Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Monday’s Musing’s #10.
Good morning everyone and Happy Monday! It’s a beautiful morning once again with the sun shining brightly on the trees. The birds are singing so happily this morning too. I think that rain yesterday made everything happier, not just the plants, the flowers, the trees. Well, the worms might not be quite so happy, they come out after the rain and become easy meals for the birds, well, some birds like the robins, crows, gulls and numerous others. The ring-billed gulls really go after those worms when they show up after a rain, or even during a rain. It seems to be quiet outside, concerning squirrels that is. I haven’t been able to figure out yet who won all those “discussions” on Saturday.
Guess I won’t really know unless Jasmine and Slim show up together again. Perhaps they just agreed to come at different times. Kind of reminded me of Jasper and Chase last year. It was constant fighting for days between those two before Jasper finally won. And it looked like Chase had won for a while, but Jasper just didn’t want to give up. Now Jasper prefers not to get involved. Smart squirrel really. He likes his nice bushy tail and he would like to keep it that way. I don’t blame him. That bushy tail helps keep him warm in the winter.
So when he comes around now, he quickly grabs a peanut and goes to hide in one of the boxes while he eats it. And hopes that Slim or Jasmine don’t see him there or hear him chewing. So he usually picks the box which is also behind one of the flower pots. Double protection that way. But sometimes one of the chipmunks beats him to that box, usually Pocket or Coffee. Skamper is a bit braver, he doesn’t mind taking chances. Anyway, if the box is already occupied by a chipmunk, then Jasper takes the one next to it. Then they coordinate their escape plans should it become necessary.
Might be a nice day for walking to the river, it’s been a week since my last trip down there. That’s too long. And it’s going to be a bit cooler today, better walking weather. That heat of the last few days really affected me. I love heat and have never had a real problem with it. Last year it bothered me, but we didn’t have much hot weather last year. This year my head pounded for 3 days and I finally ended up quite sick. I have never had that happen in my life. When I was in France 2 years ago, the hot weather never affected me at all, it was beautiful. I think it’s just another effect from having Covid last year. I still battle with left over problems from that. Oh well. It’s a beautiful day. Have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Wildflowers #37.
Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of wildflowers. Today’s wildflower is the “large-leaved aster”. This is a very common aster found in part shade to full shaded areas and sometimes in clearings or along the edges of wooded areas. This is a fairly early blooming aster, beginning in July and going through to September. The flowers have few petals compared with other asters and are found with white, light lavender or blue flowers. The center disk is yellow at first then turns a reddish brown color as the flower ages. The flower stalks can grow up to 4 feet (120cm) tall. The bottom most leaves are large, up to 8 inches (20cm) long and 6 inches (15cm) wide and heart shaped. As with most asters, bees and butterflies love them. Two years ago they were very abundant along the path to the river where I walk, last year there were none. I have not seen any this year, but I think there may be some plants growing in a couple locations. I have no idea why this has happened, they should bloom every year. In Canada they can be found from Manitoba to the east coast and in the US from the Mississippi River to the east coast, but not including the southern gulf states. I hope you have a wonderful Monday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 