Tag Archives: nature

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Things I don’t like today… Part 3

September 24, 2019 Rivergirl 32 Comments

I don’t like….

Weed wacking around one of our stone walls and having a frog jump out in front of me.

I swear I didn’t see him…

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And literally cut him in half.

*Gulp*

I don’t like…..

Sitting at a bar and having a creepy disembodied head on a stick tied to a doll stare at me all night.

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Like I need another reason to drink?

Ack!

I don’t like….

Being disappointed.

Remember when I posted about the miracle of my husband cleaning out the garage, and how the old sink he brought home from the dump was gone?

Yeah. I found it in the barn.

Very disappointing.

And finally,

I don’t like….

Pressure.

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Since my husband can’t decide when he’s going to retire, he’s forbidden any travel this year so he can sell back his leave.

Doesn’t he realize I’m duty bound to blog our adventures?

Damn it…

Now someone will beat to me to it!

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I’m in love…. with a moth.

September 23, 2019 Rivergirl 28 Comments

I know, it’s a little odd.

But if he was visiting your flowers? You’d love him too.

Meet Herman.

My hummingbird moth.

He’s been visiting everyday and I’m smitten.

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Herman is special, and not often seen in these parts.

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I know our love is doomed.

Interspecies relationships rarely work out….

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But for now, I’ll enjoy every moment we share.

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Time to fess up….

September 21, 2019 Rivergirl 48 Comments

Which one of you boneheads is peeing in my birdbath every night?

Because this is getting old.

Every afternoon I clean out the birdbath.

Filling it with sparkling clean, cool water for our birds to drink and take a bath.

And then every morning I wake up to this:

Every single morning.

So…

Fun’s over. Admit your crime.

The midnight madness must stop.

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Mystery solved.

September 15, 2019 Rivergirl 32 Comments

Remember a while ago I posted a picture of the sunflower seeds the chipmunk from Hell had planted in my petunias… and how they were growing?

Well over the past few weeks they grew tall and budded, and then started disappearing. One by one… shredded, stripped of leaves, and gone.

I’ve seen a few grasshoppers, so I thought maybe that was the reason.

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How pathetic is that?

One lone stalk remained.

Then I woke up this morning and saw….

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A woodchuck…

On the table.

That’s something I hadn’t seen before.

First there was a little pole dancing….

Then he got down to business.

So now I know why there won’t be any blooming sunflowers this season.

He made short work of it and left me this…

As well as this…

Yes, I could have yelled and scared him off, but I admit … I laughed instead.

We’ve had woodchucks all year and they haven’t touched a single plant, shrub or flower. Which if you’ve ever had woodchucks, you know is highly unusual.

So I let the little devil have the sunflower.

The fact that he can even get his fat butt up on the table to begin with is comical and worth the price of a sunflower to view.

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Because you never know what you’ll see…

September 13, 2019 Rivergirl 37 Comments

I woke up this morning to fog.

Hanging over everything like a gentle blanket of white…

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In some places there was a sharp delineation.

As if it cut by a knife.

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But as it started to lift…

I looked way out into the back yard by the woods and saw…

A piner!!

I did!

And in the 17 years we’ve lived here?

Not one single porcupine sighting… until now.

There’s elusive creatures, solitary by nature. Shy, quiet and slow… but apparently willing to high five in Philly.

(I totally need to visit Philly now, damn it.)

Sadly, while we see plenty of them dead on the side of the road…. we’ve never seen one at our house since the majority of our property is open lawn or field and they prefer the wooded areas.

So… a piner!!

I was thrilled… and attempted to creep across the back lawn to get a better picture. Naturally, I don’t creep well and he spotted me….. and shimmied down the tree before I could get close.

But I saw a piner on our property and have blurry photos to prove it.

Yay me!

Here’s a piner eating corn on the cob.

Note to self – buy corn on the cob.

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Is it me….

September 8, 2019 Rivergirl 24 Comments

Or is our woodchuck beginning to look like Jabba the Hut?

Look closely now…

Can you see the resemblance?

I think it’s pretty clear.

They could be twins.

Yup.

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A critter filled post.

September 6, 2019 Rivergirl 29 Comments

Because my photo files are filled with critter pics.

A wet fox.

Two wet foxes.

Okay, okay… moving on.

Baby woodchuck.

These pics are a month or two old, they’re not babies anymore.

I can’t tell you exactly how old because my stupid camera’s date and time setting is broken and everything registers 1/1/1980.

Why? I have no frickin’ clue.

Buck, on the field line.

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Doe, in the field.

Wet skunk.

Wet skunk and deer.

This next one is blurry, but how often do you get a shot of a deer sticking her tongue out at a skunk?

Skunk Rule #1?

Do not be rude to skunks.

They will make you pay… and the photographer’s house will stink for a week.

More woodchucks….

Eating apples.

And woodchucks eating deer grain.

More deer.

And deer eating deer grain.

More skunks.

More foxes.

Skunk and fox.

Please remember Skunk Rule #1.

There is no Skunk Rule #2…. when the tail goes up?

Run.

More woodchucks.

I’d like to tell you that’s all the photos…. but it’s not even close.

That’s all for now though.

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As my garden grows…

August 31, 2019 Rivergirl 29 Comments

Day lilies.

They’re vibrant…

And colorful…

(Is it me… or is that mildly disturbing?)

They’re prolific…

Long lasting…

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(Well that explains why my refrigerator died. They wanted it to.)

And easy to care for.

Plant… forget… and enjoy.

The same goes for Hostas, although they prefer some shade.

Everything is in marvelous bloom right now.

Except the sunflowers the chipmunk from Hell planted in my petunias.

They may take a while.

Happy gardening!

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Babies!

August 24, 2019 Rivergirl 32 Comments

First there were woodchuck babies, then catbird babies (although that didn’t end well) , a quick glimpse of a fox baby, and fawns! Finally… fawns.

But now?

We have skunk babies!!

Simply too much cuteness.

Adorable little critters!

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I wasn’t able to film or photograph the funniest part because it was too dark, and that’s a shame because the husband and I had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard.

Our deer came up to feed and those three little fellas chased her all over the yard. In a line… one, two, three… like a little skunk locomotive.

For 20 straight minutes they wouldn’t let her near the food, no matter how she tried.

To heck with guard dogs.

Get a skunk.