Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Wednesday’s Wanderings #5.
Good morning everyone! How are you all doing on this fine day? It is another beautiful morning here, though there is a few clouds around. But right now it’s sunny and warm. The gulls have been here for breakfast, so have the blue jays and hairy woodpeckers. Chester the chipmunk has been here as well and managed to get one bunch of peanuts. However, when he tried for his second bunch Jasmine was here. Chester came out of one of the boxes and stopped. Jasmine stopped eating. It was a staring competition for a while. Suddenly Jasmine was after Chester! Chester went back in the box and ran through several of them and off to safety.
Jasmine tried to do the same, but, the handles on that one box and much smaller. The chipmunks can get through okay but when she tried all she did was hit her head and ran in circles inside the box. Guess it hurt. Or she was upset because she couldn’t follow him. Anyway she came back to eat some more. I don’t know how she can eat so many. Then Jasper came along. He stopped, she stopped eating. They both chattered. Jasper came a bit closer and Jasmine was after him in a flash. Amazing she can run so fast after eating all those peanuts.
They had a brief tumble, then Jasper ran off. While this was happening, Baxter came flying down and grabbed a peanut and was off again with Jasmine chattering at him as she came racing back. She decides to eat yet another peanut. Amazing. Then Jasper came back. They stared. They chattered. Jasper came running. Jasmine jumped on him and the chase was on! But it was short as Jasper took a flying leap off the deck and into the raspberry patch! Jasmine came back to continue eating. Amazing. Sounds like Jasmine is chasing someone again.
It’s very dry once more. There are several forest fires burning in the generally area, though none are real close. There is one about 30 miles (50km) north of us which is about 11,000 acres (4480hectares), another one 30 miles (50km) east of us that is about 4400 acres (2,062ha), and another one east of us at 2871 acres (1162ha), but all are being held at the moment which means they are not growing in size. All it would take is a strong wind to show up however and they are moving again. A new fire started yesterday not too far south of us, but it’s very small, however not under control. Jasper was finally able to come back, he ate 6 peanuts and left. He even allowed Chester to come and get some peanuts too. 21 days. Have a great day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve And Muffin’s Wildflowers #17.
Hello everyone! Today’s wildflower is the “needle-pointed blue-eyed grass”. The needle-pointed refers to the pointed part at the end of each petal. They are such a beautiful blue with bright yellow center, so they really stand out nicely. It usually has 2 to 4 flowers on the end of a long thin wiry stem, but only one flower will bloom at a time. The flowers are about 3/4 of an inch (18mm) across. They prefer sunny locations and sandy soils that stay fairly moist. But they will grow in other soils as well if well drained. The leaves are very slender and grass like. Their main blooming time in our area is June and early July, but further south they will start blooming in May. Here in Canada they can be found in 3 provinces, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. In the US they are found from ND to Maine and south to Georgia and across to Louisiana. Thanks for reading, have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 