Tag: May 2014

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2014/20140504.html
Entry #1 on this page (tagged: may, mailings)

Turns out, the weekends are never long enough.

ha! Oh well. For may I've decided to go forward -- and not have any guilt for the projects I've abandoned!

So. Here is something that caught my attention today, that I wanted to type about...

Going through my feeds this weekend, I came across this post at UPSP Stamps: Latest Issue of USA Philatelic Now Available.

I realized I had somehow gotten off the USPS mailing list, so I signed up for that again. But then I noticed the author bio in the right sidebar:

Mary
Favorite stamp: My favorite stamp features a black-and-white photograph of designer Ray Eames holding a Christmas ornament over her husband's head. The stamp is from the 2010 Charles + Ray Eames stamp pane, and it always makes me smile. I love how joyful they look.

Well, I don't have the cool drawing of myself, that Mary has... but I do have an urge to answer the questions posed in that sidebar!

Favorite Stamp I really love the current postcard stamp, a hummingbird. But my absolute favorites are from the Nature series: the Kelp Forest...

Three things I always have with me My camera, no matter what! I carry my back pack with me most of the time. Inside: my backup camera, the current magazine I'm reading, pens and mechanical pencils, some cash, and a clif bar or two.

Favorite way to spend my spare time Spare time? That would be nice! If I had some I'd be: Reading, Making postcards from my photography, and Internetting.

The last book I read Just finished The Golden Notebook it was very long and rambling, but I enjoyed it.

One thing I can't live without ha! my printer and computer? But when civilization crashes, I will really miss hot showers. But "can't live without"? I have more books than I can read in a lifetime... I think it's the books that I can't live without!

My favorite place in the United States My former life involved moving every 3 or 4 years... but I have finally found my Forever Home in Eugene Oregon.

The best meal I ever had an All Vegan restaurant here in town called Cornbread Cafe... every single item on their menu is complete and utter bliss!

Life motto Get Away From Me, You Stupid People!
(Yeah, I'm a little bit asocial!)

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2014/20140517.html
Entry #2 on this page (tagged: may)

Does it get any cuter than that?! This bunch -- mom with 11 babies! -- was wandering through the parking lot at the day job. There isn't a pond or any water nearby so I was a bit worried about them.

But our resident birder said the mom mallard would feed them bugs from the fields... maybe mom was waiting to cross the street later in the day.

Also, at the day job... There is an osprey nest at the top of a cell tower. It's probably a couple blocks away, but we set up a spotting scope in the upstairs art department and watched them last spring. Unfortunately, they lost the babies. (Predation from other ospreys?) And then even more unfortunately, in the autumn stupid humans tore down their nest. Arg!

Well, the ospreys came back this spring and complained loudly. They went away for about a month, but now they are back. They've decided to rebuild!

(just hoping the ospreys didn't want baby duck for dinner!)
and it seems a bit late in the season to be building a nest. Will they try for some late babies? Or is this prep for next year?

And, in my own neck of the woods...

some much older mallard ducklings. Just the two, and mom was close.

It's been years since I've seen baby ducks at the creek... the ducks get fed bread by misinformed human parents at Ducky Hill. The ducks gobble it up, but it's not good for them. None of our ducks have the deformed feathers that have shown up in other local park duck populations (Angel Wing, incurable). But a lack of babies is definitely a sign of malnutrition via bread.

So two mallard younglings is cause for celebration!

Permalink: http://www.static8.com/journal/2014/20140525.html
Entry #3 on this page (tagged: may)

Last weekend, we bought some vege starts at Saturday Market and planted them right away. I meant to go back to the garden plot the next day (sunday) to get some weeding done, but it rained all day.

So I was very eager to visit our community garden plot this weekend. Not only for the weeding that needed to be done, but also to see how the starts fared.

Status of Starts: two out of three are growing happily. The lemon cucumber might need to be replaced.

Status of Weeding: yes, lots of grass got chopped and hoed and generally killed. I was feeling very pleased with my efforts and when I returned the hoe to the tool shed, one of the community gardeners called me over...

"Do you have lettuce?" he asked. "No, I don't," thinking what an odd question.
"Would you like to take some lettuce? I'm taking care of a friend's plot, and all this lettuce is ready to go." "heck yeah, I'd love some!"

Funny thing is, I was going to plant some lettuce seeds after I put away my hoe! Instead, I brought back several whole lettuce plants, thank you Marilyn! I stuffed them in my backpack and decided I had to walk home immediately or else they would wilt!

I got a bit distracted on the way home tho...

I had discovered an invasive red-eared slider turtle at the creek mid-April. And yesterday I saw her again, a little further upstream.

and then the ducklings! A mom with 5 children. Then the mom with the 2 older kids, that I saw last weekend. And a mom with 6 babies! Delightful! but hard to get decent pictures of them swimming...

And then I got home and shared the lettuce with the piggies...

Static8 > Journal > Tag: May

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