Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Fantastical Friday #14.
Good morning and Happy Friday everyone! It’s a bit chilly out there this morning, but the sun is shining a bit through the smoke today. Most of the gulls have been here for their breakfast, the chickadee family is back this morning as well so I’m trying to keep seeds out there for them, but making sure there’s not too many just in case those bears decide to show up. I don’t want them finding food or they will be back every day. I still need to find out from my new landlord if I can continue feeding the birds. He doesn’t actually take possession of the house until Sept. 1st, but he’ll be around before then to check on things.
The light rain and cooler temps have slowed the fires temporarily though they don’t expect that to have a long term effect. It only takes a day or two of warm sunny weather and everything is dry once more. There are 119 fires, 13 are under control, 9 are being held and 97 are not under control, and most of those 97 are not being fought because the fires pose no problems to people or property. There is smoke again today, so that will likely keep things cool again for us today.
The chipmunks are certainly busy this morning, which is usual for them, but there is a bit more chasing happening between them this morning. It’s amazing how high those little critters can jump, straight up. Chester is trying to show everyone else that he’s the boss around here now that the squirrels are gone. Skamper doesn’t like that so much, so ‘discussions’ take place at times. Coffee also doesn’t like that, so he also enters those ‘discussions’ at times. Most of them just kind of wait their turns, especially the smaller ones.
But Scooter is starting to fight back now and will actually chase the larger chipmunks, except for Chester, Skamper and Coffee. I haven’t seen Pocket for a while now, maybe he’s building some extra storage rooms. Pocket, Chester and Skamper are now 3 years old, making them the oldest chipmunks, however I don’t know about the 2 newest adults that showed up more recently. Due to the high number of predators that go after chipmunks, they don’t normally live longer than 2 or 3 years. It was only 68F (20C) yesterday, I hope it gets a bit warmer today, this would be a bit early for temps to start cooling off. Sounds like the chipmunks are looking for more food. I hope you all have a fantastical Friday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Wildflowers #58.
Hi everyone! Today’s wildflower is the “Veiny Pea”, also called “forest pea” or “bushy vetchling”. It is a native wildflower that likes sunny or partly shaded areas in dry open forests and thickets. It will grow from 1 to 3 feet (30 to 90cm) tall with a cluster of 10 to 20 flowers. Each flower is from 1/2 to 3/4 inch (12 to 18mm) long. It blooms from May to July and is a very beautiful member of the wild pea family. This one is common around our town and heading west, but is hard to find east of here it seems, until you get beyond an hour’s drive east. In Canada this wildflower can be found from Alberta to Quebec, and in the US it’s found in many states from the Dakotas to New York, down to Georgia and across to New Mexico, but not in states between S. Dakota and Texas or further west. Have a great Friday everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
