A Mystery and Wild Flowers



I have a mystery.  Out by an old stump I found a pile of wood chips.  They are small ships but I don't think that they are small enough to call them sawdust.  I poked around and there is no hole; nothing to give a clue where it came from.  I was mystified.  Any of you got any suggestions?

 

Here is a close-up view: 

 

The only thing I could think of was that my son was cutting down brush with his big brush hog and when he was going past this stump, he may have bumped it with the brush hog and knocked some chips off of it.  That, my friends, is today's mystery.

 

 

Now, how about some wild flowers.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I don't want to type a thousand words so I am just going to post the pictures without any explanations.  They tell their own story: 

 

 

 

Now you all take time to smell the flowers and have a great day, you hear?

Trip to Town and Kissing Bug.

Went to the bank to get some important stuff out of our lock box and stopped at Hastings and my wife got a magazine and then to the UPS store to make some copies that we needed.  Sounds like a lot of running around but all three are fairly close to each other so it wasn't so bad.

Yesterday I was out squirting water on the bees that were sucking my hummingbird feeder of its sweet contents and I looked down on my arm and there was a kissing beetle.  I flicked it off and it landed on the side of the house.  I got to it before it took off and now it is just a red splat!!  I didn't take a picture because I am sure you get the picture.  Well maybe some of you don't know what a kissing beetle is so I will post some pictures I found on the internet:

 

This was under the kissing bug pictures, but I am not so sure it is correct.  But of course I ain't going to kiss the thing to find out.



 

This next picture is the life cycle of the kissing bug.

The reason they are called kissing beetles or kissing bugs is that if they get in the house they will try to find a meal of blood.  When you are asleep, that is when they feed on you.  You never know it until you wake up with red, itchy welts like these:

We had a neighbor that got bit a few times on her leg and it swelled up so bad she couldn't walk on it.  I guess this just goes to show you that you can catch a lot of different things from kissing the wrong subject.  Now, be careful of who or what is kissing you and have a great day, you hear?

The Moon and the Bees.

Yes, I got the title right.  It is "The Moon and the Bees", not the "Birds and the Bees".  Hey, I'm sorry, but you do know the moon has been the cause of the other.

I am going to start with the moon.  My son suggested that I should get my telescope out because it was going to be a clear night and that I hadn't had it out in a long, long time.  I thought that was a great idea.  The telescope is broke down into three pieces that I can handle; the mirror, the tube, and the base.  It is a Dobsonian and without any drive motors, you just have to push and shove, to find the target you are looking for.  Since the moon was directly over-head, it became the primary target.  For some reason, even though I have seen the moon many times, it doesn't get boring.

The last time I had my big scope out and looked at the moon, I saw the mountains coming up over the curvature.  This time it was mostly all creators and plains.   I got my camera out and took pictures of the moon?

 

Then this morning, a short time after I put the hummingbird feeders out, the bees invaded them:

There were a lot more than just three or four.

They were trying to empty the feed as fast as they could.

 

Then a lot of them started showing up, so I went in the house and got a water bottle with a spray top.  They didn't like being sprayed and at one time it looked like a swarm of them circling me and the feeder.  I kept pulling the trigger on the water bottle giving them a mist of water.  They finally all disappeared but as soon as I went into the house, they were back.  Oh well, bees are having a tough enough time trying to survive in this day and age of insecticides, that I shouldn't mind letting them feed on the feeder.  A couple of hummingbirds came by, circled it, and flew off.  I guess they didn't want to compete with all those bees.

 

If anyone can give me a hint on how to discourage the bees without harming them or the hummingbirds, I am open to suggestions.  Now you all have a great day, you hear?



First and Last and Answer to Question

I am going to list a couple of things, one was a first and the other was a final thing.  The first:  On this day back in 1928, Charlie Chaplin's voice was first broadcast on radio.  Dang, you know I missed that that. . . oh wait, I wasn't born yet.

OK, now for the last.  Back on this date in 1962, Jack Paar made his last appearance as host of "The Tonight Show".  He didn't go off the air but rather he moved to a weekly prime time broadcast on NBC.  I remember him on "The Tonight Show" but not on any other weekly show, do you?

Now, to answer the question that MsBelinda author of the blog Terlinqua Dreams asked, "how you lucked out and found your perfect property".  Well MsB, when I started a new job in this area, I enlisted the help of a great lady who was a real estate broker and dealt mostly in vacant land, farms, and ranches.  She was a real Texas Gal who told me a lot about rural life in this area.  She also told me how the old timers "shot a well" that seemed to have gone dry.  They actually shot down the well with a rifle, a 30-06 caliber was the gun of choice.  She sold us the property we still live on today.  At the time, I only worked a few miles from there and after we moved on to this property, I could come home for lunch every day.  After talking to us, she knew exactly what I wanted and she delivered.  MsB, I hope that answers your question.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

To Town and Back the Scenic Way.

My wife and I had to go to town this morning and on the way home, we stopped at the post office to check our mail box.  It was such a pretty day, we decided to take the back way home, which we often do after stopping at the post office.  I thought that all the different shades of green caused by the different levels of new growth, was really pretty.  These pictures are taken through dirty glass, remember the yellow cars?  This first one is not very far behind the post office.  Notice all the shades of green?  The picture doesn't do it justice.

What I am trying to show in the next three pictures is the different shades of green that we saw as we drove home:

Here we are approaching the bridge over the creek:

And a picture of the creek.

 

And the other side of the bridge.

 

 After crossing the bridge we again saw all the different shades of green.

Oh yes, and blue, too.  There was a beautiful blue sky and a field of blue bonnets to top off our little ride.

 

I hope you all enjoyed riding along with us from the post office and I want you to have a great day, you hear?





I Suffer From Lethologica

Yes, I suffer from "lethologica" and I have for many years.  It is especially troublesome when I am trying to write my blog.  It is not an uncommon ailment, and I am willing to bet that all of you have had a bout with lethological at one time or another.  I seem to have it most of the time, it is a good thing I am quick at coming up  with alternative words.  Lethologica describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want at the time.  So, now, how many of you have had it?  I was just thinking that we should . . . ahhh. . .ahhh. . . oh forget it, I have.

On the other hand, I have to get over my bout with lethologica and go ahead and write and publish my blog to prevent all you readers from coming down with "abibliophobia"!!  Oh, you don't know what that is?  Neither did I so I had to look it up.  It is the fear of running out of reading material.  Now that I have got that out of the way, I have forgotten what I wanted to write about today.  Way too many interruptions, do you know I started this blog this morning, and here it is, already 15:22.  Now you all have a great day, you hear?

Just three clippings.

 I am getting disgusted.  I found a bunch of things while searching the internet today that I wanted to post but after downloading them earlier, I can't find them on my computer.  Oh well, I found three of them, so they will have to do.  They are just clippings of funny things but I believe that they are also true.  What do you think?

And the next amazing fact was a surprise to me, I didn't know that, of course I have never used a roulette wheel.  It is a little spooky, don't you think?

 

Speaking about spooky, this following is really creepy, just like its title:

 

 

Now tell me, wasn't that a little strange, to say the least?  Now, I hope your day isn't at all creepy or spooky or scary or. . . you know, but rather I want you to have a great day, what's left of it, you hear?

 



 

 

Idiot Test.

Have you ever been called an idiot?  Well, go to this site and prove to yourself that you are:  http://www.idiottest.net/

I took this test this morning before we left for Wal-Mart.  I wanted to fit in (grin).  If you take the test, tell us how you did and if you are really brave, you can tell how much of an idiot you are.  I bet ole George Carlin would have something to say on that subject.  Well here are a few statements that I found and are clean enough to post on my blog:

 

Well folks, that is all for today.  Now, you all have great day and you can be an idiot if you want to, I know I am a lot of the time. . . at least that is what I have been told.

Just For "TROUBLEnTX" - My Swamp.

Trouble, who writes the blog, "just a little bit of TROUBLE", asked me awhile back to post some updated pictures of my swamp.  So, today, I took a walk down there and snapped a few pictures for her.  So, Trouble, here are your pictures.  This first one is looking south out to the deep hole that I dug out with  a big tractor a quite a few years ago.  It is a lot bigger than it looks:

I moved down to the east to get a different perspective of the same area in this next one:

The picture below is of the old original deep area.  It has filled in over the years from all the vegetation:

 I walked around the corner and a little to the south and took this next picture:

 

This is on the lower side of the dam.  Even though this is a low spot, it will dry up later on in the summer:



OK, Trouble, I hope that is what you wanted to see.  Now, I want all of you folks to have a great day, today, you hear?

Wondering About RVs with Back Porches.

 Have you ever heard of RVs that have a back porch?  I have but I have not seen very many. I got some pictures off the internet of a few that have back porches and I am going to share them with you.

This first one shows pictures at the bottom of what all this RV can be used for.  No, the back porch does not stay down when going down the road.  It is only used when parked.  These RVs are toy haulers and the "porch" is the ramp used for loading and then it is cranked up to cover the back opening.





 

Wouldn't that back porch make a great place for my pups to play?  They then could be either under roof or out under the sky above. 

 They come in all sizes and as class-A, class-C motorhomes or as a fifth wheel, or a bumper pull trailer.  I guess that they try to make one to suit every body's needs.

 

Here we are looking out the back from within the unit.

 

You may think that this is a new idea in design and layout of modern RVs, but that would not be the case.  I am sure that Keith of  http://theflyingtortoise.blogspot.com/  blog could tell you a lot about house busses that have rear porches.  Maybe something like this one: 

 

 Some are converted busses like the one above but many have been made from scratch by from an old truck chassis.  The one below would be an good example of what I am talking about:

 

Back porches are nice to have when you are out camping, although most modern RVs do not have one.  No matter if you have a back porch or not, get outside and enjoy what Mother Nature has dished out for you today, but no matter what it is, have a great day, you hear?





Wondering About Dew on Clover.

This morning when I took the garbage out to the road, on the way back, I noticed how beautiful the clover looked with those little drops of water on their leaves.  They sparkled like diamonds.  I have always believed that you do not have to look to hard or to far to find beauty in nature, it is all around us and we just have to take time to see it, it is well worth the small effort.  Anyway, a couple of hours have passed and I didn't know that I would make those clovers the subject of my blog today, so I failed to get pictures.  By now the dew is dried up, so I did the next best thing.  I searched the Internet trying to find pictures that most matched what I remember seeing.  Yes, there is something magical about dew on clover:

And this:





Now, don't you think that they are beautiful?  Those droplets shimmering in the morning sun made them just sparkle.  They sure helped getting my day off to a good start.  Now, you all take a look around to see what might brighten your day, you hear?

Wondering and Searching for Blog Material.

I was wondering what to write about today and came up with nothing, so the next step was to search the Internet for some ideas.  I found a few possible things but then I landed on Thatsweird.net and came up with a few ideas.  This one got my attention, but instead of trying to put it in my own words, I am just going to copy and paste it below to save some time and effort.  So, here it is:
***************

Struck by lightning record seven times US Park Ranger Roy C. Sullivan from Virginia holds the record for the person most times struck by lightning - and living to tell the tale. Between 1942 and 1983, Roy has the dubious distinction of being struck by lightning seven times. He was known as the Human Lightning Rod. The first lightning strike in 1942 happened as he was working up in a lookout tower and the lighting bolt shot through his leg and knocked his big toenail off. In 1969 while he was driving along a mountain road a second strike burned off his eyebrows and knocked him unconscious. Another strike just a year later, while he was walking across his yard to get the mail, left his shoulder seared.  He was standing in the office at the ranger station in 1972 when lightning set his hair on fire and Roy had to throw a bucket of water over his head to cool off. A year later, after his hair had grown back, a lightning bolt ripped through his hat and hit him on the head, setting his hair on fire again. It threw him out of his truck, knocked his left shoe off and seared his legs. A sixth strike hit him in 1976 while he was checking on a campsite, injuring his ankle.  The last lightning bolt to hit Roy in 1977 happened while he was fishing. It sent him to hospital with chest and stomach burns.  Roy Sullivan was never killed by lighting - he committed suicide while in his 70's in 1983 reportedly distraught over the loss of a woman. *********** OK, it is raining a little here, but no lightning.  You all be careful when those strong thunder and lightning storms move in over your heads and make sure you are not standing anywhere near Roy Sullivan and have a great day, you hear?

Wondering About Devil''s Rope.

There is a red guy with a long tail and scales chasing me and he has a rope he made into a lasso . . . Help, he is going to get me!!!

Yep, if that were the case, that lasso would be the Devil's rope.  But that is not what this blog is about.  This blog is about the barbed wire that was used to fence the west.  There were a lot of different styles and I suppose they all were designed for a special use, but it got the nickname, Devil's Rope.  Now, I don't know but I would guess that the open range cowboys gave it that name. 

 

You sure wouldn't want to get tangled up in this:

I guess that everybody and their brother had their own idea of how barbed wire should be designed.  Here is a sample of some of the wire used with the name and date listed:

This seems to the most common, at least of the ones I have seen up close:

 

The Devils Rope Barbed Wire Museum is the place to see all the old barbed wire fencing and its history.  It is located in McLean, Texas and was officially opened in 1991.  This is what it looks like:

 

If we are ever up in the panhandle area again, I would like to stop and see it.  Now, don't any of you get tangled up in barbed wire but have a great day, you hear?

Wondering About the Yellow Season.

We are now deep into the yellow season and it will last for a few weeks or so, then we will be getting closer to the love bug season.  It is impossible to have a clean vehicle and if you sit outside for too long, you too, will turn yellow.  People with hay fever just hate this time of year.

The oaks are the culprit right now, but when they are ready, the pine will also create a lot of pollen, too.  At this time of year, everyone drives a yellow vehicle.  We just got home from grocery shopping and most of the pollen blew off my Jeep.  Anyway, I am too lazy to go back out and take a picture so I dug around on the Internet and came up with a few pictures to show you, in case you don't live in an area where there is now yellow pollen.

This is not an exaggeration, especially in the peak of the "yellow season".  Too bad the love bugs don't come at the same time, that way we could get it all over with all at once.  Do any of you have anything like pollen or love bugs or any other curse of nature in your area?  I was on the Outer Banks one time and there were frogs everywhere.  They were so thick that it made driving hazardous.  Once someone ran over them they became a very slippery mess.  Hope there are no messes or bad pollen at your place and make sure you have a great day, you hear?