Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Monday’s Musings #16.
Good morning on this beautiful Monday! It’s so nice and warm again this morning, like yesterday. The kind of morning I would love to sit on the deck with my coffee and enjoy the chipmunks running back and forth, coming on my lap looking for peanuts, while listening to all the birds which are no longer singing…okay, that’s a tough one. But there are chickadees chirping out there, and the occasional blue jay, um, doing their calls as well. However, the early arrival of a large black animal caused me to rethink that idea and enjoy my coffee indoors instead. After all, I don’t want a bear to stick it’s tongue in my cup of coffee. It would kind of spoil the experience.
Too bad really. After all, these beautiful warm mornings will not be around much longer, although we should get a couple more yet. It will be next June at least before they come back. Now that’s quite a thought. I mean, next June is 10 months away. However, it doesn’t have to be real warm to sit outside with my cup of coffee, I can do that even on mornings that are not so warm. Just wear a jacket. But I do have to drink my coffee faster since the cooler temps tend to cool the coffee faster. Oh well. Sir Henry didn’t show up at all yesterday, I wonder if he will be here today? The other gulls have been here for their breakfast.
The chipmunks are scurrying around quickly getting as much as they can, with a few “conversations” and a little chasing happening. But nothing serious. Really, there isn’t much happening this morning. Yesterday I tried to get a picture of a white-faced hornet, also called a bald-faced hornet. It didn’t cooperate however. Instead it seemed to get a little upset that I disturbed it. So it did this buzzing around in circles that they like to do and which makes me a bit nervous.
However, it’s best not to get nervous. They can tell. That’s when they like to attack. And sting. Which is worse than a bee sting. So I kind of prefer not to get stung by one. Then there was this huge bumble bee, wow, was it big! I tried to get close for a pic, but, things didn’t work out. It landed on a flower right next to my hand at one point. And I mean right next to my hand. I decided to retreat to safety. Oh well. It’s a beautiful summer morning and I am enjoying it. I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Wildflowers #63.
Hi everyone, welcome back to our wildflower series! Today’s wildflower is the “hairy hedge nettle”, also called the “rough hedge nettle”. Usually when we think of nettles it’s the stinging nettle that comes to mind which can be a rather painful plant to encounter. However, these don’t have that problem and do have beautiful flowers. This is a native wildflower that blooms from June to August and can grow up to 4 feet (120cm) tall. It grows in sunny spots or partially shady areas and prefers wetter soil in fields, along streams, rivers and lakes. The flowers are 1/2 to 3/4 inch (12 to 18mm) long and grow in clusters at the top of the stem. Here in Canada they can be found from Manitoba to New Brunswick. In the US they are found from North Dakota, down to Texas and across to the east coast. Thanks for reading today, have a beautiful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 