Temperatures soar.
Our strawberry protector
finds shade under leaves.
By the way, he’s doing a great job. We’re going to eat these:
I’ll harvest more and make strawberry frozen yogurt tomorrow.
Hot Day Haiku
Temperatures soar.
Our strawberry protector
finds shade under leaves.
I’ll harvest more and make strawberry frozen yogurt tomorrow.
It is too damn hot
The sun rules a cloudless sky
Low sixties next week
Reminds me of a neighborhood cat who was snoozing under one of our bushes today. He is a frequent guest. The English Sparrows leave when the cat shows up, but return as soon as he leaves. A pair of Cat Birds used to nest in that bush, and they were better than the cat at keeping the sparrows away. One even challenged me.
Cats on the prowl
Bring snail in as present
Slime on Turkish rug
Lucia,
Most likely in your kitty’s mind, those strawberries were only planted to attract a tasty snack. I am sure you are highly regarded by your kitty. 😉
Summer nights are here.
Can you hear that awful noise?
Tom is on the prowl!
Poor berries panic,
for them it is the last straw:
yellow-eyed monster!
SteveF–
We’ve had the berries and that particular cat roughly the same amount of time. The first summer, the rabbits and chipmunks ate the berries. Now, he’s on duty all year long cutting into the populations plus the berries have spread. I’m getting lots of berries.
Max just wondering why you want to keep English sparrows away? They are cute things but very regimented, so, if you disturb the nest they might not nest again and their numbers are declining because they are change-resistant. The word is one of the oldest in English – “sparw” in Chaucer. Just saying the word evokes the whole history of the language to me – the cheeky cockney sparrw…
Lucia, it appears your cat is double shaded under Hostas which I assume are also in the shade.
Showing off garden grown strawberries to people who know how much better they taste than those you buy in stores is a form of torture in my book.
that cat is faking KF. He will move in his own sweet time. As long as no one is looking.
“The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children’s games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called, “Keep to-morrow dark,” and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) “Cheat the Prophet.” The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. They then go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.” -G.K. Chesterton
Re diogenes (Comment #96537)
English Sparrows (AKA House Sparrows) are not native to N. America. They were introduced in the 1800’s to help control the fly population, which was a problem in urban areas because the flies liked horse manure. But the Sparrows preferred a more varied diet. I may be wrong, but I think they liked to eat the undigested grain in the horse manure.
Anyway, English Sparrows are undesireable because they compete with our native birds.
I didn’t know sparrows weren’t native. Learn something every day!
Yes, sparrows can be a worry.
Re lucia (Comment #96559)
“I didn’t know sparrows weren’t native. Learn something every day!”
Lucia, there are several kinds of native American sparrows, but they aren’t closely related to the far more common English Sparrow, and are not as easy to spot.
Max – if you give us back our sparrows, you can take back your grey squirrels!
diogenes, I didn’t know about the American Grey Squirrel problem in England. I think it’s terrible that this introduced species is wiping out the native Red Squirrels and messing up other things.
Did you know cats like the one Lucia has aren’t native to N. America. Lucia should watch this video about Sophie’s Choice — Cats vs Birds:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-july-11-2011/sophie-s-choice—cats-vs–birds
Max – you are cool! I think that domestic cats , coupled with the sparrow’s territorial habits, and lack lof horse manure in big cities have led the species to near-collapse in the UK. Once sparrows go to the US, they put on the shorts and sun visors and cruise the highways. But grey squirrels are a real problem here – they are too big and aggressive for the cats to deal with and they proliferate very fast.
When I was growing up in the UK there was a bounty on grey squirrels, you took the tail into the police station and you got paid! Didn’t work though there was no other predation.
I knew American shorthair domestic kitties weren’t native. Nor are horses. Or pig.
Speaking of funny anachronisms, I saw an add for “medieval dinner”. They were serving BBQ ribs, french fried potatoes and a salad with tomatoes. Sorry…no!! Heh.
diogenenes,
Of our cats, this is the first to drag home a squirrel carcass. He brought home a red squirrel– those are larger than the grey ones we also have in the yard. They grey are more numerous.
This cat also catches what appear to be near adult rabbits. Our previous one only seemed to catch bunnies– but caught more. He was constantly on the hunt. But this one seems to go for “big” game and then rests.