Cop Car's Beat

Yay: Lily-of-the-Valley starts

Over the past several years, I've spent a small fortune trying to get starts of Lily-of-the-Valley (LOV). Inevitably, the package, when opened, revealed a mass of stuff that was unidentified as plants. I dutifully planted and watered such stuff a few times, to no avail. Mentioning this to Bogie, I was told that she had a good stand of LOV that needed dividing. She said that, if she thought of it, she would send me some starts in the fall. I set a reminder on my calendar and reminded Bogie in mid-August. She sent beautiful, healthy plants. 

The transport company was a little confused about what an "up" sign (with arrow) meant, but Bogie had packed the plants so well that they could have rolled that box down the road without apparent damage to the plants.

First Photo: As the box was delivered to our front door. (Arrows on each side pointing toward the street, rather than toward the ceiling.)

Next Photo: Healthy plants that Bogie shipped. She had let them acclimate to being in the planters before shipping and had packed them very well. It is obvious that some of the top layer of soil had been flung loose as (I assume) they tumbled the box in a cement mixer. With these plants it is easy to tell which stuff is plant life and which stuff is packing material - and- I have no trouble discerning plant tops from plant roots.

Last Photo: Planters of LOV in a temporary location where the plants may be watered as our side yard grass receives water from the sprinkler system. My plan is to let them recover for a few days before setting them into the ground near the foundation - on the northeast side of the house.

Many thanks, Bogie, and thanks for the strong advice against opening the box indoors. That advice was spot on.

I should mention that in the late 1960s, I planted LOVs on the creek bank at our previous home. They proliferated and, as of the last time I saw them (2002), were beautiful and healthy and providing protection against erosion of the bank. I no longer recall what the starts of those plants looked like, but I assume they were more recognizable as plant life than was the recent stuff I was sent by mail or that I had bought (packaged so that the stuff was sight unseen) at WalMart.

Share, we must

The first photo shows what happens when I decide to let a cantaloupe ripen on the vine a bit more. I infer from the evidence that a raccoon was having a fine Midnight meal when something scared it off. The ants, flies, and butterflies took over in the light of day (the little butterfly flitted off before I snapped the photo.)

The next photo shows the next cantaloupe with which I shall play the balancing act of ripeness vs attractiveness to the wildlife. Our normal harvest is about a half crop for Hunky Husband and me and a half crop for the critters. That's acceptable since we moved into their habitat and not vice versa.

I should mention that I went out to harvest tomatoes this morning only to find that something had plucked every tomato from the Early Girl vine - ripe, semi-ripe, or green! I brought in several of the cherry tomatoes shown in the previous posting, to ripen on the kitchen counter. After all, we must have our tomatoes.

Weird tomato

A bit over four months ago, I planted two Beefsteak and one Early Girl tomato plant. Because of the weather's having been so unstable, heat-wise and moisture-wise, the Early Girl took about 10 weeks to produce its first ripe tomato. After the unstable weeks we got hot and dry weather. Today, I picked the first ripe Beefsteak tomato - a really weird-looking one (photo, below). It's like an incompletely separated twin.

The vines have all grown like gangbusters. (The next photo shows the vine from which the above tomato was picked.) The weather conditions have just not been suitable for the tomatoes to set on and ripen.

Just starting to color up (next photo) are a bunch of cherry tomatoes that came up voluntarily from last year.

Again, the vines (next photo) have grown like gangbusters.

The last photo shows the Early Girl vine from which we've picked a large number of ripe fruits since late July.

 

Hunky Husband's Hitchhiker

Hunky Husband mowed our lawn, this morning, then took a nap before lunch. As I was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch, HH walked in - with a hitchhiker on his shoulder. It didn't wish to hold still for its portrait, but I was able to get several good photos of the hitchhiker, which I'm calling a Walnut Caterpillar. As we have several large, old walnut trees in our woods (and a few small ones in our yard), this is not an unusual find for us. How it hid on HH for such a long time is beyond my ken. HH had no idea of its presence until I picked the caterpillar off of his shoulder.

I had seen a Walnut Caterpillar Moth clinging to the doorframe of the door into the house from the garage, early this morning, but it didn't occur to me to take a photo of it - and it is no longer there. I'll substitute a photo that I found at Texas A&M: Extension Entomology.

ADDITION of 8/30/2022 7:00am - more on Walnut Caterpillar

I took the time to dig a little deeper online and found the following photo on Kansas State University Research & Extension. I like the photo even though it isn't sharply focused because it shows a grouping of Walnut Caterpillars that includes younger and older specimens.

North Carolina State University has the most comprehensive set of relevant photos. Not only has it posted individual photos of younger and older specimens, but also the next photo showing a pupa.

A good resource that I found was . That's a mouthful! It may be accessed at Moth Photographers Group. Finding the resource surprised me. The only thing I ever learned at Mississippi State University was in a hands-on course in laying up composite materials - at their Advanced Composites Institute. (I'm the "no moustache" person next to the tall guy in the back row. We students were a scroungy lot, but the instructors wore ties!)

ADDITION of 8/30/2022 10:12am - on Stu's Oak Processionary caterpillars

Stu's caterpillars are interesting critters. Unlike our Walnut Caterpillars that, at least around our place are not numerous enough to constitute a real threat (thus, I turned loose the caterpillar that had latched onto HH), parts of England and Europe are home to too many Oak Processionary Caterpillars. I found the following photo and paragraphs at Wildlife Insight. 

Oak Processionary caterpillars

on 22 MAY 2020

Oak Processionary Moth caterpillars create amazing patterns when resting in large numbers on the trunks of oak trees. They’re also fascinating to watch when on the move, walking head to tail in a long processional line, hence their name.

However, these caterpillers [sic] have a darker side. They are a growing threat to oak trees as well as a potential health risk in parts of south east of [sic] England.

These were sighted on a tree trunk by Emily Kirt while taking a walk in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London.

The origins of Processionary moths in London are thought to be from eggs imported on timber from the continent where they are a common pest. Small numbers of moths also arrive annually along the south coast as migrants from other European countries such as The Netherlands and France.

As with other invasive pest species from abroad such as The Gypsy Moth and Box Moth caterpillar they seem to be on the increase and spreading in parts of southern England.

Other caterpillars can be seen in the Moth caterpillar galleries and Butterfly caterpillar galleries . Other hairy caterpillars can be seen in the Hairy caterpillar gallery.

B-52s make noise

More than any other system in the world, the Boeing B-52 has provided meaningful work and recompense to Hunky Husband. To a lesser extent, it provided meaningful work and some recompense to me, my having spent a couple of years working on B-52s. The embedded video (nearly 10 minutes), below, was first seen by me at JUST AN EARTH-BOUND MISFIT, I - self-described as "...A "SUCKER" AND A "LOSER" WHO SERVED HER COUNTRY IN THE NAVY." It has been years since I've seen an operational B-52 in person, so this is a nostalgic trip for me. I think the last that I saw was on my way home from work one day - and I've been retired for over 18 years.

 

High Flight - Four United States Air Force (USAF) Boeing B-52H Stratofortress bombers, part of the 23rd Bomb Squadron nicknamed the 'Bomber Baron's', of the 5th Bomb Wing, normally based at Air Force Base Minot in North Dakota, USA, arrive at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, UK on 18th August 2022 for the third USAF 'Bomber Task Force' deployment of 2022 at RAF Fairford. This film shows the final 3 aircraft landing.

 

[Keeping it light, this morning...] I hasten to add that, as a former member of the Naval Reserve, I never knew of a B-52's landing on an aircraft carrier. Additionally, I did the loads on the B-52 landing gear in about 1974, including the wing tip protection wheels (it took a lot of vector rotations to get there), but did not include a carrier landing condition!

 

The following embedded video (nearly 21 minutes) of the same event - but including aircraft in addition to the B-52 - was found when I went to YouTube to embed the above video.

 

 

CobraEmergency - Cold War-era B-52H Stratofortress bombers of the US Air Force arrive in the UK to join NATO forces in Europe. Several passenger & cargo planes also assisted with the deployment. The bomber planes landed at RAF Fairford, a standby airfield for the US Air Forces in Europe. It's the only bomber base of It's [sic] kind in the continent and therefore key to the United States European Command area of military operation.

0:00 - Introduction

0:13 - Atlas Air Boeing 767

1:20 - Kalitta Air Boeing 747

4:35 - US Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster

5:45 - Ministry of Defence Police

6:20 - US Air Force Boeing B-52 Stratofortress x4

20:11 - Outroduction

Recorded: August 18th, 2022

From last weekend

Cars

When Elder Brother stops in for a short visit, I clear out the garage enough that he may keep his car garaged. I started doing that one time when hail was forecasted to occur during his stay. At that time, it took some doing for me to clear the space because we had so much stuff in the garage. (One might recall that Hunky Husband and I combined households when I moved back to Kansas in 1990.) Over the years, I've managed to winnow our belongings, inside the house and inside the garage. Now, all I have to do is to place the garden cart and clippings bin out in the back yard; move the child's wagon with the two containers of gasoline for the lawn mower, the recycle and trash bins, within the garage; roll a small set of metal shelves and re-orient it within the garage; and park the lawn mower snug up against the wall out of the way - easily enough accomplished with a zero turn radius machine.

The first photo, below, snapped early Saturday morning (dark enough that the flash went off giving eery glows to the license plates and the rear reflectors on our cars) gives proof that the garage contents reconfiguration succeeds. Left to right, EB's 1992 W-124 Mercedes Benz, CC's 2014 Lincoln MKZ, and HH's 2018 Lexus ES350. 

Cantaloupe

Just before EB arrived, while clearing out the garage, I took the garden cart out by the woods for temporary storage. I noticed the nearly whole rind of a cantaloupe that had been abandoned by some wild critter(s) that had eaten the meat of the fruit. I didn't think much about it, but later noticed a couple of melons on the cantaloupe vines that had sprouted from the green garbage that I had buried some months ago. The next two photos show the two hills of cantaloupe vines that have survived. (I tore out one hill of vines that appeared, to me, to be some other melon variety - possibly squash - that I did not wish to have cross-pollinated with the cantaloupe.) Looking at the photos I found that I could not pick out either of the two melons among the vines in the first photo, but it does show a sumac sprout that I had failed to spot, in person! I've pointed out one of the two melons among the vines in the second photo.

 

 

 

For today's lunch, I cut into the melon that I had found was ripe on the vine. It was a strange looking melon, but it tasted good. Not great, but good enough.

More catching up

When one's life is consumed by pulling weeds and watching the grass go dormant from the heat, posting in one's blog is not very prominent in one's mind. Catching up on "where I'm at" doesn't take a lot.

Cooking

Night-before-last, I hadn't fallen asleep by Midnight, so arose to figure out something else to do. Ah...Elder Brother was expected (sometime) for a day or two, so why not do some cooking? Now, as everyone knows, I'm no big shake as a cook. Cooking is a domestic art, after all, and no domestic art has ever tripped my trigger. For the most part I dislike cooking to the point of hating it. At any rate, I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen and the photos, below, show the results. Apologies that the photos show the "after partial consumption" state of the blackberry pie and the slaw. I partook of the slaw for yesterday's lunch, and Elder Brother and I partook of the pie after dinner yesterday.

When I ordered our groceries for pickup, early this past week, I had ordered two 12-ounce (weight) containers of fresh blackberries, specifying that the shopper might substitute 24-ounce container if they were out of 12-ounce containers. I've found over the past year or so that the shoppers at Dillons are not as astute as the shoppers at the little WalMart. At the little WalMart, the shopper would have given me one 24-ounce container in place of the two 12-ounce containers. From Dillons, I received two 24-ounce containers. That's a bunch of blackberries considering that Hunky Husband eats few of them. That explains why I used them to make my first-ever blackberry pie. No, I did not make the crusts. I had a package of two in the freezer and I used both, allowing me to form a top crust. You might notice the appearance of the top crust. IMHO I had too much flour/sugar/cinnamon mixture to mix with the berries - and - I forgot to pour the molten butter over the berries before placing the top crust on the berries. I poured the butter and sprinkled a bit of the flour/sugar/cinnamon mixture over the top crust - concentrating on the slits, hoping the stuff would ooze in under the top crust. I actually found the finish of the top crust quite appealing. Who knew?

I made up the head of cabbage (that's been in the fridge for at least one or two weeks) into slaw. Incorporated were a couple of carrots, 1/2 of a green bell pepper, and 1/2 of a red bell pepper. As neither EB nor HH enjoys onion, I withheld them from inclusion.

Baked beans were next on my list. That's a 1.5-quart casserole in the next photo. I didn't wish to make enough to feed an army! The chunks of meat in the beans are left-over ground turkey with home-made taco seasoning.

The last thing I fixed was a pan of dessert that I don't know what to call. I start by beating a couple of eggs (with an old-fashioned eggbeater), adding 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and 1/4 cup of water. Stirring in a 15.25-ounce (weight) box of yellow cake mix, 6 ounces (weight) of milk chocolate chips, a cup of mixed raisins and Craisins and spooning onto a bed of unsweetened shredded coconut that I had placed into a 13"x9" cake pan. Over the batter, I scattered a handful or two of pecan halves, 6 ounces (weight) of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and 6 ounces (weight) of Heath chips. Baked for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees F, it produces a dessert that may be cut into bars of the desired size(s). This is a favorite of HH's that I vary each time I make. In fact, I had intended to sprinkle the flour/sugar/cinnamon mixture left over from the pie as the first layer upon the batter. I forgot! What the guys don't yet know is that I snagged a 3-pint container of cappuccino-chocolate chunk frozen yogurt to serve with this.

Crepe Myrtles

A few months ago, I transplanted a small, volunteer crepe myrtle to a better location. A few weeks ago, I transplanted another, as shown in Catching up. The last two photos show how those crepe myrtles looked, this morning.

Both bushes are looking good - especially since, as one may note, the ground is now wet. I broke down and watered the bush plantings in our yard, yesterday, and we received 0.22" of rain early this morning. Yay!

If you ever wondered....

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.

A new butterfly

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

 

 

Weed diggers (AKA weeders)

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!