Whip taking a summer nap

More and more, though I enter my physical address AND P.O. Box number, a company's ordering software will summarily dismiss it as an invalid shipping address.  Our local post mistress said to put a "#331" (or whatever your P.O. box number is) at the end of my physical address.  It looks like it's an apartment or house number but, she said, the local postal workers would know it's a P.O. Box.  So I switched at the beginning of the year to doing that when I ordered anything.  It's been working great.  I get my packages up to a week earlier and they are delivered by hunky guys in shorts (but I digress).  Yes, I am getting packages quicker but none of them are sent via USPS.  I don't know why.  I assume it's because the postal service is the most expensive way to send items and, when I tracked USPS packages in the past, they often sat for days at a location.  Therefore I still didn't know that a package sent via USPS would actually be put in my P.O. Box.  Finally today I pulled a package out of the P.O. Box.    I'd been tracking it and it took some rather illogical routes but here it was.  I decided to check that the postal workers had actually used the attached number as my P.O. Box (and didn't just know to associate my name w/ a P.O. Box).  The former Post Mistress, who had suggested this trick, retired a month or so ago and this was a new Post Mistress.  I showed her the address on the package and explained what I'd done. She assured me that it was OK to do that and most workers would know to use the post office box.  Not sure I like the term "most" but, as I said, the majority of packages sent to me (now that I don't use the term "P.O. Box") come via other carriers.

Picture taken by Kathy Novey.

Water Hemlock

I'm always a little surprised in the spring to see how many cherry trees there are around when they all come into bloom at the same time.   Same thing this time of year when the elderberry bushes are all blooming.  There are bushes with white flower clusters spotting the countryside everywhere.   Plus, because the milkweed is beginning to bloom, the air smells wonderful.   Not everything w/ umbels of white flowers right now, though, is elderberry.    I noticed white flowers out on the west side of the meadow.  That's where I've seen water hemlock other years.   Whip and I jumped into Jormungandr to take a closer look.  It didn't look that wet along the path but when I jumped out, my shoes were underwater.  Well, hemlock does prefer marshy areas.  Up close easy to see these were not elderberry.  I've never checked to see if they have a fragrance.  Since all parts of the plant are poisonous, I don't want to take a chance that stopping to smell the flowers could make me sick.

Black bear and cub

After the one day, temps are back to normal.  We also have rain which, for this year, is normal too.  Whip alerted me to visitors.  This time though they were out behind the house.  Probably not of the human variety.  I got up to see what the fuss was and there was one very large bear standing up in the meadow.  She was far enough away that I felt safe to go out onto the deck and shout at her.  I don't mind her roaming the woods but she should know that coming into the meadow means people and dogs - two things bear around here avoid.  She didn't move and the reason was soon apparent as one and then two little cubs popped out of the tall grass onto a mown path.  The first cub headed straight across the path and into the tall grass on the other side.  Probably following the route mom had taken.  The second cub - like the turkey chicks - hit the short grass and liked it.  This one stood up (as it's probably seen mom do) looking in the direction the rest of it's family had taken.  The cub then dropped to all fours and trotted on down the easier to travel pathway until it intersected w/ another and turned in the direction I'd last seen mom.  Mom was still out there - invisible when she was on all fours in the tall grass.  She popped up again, figured her brood were on their way, and dropped back down out of sight.  Hopefully they were all headed for the more quiet deep woods.

Later, Whip started 'woofing' to let me know we had visitors again.  I'd heard it too -  the sound of a door buzzer on a Colombo TV rerun.  I looked over at her.  "We don't have a doorbell."  I said.  She stopped.  I don't know anything about the first three years of her life but assume that's when she learned a doorbell means guests.

First of the wild raspberries

Independence Day started off w/ quite the thunder and lightning show.  I lay in bed and watched lightning strikes out my window.  I had NPR on the radio and they had a weather expert talking about the 30-30 rule of thunderstorm safety.   Hadn't heard of it before but it made sense.  At sunrise there was a curl of smoke to the south of the village where lightning had started a barn on fire and my Internet was out.    People usually eat something special for holidays.  I made a puffed oven pancake for breakfast and a hobo dinner for lunch.  The puffed pancake was because I haven't made one in awhile and Brother Brent said he had a craving for a hobo dinner so figured I would work on the recipe.  I've made them before over Ragnarök but I felt their only appeal was you cooked them outside and ate them w/ a side of fire ash.  I gleaned ideas from a Google search and bought the fixin's earlier this week.   Pretty much how I've made them  before except I tossed the veggies in olive oil, used lean but not super lean hamburger, and added a dollop of concentrated golden mushroom soup on top before closing up the foil.  The TV ran a banner periodically warning of a heat advisory for my county.   I decided to cook it in the oven rather than sweat outside over a campfire.  The hobo dinner was actually quite good.  Good enough I'd even make it for guests.  Wrote down the recipe in my book tonight.  Then Whip and I went out on the deck to watch fireworks go off along the ridge.  

Elderberry Blossoms

I was eating breakfast when the dog started barking excitedly at the front door.  Figured it was a visitor so I got up.  The 'visitors' were a group of turkey crossing the front lawn.  The group was led by an adult and had an adult at the end.  In between were nine fuzzy chicks - not newborns but they didn't have any adult feathers yet.  Young enough that if I'd let Whip out she would have easily had turkey for breakfast.  I watched as the leader entered the tall grass.  It closed around her and she was gone.   Some of the chicks followed her but some pooled at the edge of the tall grass unwilling to enter.  Walking across a mown lawn must have seemed like Nirvana to them.  They could easily walk plus see for several feet in every direction.   Eventually, the end adult turkey also entered the tall grass.  Being left alone was too much and the chicks fell into line behind him.   There was a twitch at the top of a stalk of some nearby daisies and that was all.  The group had totally disappeared.   They had come from the meadow and headed into the hay field.  Not the best place to be this time of year.  I'm hoping they will end up down by the pond.  Waited another hour before going out.  Whip can be a very good tracker.

On a 4th of July kinda note, when I went in for library duty Librarian Trevor pulled out his U.S. naturalization document.  He passed his tests and was sworn in yesterday as a citizen.  He retains his Canadian citizenship so, should the United States become provinces of Canada, he's still covered.

Asiatic Lilies

I close the windows in the morning when I get up to trap that coolness of the night air.  Still only going to get a little over 80 degrees today - not hot enough to warrant the A/C.  I moved Svaldifari to the courtyard in a position that he couldn't be seen from the road but easily noticed to anyone driving all the way in.  John Deere said they would pick him up first thing in the morning.  I said I might not be around but that the tractor would be outside w/ the keys and they said that was fine.  I picked up Friend Nancy for breakfast in Churchville and then did some shopping (including groceries).  I got back home around 11:30 and Svaldifari was still in the same position I'd left him.  Big Sigh.  Would have to call and see what the hang-up was.  I hadn't put away the groceries before a truck pulling a trailer came in to pick up Svaldilfari .  I showed the young man the oil slick.  He checked the oil in the machine stating there was still enough to safely start it up and move it onto the ramp.  I told the man if what needed to be done was under a certain cost amount they didn't need to get my approval - just fix it.   The man thought Svaldilfari was a 2017 model and maybe I should look into getting a new one.   He didn't realize Svaldilfari is over 10 years older than that.  (It's the clean living - stays in a heated garage out of sunlight and gets yearly maintenance by the dealership.)   I haven't received a call yet from John Deere.  Either means it was just leakage through the seals which is a minor fix -or- no one has gotten around to figure out what's wrong w/ him.  The sun is shining straight through my bedroom window before it sets behind the ski hill.  Time to open up the windows.

Doe and fawn

In the refrigerator is cheese, wieners, and apples.  Not what I wanted for breakfast.  Before I could go out though there were things to do.  Gathered up the garbage and took it out to the bin.  When I moved the bin to  just beyond the shoulder of the road I saw the flashing lights of a small tractor coming.  Watched for a moment and  realized it was the county mower w/ an attachment so he could get well down into the ditches.  I moved my garbage bin out of his way so he wouldn't have to lift his mower.  Was rewarded w/ a smile and a wave as he passed. Back at the house I got out my phone and called John Deere.  I had mowed the lawn yesterday and saw an oily slick on the concrete underneath Svaldilfari.  Yes, they would pick it up and fix it.  Started a load of laundry and took off for the village.  Before I got there, stopped off at Mechanic Eric's shop.  He said he could change my oil next week.  I also told him a friend had heard a noise from the back and it might be the ball bearings.  He laughed, "Usually it's a friend that notices it.  It builds slowly and the driver doesn't even realize there is anything different."  He'd check it out when he changes the oil.  Finally stopped at the cafe for breakfast and then walked down the block for a latte.  The clothes were ready to hang out on the line when I got back.   Another pop-up storm in the afternoon almost gave them a rinse but fortunately the thunder warned me something was coming and I got the clothes off the line in time. Through the first half of the year the weatherman talked about how we were below our normal rainfall amounts.  This June may have remedied that.

Daisy Fleabane

Excerpts from the Sheriff's Report:

7:38 a.m. - Caller reporting a fairly large snapping turtle on their front porch.

9:04 a.m. - Officer with underage male walking down the road with a case of beer.  Officer confiscated the beer.

9:14 a.m. - National Guard requests a check welfare for a male who failed to show up for morning muster.  Deputy spoke with mother of male who stated he pushed his start date back and didn't need to go.

9:20 a.m. - Female reports she gave a check to another person to cash since she is not allowed in most stores.  The person has not returned with the money.  Officer talked with the person who said they sent the check back to the payee as he doesn't know where the female lives and doesn't want any further contact with her.

12:53 p.m. - Caller reporting a vehicle pulled into his driveway, occupants walked around and left two heavy lawn ornaments in front of the door.

1:49 p.m. - Call from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requests a deputy go to the airport and check if an airplane is there.  Follow up call to dispatch from Minn. Air control tower stating they made contact with the pilot and everything is OK.

3:40 p.m. - Officer spoke with female informing her she needed to clean up after herself.  Officers will be checking frequently that she is not littering or creating an issue like laying on sidewalks or disrupting business.  Female stated she is here for her annual summer vacation.  Officer spoke with her about finding a new annual summer vacation spot if she continues the behaviors from last year.  She was informed if she didn't pick up her trash by the end of the officer's shift she would receive her first citation of her vacation.  7:03 a.m. - Officer out with female.  Citation issued for littering. 

5:04 p.m. - Caller reporting 20 cattle on the railroad tracks.  A black bear is hindering them from checking further.  Deputy made contact with cattle owner who states he was out looking for them.

6:17 p.m. - Officer flagged down by a neighbor of address where there is a large amount of full garbage bags piled on the back step.  They had seen rodents and cats getting into the garbage.  Resident of the house stated she is waiting to get paid to remove the garbage.  The officer informed her she could receive a citation if she doesn't remove it soon.

7:15 p.m. - Railroad worker asked if he could sleep in his car just for tonight due to low funds.  Officer cited city ordinance against sleeping in vehicles but will allow for the night due to observing two juveniles in the car.

7:45 p.m. - Walk-in individual to Law Enforcement Center states he had a disagreement with a neighbor and thinks they will retaliate.  Complainant states the male is threatening him saying he is going to hang him and his family.  When asked where the male lives he stated in Florida.  Complainant was told to block this individual from communication.  There's nothing that can be done here as the person lives in Florida.

Hares-foot Clover

No rain today and some sunshine.  Tonight though there is a forecast for severe thunderstorms.  It's been two weeks at least since I mowed the back trails.  I waited as long as I thought I dared (and still come home before sunset) to let things dry out before taking off on Svalidifari to mow what I could.  Some areas were still too wet though - couldn't get to the back 80 paths because the draw was running water.  I didn't cut the path across the north portion of the back hay field because that area was also deep in water.  Turned off the mower as I passed through standing water by the crabapple tree.  Same thing when I turned the corner by the Sugar Maples.  I saw something in the path ahead of me and recognized it as a turtle.  It must have heard me coming because it crossed the path and was back in tall grass by the time I reached it.  Don't know what kind it was - medium size for a snapper but big for a painted.  I went over some hares-foot clover patches.  Was proud of myself for figuring out what it was.  I'd tried looking at various websites for purple flowers; small purple flowers; small purple feathery flowers; small purple feathery flowers in my state; etc.  Came up w/ a lot of the same options.  Thought about it.  I should be able to figure this out.  I gleaned what I had picked up from years of association w/ various Master Gardeners.  I picked a stem and twirled it in fingers.  Not a square stem so not a mint.  The leaves are slender but definitely trifoliate.  Reminded me a bit of clover.  I googled clover and went through all of it's variations before I came across a picture that looked like my flower.  They describe it as 'pink' while I would call it purple but basically the same thing.  As I said I was very proud of myself until I looked out on my blog and found a picture of the same flower that I had posted in 2018 and called "bunny clover" (it's another common name for it).  Must have forgotten I figured out what it was seven years ago.  What's the saying, ";When you start to lose your memory, every day is a new day."

Bird's foot trefoil (and ant)

Last Sunday at church the pastor asked the congregation if anyone had prayer requests.  One man piped up "Ask him to turn the spigot off.  I've got hay to put in."  The Lord has other plans though 'cause as I drove to the library for my volunteer stint it was raining hard.  I arrive at 4 p.m. and the Summer Reading Program starts at 6.  I have a couple of hours to record stats, put away books, pull books, and other tasks before the children arrive and activities begin.   Around 5:00 a woman came in and asked to see the cemetery records.   She explained she was new to the area and wanted to find the grave of her grandfather.  I said that the village has those records. I gave her the village contact information and hours they would be open.  She asked how to get to the cemetery so I told her to go up one block, turn east, go another block, and turn north.  The road would dead-end (so to speak) at the cemetery.  She sat at one of the library's couches and looked out at the pounding rain.  I finished up my immediate tasks, volunteers were busy setting up for the Summer Reading Program, no one was browsing the stacks so I asked Librarian Trevor if I could have 15 minutes off.  He said he'd watch the front desk for me and I went over to the lady and asked if she wanted to ride w/ me to the cemetery so she'd know where it was.  She brightened up and immediately agreed.  Even in a small village it's not the easiest thing to find your way around.  We drove in my car to the cemetery.  I asked the name of her grandfather and drove slowly through just in case we saw the name.  Actually found the gravesite.  Back at the library, I deposited her next to her car in the lot.  Still raining.   Would any children show up for tonight's activities?   They certainly couldn't walk the block to the Historical Society to get the time capsule as planned for tonight.   It had been created in 2000 by children and helpers at the library.   Someone took a bolt cutters, went to the Historical Society, and soon came back w/ the capsule.   Not a huge crowd but the back area was filled w/ people for the opening.  For the event all of the former librarians were invited.   The capsule was filled with notes written by each person about what they  thought they would be doing in the year 2025.  Each note was read aloud and I could hear gales of laughter.  I was busy at the front desk.  Those little kids dropped off a ton of books to check in and put away.  At 7, I didn't announce the library was closing.   People were still talking, eating, and drinking punch.  Some who don't usually visit the library were looking around.   Kids were playing.  I was finishing up putting away books and didn't have anything else to get to.  People eventually started to leave until it was just some of the librarians talking.  I closed up, left one light on where they were and asked them to turn it off when they left.

Arrowwood flowers

 

Woke up earlier than my alarm.  I padded out to the kitchen first.  I'd put frozen bread dough into a pan before I went to sleep last night.  It had risen enough to bake.  I heated up the oven.  Went on into the laundry room.  Forecast is for storms coming in early this afternoon.  I popped in the laundry detergent and started the washing machine filling.  Dressed for the day.  Shoved the bread into the oven, started up a load of clothes, whistled for Whip, and we went out on our constitutional.    Wonderful to have cooler weather again. When we returned still had some time before the bread and wash were done.  Sat down to peruse my electric bills.  I hadn't received any since putting in the solar array and then received two a week apart.   Olson Solar Rep Cody had warned me that the power company would take a few months to start sending me bills.   The first bill was for mid-April thru mid-May and the amount due looked pretty normal for that period of time.  The usual "Your bill is paid through an automated bank payment plan" was printed across the bottom and I hadn't thought any more about it.    The second bill was for mid May to mid-June.  This amount also looked pretty normal.   Reading through it though showed that no money had been taken out of the bank but instead I had a credit for the same amount.  Cool.  If this is how it works should be a simple spread sheet to determine savings vs. cost.  The wash finished so I took that out and hung it on the line.  Birds were chirping.  The bread was also ready to come out and, once on the rack, I brushed the top w/ butter.  Time to start the coffee and fix breakfast.  Life is good.

Asiatic Lily

 

I walked out into the living room.  Whip was there looking out the window and giving a low growl.  I turned to the window to see what had her attention.  Took a moment before I saw a deer walking through the belly-high grass of the meadow.  Watched intently for a moment and there it was ... a little snatch of brown behind her.  It came and went.  Did I really see it or just want to see it?  I kept watching until she broke out of the grass onto a mown path and continued down it toward the woods.  Then behind her emerged a fawn.  A few weeks old I'd guess 'cause now that he could see where he was going he had slowed and was curious about his surroundings.   As mom disappeared into the woods, I saw a little flash of white as he flicked his tail and walked after her.  First fawn I've seen this year.

Town Planning Commission meeting tonight.  Chairman Roger is fishing in Canada so I led the meeting.  We had two permits to consider.  They were both fairly straight forward.   Last meeting, I'd been tasked w/ checking on another building that had been put on some property.  It had no fire sign.  Basically, if there is a building of any kind, then that property needs a fire sign so emergency vehicles can find it.  The county manages giving those out and maybe they didn't know about the building.  I'd stopped by the court house and County Zoning Administrator Yvonne knew which place I was talking about immediately.  She laughed that the out-of-town new owners said they didn't know they needed permits.  They had been granted one by the county in December.  She gave me a copy of their county permit which included a note that they needed to contact our town clerk (they had included her name and phone number) for a town building permit.   I looked at the paperwork.  It stated it was only a  'shed' and a box was checked that it was not built for sleeping quarters.   I think there are lots of "sheds" big enough for bunk beds built on hunting land.

Red Baneberry

Mother Nature is having mood swings.  Last week at this time I turned on the heat in the house because it was so cold.  Now I'm turning on the A/C.  It's only needed for a short time in the morning and again before I go to sleep to keep it comfortable in the house.  While there are lots of southern facing windows, this time of year the sun rises quickly and high so it doesn't shine in very far nor for long (unlike in the winter when the low rising sun rays shoot clear through the house.)    So until Mom Nature gets over her hot flash, I've been doing stuff inside.  There are the usual tasks after guests leave:  wash sheets and towels, take out the garbage (it's pickup day so would have done that regardless), and eat leftovers.  Fortunately, these leftovers are excellent even the second time around.  Big Plus for today,  I bought the gift for our next GNO Christmas.  Turned out after reading up on the amendment and it's background, it was easy.  I placed it in a gold colored box on the first shelf inside the door of my closet.  I'm putting it's location in the blog in case, by the time we have our next GNO Christmas, I forget where it's stored.

Haven

Around 6 a.m. the power went off.  We were having a strong rain storm so not sure if lightening hit something or a branch took out a power line.  Earlier in the morning I'd shut all the windows and turned on the air conditioning so the house was pleasant enough.  Neighbor Doug said he had no power but let me know Neighbor Blake did.  Probably meant the outage was contained and would be short.  Friend Kathy and I opted to drive to a restaurant where we could get coffee (and by the way water, breakfast and working bathrooms).  We took our time, however the power still wasn't on when we got back.  Had some time before we planned on picking up Friend Nancy and driving into the Big City.   There were things I could do.  Started up the Roomba and it happily moved around the house sweeping the floor.  I walked out to Sleipnir and got down the trimmer.  I'd charged it's battery earlier in the week so it was ready to go.  I only needed a 'trigger finger.'  Cut down the tall weeds growing in the dog run.  If I'm gone for more than four hours Whip has access to her run and this would make it easier for her to see out and move about in there.  Kathy was sweeping out the workshop when we both heard the subtle but unmistakable 'powering up' tones around us as power was restored.  A sweet sound.

Photo taken by Kathy Novey.