Out and around

Groundhogs at the zoo. They are adorable.

Butterfly garden at the zoo.

A Great Blue Heron chillin' and reflectin' in the lake.

Can you see the heron's prints going across this picture? Its prints were huge!

My nephew put on a cooking show, complete with accent, on my porch when they visited. My niece assisted in making a pesto with various leaves and flowers from my garden. We even ate some.

 Found a bug emerging in my garden.

Out on a walk, I came across this fence.

Walking legs

Being that I am just a couple of months away (ACK!) from walking 50 miles (for the 8th time!), I figured I should train a bit. The couple of years that I walked with no real issues I was exercising regularly - some mix of walking to and from campus (~3 miles round trip), going to the gym, and regular 4 to 6 mile walks after work. Now, not so much.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a walk that was just over 6 miles. My legs were tired by the end for sure, but not sore the next day. I think the trick will be doing a 6 mile loop 3 to 5 times a week. I also walk to and from my car every day, but that is only about 1.5 miles.

It would, of course, be nice for walking if it was not over 85 degrees when I get home after work.

Yesterday morning I had good intentions to get out on the road by 8:00. Then I wanted to make biscuits before it got closer to the predicted 89 degrees, so I did that. Then I did a load of laundry so I could hang it out before I headed out for my walk. I made it out the door around 10, and by the time I got back at 11:40, it was pushing 90. At least there was stuff to look at. This guy said hi on my way out by flapping his wings a bit. Per this website, it is a male too.

This barn is just down the road from me and on a land grant sale with the two houses next to it. Not likely a functional barn, but probably where all the barn swallows that swoop around live.

A little over a mile in, this is where I like to stretch. I sometimes do some push-ups too if I am feeling inspired and the bugs are leaving me alone. (As an aside, I get bitten even when I wear OFF Deep woods. Go figure.)

These fields are on opposite sides of the road. Either the corn was planted at different times, or this one is just a better field than the second.

 

Field #2

And that is pretty much all I took pictures of until I was nearing home and saw this killdeer, a shorebird that is oft found far from water.

It was a hot 6.2 miles, and I drank those two bottles of water I had with me...and took a nap late afternoon.

Must. Focus.

I have mentioned before about how I cannot seem to get myself to just work hard all the time. I just do not want to. And by work hard, I am talking about work-work. After being away from home 11 to 12 hours a day during the week, I do not want to do work at night. A few hours each day on the weekend (dispersed over the course of the day usually) is all I usually do unless I have a hard deadline approaching. Actually the number of hours I work-work dramatically increases when I have a hard deadline (probably not unusual). This is not because I do not work towards that deadline ahead of time, but rather 50 to 60 hours a week of work-work is not enough time for me to do my own research, commute, deal with my undergrad, in theory read (I am really bad at reading publications like I should), and finish a grant application or paper manuscript (as these are usually the two ongoing things I have needed to do over the past six months). Then you add planned vacations into the mix and I put in longer hours when I get back to do work-work and resent the vacation.

BUT if you talk about home-work, I am all over that. I do not know if it is because it is not work-work or if I really do like cleaning, weeding, laundry (minus the folding and putting away), etc. Yesterday CF had (the longest ever) volleyball tournament. He wanted me to come with him but, 1) I do not do volleyball (I will go hiking or swimming any day though. I do not like physical activities I am not good at.), 2) I did not want to spend money I do not have on food and beer at a bar volleyball tourny, and 3) my boss comes back Tuesday and wants a full draft of a manuscript (not going to happen). I ended up having 12 hours by myself at his house, and because the tournament went so late we ended up not having people over for a bonfire (sad because I was looking forward to a s'more). I managed to finish some counting I have been working on for months for work-work (BORING) that should have taken me only a couple of hours. That is all I did though.

In between I cut down some little trees that had grown in front of his picture window, weeded and put grass clippings around the tomatoes/parsley/chives he has out back, built the bonfire we ended up not burning, got gas, went to the grocery store, wasted a ton of time on FB/farmville, thought about writing this post (and did not), made dinner, made hummingbird food (and one came and ate after not having the food up for a few weeks!). I found this beautiful moth when I was tending the tomato plants. My grad school friend has a butterfly garden, so I asked him if also does moths - this one is a Virgin Tiger Moth.

I also finally figured out what a weed is that I remember eating at my grandparents' house growing up. It is always in gardens and my Grandma cooked it and added lots of butter and salt. It is called purslane and there are lots of ways you can cook with it! CF had some spaetzle I had bought and then found out he did not like, so I used it to make a pasta salad with purslane, carrots, red pepper, salami, leeks, and a creamy italian dressing. It was quite tasty and CF liked it (when he got home at 11:30 p.m. and had some).

And all of this is to say that I should actually be working right now but am a pro at finding other distractions. I am in lab and have some stuff going, but should really FOCUS and do some reading and writing. It is in the high 80s and sunny out, so I actually do not mind being in the air conditioning...if only I could use the time a little more productively...

Whirlwind-ish

The first exciting thing that happened on my vacation, was that after 13 hours of driving to my parents' house, my 2001 Jetta finally hit 100k. I smiled a little to myself because it happened at the top of this big hill that has lots of stop lights and my car is a standard. I remember driving up that hill the one time I got to drive my Dad's Saab and worrying that I would stall and/or roll back and hit the person behind me. Didn't happen in the Saab nor in the Jetta.

The second exciting thing was at my parents' house. They live on a mountain. In the woods. With woodchucks and bear as neighbors. In the winter you can almost make out the next house through the woods. Well, my parents were not home (I knew this, but wanted to break up the drive to RI). I got there after dark and hurriedly brought my bag into the car, shut the house door, and rearmed the alarm. Then I spent a couple of hours telling myself the sound on the windows was bugs. I did sleep in the bedroom closest to my car with my key (and car alarm button!), my cell phone, and the house phone near by. Then there was a BIG old thunderstorm and wind. Normally I do not mind thunderstorms, and this would not have been much different. Except the TV turned on by itself. Twice.

My car had a bunch of leaves all stuck to it from the wind, and I survived. Then I headed off to my college reunion in the morning. I have pictures of people, but we will stick to a couple from around campus.

 

I got to see Danielle after many years at the end of the weekend, and her friend Sea Queen, who did a fair amount of my training when I was a research tech when she was leaving and whose father apparently works in my field.

Then I headed up to the Boston area and went guest-room hopping and eating and pretending to do work occasionally because my PI wants my paper done (and I do too, but not really on vacation).

THEN on Thursday of last week, CF flew into Boston for the Jack and Jill shower for my Bro and his fiancee. My sister made a great cake (mango spice cake with coconut cream frosting and homemade fondant letters) and cookies. Because she can.

I managed to coerce men into playing gift bingo by telling them there were prizes. My niece and my nephew got to work their first keg - I am pretty sure no cup was empty all day. I do not know about my future sis-in-law, but my brother seemed pretty excited about getting home-boiled maple syrup and a fancy shmancy vacuum. And the night was topped off with a fire in the fire pit, complete with weiners and s'mores. Somehow CF and I hit the road in the morning to drive the 13ish hours back here...not until 9:30 a.m. though.

Anyway. I think I got a lot "done" while I was back East. In no particular order, I got to:

• Catch up on the good and not-so-good with friends from many stages in my life - college, research tech years, and grad school
• Put on a fancy dress and test my shoes for my Bro's wedding
• Visit several restaurants from college and grad school that I miss
• See things I have missed - a friend's house, friends' 14 month old pivot (she saved the first steps for just after I left. Jerk.), another friend's six month old (and a grad school guy friend who refused to put said baby down?!)
• See things I got there just in time for: a friend's ultrasound photo of her growing "parasite" that they just started telling people about, an engagement, a new apartment
• Finally get frames for my college and graduate degrees
• Drink too much on three distinct occasions
• Experience about the best weather I think Boston has had in a row in a long time

Not bad, huh?

Food, fun, and games

Sunday breakfast: bacon, citrus salad, berry-walnut-oatmeal pancakes and maple syrup. CF's had applesauce on the pancakes because he's German like that.

I went into Marshall's to check to see if they had shoes. I returned the ones I bought before because I wore them a couple of times at home and it was clear that 10 minutes washing dishes was all the balls of my feet could handle in them. I am hoping these end up in the Target stores and not just online. So I didn't find any shoes at Marshall's, but I walked around and tested my will power not buying fun stuff and walked out with this German coffee...

 

...and this notebook. I love this notebook, actually. If I had a color scheme, this would probably be closer than the one I mentioned previously. I would decorate a house based on this.

 

Guess these sparrows!

  

I think they are chipping sparrows. I submitted a bird list on ebird though, and they flagged it because 6 chipping sparrows was more than they would predict. I sent the picture and the volunteer hasn't emailed me back. I also saw cowbirds, Eastern towhee, Cooper's hawk, and lots of various little ones among others. Clearly I can only leave the windows cracked when I am at work or I will come home to an outdoor cat.

One last game? Spot the pheasant.

A visitor

Some of you may have seen a picture or two on the FB. This guys stops by a couple times a day to clean up under the feeders.

He is a ring-necked pheasant.

The cat is not nearly as excited to see him anymore. In fact, she ignored the noise he was making outside the window over the weekend. She does still like the squirrels and chipmunks though.

Foiled?

A baffle. A door. A chair.

 

I got a squirrel baffle for my standing bird feeder (see squirrel on ground and baffle on pole). My birdseed now lasts more than a day in the feeder. Coincidence?

My cat likes the new little carpeted thing next to the door. I used to keep a chair there but it was a pain to move when I wanted to use the door. She gets really excited when the squirrels are near. The squirrels get excited too. One morning after I listened to the squirrel sitting right next to the door bi*&#@ing at my cat, it ran over and scratched at the door and ran off. The cat did not know what to do.

CF reported to me one morning that said cat was sitting on the table looking out the window when he got up. So, the chair that used to be in front of the door is now upside down on the end of the table (and you can just see the back of it in the picture). The other morning he sent me a message that the cat was on the table...next to the chair...where I had put newspapers to deter her. She does not get up there when I am home, presumably because I chase her with a newspaper. When I asked CF if he chased her off, he replied that she is just going to do it again. Awesome. Guess who will be the disciplinarian?

Bullies

This is not about people bullies, but animal bullies. I had only seen one starling around the feeders at a time before, but they clearly figured out where there is food. Starlings are actually quite clever birds; according to this they are the same family as myna birds, and myna birds can learn to talk/mimic human speech. They are also noisy and took over the feeder yesterday.

 

CF defends the red squirrels that run up the feeder because, "They need to eat too". Whatever. It's hilarious opening the door and watching them fly through the air to run away. I should have taken a video of that! The way my cat just flew through to the door when it ran by? I think she would totally get it if I let her out. I should have brought her over to CF's when he had mice!

ANYWAY. My problem with the squirrels (and blue jays and crows and ravens) is that when they are on the feeder, other birds do not go to the feeder. Except the chickadees. I am pretty sure they are not afraid of much.

I also noticed these (I think) finches. Watch as they jump at the snow. They jump at it to turn over the snow to get to the thistle that is covered up. Clever! The little birds are not bullies, they are just cute. :-)

P.S. I informed CF it is his fault I am turning into my bird-loving mother because he is the one who gave me the first feeder.

Critters

Some of my family was visiting recently, and my Mom stayed with me for the weekend while the boys did the big college football thing. We came home one night, I went to put my key in the door and there was a cute tree frog sitting on the handle! My Mom put it in the bushes, but it took some coaxing.

A few days later, I found a big toad that had burrowed into the softer dirt in my garden. It was there for a few days.

There are a few holes in the garden too that I believe belong to the moles (?) that have done a number on the lawn.

There is a cricket in the hallway, but I cannot find it. It stops making noise when I open my apartment door.

Today, I went back out to my car to bring more stuff in. This was on the window! The one critter I have a picture of. Unfortunately I could not get my camera to focus on the body of the moth. It would be well camouflaged in a pile of fall leaves, huh?

Sad

A few things that make me sad:

Thinking of older people who are alone. Used to think of my grandfather this way. Now I don't. I just feel sad about the other good old people who are alone.

The little kitty who was at my backdoor early (5:07, to be exact) Monday morning and earlier this evening. My cat was not too happy about it either time. Said little kitty ran away when I went to the door.

That my Mom is going through some beyond crappy stuff right now and is mostly physically, if not emotionally, alone, because my Dad has a job in another state and they mostly only see each other weekends.

That's all for now.

Random stuff

These are beautiful animals.
The variation on this Asian beef noodle soup was pretty good. I used rice noodles, beef stock from a boiled dinner last month, dried cilantro, and added some fish sauce.

I know lots of people getting married and having babies recently or in the next six months. Very exciting! I get to be a bridesmaid in one of the weddings and the bride picked red. I am a fan of red.

CF and I just bought tickets to visit his family for a little over two weeks in June. Cross your fingers all those Icelandic volcanoes quiet down a bit.

I did lots at work today - a couple experiments, make up some solutions, read a paper. Productive, huh?

My hair is getting a bit longer and so the bit of wave I have in my hair is noticeable. I asked my sister, the one sibling with curly hair, what she uses to see if I can boost the wave a bit and work with it. We shall see.

I turned a year older on Friday - I am a whipping 31 now.

Dirt and sawdust

This spring seems springier than previous springs. I think it is from all the nature around me though. In grad school, it would get nice in the spring, the undergrads would start wearing less clothing, the starlings would get all frisky, and there would be more people walking around. Here in the Midwest though, there is more animal activity.

I attribute this perceived springiness to the variety of animals around and early farming activities around where I live. I grew up in Vermont and New Hampshire though, so I think it is a little strange that this catches my attention so much. My bird feeder has been busy. At night, I can go to sleep to the sound of all the peepers in the swamp behind my house and wake up to the birds singing in the morning. And of course, the undergrads here are all of a sudden wearing sun dresses when it is still barely 65 degrees out.

This morning was a good example of what I keep noticing. In a short half hour drive, I saw three turkey vultures in a field presumably eating something, one with its wings spread open. A ring-necked pheasant also crossed the road in front of my car. There was also a farmer flowing his field and it smelled of fresh dirt. At another house, a man was cutting up a tree he had felled. I can't wait until the first fresh-cut grass of spring.

The Flats

Any of you out there ever had a visit from Flat Stanley? The book was published in 1964, but not until 1995 did a school teacher from Ontario use this book for education purposes. The short explanation is that Stanley is a flat boy who can be put in an envelop and mailed. School kids mail Flat Stanley to someone they know; that someone takes Stanley around and mails him back; the kid talks to his or her class about Stanley's adventures. One of my friends got to take Flat Stanley around New York City. I mean that is pretty exciting!

My nephew sent me Flat Stanley. My nephew's little imagination also created Flat Isabella. On the envelop they came in, it said "her name is flat isabella can you pleas Take care of her Bcuse She is preshis." Adorable. Mostly I just took the Flats to visit where I work and where CF works. I could not think of anything particularly "Midwest" to do. I suppose I could have lied and said Stanley came to a country music concert or the country bar with me, but those are less appropriate for the second grad classroom. ;-) What is more Midwest than these photos?

At night, the Flats would chill on the couch with the cat.

The end.

Amateur birder

I am not a "birder", nor do I ever anticipate being one. However, I did grow up in (basically) Small Town, U.S.A., appreciate the outdoors, and know a fair amount of bird species. I loved living in a city, don't get me wrong, but I also stopped taking advantage of the fact that I lived in a city. So I have rather enjoyed the quiet of the Midwest. Although I work in a (small) city, I live a half hour drive out of the city (going 70+ mph so you do the math), and it is quiet. CF gave me a bird feeder for Christmas. The ground thawed, the feeder is up, and the birds have found it. I will have to resort to cheap birdseed at the rate they are eating it.

A mere 11 days ago, when there was still snow on the ground, I could have sworn the same four birds stopped by every morning. Maybe a week ago, I started seeing a mourning dove come around. Now we have all SORTS of birds. So thanks to my country upbringing, I have been able to tell what they are. I missed photographing the four red-winged blackbirds that were on the feeder earlier. I have seen red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, wrens,a female cardinal,a male cardinal (who showed up after the female tipped him off surely) who was joined by a house finch and wren,Ooooo...then the amazing set of pictures that I linked to throughout this post taught me that this is a dark-eyed junco. I tried to figure it out one day to no avail. I can sleep easy tonight now.Also, the squirrels around here are not normal. There are fox squirrels and black squirrels. What ever happened to red squirrels? I liked those more than gray ones even. There are probably hybrids too.

While I am on a wildlife kick, I should also mention the road kill around here. I mean, if I was into road kill stew or something, this would be heaven - deer galore, raccoons, beaver, a coyote once, possums, skunks, a weasely shaped thing that may have been an American marten, and other small unidentifiable rodents (well, at least when you are speeding down the highway).

Okay. I'm done now.

First light

This was out of my bathroom window this morning as the sun was coming up. I probably should have taken a picture a few minutes later to show the stark contrast of color (the chimney was gray then, for example). Reminds me that I really should carry my camera around with me to take advantage of picture-perfect moments.

Vacation/work

I just got back from a week with CF and two interviews. The interviews were great, time spent with CF was great, and we went to the zoo again. Some peafowl photos I like...
This next one reminds me of recent logos I have had input in designing because one person mentioned logos should not have more than two prominent colors.

Caught red-pawed

REALLY?! Did the stupid squirrel think I would not see it there????? It totally froze when it heard movement in the house. I chased it or it's family member off the porch THREE times in a matter of 2 hours. I have seen two together this summer. It is only a matter of time before the juveniles appear just like last summer.

The landlord knows there are squirrels living in the house (roof to be specific), as one actually was IN the basement last summer, and has done nothing to get them out. I can see where the siding by the gutter near our porch is bent out and they always go in there. GRRRRR. Any one ever have success deterring squirrels?

My poor flowers.

As if you wanted to know

I just wanted to invite you all to the pity party. I try not to complain too much at work.

I woke up Monday morning intending to work all day but had a painful chest cough and ultimately stayed home. It was just kinda like: Tada! You have a painful chest cough. I fought a fever off most of that day, but Monday night was not pretty. I was hot; I was cold; I drank too much water and had to pee but was completely off balance; I had a fever; I was sweaty. Yuck. Tuesday morning I felt amazing though! I was so proud of myself for fighting off whatever it was...Until about an hour into the work day. Then the tylenol was the only thing keeping me lucid. But then when I left work at the end of the day I felt much better. [I think I am allergic to work.]

Today, the cough is still pretty bad even with the hot tea, gallons of water, and cough syrup. So I went to the doctor; only I was not coughing or weezing while I was there so she said I am fine. (Well, really she said come back in a week if the cough hasn't gotten better.) I suppose this is good because her immediate reaction to my symptoms was, "It's the flu."

For the record. Not everyone gets the flu when they do not get a flu shot! I am a healthy young adult and do not live in a dorm. Why do I need a flu shot? Save 'em for the older, younger, and dorm dwellers! I have been going to work because I have a presentation in two weeks, so I am glad I did not pass on the flu.

I have been super careful about washing my hands and coughing/sneezing into my sleeve. My four year old niece even does this, but rumor has it that it is not "socially acceptable" yet. [Check out this public service announcement. I laughed. I cried. It became a part of me.]

Anyway. This is all just an excuse for not attempting to come up with anything "good" to write about. But if you come away with anything, it should be: Cough and sneeze into your sleeve where the germs "will dessicate and die". (See above service announcement.)

On a completely unrelated note, the dog we are sitting is definitely warming up. He has now followed me around the apartment a few times on his own! I would almost venture to say he likes me.

Certainly not the leader of the pack

We have a friend's dog, Nick, staying with us this week. He was a rescue dog from somewhere in Virginia and was found with a pack that had two pregnant dogs it it. I'm not sure how he found his way to the Northeast, but I think a lot of digs in areas with high-kill shelters are relocated. He is a very submissive dog, prefers women to men (barely), but is good around other dogs. I guess our friends spent a weekend with other friends and their dog. After that weekend, Nick started responding to his name finally. He does not ask to go out; he does not move from his pillow or the couch when he's in our apartment; when you walk him, he doesn't sniff around and jumps at normal traffic noises; he has not moved to eat or drink (sorta). I put his wet food and water closer to where he is parked himself when he is alone, and the wet food is always gone when I get back. Check out the restraint of this dog:That is a plate of cannoli on the table in the right hand corner and the dog all curled up on the couch. How many dogs are that nervous that they are not tempted by fresh cannoli? How many people can resist the temptation of fresh cannoli?

He is warming up to us though. Last night, my roommate pet him the whole time she was on the couch while we watched 2 hours of TV and he eventually relaxed enough to show his belly...a little. Even though I planned to work today, I'm not feeling spectacular. I decided I would stay home and bond with Nick. I just sat next to him with my soup and toast and he was totally sniffing. I may have bribed him with a piece of chicken from my soup.

Oh, yeah - I have some windows open to get some fresh air in the apartment because it is 60 degrees out today?!

Trick or Treat?

My roommate and I are dog sitting while the dogs owners have a baby. I am more of a morning person, so I am fine with getting up early and taking the dog for a nice long walk. As I was falling asleep last night, I thought, "Maybe I'll do the 3-mile loop in reverse tomorrow morning." Thank goodness that is what I did and that I tend to be observant.

I found not ONE,

but TWO

ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR BILLS on the sidewalk. In my path.

They are so real with their watermarks and plastic strips and fancy ink. No one was around. It was not in front of a house. There was no wallet. They were a few feet apart. Is there a maximum amount of money that if you find over that, you have to report it? Someone mentioned there might be when I came in to work all excited this morning.

Happy Halloween!