So,

 

I used to worry that the trail camera would show something upsetting, like an owl catching a rabbit.

Now I worry that an alien spacecraft is landing in my yard.

Down Come the Rainbarrels

 The rain barrels must be taken down for the winter.  Frozen water doesn't flow.  My routine is to put them up around April Fool's Day and take them down around All Saints Day. 

These pictures are from August.

Sometimes the trail camera takes pictures of wind.  Rain is a little easier to see.

This runoff bucket is the reason the trail camera was positioned there.  My hope was that the camera would catch the culprit.  You see, every now and then this bucket is found lying on its side.  Who is doing it?  Alas. There are no pictures of anybody caught in the act.  Not even the wind.

Suspects abound.

Ducks like water but it's probably not them.

Not highly likely.

Other suspects:

Unlikely, a bucket is not her style.  She'd rather lick dew off the side of the rain barrel.

 

Maybe

Maybe

Don't know

Perhaps

Possible

Likely

We may never know.

They Tried to Warn Me

  

We all know that our world is full of germs, most of which you encounter on your kitchen counter.  Naturally, I’m concerned about the health and safety of my family.  Experts tell us that that sponge you use to wash dishes is not nice and clean from all that cleansing dish soap. 

That sponge is actually a vast growing medium for legions of dangerous pathogenic bugs.  Some people use a dish cloth instead.  They toss it in the wash machine after every use, or so they say.  Sure, you’re washing that cloth in hot water.  That ought to get it clean. Trouble is, you’re putting it in with other items that are also washed in hot water.  You know, like underwear.  After that, it’s clean enough to eat off of?  Or rub against things you’re going to eat off of?

Never mind, I prefer a sponge.  The size and girth of a sponge is simply superior for the job of washing dishes. Still, there’s the problem of how to clean the sponge.

Do Not put sponge in microwave!  That’s what the label on my favorite sponge four pack brand says.  It doesn’t say why.  I’ve wondered about that, but never deeply.  I developed a system for keeping the dangerous bugs off my sponges.  After washing the dishes, I would wring the sponge out (to the dampness of a perfect compost pile) and place it in the microwave.  I cannot recall how I came upon the ideal number of seconds to do the proper job of sanitizing the sponge, but it was under one minute.  

Foreshadow Alert!

Then we got a new microwave.  I hadn’t yet figured out how to make it run for a specific number of seconds so I just pressed GO and waited till the countdown of seconds reached the correct number, at which point I would open the microwave door and remove the sponge.  That worked fine till one day I pressed GO, then wandered away.

 A minute later, the microwave beep beep beeped to proclaim that where there is smoke, there is fire.  I opened the microwave door to dreadful smelling smoke and flames rising from the half gone blackened sponge.  I pulled the plate thing out of the microwave and carried the hostile festive sponge flambe’ onto the back porch and tossed it on the grass.  It kept burning till I flipped the plate thing over it.  Later, examining the carnage, it was clear that at least three quarters of the sponge had, well, melted away.

It was a new sponge too.  A purple one.  

It's July

 Warm enough for Malcom to be outside.

The harvest is going strong: squash and peas and beans, tomatoes soon.  

We've had some nice wild mulberries and raspberries and blackberries this year.  Now the boysenberries are getting ripe!

Of course, there is still mowing to be done in summer.  

It's hot and hilly but the groundskeeper is unafraid.

GWEN

Ever hear of the G W E N system?  Those tower things that emit a low frequency sound?  They were purportedly set up in 1982 to communicate with those remaining after a nuclear attack or something else terrible.  You know, just in case.  Survivors would need to, you know, be informed.

But isn't it running all the time?  Wouldn't it HAVE to be?  You know, you never know when a big terrible will come.

Two attempts to post a picture of a GWEN Tower were thwarted....by whom....and why?

Anyway.  There is one of these things not far from the Bad Dog Ranch.  A scant forty miles away, it is constantly sending messages.

GWEN is perpetually beaming.  

And now it is violently present at my front window!  A local sparrow has been literally attacking the windows of my home for over a week.  He flies to the window, pecks at the glass, all while peering in with a wild light in his eyes.

Here's a picture of a sparrow taken a couple years ago.  

Of course, who's to say the crazed GWEN sparrow isn't a descendant of this seemingly innocent sane sparrow?  But I digress.

The bird should be focused on raising a brood, not bashing his beak against a living room window.  

Who's to say those mysterious ever-present frequencies haven't driven him mad?

Seems to me, you don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to find this whole thing unnerving.  

I don't know about this GWEN theory of hers.                  One thing's for sure, that bird is wacko.

Big Anniversary Gift this Year

The Handsome One and I continue to celebrate our anniversary with a gift for us.  This year we went EXPENSIVE, not because we are flamboyant or because it's our 29th.  Necessity stepped in.

  

See, the furnace was making strange noises.  We consulted a Heating and Cooling guy who assured us that the old furnace was about to blow.

 

 Well, he didn't express it quite so dramatically.  He did tell us that it was IMPORTANT that we get a carbon monoxide detector because the likelihood that the ailing furnace would try to kill us was real.

Some members of the household were unconcerned.

Others took it less well.  Indeed, for some, stress set in.  Even to the point of frequent checks on CO levels.  Just because the CO detector gadget kept reading zero, didn't mean it would remain zero. 

Clearly, this was a Canary in the Mineshaft scenario.  With a wait of some three weeks before the new furnace was to be installed, hyper vigilance set in.  Someone even turned the furnace down to 59 so it would run less.

Finally, the big day came.  It took several hours to install.  The installer guy said the new furnace would be quieter.  Technically, that is true.  However, there is a distinct and high-pitched hum present in the quiet.

The jury is still out on whether the new high-pitched hum is less pleasant than that three weeklong high pitch of somebody's I'm Afraid of the Furnace whine.

BDR Update

 Here it is August already at the Bad Dog Ranch.

In addition to our regular flock of ducks, we've added a couple of geese.   Here they are at about three days old.

Here they are a couple months later.

They don't have their grown-up feathers yet but are molting, so they're working on it.

The groundskeeper/flock manager reports that it is true that geese have a different attitude than ducks.  She handled the geese when they were very young so that they would be used to her getting into their personal space (she does this with the ducks too).  Now the geese follow her around!  

These ducks, raised in the brooder right next door to the geese, do not follow the flock manager around.

These are Rouens.  They will look like stocky Mallards when fully grown.  

Like the geese, they don't yet have their grown-up feathers.

Meanwhile, the elder ducks are taking the invasion of youngsters in stride.

Happy Belated Holidays

 

I have been severely remiss about posting lately.  Lately- as in for weeks and months.  

Here is a shot of me taken by The Handsome One to thank the in-laws for their Christmas gifts. 

It may seem strange that a festive wreath is displayed next to shelves in a basement.  Actually, it's hanging from Malcom's enclosure.

From Malcom and all of us here at Bad Dog Ranch,

The Lord bless and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.              -Numbers 6:24-26

Hazel is a Grown Up

 Hazel is a grown up.  She is almost two.

She has more moments of calm.

(So lady-like!)

She is even allowed on the bed with the other big dogs.

Clover still isn't willing to be pals with Hazel.  Though she has lightened up on the growling, the dirty looks continue as does the occasional snubbing. 

Garden Talk

 Last week we had an ugly storm that took out the cucumber vines.  Happily their season is just about over so the loss is a few rather than dozens.

The zinneas also took a hit.  Sorry there are no pictures.  It seems that my computer's idea of updating involves the removal of pictures, writing and probably some other things that I had planned to keep for a reason.

Couldn't find Roma tomatoes this year so am growing a similar variety called Sam Marzano.  They are starting to redden up.  If all goes according to plan there will be lots of sauce in our freezer.

The Annual It's Hot Enough for Malcom 2021

 

It's been an unusual year.  Malcom was outside in early May when it was 80 degrees then he was back inside in mid May when it was in the 40's.

Now it's July.  Hopefully we can now announce that it is officially hot enough for Malcom to be outside -for a while. 

More Ducklings

 

Khaki Campbells and Cayugas!  This group is a week old.

Last year's plans to invigorate the laying flock were thwarted by covid restrictions.  Hopefully, there will be more ducks than drakes in this batch.

Ducks typically continue to  lay eggs when they are four, five, six years old.  Trouble is, they slow down and as we have found with the older gals here at Bad Dog Ranch, their egg shells become thinner with age.

I can be a bit of an oaf, but I like to think after having done it a few times I can manage to handle eggs without breaking them.  In the past couple months, I've broken three or four eggs just picking them up and putting them down.  The shells are not as hard.  They just aren't.

For the squeamish in the audience, we won't get into what happens to ducks who don't lay well anymore, just as we don't mention what happens to excess drakes.

I have a mantra:  they are NOT pets... they are NOT pets... 

 In addition to the mantra, it is also helpful for my tender heart to remember that the birds in my care are given the very best life I can provide.