Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Thursday’s Thoughts #13.
Good morning to everyone! I hope you are all well and enjoying your day! It’s a bit chilly here with a temperature of 59F (15C), and the sun is shining a brilliant orange through that thick smoke that is still hanging around. It got so thick yesterday that the sun was completely blocked and it was like walking around in a thick fog. Even after the time it should have been dark last night, the sky was still lit up with pink/orange glow. It was a very eerie look, white objects took on that same eerie glow to them. Even the neighbors white flowers did as well.
And the thrushes were singing their flute like songs which seemed to be quite fitting along with that amazing glow. And the loons were calling and a fox was barking, it was a very surreal atmosphere for a while last night. A wonderfully interesting night. The gulls have all been here for their breakfast, and, Slim showed up this morning. Sigh. I think he was just off looking for someone to fight. He’s getting bored around here, but it’s his own fault for being so mean and chasing everyone away. But he came along a little later this morning, so the chipmunks were able to get a lot before he arrived again. I sat out there with them for a while yesterday, hadn’t really done that for a while.
The regulars were on me right away, but the newcomers were a bit slower. Scooter would take a peanut from me, but after he saw a couple of the others come on my lap then he did too. He was a bit cautious the first time, but after that it was like he had always been doing it. Choco however never did come up, but he did take a peanut from my hand, though even that took a while. And a couple others didn’t come up either, which was odd, since all the older ones had been on my lap before. But I did count 8 chipmunks, so there was another new one, but an adult, not a baby one.
I thought there might even be 9 of them, but couldn’t be sure. Until this morning when I put the first peanuts out. I decided to stay and watch closely. Wow, there was chipmunks coming in from everywhere. Yep, I counted 9 for sure this morning! A new record. No wonder those peanuts disappear so quickly. That smoke is getting at my throat again, making me cough. There are 160 fires burning right now, 125 not under control. Sounds like more peanuts are needed, and more coffee for me. Would anyone else like some coffee while I’m up? Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Wildflowers #54.
Hi everyone! Today’s wildflower is the “white meadowsweet”. Well, technically it’s not a wildflower, but a wild flowering shrub, but that’s a mere technicality. For our purposes we’ll call it a wildflower. Whatever it’s called, it’s a real beauty. Because of the flowers long stamens it actually looks quite fuzzy, and feels like it too! It is a native wildflower with woody stems and is a member of the rose family. It prefers sunny spots but will grow in partial shade as well. It likes wet meadows, bogs and along the shores of lakes, rivers and streams. It will bloom from June to September, but in our area it only blooms in July and August. They will grow from 2 to 6 feet (60 to 180cm) tall, but around here it seldom grows taller than 4 feet. Here in Canada it can be found from Alberta to Quebec and in the US it can be found, hmm, let’s see, from ND to TN, across to the east coast and up north to Vermont and Maryland. Sorry, it’s hard to see in here with all the smoke from those forest fires, very bad indeed. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 