FOXES

Friday, June 11th, 2020 

Our foxes are back, a new family at least.  Before I go to bed each night I do a nightly check to make sure everything is locked up, and the garage door is down.  There have been occasions when we have forgotten. I also always look out front and back to make sure all is quiet.  This is a habit I have carried out my whole life.  My parents taught me to be cautious. 

As I look through the window I was startled but  delighted, to see a very cute fox kit on our front step, and then it was joined by two of its equally cute siblings. Hubs had gone to bed but I quietly told him about the foxes and he came down.  

We watched as they moved off the step onto the grassy area, where they played for 20 minutes or so, chasing each other across the grass, sometimes in circles, and running around the tree.  One of them spotted me and stopped, statue-like. It seemed as though our eyes locked for a few seconds, and then it rejoined the chase.  

That was the best entertainment of the night, just before midnight.  A lovely end to the day for sure, though I woke up at three a.m., and did a quick check to see if they were still around.  One was stretched out fast asleep, siblings were maybe doing the same thing out of sight.  In the morning they were gone. 

(Not only bears are roaming the area. I wonder how I would have reacted if I saw one of those on the front step?)  

I wish I could have taken decent photos.  I managed a few with my cell phone and though very blurry, at least they are a memory.

This happened last Friday and I haven’t seen them since.  The sight of our foxes was certainly a gift🦊🦊🦊 as who knows when they will be back.   

Thanks for stopping by everyone. 

THE PEACOCKS CONTINUED...

These photos were taken in the summer of 

2015, at Paignton Zoo in Devonshire.  

('Paignton' is one of those words with a silent 'g', and is pronounced Painton.)

When my father retired in 1965 my parents moved to Devonshire.  I had one year of schooling to complete and that school was opposite the zoo.  I walked by the zoo twice a day, the second time on my way into town back to the bus station, where I rode a bus home.  

After I married I went home as often as I could to visit my parents.  This was usually when hubby was on a six month, sometimes 8 month deployment.  If my parents didn't visit us for the summer, then I would take our son and we would stay with them. We all had a fun time visiting the zoo. It seems another lifetime ago now with a lot of great memories.  

 On this occasion in 2015, hubby and I were with my niece and nephew.  My niece remembered visiting the zoo with her parents when she was little, so there was a lot of nostalgia for both of us. 

 The peacocks were putting on quite a display I remember, which was one of the many things that made our visit memorable, along with talking about the old days.  As I was putting this post together, hubby and I enjoyed some of those memories.  We were sorting through a few things and came across a box of old photos, which gave me the idea for today’s (and yesterday’s) post.

Two maps to show you the location of Paignton.  Just like in many other areas, it looks like a lot of places are closed right now.

A FEW FLOWERS AND PLANTS FROM OUR GARDEN

How are you all?  I hope everyone is hanging in there, and that your days are going well.  

As you can see by the date on my laptop, I started this post on the 22nd.  This was the screen shot on my laptop that day.  More often than not I like the ones that appear when I turn it on.  They change every few days and come courtesy of the laptop company.  They show very pretty scenes around the world.  I enjoy my lessons in geography as my curiosity gets a reminder that it is a good thing to learn.  I always find out about the place shown with the snippet of information they provide.  At first I thought this was the Arches National Park in Utah, but I looked closer and read that the area is called the Spitzkoppe and the description reads, "A group of bald granite peaks or inselbergs located between Usakos and Swakopmund in the Namib desert of Namibia.  The granite is more than 120 million years old and the highest outcrop rises about 1,728 metres above sea level.  The peaks stand out dramatically from the flat surrounding plains.  The highest peak is about 670 m above the floor of the desert below.  A minor peak - the Little Spitzkoppe - lies nearby at an elevation of 1,584 m.  Other prominences stretch out into a range known as the Pontok Mountains."  Fascinating, and now we know.  One day I am going to make a post just of these screenshots.  Wildlife is also shown.

Our morning (on the 21st) started early at 8.00 a.m. when an electrician came around to fix one of the lights on the front of our house.  At first I thought it would be a much longer and harder job, but it was all done in less than half an hour.  Nice young man, interaction all conducted at a safe distance. We will get him again if we have any more problems, but I hope that won't be for a while.  

As soon as he left we delivered a couple of bags of food to a friend of ours.  We have been making meals and putting one aside for the freezer, and I had a couple of these for our friend.  It was good to see her but we did our part and kept several feet away on the doorstep.  Unfortunately a chilly wind cut short our conversation, but we sent air hugs and were on our way.  

And who is this handsome lad?  When we got home the phone rang and it was our son.  I asked him to send us a photo as he was out on his morning walk. Mum always asks for a photo. We are definitely a photo-taking family.  This was our reward which was designed to make us laugh. I am always asking him if he is following all the guidelines when he goes out.  This proved it.  Yes, I tell myself,  I know he is 40 but he's still our kid, and more often than not he turns around and asks us if we are following the same guidelines in a very stern, authoritative voice, and we assure him we are, and inwardly smile.  Roles tend to get reversed these days.  Turn around is fair play.  His glasses were fogging up because of the mask which his Mother-in-Law very kindly made for him, and for us.  I asked if I could share it here.  He doesn't mind at all, hard to tell what he looks like with that mask on anyhow.  The three of us had a nice long conversation until he got back to his place.  Usually our daughter-in-law joins him but she was busy that day as, like our son, she is working at home.  We talk most days and never run out of conversation.  I guess you could say we are talkers!  

A couple of days ago and needing a little fresh air after a few days of rain, we took a walk around the garden.  It was still very chilly and we weren't out there for long, just enough time to take a few photos of the plants that were blooming.

This is called Evergreen Spindle according to my plant app.  In the Netherlands they call this plant Spilboome, meaning a spindle tree.  Since the Dutch make spindles out of its timber, and also that this is native to Japan, it is now called Japanese Spindle Tree.  Maybe if we have any Dutch or Japanese blogging friends out there, they can verify the information.

Next comes an Evergreen Azalea, a species of Rhododendron.  

Not much other information except that its scientific name is Rhododendron indicum.  I love its pretty red color.

The following pretty white flower bloomed for the first time this year.  We didn't plant it, it just appeared.  It is called Black Haw, a species of Viburnum.  Also known as Blackhaw Viburnum, Stag Bush or Sweet Haw.

On the ground underneath is a carpet of pink blossom petals from a neighbor's tree.

I loved its pretty white blooms.

Its botanical name is Viburnum prunifolium.

This holly tree has been here since we moved in.  We get it trimmed every year and it is way above our heads now.

The plant app says it is Chinese Holly, also known as Horned Holly or Burford Holly, and its botanical name is Ilex cornuta.

Two collages to add, one of the flowers in the back...

and the pink Azaleas are blooming in the front garden.  

We decided to sit out on the deck for a while, knowing that it wouldn't be for a long time as the hour was getting late. It was still too chilly, but we felt the need for some Vitamin D and at least the sun was still shining.  

We were late giving our backyard wildlife birdseed, mostly sunflower seeds as we are running low.  I sat waiting for Gregg to join me when a squirrel ran helter-skelter down the branch used to jump onto the rail of our deck.  When he realized I was there he stopped as though he had hit an invisible wall.  I got the full, head-on glare as he chirped and chattered furiously, staring me down with tail flashing in that squirrel way of agitation. I know I got the royal telling off for being there.  How dare I!  After letting me know in no uncertain terms what he thought of me, he headed back up the tree and went round the other side.  I pointed him out to Gregg and we both looked up amused.  We could see where he had perched to wait us out, barely making out the tip of his tail.  No sooner had we closed the sliding door behind us, he - or she - scrambled down and made a feast of those favored sunflower seeds, probably still muttering under its breath for making the wait far too long.  Our back yard friends have trained us well.

Thanks for visiting.  I do hope your days are enjoyable and passing quickly.  

GOSIA'S FENCES AROUND THE WORLD

I am having fun looking through my archive photos.  This was taken as we were driving along the road, and the washing on the line caught my attention.  

I have these memories from childhood when my mother did hers.  To this day there is nothing that equates to the smell of freshly washed bed sheets that have been dried in the sun.  For me another wonderful childhood memory helping my mother as best I could, handing her pegs to hang up the washing, carrying the oversized basket to her when the washing was dried, and being given more chores to help out as I got older, hearing her laughter as I got into the occasional childish antic which made her laugh.  I loved making my mum laugh and that didn't change as the years went by.

I hope you are all doing okay.  Our days seem to be going quickly thank goodness.  There is always something to do.  Yesterday we were changing two of the lightbulbs that had burned out in the front of our house, and our new neighbors were across the street.  They were enjoying the sunshine and were sitting under their cherry blossom tree.  It made a pretty sight.  We shouted over and asked them how they were doing, had a mini conversation.  A pleasant interlude while keeping our social distancing. I look forward to the time when we  can get to know them better.  I still intend to invite them to a meal when this is all over.  

The lightbulb change turned into a bigger problem and now we have called an electrician and will be getting four new light fixtures.  The ones we had are as old as our 30 year old house.  We got an estimate from one electrician and the two others haven't called back yet (hopefully business is good).  Mundane tasks but we never take anything for granted these days, even more so now.

It is very windy today.  I am watching the branches from one of our trees.  There are pine cones from another that have blown onto the deck.  The cherry blossoms from our neighbor's tree were falling like snow earlier.  Pretty sights in nature also not to be taken for granted, and the sun is shining, a gift.

There are fences in my photo so I grabbed it for Gosia's Meme.  

If you would like to see other Fences Around the World, or join in with your own, you will find the link here.  Thank you for hosting Gosia.

Thanks you also for stopping by, and take good care of yourselves out there.

WE HAVE NEW NEIGHBORS....

Our old neighbors across the street who have lived there ever since we moved into our house 29 years ago, moved two months’ ago.  It wasn't long before we saw signs of another family.  

We met them a couple of weekend ago as we were leaving for a trip to the park.  They were out front and I waved and said hello, and walked across the street to welcome them to the neighborhood. They are a younger family who seem very sweet people.  They have a darling little girl about 3 years, a lovely, fluffy and friendly dog who was enjoying being outside - the sun was out and it was gorgeous - and a baby is on the way.  I promised that I would go over and give them our details on a sheet of paper, but now that will have to wait until we can socialize again.  

Eventually I will invite them over for dinner.  This will also have to wait but I was going to take a meal over beforehand.  Nowadays I can’t help but think of all these dietary restrictions we hear about?  Should I do gluten free, lactose intolerant, vegan, vegetarian?  We have all those folks among our family and friends.  Maybe if I make them a pot of vegetarian vegetable soup, that will be okay. Our omnivores and herbivores have enjoyed that.  Or should I just take a welcome basket with all kinds of other goodies in it. That seems a safer option.  It looks like I will have plenty of time to think about it. When the time comes, I will be knocking on their door.

ARCHIVES - A STRANGE PLACE TO TAKE A REST.....

would be right next to the tail of an alligator, don't you think?

These are from a trip to Florida January 2014.  We visited the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park.  There were two ways to get to it from the main entrance, a boat or a tram ride.  We took the boat and this is a sight that we were greeted with not five minutes into the ride.  Turtles sharing a log with an alligator.

Since the busy pace of the holidays we have settled into a slower one.  Between colds and company I haven't done a lot of photo taking, and it's snowing today!  

Sounds like it will be our first significant one of 2020.  I hadn't looked at the long range weather forecast and a friend called up this morning and said it was snowing where she was.  She lives out towards the mountains about an hour from here.  No sign of it as I looked out the window.  

I got busy with a few chores and when hubs came home he said that it was snowing.  I looked outside and by this time there were big fluffy flakes coming down.  (I wish we could send it over to our friends in Australia, as I am still thinking about you all out that way).  Will it stick?  I won't have a clue until I look at our local weather and I want to finish this beforehand.  

The only sign of wildlife outside is a squirrel eating the birdseed I put out there.  He is welcome as all the birds have battened down the hatches.  Yesterday I saw a squirrel running across the grass with a mouthful of dead leaves.  We have two squirrel nests up in our tree and no doubt they are being insulated for the snowy weather.  A sign I should pay more attention to and I will from now on, that and looking at the long range weather forecast.  

All this being said I am a homebody and have no intention of going anywhere, at least for today.  I am convinced that if you put me in a small log cabin on the top of a snow-covered mountain in the middle of nowhere I would be happy.  It is a family joke that we have bandied around for years, and hubs always adds yes, as long as they've got electricity and wi-fi!  Maybe!  But that's what candlelight, good old-fashioned books and a log fire is all about isn't it?  What say you?  I can dream can't I? 

And as I get back on track and case in point, I have not been outside to take any photos, so to amuse myself I looked at old vacation photos from way back.  I found these of the alligator and turtles, shared before but maybe it's been so long that you don't remember, or won't mind seeing again.  

AS WE SETTLE INTO THE NEW YEAR....

there is so much going on in the world and I won’t say any more except that from the bottom of my heart, and as I learn of the news and see the photos and videos that are heartbreaking and horrifying, my family and I will be pulling for you.  We are not oblivious and do not take any of our days for granted.

With love and hugs to all, 

Denise 

BOXING DAY.

I hope you all had a wonderful celebration yesterday.  Our Christmas' are always special, each one seeming more so than the last.  Yesterday our son and daughter-in-law came over for several hours and what a super time we had with them.  

Before they arrived my family in Germany got in touch via Facetime, and I once again blessed this technology that allows us to be practically in the same room together, even though we are three thousand miles apart.  

We enjoyed a dinner of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding with all the fixings.  This was the first Christmas Dinner that my dear hubby fixed and he did an excellent job.  There were old-fashioned Christmas Crackers on the table.  Gregg and I pulled the ends of ours so hard that the little novelties flew across the floor, and we never did find a couple of them.  We wore the paper hats contained inside, and told corny jokes from the little pieces of paper also enclosed, and after Christmas Dinner we sat around the tree and opened our gifts to each other.   

It went by too quickly and it seemed like no time at all when we were waving them off down the road on the way to our daughter-in-law's family.   The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and going over the fun of the day.  

We have no plans on Boxing Day but don't have to cook because we made sure to make enough for plenty of leftovers.  It will always be Boxing Day for me, the day after Christmas which my family enjoyed growing up in England.  

And it was a perfect day. 

Time to finish my post and I will leave you with a few lines I found recently.  You know how much I love my quotes.  

Enjoy yourselves and I look forward to hearing all about how you celebrated.

Simply give others a bit of yourself:

a thoughtful act,

a helpful idea,

a word of appreciation,

a lift over a rough spot,

a sense of understanding,

a timely suggestion.

You take something out of your mind,

garnished in kindness out of your heart,

and put it into the other person's mind and heart.

~Charles H. Burr~

A FEW RAMBLES, A FEW PHOTOGRAPHS, IN ORDER AS THINGS HAPPEN

I had fun putting this together using a brick wall template in one of my iPad apps, "Pip", in a collage collection, finishing off in Paint Shop Pro which is on my laptop.  I used some of my favorite photos taken from various get togethers with son and daughter-in-law this year so far.

My laptop seems to be working okay now.  Still scratching my head on that one.  For a while there I thought I would have to be getting rid of it.  The shaking that I got on the screen has mysteriously gone away.  Am I being lulled into a false sense of security?  Maybe but I'll take it.  Still backing up everything regularly and wondering how long this will last.  

We took a friend to the airport last Tuesday.  She is spending time with family.  We had a couple of hours to enjoy a cup of tea and a chat at home, then we headed out to the airport.  We were there in the afternoon where normally the place would be hopping, but it was relatively quiet.  A good day to travel apparently.  After we saw her through the security gate we made our way home, stopping for lunch at our favorite noodle shop.  That was our main meal for the day and there was no cooking dinner that night.  Yes I take pictures of fire hydrants!

We will be getting back into the garage to do more throwing out and more tidying up, and more finding of family treasures no doubt.  The exciting part of one day, and yes I jest and yet we still enjoyed the experience, was a trip to the local refuse collection center.  We filled up the boot of the car with no longer useable items.  First you have to stop off at the kiosk at the entrance, and asked the friendly lady where we should deposit each item we had.  

We had cleaned out a box where a few cans of old paint had been held, and we wanted to dispose of them responsibly. Directed to a special area, the young man who helped Gregg told him when asked, what happened to the paint.  The young man said that if the leftover paint was less than ten years old, they gave it to Habitat for Humanity, but that our cans dated back to 2004 so that wouldn't happen.  At Gregg's surprised expression he immediately laughed, and he realized he was joking. We were happy to hear that our old left-over paint would be going to a good cause.  We also drop things off at Goodwill if what we have is in decent shape, but if they don't want it, off to the dump we go.

We also dropped things off at the recycling area, and are attempting to do our small part of keeping as much plastic out of our daily life as possible, even when it comes to going to the grocery store.  We won't use the supermarket's plastic bags for produce any more, and have bought something like these reusable produce bags.  We are slowly seeing places banning plastic bags but at Trader Joes recently, we were told that theirs are made of a biodegradable material.  Thought that was very interesting.  We still, however, will keep using our reusable produce bags, if nothing else than to keep our own trash down as much as we can.  

The refuse center is impressively organized, and that was our exciting excursion for that day, and yes I take photos of everything! (We do get trash pick up at home by the way, four pick-ups a week on various days, two for trash, one for recycling and one for yard waste; grass cuttings, trimming of branches, etc.  We can also make a phone call if we have anything larger to get rid of, but anything that we can fit into the boot of the car that won't mess the car up, we actually take it to the dump.  As I said, exciting, or as our son sometimes like to tease us and says with a chuckle, retired folks!) 

We had a Facetime chat today with our niece and nephew over the pond.  Always love seeing their smiling faces and it was good to catch up.  I told my niece as I was talking I noticed a chipmunk on the deck.  She asked me to send photos which I had taken before our call, so these were the ones I sent to her.  Two are a bit blurry because I took them through the screen on the back door, one was taken through the glass.  In one photo he is drinking out of the water bowl, but can you see how that little greedy-guts is gobbling up the seed and stuffing his cheeks?  Storing it all up for next winter no doubt!

Gregg spent a few hours with our son later.  I would have gone but felt a bit grotty, so did not want to put a damper on things.  I enjoyed hearing all about it when Gregg and I had a chat afterwards.

After a couple of heavy rain-filled, chilly days (and back to sweaters and coats), the sun is out and we will be experiencing comfortable temperatures again.  Maybe we will get out for a ride in the countryside.

Whatever you are doing enjoy, and thanks for reading this rather long ramble.

ANOTHER OLD POSTCARD

We have been doing some spring cleaning in the garage, and I came across another box with old photos, postcards and letters from my parents.  We slowed down some after that, and started reading and looking at old photos.  And so it goes.

I am sharing this one today.  It was written on the 19th of October, 1989 and its description reads, "Bridgenorth Low Town from the bank of the River  Severn in 1985."  The artist's name is Davron.

It was in my Dad's handwriting, which was a nice surprise as Mum did almost all of the letters and postcards.  She loved to write both and we wrote to each other at least once a week for many years in between phone calls.  I had been married almost 14 years, and living in the States for as long. The address showed that we were in San Diego, California.

They purchased a permanently fixed caravan on a site not too far away from the town.  They lived in South Devon and would drive up staying in the caravan sometimes for a weekend, sometimes longer.  They had family and friends who lived nearby and used to enjoy a busy social life.  

Dad wrote that they had arrived the day before, and that the weather was good, and at 10.30 a.m. the sun was shining.  He also mentioned the earthquake they saw on the news in San Francisco, and hoped that everyone was okay.

An aunt and uncle were going to be visiting them for the weekend. This would be one of my Mum's brothers.  They had also visited us here in the States with Mum and Dad, and we have some wonderful memories of those times.  

Dad ended the postcard by saying they often enjoyed stopping for a cup of tea just to the right of the picture.  Mum and Dad loved their cuppa's.  

A nice little blast from the past.  There are loads of letters I have to reread, and will enjoy doing that with my own cup of tea this week.  I will do my best to continue spring cleaning also, but those letters are calling to me now, and so it goes.