Mist, Web, & Mystery

It was, and still is, a beautiful morning here at the Swamp.  There was a mist that burned off quite fast as soon as the sun got up high enough to hit it.  This first picture is what is left of the mist.  It was taken from my back porch looking down toward my son's place and the chicken coops.  I thought it looked quite nice but a little spooky:

I also noticed a beautiful spider web in the corner of the rear door of my screened in porch.  The morning sun was hitting it just right, so I had to get a picture of that spider's handiwork.  I wonder if she knit it or crocheted it?

Then I took the bird feeders out.  I put the humming bird feeder up first then the suet and last the big bird feeder full of wild bird seed.  They sure do like the buffet I set out for them, as do the squirrels.

As I was hanging up the big feeder, I looked down and noticed a perfect circle on the ground.  It was about four or so inches in diameter and about two inches deep.  Now, that is a mystery.  What on earth could make that impression?  Here is a picture of it:

Now tell me, what do you think made that mark.  The bird feeders are located in the middle of the dog's fenced in area and that mark was near the bird feeders.  There is no creature that I know of that would make a perfectly round hole like that.  Have you ever seen anything like that?  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

The Peanut Tree

Back quite a few years ago, when I was manager of engineering at a local forging plant, a young fellow from the Pittsburgh plant came down to observe and learn and supposedly to take back suggestion for improvement.  One day I was eating a few peanuts and he asked where I got them because he wanted to get some to eat, too.  I told him that I raised them on my place.

That really peaked his interest and he asked me if I had a peanut tree and wondered if he could go to my place and see it, since he had never seen a peanut tree.  After I and few others in the office got through laughing, I explained to him that they grow under ground.  I also told him that they were legumes and were in the same family as peas.

Reading Hermit Jim's blog posting (http://hermitjim.blogspot.com), gave me the inspiration to write about growing peanuts.  I think when we were young, we all had peanut butter and jam (or whatever you put on the sandwich to go with the peanut butter).  I ate peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwiches.  That was my favorite.

Now, after finding out how bad peanuts are for us, I eat almond butter and cashew butter instead.  They are really yummy.  And yes, they are more expensive, too, so have cut way back on eating them.  Thanks Mr. Hermit for giving me a subject for my blog tonight.  Now, have a P&J sandwich and have a great evening, you hear?  

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

Boy oh boy has it been raining.  I need to put water wings on the dogs when they go out.  Oh yes, does any of you have Noah's telephone number?  I need to put it on speed dial.  I may have to order an ark.  I didn't do anything nor did I go any where today and it was a good day for not doing those things.

Maybe I need to pay the electric bill so the sun will be turned back on tomorrow,  What do you think?  I really don't have anything to say tonight so will just bid you ado.  Now, you have a great evening, you hear? 

Crazy Rabbits.

Twice today, I have seen wild rabbits acting strangely.  The first time, I opened the sliding glass doors that open up to a screened in porch.  I have tied open the screen door so I don't have to go the whole way out when letting the pups out.  A rabbit had come up the steps and was starting into the porch.  I froze and starting talking softly to the rabbit.  It sat there for awhile and then turned, went down the steps, and went over to the bird feeder and starting eating the bird feed that was on the ground.

A couple of hours after that, I went out the back door, and low and behold, there were a couple of rabbits on the steps out there.  They seemed to look surprised and ran off into the brush and disappeared.  To me, seeing this rare event happen twice in one day, was very special.  I have lived here for many years and have never seen that happen before.  Of course, at my age, my memory isn't all that good (grin).  Just always keep your eyes open and you may be surprised what all you may see.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

How Did You Get Your Name?

Your name isn't something that you chose yourself.  Someone had to give you that name and that someone usually had a reason.  Usually, it was your parents who gave you your name.  They could have named you after someone in the family, or a family friend, or just a name that they liked.  Do you know why they named you as they did?  If so, let us know.

I was named after family members.  My Dad's first name was Richard, so I was named after my Dad.  His nickname was Dick, so that is also my nickname.  I got my middle name from one of my Mom's brothers.  His name was Milton so my middle name was Milton. Now, my uncle's nickname was Bub, so my middle nickname became Bub.  So, I was called Richard Milton or Dicky Bub.  Got that?  BTW, my Dad did not have a middle name, just an initial.  He was Richard J. and that gave him a lot of trouble, especially in the army.

Now, I had two boys.  The first one was named after me and my wife's dad.  We named him Richard John, now there were two R.J.s in our family.  Then along came another son and he was named Rodney James.  The Rodney came from an old friend and the James came from wanting him to be another R.J.  Then there were three R.J.s in the family.  Are you confused yet?

Now, our son broke the chain by naming his son (my grandson) Jimmy and now Jimmy has a son and named him Lane.  Actually, it is good to have broken the chain of RJs.  Now tell us who you were named after or, if you know, why you were given the name you have, and please have a great day, you hear?

Nothing New to Report.

Nothing new or unusual happening here.  Everything has been quiet and the last few days has been damp with drizzling rain.  Today, is not that much brighter but there is no rain.  So, we decided to go to Wal-Mart to get supplies.  That included something very import, my Blue Bell chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.  If we would have waited one more day, I would have run out of that ice cream and then what on earth would I do??!!??

Now I am home, sitting in my rocker/recliner and rocking and rocking and feeling quite satisfied that I have enough of my favorite ice cream to last a few more days and also a fresh supply of food.  Just in case you couldn't guess, I just love to eat!!!  Now, it is mid afternoon, so let me finish up this posting and go look for something to nibble on.  You all have a great day, you hear? 

Dumb Questions and Answers

I found some questions on the internet that I thought were interesting and deserved some answers.  I will try my best to answer them but I also want to hear what your answers would.

Here is the first one:

If a mirror reverses right and left, why doesn't it reverse up and down?

Now that is a good question.  Even if you turn the mirror on its side it still shows that up is still up, not to the side.  I don't have an answer for that.  Help me out here.

 How do you write zero in Roman numerals?

You can't.  The Romans didn't have a concept of nothingness, that is until later in history.

Do you realize how many holes there could be if people would just take the time to take the dirt out of them?

No I can't.  That depends on how many people and how many holes they could dig.

Why do we call them hot water heaters when they heat cold water to make it hot?

You know, it seems to me it would make more sense to call them cold water heaters.

Why do wise guy and wise man mean entirely different things?

You mean they don't mean the same thing?  Dang, now I am mad at all the times I have been called a wise guy. . .

Why does Tarzan always look clean shaven?

Maybe he wasn't old enough to shave.  Good question, now I will wonder about that.

You can't have everything. Where would you put it?

I could find a place. . . or maybe not.  I know of no place to place everything except in space (grin).  Outer space, I mean.

OK, I am waiting to see your answers.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

Watching TV

Almost everyone I know watches TV.  Some watch a lot and some watch only a few programs, usually the news.  I have to admit that I watch a lot of TV.  So I have a question for all of you.  What programs do you always watch and which are your favorites.

I will start out by saying I prefer all the old shows, you know, the ones that are only in black and white.  Right now, at this time, I am watching Perry Mason.  I also watch all the old western shows, like The Lawman, the black and white versions of Gunsmoke, etc.  Then there are shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, etc.  Some of them are on too late (or should I say, too early in the morning) for me, so we record them and watch them whenever we want to.  I guess I like the shows that I used to watch years ago.  And yes, that was a long time ago.  In fact, I can remember getting our first TV.  Since I was sick and couldn't get out to play, I guess my Dad felt sorry for me at the time.  And yes, the TV networks were not on all night.  They would show a test pattern instead of show.  OK, I guess I am giving my age away again.  I miss the good ole days. . .  Now, you all turn that boob tube off and read my blog, you hear?

Not a Restful Night.

I didn't have a restful night's sleep last night.  The first interruption to my sleep occurred just before one o'clock in the very early morning.  I heard something that made a chill run up and down my spine, my hair stand on end, and my eyes opened up very wide.  What was the sound I heard?  It was a scream.  No, not someone screaming but the scream of a very large cat.  Yep, our mountain lion is still hanging around my place.  The sound came from the southwest corner of my property.  I decided to wake my wife and tell her that if she gets up before me in the morning, not to let the dogs out without me being there.

That happened about one o'clock, as I said above.  Then around three o'clock this same morning, she woke me up saying she just heard it scream and it was to the east, close to where our son and daughter-in-law lives and has all those chickens, rabbits, ducks, and goats.  It is not all that bad to have a little extra excitement in our lives.  It keeps my old heart a pumping and my old lungs a breathing.  Now, I hope you (and I) have a quiet and peaceful day, you hear?

What Are They Smelling? And small mushrooms.

When I took my two dogs out last night before I went to bed, the youngest one put her head up in the air and sniffed and sniffed and sniffed and then she turned around and ran back up the stairs and into the house.  I wonder what she smelled?  And then she did the same thing this morning.  So, I bet that mountain lion is still hanging around, just out of sight.  With the trees and brush all around my place, it wouldn't have to be more than a few yards away from the dogs' fence, which is my backyard fence.

When I was out in the back yard, I noticed tiny little red mushrooms.  I thought that they looked really neat, so I went back in the house and retrieved my camera and took a few pictures.  I placed a dime on the ground to give you a comparison of their size.

And another picture taken near ground level:

That is all for today.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

Here Kitty Kitty Kitty

My son has game cameras set up several places on our property.  He gets some fascinating picture from these cameras from all kinds of dogs, foxes, etc., but one picture made me take a second look.  He posted the picture on Facebook but I decided to copy it from his Facebook page and post it here, also:

I don't care what you think it is, I believe that it is awesome.  BTW, did you know that this type cat, according to the Guinness book of world records has the highest number of names being used for the same animal.  These names are mountain lion, puma, cougar, painter, mountain cat, catamount, etc., etc.  It has a very wide range, from the Canadian Yukon to the South American Andes. . . and I guess to my back yard!!

They can get quite large, typically weigh in at 70 to 150 pounds and be up to more than eight feet long.  It has a bite force of 350 pounds per square inch, enough to break the skulls of wolves and horses and, I suppose, anything else it decides to kill.  I don't think that I want one to get mad at me or see me as meal or a midnight snack.  I definitely want to go out with my two pups at night.  I doubt if I could fight one off, but my screams might scare him (or her) off.  I don't think that I would scream, but just to be on the safe side, tonight I will go out with my pups and carry a firearm.  Of course, I shouldn't worry, my ugly face should scare any big cat away.  Now, sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs big cats bite, you hear?

Diamonds in the Grass.

I went out this morning.  Everything was wet after last evening's rain.  I found a patch of tall grass at the side of my driveway that had drops of water on the ends of the grass.  Those drops shone like diamonds and I tried to get a picture of what I had seen.  The camera didn't do it justice but you can see some of the drops:

Like I said above, the picture doesn't show it like it was in real life.  Click on the picture and maybe it will enlarge for you.  I really thought Mother Nature had done that just for me to take a picture and show you all.  Now, have a great day, you hear?

Good Morning Glory

This morning I took a walk out the driveway. . . Well, actually, I was taking three bags of household garbage out to our dumpster that we share with my son's family.  On the way I saw some wild morning glory vines that were blooming.  Now I am a little confused.  The ones I took a picture of looked to be on the pink side where as the picture shows them to be blue.  Why would that be?

Anyway, here are the two pictures I took, one a little ways away and one up close.

Nature sure has a way of brightening up my world.  Seeing those this morning started my day of right.  I sure do enjoy all the wild things that grow and live on my property.  I feel like I am the luckiest guy in the world.  I always try to observe and enjoy the beauty that nature comes up with.  Sometimes it can also give us bad things, but I try to see the beauty in all things, even the lightning storms.  Now you all enjoy the beauty around you and have a great day, you hear.

New Light.

I bought myself a new hand held light the other day.  It is quite versatile.  First of all, you can hold it like a flashlight or hold it like a lantern by the attached handle.  It has a powerful beam.  I pointed it at a lot of the trees on my place and it sure did light them up, even the ones two and three hundred yards away.  Yep, I have that mush space on my place.  In the picture below, you can see that it isn't very large:

This next picture is looking into the front of it.  You can see the reflector but just look at how tiny that little bulb is!!  I wouldn't expect it to be able to the job, but it does.

And guess what powers this mighty little light?  Yep, just three double A batteries.  These fit at the rear under the screw off end. 

I think that it will get a lot of use.  I think I finally found a light that will do all that I want it to do except write this blog and I had to do that (grin).  Now that I tried to light up your lives with this posting, I want you all to have a great day, you hear?