1939/10th June 2024 Having placed June very low on my list of likes, I have to admit that the early part of the month was actually not bad. Just before dark on the 10th, the sun broke through very briefly to touch the rim of the hill opposite, wh…
Having placed June very low on my list of likes, I have to admit that the early part of the month was actually not bad.
Just before dark on the 10th, the sun broke through very briefly to touch the rim of the hill opposite, while a single beam, as of a spotlight fell on a distant hill in Vermont.
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It may be a small thing to get excited about, but each of these moments is unique. So few things are.
And free to everyone.
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Before the heat and the violent, damaging thunderstorms, I got some more pictures of the dianthus which was one of this year's nice surprises.
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Impossible to choose a favourite.
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The arrival of hot weather and afternoon thunderstorms finished off the lilies but, as it conveniently turns out, lilies are not all on the same time schedule.
Soon this one bloomed.
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And these fine specimens.
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Last year I had approximately three flowers from these plants and I gloomily assumed they were done for.
It seems the local flora was just resting last year.
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Not that we don't still face challenges.
Flea beetles.
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The achieved design has a delicacy that is not un- appealing.
Just not very good news for the black-eyed Susans.
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A quite startling storm late yesterday finally broke the heat. For a while we were on a tornado watch.
What arrived was a brief vicious wind and the most torrential rain I've seen since the monsoons of my childhood.
Even Grant was impressed.
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As a result, this morning allowed for a little gardening.
That I can even consider such an activity is testament to a recent treatment at the pain clinic.
So I tidied the flowerbeds.
Grant, meanwhile weeded his vegetable plot where the butternuts are thriving.
He seems to have got to the bottom of the problem with the acorn squashes.
The caterpillars, it seems, emerged from the wooden frame he had erected.
A few days after its removal...new, undisturbed growth.
These posh leaves are the butternuts.
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Some days ago I said June is the time for spider webs.
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The grass has grown long.
It's always interesting to see what's happening on a microscopic level.
But a few days ago Grant found an item out by the driveway that was most unexpected.
It is common knowledge that a lizard may shed its tail and that it can grow a new one.
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Squirrels?
Just a tail. No sign of bloodshed or struggle, but predation seems the most likely answer.
We haven't seen a tail-less squirrel yet.
Next day, the tail had vanished and we wondered where it might have gone.
An un-likely sort of trophy but it could line a nest, one assumes.
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There were no tail-less squirrels, but what was up with this one?
We needed a closer look..
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As if to cooperate, it suddenly came rushing down the path toward us...
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...and posed prettily on the patio.
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"Be sure to get all the angles!"
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My friend Tim calls them rodents and I know in Britain they are blamed for the tremendous loss in population of red squirrels, but I could no more hate these creatures than I hate cats for killing birds.
Yes, I hate that they do it, but I don't hate cats.
Going down that road, you would end up hating every creature, not least mankind.
The latter have free will.
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Much human behaviour is detestable, but we don't hate all humans because of some individuals.
Oh, there are times when one might rant about the human race, but nobody hates everyone, unless they are mentally damaged in some way.
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Animals often become "pests" as a result of human activity that causes them to change their behaviour; taking away their habitat, primarily.
My fondest wish would be to save all animals from suffering. Alas...
All I can do is love them and where possible, help those that are nearby.
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