QoD. What is it? It can’t be alive. Must be wires acros somejthing.
Good morning everyone.
Finished breakfast.
Finished devotions.
Just sitting here, drinking coffee and posting you.
Nothing else going on here, and that’s good. At this point in life, almost all news is bad.
The header is the shot I alluded to a couple of weeks ago. I said I got a shot I had wanted a long time, a red-winged blackbird singing on cattails, but with an unexpected twist. See the “twist”? This is a female red-winged blackbird, and most female birds don’t sing. I didn’t know female blackbirds sang until I saw and heard this one. And she even has the tail flare that the male gives while he sings!
This spring I have also photographed a singing female cardinal (I did know they sang, but it isn’t a frequent thing and I’d never seen it). Female mockingbirds and song sparrows are also said to sing sometimes, but since male and female both look alike in those species, you’d almost have to have a pair nesting in your yard, and see both of them singing, to know you’d seen the female in song.
This may be the first shot I’ve had posted on here with my new camera. It’s like my old one in several ways (same line of cameras, different model) but a lot different in other ways, and it’s an upgrade. It is weather sealed, has a bigger sensor, and can get better photos in low light. It doesn’t officially have as long a zoom as my old one, but in reality it takes good photos every bit as far away as the old one did–and more.
That is a really cool header, Cheryl! Thank you for the info on female birds that sing. I had no idea. Very interesting.
Good morning, Chas. A quiet day at home is always preferable to an exciting day somewhere else that we would rather not be. And I am listening to the sound of a different bird singing which is all the excitement I need. Oh, and there is the rumble of a freight train. That is exciting to young children.
I had a nice conversation with Wesley last night. He had previously told me I might enjoy reading some Gerard Manley Hopkins poetry so I had purchased that from Amazon Marketplace. I told him it had strange punctuation that was unexpected. So he explained that to me. This is an example of the student teaching the teacher since I was once his teacher.
Mumsie killed the thread just by saying, “good Morning”
But I have finished everything I need to do today.
And I sit here trying to do Nothing.
Do you realize how difficult it is to do Nothing?
You never know if you’re using all the resources available for Nothing. So? You solve that by doing Something. But usually that is the wrong thing.
Best to settle by doing Nothing. The outcome is usually better.
I did, but then Chas stepped in. We just had a lightening visit by two sons and a daughter in law to be and one of their four dogs. They drove up from Boise because son and dil to be want to take out a loan from a bank up here so they can all live in a lovely fifth wheel with their four dogs. Three of the dogs are over one hundred pounds. All indoor dogs. Other son who will be living in it is gone a lot, driving truck. To be married son is gone a lot fixing helicopters. So it will be mostly future dil and the four dogs. They also wanted to pick up an extra generator for their fifth wheel from our garage. Down sizing. They are gone, here less than a half an hour. All good.
Good to see the update from Debra. They are keeping people off ventilators in hospitals here by having them lie on their stomachs too. In my first year of university, my professor of anatomy and physiology spent a portion of her lecture talking about why moving patients with severe pneumonia on their stomachs could actually help with breathing. It seems counterintuitive, but it frees up a greater surface area for air exchange.
We just got back from a morning at the state park (McCormick’s Creek). Lovely, lovely walk. I was hoping to see warblers (we didn’t) and a couple of kinds of wildflowers I have never seen but had seen photographs of them there. We found multiple species of wildflowers, including an abundance of the main one I wanted to see (shooting stars). Also the first red wildflower of the year, totally unexpected in April.
But the real treat awaited us when we went down to the creek.Tiger swallowtails were flying around, first swallowtails of the year for me–and I can almost never get a photo of a swallowtail the first time in the year I see one. They either land on something or they don’t, and butterflies that don’t land are almost impossible to photograph. But swallowtails can flutter a mile down a trail and only land twice, for one second each time. I’ve long since learned that they either land or they don’t, and don’t follow one because it isn’t worth it. Anyway, the first one I saw landed on a branch with pretty new spring leaves. A big fresh female (females are bigger and more colorful). I moved slowly closer and she still didn’t fly away, so I put my close-up lens on and crept right up to her and got a close-up of her wing before she flew. I’ve gotten close-ups of butterflies before, but never a swallowtail, and never even imagined I’d get a close-up of one on the very first day of the season. In the shot I can see the individual scales of her wing. I got a better one of her perched on the tree, but the close-up of the wing was a “wow” opportunity. We saw at least four swallowtails in all, though I only got photos of two of them.
There are a couple mastiff-like dogs a few doors down, they’re older now (and actually it may be down to 1 now) — but the dogs were often out in the fenced front yard (which is raised high above the sidewalk, as all houses are on our block) and it’s a bit of a jolt when you walk by and hear the barking then see them. But they seem friendly.
Mastiffs, properly trained and socialized, can be quite friendly. They also have German Shepherd mixes that are not well trained or socialized. Keep them away from my children and animals, thank you.
Our neighbours have two huge dogs. The elder is of uncertain breed, but has a long golden coat – faintly resembles a lion. The younger is a mastiff cross, possibly with Great Dane. He is enormous. I think I told the story of coming across him in our woods, and home barking at me as if he were defending something and then, after his owner called him home, I can across the carcass of a wild turkey he had been gnawing on. They aren’t well behaved dogs as obedience training seems a defunct art, but neither are they really dangerous. They wander onto our property all the time, but generally slink home again when they catch sight of us – that incident with the young one barking was unique.
They are massive dogs, but not the largest I have seen. I have seen an Irish wolfhound being exercised and those are big but very lean dogs. The largest dog I ever saw looked like an English sheepdog, with hair over the eyes, but I think it must have had gigantism. It was one of my city experiences that made me wonder if I had dropped into a fantastic fairyland for half a minute. I was walking along a retail street that was a considerable distance 30min bus ride) from where I lived. The street itself was unexpectedly unique. I was approaching the intersection where I hoped to catch a bus, and there was a space of green area at the corner. There was a dog owner walking a very small dog in front of me, and suddenly the little dog started barking and straining at its leash. I looked to see what had triggered the bark and saw a man walking the largest dog I had ever seen. I had to look twice to confirm it was a dog. The dog’s head came at least to the man’s shoulder (when I passed, the dog was about the same height as me) and, being of an English sheepdog build, looked wider across than a horse of the same size. We passed – the owner of the small dog making a remark to the owner of the large dog about small dogs who think they’re big and fierce. I waited for my bus and proceeded homeward and that was that. Wasn’t the first time a pet and owner had me doing a double take – there was that time I was walking home and a cyclist went by with a long haired cat sitting on his shoulders.
Tiny, whose outgoing nature loves celebrations of all kind drew a picture for her parents’ anniversary. She is progressing well for four-going-on-five in printing and spelling. She spelt ‘Happy’ correctly, but used phonetics to figure out how to print the word anniversary. Archeological linguists can figure out historical accents from how words are misspelled in personal letters or even things like graffiti. I’m not sure if Tiny’s spelling reflects our regional accent or just her childish pronunciation, but she spelt it ‘Anuvrsry’.
I used to want to have an Irish Wolfhound, as did third son. Until I learned what a short life expectancy they have and the high risk of twisted stomach and such things.
There was a guy in my old neighborhood who had a ferret what would curl around the back of his neck on walks.
Really wanted an Old English Sheepdog a while back, but a friend who had one had some issues with the breed. They are adorable, however.
And the Irish Wolfhounds are very striking.
But yes, large dogs have fairly short lifespans which is a big drawback for someone like me. Real Estate friend has always had Great Danes, he lost his most recent one maybe 6 months ago, not very old. But it brought him to tears.
Now he has a mostly white with black head and tail border collie, Max, who came to him by way of a client who was moving and couldn’t keep him. No one was sure how that would work out, but it has. He needs a dog.
How do people keep such large dogs fed? I think they must require as much food as a human. Seems it would be too expensive. But I did not want the expense of buying food and litter for a mere 14 pound cat. But I have done it for 8 years now. And it is time for a vet visit for rabies inoculation to last for three years.
So sorry to hear about the death of those dogs, Chas. My mother was so saddened by her innocent act of putting a container/bucket over a baby chick and finding it smothered that she never wanted another pet herself.
When they first built their house, before they had children, my parents had a husky puppy, one of a litter from my mother’s parents’ husky. The puppy ran out on the road and was hit by a car and had to be put down. My father said he didn’t want another dog since they couldn’t keep them safe, and they never did. Second in-law would like to have a dog, but my father is still opposed.
Road’s are deadly to dogs. Recall, while she was in Boise having the baby in a surprise turn of events, daughter’s dog was hit and killed as baby was being born. Sad all around but God’s timing worked for daughter. But we have had many dogs here who have not been hit. Sadly, oldest daughter’s dog was run over by our caretakers who failed to read the instructions when we were at the Salt Lake Olympics.
I sent a text message to my oldest grandchild this morning, who never communicates. I actually got a couple of short responses. i am thrilled. Now to just let it go for a while. He does not want a conversation.
I see on TV where electric cars have dominated the auto show.
From whence do these electric cars get their electricity. From some “clean” source?
I doubt it.
Many diseases that used to kill pets — we lost a couple cats to something once referred to as “cat fever” — also now have vaccinations that are available.
Whatever source provides power to the city they are being charged in. I see one of our local casinos has added a charging station for electric cars. Our power is hydroelectric. Bye bye salmon.
I was emailing my eldest grandson for a while. He started a new homeschool math class that involved a computer so my son encouraged people to email him. I did. He responded with enthusiasm at first but never got beyond about two sentences. My last email, around January, has not been answered. But I write to four of my grandchildren every week. Sometimes they send pictures back, with stickers I send them. I don’t know if it will go anywhere. But a couple of their parents are happy.
My phone is having some issues, FYI. Just in case it goes the way of biting dust as Art’s hard drive at work did this past week, you will know why I am not around for a bit.
My older two used to write letters fairly often. I don’t know if it was me or them that dropped the ball. Probably me as their parents are pretty diligent. But they were much younger, maybe eight and nine, now they are fourteen and thirteen. Same as my two youngest.
I think it must be worth it to at least occasionally send a letter or card or email. You never know what effect a simple thing like that can have, perhaps bearing fruit in the future.
Speaking of which, I sent my weekly text to Chickadee this evening. It was longer than my usual texts because I explained about how I stumbled upon the place which had open appointments for the Covid vaccine after having had no luck for a while.
This should be fun. Husband decided I needed a new Chromebook so the children could have my old one. Anyway, here it is but I signed in as a guest because it expects me to remember things, like my email password or my phone number. Crazy. I guess we will figure this out tomorrow.
But it is still afternoon here, Mumsee. Almost 4pm and just home from school We almost had to cancel school as it was and is so smoky as everyone decided to burn. It was so close to the school that our firetruck came over to keep watch.
Wandering Views 
QoD. What is it? It can’t be alive. Must be wires acros somejthing.
Good morning everyone.
Finished breakfast.
Finished devotions.
Just sitting here, drinking coffee and posting you.
Nothing else going on here, and that’s good. At this point in life, almost all news is bad.
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My comment was before the new header came up.
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The header is the shot I alluded to a couple of weeks ago. I said I got a shot I had wanted a long time, a red-winged blackbird singing on cattails, but with an unexpected twist. See the “twist”? This is a female red-winged blackbird, and most female birds don’t sing. I didn’t know female blackbirds sang until I saw and heard this one. And she even has the tail flare that the male gives while he sings!
This spring I have also photographed a singing female cardinal (I did know they sang, but it isn’t a frequent thing and I’d never seen it). Female mockingbirds and song sparrows are also said to sing sometimes, but since male and female both look alike in those species, you’d almost have to have a pair nesting in your yard, and see both of them singing, to know you’d seen the female in song.
This may be the first shot I’ve had posted on here with my new camera. It’s like my old one in several ways (same line of cameras, different model) but a lot different in other ways, and it’s an upgrade. It is weather sealed, has a bigger sensor, and can get better photos in low light. It doesn’t officially have as long a zoom as my old one, but in reality it takes good photos every bit as far away as the old one did–and more.
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Thanks Cheryl
We depend on the likes of you to keep this going.
And it’s important to some of us.
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That is a really cool header, Cheryl! Thank you for the info on female birds that sing. I had no idea. Very interesting.
Good morning, Chas. A quiet day at home is always preferable to an exciting day somewhere else that we would rather not be. And I am listening to the sound of a different bird singing which is all the excitement I need. Oh, and there is the rumble of a freight train. That is exciting to young children.
I had a nice conversation with Wesley last night. He had previously told me I might enjoy reading some Gerard Manley Hopkins poetry so I had purchased that from Amazon Marketplace. I told him it had strange punctuation that was unexpected. So he explained that to me. This is an example of the student teaching the teacher since I was once his teacher.
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I hate it when I type out a long post – that is BRILLIANT I might add, then am prompted to log into WordPress and lose my story.
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WordPress is just jealous of Daily Thread.
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If only we could remember to copy before we do another action . . . I have lost many things in that very frustrating manner, Kim.
I have a question, Kim.
Does the home inspector typically talk to the real estate agent or the homebuyer first about their findings?
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Update from Debra on the prayer thread.
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Good morning all.
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Mumsie killed the thread just by saying, “good Morning”
But I have finished everything I need to do today.
And I sit here trying to do Nothing.
Do you realize how difficult it is to do Nothing?
You never know if you’re using all the resources available for Nothing. So? You solve that by doing Something. But usually that is the wrong thing.
Best to settle by doing Nothing. The outcome is usually better.
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I did, but then Chas stepped in. We just had a lightening visit by two sons and a daughter in law to be and one of their four dogs. They drove up from Boise because son and dil to be want to take out a loan from a bank up here so they can all live in a lovely fifth wheel with their four dogs. Three of the dogs are over one hundred pounds. All indoor dogs. Other son who will be living in it is gone a lot, driving truck. To be married son is gone a lot fixing helicopters. So it will be mostly future dil and the four dogs. They also wanted to pick up an extra generator for their fifth wheel from our garage. Down sizing. They are gone, here less than a half an hour. All good.
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Good to see the update from Debra. They are keeping people off ventilators in hospitals here by having them lie on their stomachs too. In my first year of university, my professor of anatomy and physiology spent a portion of her lecture talking about why moving patients with severe pneumonia on their stomachs could actually help with breathing. It seems counterintuitive, but it frees up a greater surface area for air exchange.
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Those are big dogs.
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I wish them success Mumsee. But it sounds to me like they are making trouble for themselves and four dogs.
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They are young people. They will figure it out.
The puppy of the bunch, purchased last year, is a mastiff cross with something. It is now one hundred twenty pounds.
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We just got back from a morning at the state park (McCormick’s Creek). Lovely, lovely walk. I was hoping to see warblers (we didn’t) and a couple of kinds of wildflowers I have never seen but had seen photographs of them there. We found multiple species of wildflowers, including an abundance of the main one I wanted to see (shooting stars). Also the first red wildflower of the year, totally unexpected in April.
But the real treat awaited us when we went down to the creek.Tiger swallowtails were flying around, first swallowtails of the year for me–and I can almost never get a photo of a swallowtail the first time in the year I see one. They either land on something or they don’t, and butterflies that don’t land are almost impossible to photograph. But swallowtails can flutter a mile down a trail and only land twice, for one second each time. I’ve long since learned that they either land or they don’t, and don’t follow one because it isn’t worth it. Anyway, the first one I saw landed on a branch with pretty new spring leaves. A big fresh female (females are bigger and more colorful). I moved slowly closer and she still didn’t fly away, so I put my close-up lens on and crept right up to her and got a close-up of her wing before she flew. I’ve gotten close-ups of butterflies before, but never a swallowtail, and never even imagined I’d get a close-up of one on the very first day of the season. In the shot I can see the individual scales of her wing. I got a better one of her perched on the tree, but the close-up of the wing was a “wow” opportunity. We saw at least four swallowtails in all, though I only got photos of two of them.
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There are a couple mastiff-like dogs a few doors down, they’re older now (and actually it may be down to 1 now) — but the dogs were often out in the fenced front yard (which is raised high above the sidewalk, as all houses are on our block) and it’s a bit of a jolt when you walk by and hear the barking then see them. But they seem friendly.
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Mastiffs, properly trained and socialized, can be quite friendly. They also have German Shepherd mixes that are not well trained or socialized. Keep them away from my children and animals, thank you.
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Maybe the German Sepherds can go live in the White House someday
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It’s a goal.
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Our neighbours have two huge dogs. The elder is of uncertain breed, but has a long golden coat – faintly resembles a lion. The younger is a mastiff cross, possibly with Great Dane. He is enormous. I think I told the story of coming across him in our woods, and home barking at me as if he were defending something and then, after his owner called him home, I can across the carcass of a wild turkey he had been gnawing on. They aren’t well behaved dogs as obedience training seems a defunct art, but neither are they really dangerous. They wander onto our property all the time, but generally slink home again when they catch sight of us – that incident with the young one barking was unique.
They are massive dogs, but not the largest I have seen. I have seen an Irish wolfhound being exercised and those are big but very lean dogs. The largest dog I ever saw looked like an English sheepdog, with hair over the eyes, but I think it must have had gigantism. It was one of my city experiences that made me wonder if I had dropped into a fantastic fairyland for half a minute. I was walking along a retail street that was a considerable distance 30min bus ride) from where I lived. The street itself was unexpectedly unique. I was approaching the intersection where I hoped to catch a bus, and there was a space of green area at the corner. There was a dog owner walking a very small dog in front of me, and suddenly the little dog started barking and straining at its leash. I looked to see what had triggered the bark and saw a man walking the largest dog I had ever seen. I had to look twice to confirm it was a dog. The dog’s head came at least to the man’s shoulder (when I passed, the dog was about the same height as me) and, being of an English sheepdog build, looked wider across than a horse of the same size. We passed – the owner of the small dog making a remark to the owner of the large dog about small dogs who think they’re big and fierce. I waited for my bus and proceeded homeward and that was that. Wasn’t the first time a pet and owner had me doing a double take – there was that time I was walking home and a cyclist went by with a long haired cat sitting on his shoulders.
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Tiny, whose outgoing nature loves celebrations of all kind drew a picture for her parents’ anniversary. She is progressing well for four-going-on-five in printing and spelling. She spelt ‘Happy’ correctly, but used phonetics to figure out how to print the word anniversary. Archeological linguists can figure out historical accents from how words are misspelled in personal letters or even things like graffiti. I’m not sure if Tiny’s spelling reflects our regional accent or just her childish pronunciation, but she spelt it ‘Anuvrsry’.
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I used to want to have an Irish Wolfhound, as did third son. Until I learned what a short life expectancy they have and the high risk of twisted stomach and such things.
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I had two dogs as a child.
Both died within six months. I didn’t know they had dog doctors then.
I have never had a pet since.
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There was a guy in my old neighborhood who had a ferret what would curl around the back of his neck on walks.
Really wanted an Old English Sheepdog a while back, but a friend who had one had some issues with the breed. They are adorable, however.
And the Irish Wolfhounds are very striking.
But yes, large dogs have fairly short lifespans which is a big drawback for someone like me. Real Estate friend has always had Great Danes, he lost his most recent one maybe 6 months ago, not very old. But it brought him to tears.
Now he has a mostly white with black head and tail border collie, Max, who came to him by way of a client who was moving and couldn’t keep him. No one was sure how that would work out, but it has. He needs a dog.
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I think some of us are maybe just born with an “animal” connection gene
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How do people keep such large dogs fed? I think they must require as much food as a human. Seems it would be too expensive. But I did not want the expense of buying food and litter for a mere 14 pound cat. But I have done it for 8 years now. And it is time for a vet visit for rabies inoculation to last for three years.
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So sorry to hear about the death of those dogs, Chas. My mother was so saddened by her innocent act of putting a container/bucket over a baby chick and finding it smothered that she never wanted another pet herself.
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Real Estate friend’s Great Danes would ride around in his (older CRV), their giant heads sticking out the back window.
Maybe Kim could sell this:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9482215/Crumbling-1890-log-cabin-considerable-disrepair-sale-whopping-575K-Bay-Area.html
It’s really pretty cool but … definite downsides
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When they first built their house, before they had children, my parents had a husky puppy, one of a litter from my mother’s parents’ husky. The puppy ran out on the road and was hit by a car and had to be put down. My father said he didn’t want another dog since they couldn’t keep them safe, and they never did. Second in-law would like to have a dog, but my father is still opposed.
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Road’s are deadly to dogs. Recall, while she was in Boise having the baby in a surprise turn of events, daughter’s dog was hit and killed as baby was being born. Sad all around but God’s timing worked for daughter. But we have had many dogs here who have not been hit. Sadly, oldest daughter’s dog was run over by our caretakers who failed to read the instructions when we were at the Salt Lake Olympics.
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I sent a text message to my oldest grandchild this morning, who never communicates. I actually got a couple of short responses. i am thrilled. Now to just let it go for a while. He does not want a conversation.
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I see on TV where electric cars have dominated the auto show.
From whence do these electric cars get their electricity. From some “clean” source?
I doubt it.
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Many diseases that used to kill pets — we lost a couple cats to something once referred to as “cat fever” — also now have vaccinations that are available.
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Whatever source provides power to the city they are being charged in. I see one of our local casinos has added a charging station for electric cars. Our power is hydroelectric. Bye bye salmon.
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I was emailing my eldest grandson for a while. He started a new homeschool math class that involved a computer so my son encouraged people to email him. I did. He responded with enthusiasm at first but never got beyond about two sentences. My last email, around January, has not been answered. But I write to four of my grandchildren every week. Sometimes they send pictures back, with stickers I send them. I don’t know if it will go anywhere. But a couple of their parents are happy.
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My phone is having some issues, FYI. Just in case it goes the way of biting dust as Art’s hard drive at work did this past week, you will know why I am not around for a bit.
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I am surprised at any response from a grandchild.
They live in a different world from us.
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yes, Chas, I was very surprised. Who knows where he was or what he was doing as the time zones are so different.
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My older two used to write letters fairly often. I don’t know if it was me or them that dropped the ball. Probably me as their parents are pretty diligent. But they were much younger, maybe eight and nine, now they are fourteen and thirteen. Same as my two youngest.
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Annie and her twin next door were at it again this afternoon, yowling at each other through a hole in the shared fence. Sheesh.
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I think it must be worth it to at least occasionally send a letter or card or email. You never know what effect a simple thing like that can have, perhaps bearing fruit in the future.
Speaking of which, I sent my weekly text to Chickadee this evening. It was longer than my usual texts because I explained about how I stumbled upon the place which had open appointments for the Covid vaccine after having had no luck for a while.
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Chas- You had another pet: your pet rock!
And “green energy” isn’t green.
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This should be fun. Husband decided I needed a new Chromebook so the children could have my old one. Anyway, here it is but I signed in as a guest because it expects me to remember things, like my email password or my phone number. Crazy. I guess we will figure this out tomorrow.
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Interesting. You don’t show up on duckduckgo but do on google.
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This is crazy. I am off to bed. Good night. Good morning, Jo.
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But it is still afternoon here, Mumsee. Almost 4pm and just home from school We almost had to cancel school as it was and is so smoky as everyone decided to burn. It was so close to the school that our firetruck came over to keep watch.
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so a ten hour difference from the east coast to here. No wonder it is hard to keep track of you all. Thanks for 49
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So? Is it 5:20 pm i.e. 1720 for Jo?
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Morning Chas. It is 9:27 pm on Tuesday evening here. Time for some sleep.
Good night
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She says (:27, time stamp says 7:27 so only two hours apart! Well, except for that pesky am and pm.
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Actually, she said 9 not (
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