Wednesday, June 5, 2013

ragbag

Just a quick ragbag sort of post, because time is getting away from me and even though a lot of my pictures look blurry lately (why is that? Time to read the manual, I suppose) I'd like to share a few.
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We've had a lot of hot, muggy weather and rain lately.  Piper got really fed up with it.

This is Piper, expressing fed-up-edness:

It is always easier to express dissatisfaction if one is crammed into a chair just slightly smaller than one's body.
~~~ 
In a very welcome change in the weather, yesterday was just about as perfect as a day in early June can be, and this surprise was waiting in the garden:


If I could only see one flower, ever, I think it would be an iris.

And look! Just four days after planting, the first of my lazy beans has appeared.  I was so happy to see it. 

Even the bean looks happy, doesn't it?
Like it's singing to the sun.
~~~

This morning I was about to step out the back door with Piper when I noticed this beautifully-patterned garter snake, in the leaves by the doorstep.  The snake was suddenly between a rock and a hard place, with Piper and me on one side and two big hens on the other side, considering their snake-for-lunch options.  I don't know if the snake could have escaped multiple hens (hens have a gang mentality that can be quite a shock the first time you see a flock go after something), and I don't usually interfere in their hunting and gathering endeavors.  But since this good-sized snake was quite close to the house, my first thought was the many, many mice one healthy garter snake could prevent from getting into my foundation and walls.  Thank you, garter snake!  Shoo, hens!

Roughly two seconds after the hens moved away, the snake zipped away into the ferns.  She was gone in the blink of an eye, but to my surprise, I think this (blurry) picture is a just-barely full-length portrait:

 ~~~

When it isn't raining, the goats are hard at work on the vegetation modification plan.  This is Betula, enjoying a huge patch of asiatic bittersweet with a little native veg on the side:


He ate the attached sugar maple sprout, too.
Bet is an equal-opportunity vegetation control goat.
~~~

Hope all is well where ever you are.  I am having issues with Feedly (which was working so well for me! And now it is NOT!) and can no longer tell when there are new posts on the blogs I am following.  I have an uneasy feeling that there are a couple hundred blog posts out there that I want to read, which is a bit daunting!  But my curiosity about what is happening in your corner of the world will certainly win out, so I will be visiting soon.
~~~~~

17 comments:

  1. I love to see photos of Piper, she looks so cute squashed up in the chair :-)

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    1. And her huge cushion was just a few feet away!

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  2. Couldn't agree with you more - beans always look so happy to finally be above ground :)

    Snakes - you can keep 'em, even if they munch mice - and dunno how I'd feel about goats eating what they're not supposed too :)

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    1. I have put up some very odd-shaped fences to protect certain plants from the goats, and vice versa...but they have made impenetrable thickets accessible to me, so it's a fair trade :)

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  3. Quinn-- I love your photos! Your little dog and goat are precious! Love that spring is happening where you are--- the snake is kind of scary- but my Gardner loves garter snakes too.

    Nothing wrong with your photos- they are beautiful!
    Vicki

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    1. Thanks, Vicki - I saw another garter snake in the flower garden this morning, but it was too quick for a picture :)

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  4. I agree, your pictures are lovely. That bean sprout sure looks happy.

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    1. Thanks so much! I'm starting to wonder if the blurriness is in my eyes, not the pictures??

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  5. The pictures look fine to me, quinn. And i'm with you on the behinded-ness. Too much to do, not enough hours to do and read all I want.

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  6. Aw, Piper! Your goats certainly do look happy. And that snake is quite a looker. So nice to have the early days of summer upon us.

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  7. I love the photos and the reminder that I am not the only one here in New England suffering from lag behind the rest of the country for garden growth! Funny, yesterday out in the garden putting in the last of my new hostas I found a single bloom in my iris bed but mine isn't quite as open as yours. I also had an encounter with a garter snake, unfortunately she was in my house! YIKES!!! I tried to catch her but the oven mitt I had on was too fat and I was afraid I would squish her so after a couple of tense minutes she decided it best to leave the way she came in! LOL! I know about all those blog posts out there... gosh how does one keep up?
    Thanks for sharing...
    Hugs,
    Beth P

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    1. Hmmm, yes, I do prefer my snakes outdoors! Love the image of you with the oven mitt :)

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  8. Betula is so cute; does it seem to you that all we do is work? I've been thinking of FUN lately but haven't the energy. I don't mind getting older but I sure hate the energy depletion.

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  9. Your photo of the Iris is gorgeous!!! Our irises are just starting to bloom too. I love them!

    I still have to switch to feedly. And, if it makes you feel any better, Reader says that I have 600 posts to read. Ha - like that's going to happen :)

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    1. Wow, 600! I actually DO feel better - ha!
      I have given up on feedly for the time being, as it refuses to return to the original set-up that was working so nicely. Trying Old Reader now. Hopefully simple enough to remain "as is" for a while!

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  10. Well that lazy bean isn't so lazy after all. :) Piper is lovely and the goats are a hoot! Best wishes, Tammy

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  11. Lovely photos : )

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