51 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 7-2-16”

  1. Good morning! I got here as AJ was changing out the photos for today. I saw a turkey from Cheryl and a tiger from me (tiger lily).

    What a fat turkey, too. Plumping up for Thanksgiving, I imagine.

    I plan to go to my critique group. It’s a very nice group of ladies.

    I hope everyone has a good Saturday of this 4th of July holiday weekend.

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  3. Yep, two of my favorites from the Smoky Mountains: a gathering of tiger swallowtails (with one pipevine swallowtail at the left) and one of the many turkeys we saw. This one was getting ready to display (or just finishing? we were driving by him slowly, so I didn’t see his actual display), but his fan is down. But the feathers on his back are turning over to show the black they show in display mode and he is puffing himself up, and even though his fan is not raised you see the colors in his tail and on his head. A different tom actually walked right in front of the car and put up his fan as he stood on the center stripe–my husband said it was just like a school crossing guard. That other one was so close to the car I couldn’t even get his legs in the photo, and a Prius has a short hood. But both were very close, allowing fret close-up detail.

    The butterflies weren’t as close–the other side of the stream. But the camera allows zooming in. I don’t know if it was a group of males puddling (feeding from a stream on the sand in order to have salt to give females when breeding for the eggs) or if it was a group feeding on a pile of manure. Both are known activities for the species, and I couldn’t tell. But the butterflies coming and going were so pretty I tried to zoom in for a photo (while I was still too far away to get a good one) and suddenly this “pile” of butterfies filled my lens. I thought it was just a couple coming and going, and I was delighted when I saw many. When we got around the stream a bit more, I got a clearer shot at them and got this one that I love.

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  5. I am so sick. Got what the little folk had from VBS. My fault really as I stopped taking tumeric when the weather warmed up. Made it through winter with very little illness. It took the small folk a week of not wanting to get out of their rooms and then they were coughing and nose running for a week more. Looks like the long haul.

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  6. Oh, it’s July so there’s also a butterfly convention on top of the Republicans and Democrats. Who will they nominate? 🙂

    And the poor, unsuspecting turkey … just a few more months now …

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  9. We picked about a gallon of cherries of our pie cherry bushes yesterday. Ten year old pitted a quart and is now making a cherry pie. Fourteen year old made one the other day and we froze a bunch of cherries for later. Lots to pick yet, if we can stay ahead of the birds and bees. An abundant harvest this year. Unfortunately, I told fourteen year old boy to pick the ripe sweet cherries. He did not realize what ripe meant so he picked them all. Oops.

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  10. The blackberries have a huge harvest coming on. I think of Chas when I see them. I am glad we still have honey bees and other bees to keep the pollination going.

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  12. We’re home! Those of us who knew we were gone, I put our trip overview on Rants and Raves. Photos to go to AJ soon once I get them up on my computer and can sort out a few favorites. (And yes, those who guessed, I’m the other one who got to meet Kim–and Amos and Lulabelle.)

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  15. I went to see my brother after critique group. We had lunch together which was nice. He had a minor type surgery on his skin on his back so I have seen him several times lately to help with dressing it.

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  17. Pie is done and looking very delicious. Just waiting for somebody to volunteer to go get the mail so we can dig in. Of course, I have not told them I am waiting for that. Looking for a helpful volunteer not a commanded minion.

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  22. Poor Emily. She’s been working hard & has been busy with life in general, so today she wanted to have a relaxing day at the lake, where there’s a small beach, with Forrest. But R just had to stir up some drama. He would call her, but then he would call us, telling us he couldn’t get a hold of her, so we would text her with what he said. That happened three or four times. But she was in contact with him after all. I don’t know why he had to drag us into it. Our texts only added to Emily’s stress.

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  24. Yes, Happy Anniversary!

    It’s a beautiful weekend here in Southern California, sunny but cool. Downright cold at the dog park. 🙂

    Got some housework done & some cleanup in the patio taken care of … Still dealing with roofer estimates. Another one should be coming within a day or so.

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  26. Good morning. Happy belated anniversary to Mumsee and Mike!!!

    Everyone is sleeping at my house. I’m still waking too early but am feeling a little better.

    Today is my dad’s 83 birthday. I just finished sending him a mushy email, extolling his virtues (of which there are many). He was not the perfect father–but he is an honorable man who loves Jesus (he became a believer at age 36). Wish I was there to give him a hug in person.

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  28. Karen, it seems like it would be better if you stayed out of it with them. In such an instance, for example, if he tells her he can’t reach her, say, “I’m sorry to hear that” and let that be it.

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  29. Good Morning ya’ll…and happy belated anniversary Mumsee and Mike!
    Working on my second cup of coffee…..I’m feeling a tad bit old today! 😛
    So good to hear you are feeling better Ann…you have been in my thoughts and prayers ❤

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  30. Peter L, he is pedaling his way back home. Last I heard, they were near Tallahassee headed for Kansas to see the grandkids if possible, and then westward and northward.

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  34. I shouldn’t complain about the difficulties we’ve had with our move. Someone this morning at church pointed out this verse from the hymn “He Leadeth Me”:

    Lord I would clasp Thy hand in mine,
    Nor ever murmur or repine;
    Content whatever lot I see,
    Since ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me!

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  35. Michelle (and her daughter) and I worshiped together this morning at Michelle’s old church. How cool is that? She knows most everyone with roots in that church so everyone loved talking to her about all the people who have come and gone, lots of fun connections discovered. And much excitement about the Biddy project, too, she’s made some new fans. 🙂

    Pal/former neighbor/real estate guy from the dog park then came by to check out my collapsing wooden patio frame. He said it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be (from my descriptions), thinks it can be salvable but now to find someone to do it who won’t charge a fortune.

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  36. Meanwhile, LA Times did a coyote-related story and quoted the Irish researcher I’ve used, so I felt a little jealous. She belongs to me, I found her first!

    At least they mentioned our paper’s recent coverage of the issue in the article (about a coyote shooting in Silver Lake, the area of Los Angeles that’s in between Hollywood and downtown LA).

    http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-coyote-silver-lake-20160701-snap-story.html

    ____________________________________

    The “coyotecide” happened on a cool June morning on Fernwood Avenue.

    Mike Parson was putting on his shoes to go for a walk with his dog in their Silver Lake neighborhood, just a few miles from Griffith Park, when he heard a loud thump.

    Minutes later, he saw a coyote lying in the street in front of his parked truck. The coyote appeared to be dead, but it didn’t look as if a car hit it.

    Instead, a mystery sniper took the coyote out.

    Los Angeles Police Sgt. John Gutierrez said there were no suspects and it was unclear why the coyote was shot. He said he was sure it was not shot by a Los Angeles Police Department officer or another city employee or official. Gutierrez said the department’s Animal Cruelty Task Force is looking into the shooting. The Department of Animal Services is also investigating.

    Despite all the questions, some neighbors believed the killing was just the latest example of residents’ frustration with coyotes in Silver Lake. The neighborhood social network Nextdoor has blown up with tips for managing increasingly bold coyotes, and residents said that coyote sightings in the middle of the street or on front lawns are common. …

    … Citing data from the L.A. County Department of Public Health, the Daily Breeze reported that coyote attacks on humans increased to 15 in 2015, up from two in 2011. When Quinn recently aggregated and analyzed data from coyote reports across nine counties in Southern California, she found that 32% of the reports involved human-coyote conflict, including bites and attacks, compared with 11 or 13% in other cities.

    On Armstrong Avenue, close to the Silver Lake Reservoir, residents described uncomfortable close encounters. …
    ____________________________________

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  38. It was really fun to see Donna.

    From there we had lunch, then visited my parents at the cemetery on what would have been anniversary #64, then to my husband’s childhood home. She got out to take a photo just as current resident came out to glare, so we left quickly.

    Now standing in line at REI. She goes to Nica next week and we are trying to protect her from Zika. . .

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  39. Cheryl – In hindsight, that would have been wise. The one call from him that would have been an exception was the one where he threatened to call the police if she didn’t call him back within a few minutes. That may sound silly, but Saturday is “officially” one of his times to have Forrest, so Emily could have been seen as being in contempt of court. (But she says that he was merely calling to make plans to see Forrest today, not asking to see him yesterday.)

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  41. It’s interest6inb, somewhat disheartening, to see Waters (Water’s World, on O’Rilley) query young people about our founding, and history. He says he doesn’t select dumb people. He selects people who might be attractive or interesting on TV, but on who might know something.
    The older people can answer his questions.
    Many don’t even know who we fought in WW II.

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  42. Happy 4th of July!

    I wrote a little something on the Splickety Bolt flash fiction photo prompt that some may enjoy reading. Add your own if so inclined. 🙂

    As I left for church yesterday, I asked Art if I got out Bosley’s food would he put it in her bowl. He said yes. When we both got home from our churches, he said Bosley would not eat the food and that she went upstairs and hopped on the bed and cried after I left. I am clearly her food servant and no other will do. I was sadly amused.

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  45. I asked some of the children the reason for celebrating the Fourth of July. I got a correct answer from the fourteen year old public school student. I was pleased.

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  50. Good for A. J., you need an extra day of rest!

    I told Art I wanted him to read to me while I washed dishes. We have a book we started reading in the car awhile back, Rhapsody in Red, by Donn Taylor. He is a great writer with lots of humor in this books and there are many references to music which Art appreciates given his background.

    As I readied to wash dishes, I told Art I had thrown away my thick dishwashing gloves and that I would double up on the thin latex gloves my brother had given me, leftovers from his pharmaceutical sales days. As serendipity so often happens with me, Art picked up the book and began reading where we had left off.

    “Put the gloves in your pocket,” I told Maria, “and put these on.” I handed her a pair of Latex surgical gloves. Faith had used them for dishwashing because she had water eczema that split the skin on her fingertips. As a pianist, she couldn’t afford wounded fingers. Regular rubber gloves didn’t agree with her, either, so she switched to surgical gloves. I’d never bothered to get rid of them after she died.”

    To read that passage first thing after I had discussed the gloves felt too strange. I could not make up such occurances. I am just left wondering how it happens.

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