimming that I did was to remove the limbs bearing pink blossoms from among the limbs bearing white blossoms. I had bought a Dwarf Victor (on the right) at Hillside Nursery and the two "pink" standard-sized generic bushes from WalMart. The bush that is in the middle eventually proved to have been two roots in the same pot - one for white, the other for pink. I've been trying to kill out the pink for some years because I like the contrast of a white bush between the pink and cerise bushes.
The following two photos show "before" and "after" trimming of our three Little Devil Nine Bark bushes - planted at the same time as the Coppertina, above.
Dill & Insects
Our largest patch of Dill Weed has drawn female black swallowtails - more so than usual, this year. We have an abundance of caterpillars, and the blossoms draw all manner of insects - various flies and lacewings. The photos below are the best I could do. The caterpillars don't run about, but the flies and lacewings flit nervously, keeping me from focusing on them. (The sun reflecting off of the viewing screen doesn't help, either!) I can't identify the fleet of black specks in the photo on the left. I assume they are some sort of eggs.
Hummingbirds and Ants
Speaking of bugs: Below is a photo of the hummingbird feeder that I brought in after hanging a feeder with fresh nectar. Since hummingbirds feast on ants, I can't get upset that the ants are consuming some of the hummingbird nectar.
Tomatoes & Potatoes
I was at least a month late planting tomatoes, this year, so I've yet to find fruit even beginning to color up. The photo on the left, below, shows the bush with the fruit coming closest to being ready. It is an Early Girl. (I planted only three tomatoes, this year, the other two being Beefmasters.) On the right is a photo of our total potato crop for 2022. They came up from three different hills where I had planted green garbage. My dad planted potatoes on St Pat's Day nearly every year, but I've never planted potatoes intentionally.
We get to laugh at ourselves.
The other night, Hunky Husband and I were watching TV separately, as do we usually. I heard him coughing up a fit. Since it annoys me to have someone bother me while I'm having such a coughing spell, having a speck of pepper catch in my throat or some such, I listened carefully but did not rush in to see HH. I find that as long as I can hear the fit, breath is being had. Later in the evening, HH told me that he had coughed stuff up from his lungs, catching it in his handkerchief, and that he had rinsed it out in the sink, hanging it over the towel bar in his bathtub enclosure. He told me that he had coughed up blood. Would I please check that he'd gotten all of the blood rinsed out?
Coughing up blood is a whole 'nuther thing. Now I am concerned, but I don't really want to let on to HH and get him obsessing about it. I check his handkerchief and, finding a smear of pink, take it to my basement sink for rinsing. In rinsing, I note that there is more and more pink showing up as I rotate the handkerchief in my hands. There are grainy little dots of pink - only on one side of the cloth - each fact of which struck me as strange. Eventually I am satisfied that the handkerchief is clean and hang it on the edge of the "whites" laundry basket to dry.
I preceded HH to bed. As he was in his bathroom brushing his teeth, I lay in bed with my mind wondering. Eventually, my mind wandered over something to do with the watermelon that we had eaten as a late evening snack. Bingo! It was not blood that HH was coughing up, it was small specks of watermelon cellulose and juice. I feel so much better. HH and I got a good laugh at ourselves. The photo shows our next watermelon - on which we shall endeavor not to choke. It's in the bag that I used to carry it, the watermelon having been too large for me to otherwise manage while also carrying two smaller bags of groceries to my car.
When I go to see my nephrologist, on the one day of the month on which he is in Derby, he is ensconced in a rented space within a cardiology clinic. Dr M hasn't the backup of assistants or administrative folks, nor does he have most of the paraphernalia associated with medical practice. Thus, he asks me my weight, which number he inputs to his records.
Knowing my propensity toward forgetting to weigh myself, I weighed myself this morning before stepping into the shower. Wow! I had gained five pounds since my last weighing. From the fit of my clothing, I found a gain of five pounds to be highly doubtful. I concluded that the strain gage(s) in the scale might be broken - or - the batteries might need replacement. I couldn't remember the batteries' ever having been replaced. The scales belong to Hunky Husband. They are HealthKit, but I don't recall his having purchased the kit nor do I remember his assembling or maintaining those scales. Hmmm.... HH could not enlighten me. He didn't recall, either. We surmised that it may have been while I was still living in Albuquerque NM. I tore into the scales.
The above, right photo shows most of the bottom section of the scale. (Aiming the camera from above, I failed to get the second battery carrier into frame.) Even with enlargement, I doubt that you can read HH's written note about the date of replacement of the batteries, so I'll give a closeup, below.
Yes, the batteries were last replaced 24.5 years ago! The expiration date on the six C cells was March 2014. The batteries all tested marginally "good" and none was showing any sign of leaking. The Energizer Bunny did well! Regardless, I shall replace the cells with fresh ones. That may not tell me much about past and current weight readings, but it will remove one uncertainty from the process.
It's been a while since I've posted and I know that enquiring minds really want to know up to what this really old woman has been. Well...if you don't really care, you may be excused to find better use of your time. This is not required reading!
The yard work has been keeping me busy for the spring and early summer, this year. Which is usually the case. What makes it more interesting/harder work this year are the confluence of two happenings: 1) unavailability of quality mulch, and 2) weather that teeters between rainy and hotter/sunnier than hell. I cannot work in the sun or in the heat as I am prone to sun/heat stroke - or - at the very least, heat exhaustion. As I've written at Paying for my sins gives me exercise, my big challenge this year has been to rid us of the sumac that I was foolish enough to plant. It had thrived and, as previously stated, it will be at least a couple of years before I can declare victory. Defeat is unthinkable! Each week, our trash barrel has been completely stuffed with sumac roots that I've dug/pulled up for the past several weeks. The photos, below, show how the largest sumac planted areas look, today. The photos show the same area, but from nearly opposite viewpoints. Note, too, that I have taken out a couple of the small redbud trees and trimmed up the remaining ones.
While working in that area for a few minutes, this morning, I took the opportunity to transplant a small crepe myrtle bush (photo, below). I don't know whether the bush came up from seed (I find hundreds of seedlings all over the place) or from the roots of nearby old crepe myrtle bushes. As was the case for the small crepe myrtle bush that I planted in the same planting bed earlier this year (thought I had posted it but can't find the photo or posting) in either case I don't know the parent bush. It could be a dwarf cerise-colored crepe myrtle, a white full-sized crepe myrtle, or a more reddish pink full-sized crepe myrtle. (For photos of possible parent bushes, please see The past week or so at Casa CC - 7/27/2019.)
Most of my yard-work time during the past week has been spent de-weeding/grassing the planting areas that are farther from the street, but in the same stretch of yard. The next photo shows about one-third of the area in which I've been working. At the left side of the photo, within the area delimited by the steel posts (installed to keep Fred's occasional fence-fall from further damaging my plantings), one can see a multitude of crab grass plants awaiting my attention. I was working in that area, this morning, when it started raining. It is a hot, muggy day and it is now (5pm) thundering out there.
Did I fail to mention that I showed more agility, this morning, than I would have laid claim to? I heard something breaking and ran into the middle of our back yard where I knew I would be safe from falling trees/limbs. It was an unnecessary exercise as the branch from a huge walnut tree crashed on Fred's property, this time. He doesn't trim his trees (or anything else in his part of the woods) which leads to such dead falls. It was not a small limb! (I took a photo, but the bright sun made it impossible for me to see the viewfinder and the offending tree isn't in the photo!)
My mini meadow is coming along nicely this year. The next photo shows it in all its glory. Note the milkweeds - the seed pods of which deserved their own photo. I'll post the pod photo on the neighborhood website to see if anyone wants a pod or three.
I bury our green garbage. It enriches the clay of which our soil is comprised and reduces the strain on our city's sewage system. Our city requires that no garbage be placed in the trash bins. That is what garbage disposers are supposed to make unnecessary. Many of the buried treasures send up shoots - mostly from potatoes and melons. They have a tendency to try to escape their confines. The photos, below, show a couple of examples. In the first photo, a melon plant of some sort has shriveled up in the past day or two - maybe from too much water????
To round out the posting, here is a closeup of the little things that have been hanging from our small trees over the past week or two. I'm thinking they are army worms like the ones that destroyed much of our fescue lawns last summer. Kevin is supposed to be sending his lawn specialist out to tell me what we need to have done.
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