Does anyone out there remember Perri? It was a movie that Walt Disney did, maybe in the early sixties or late fifties that featured real animals, and followed the life of a squirrel: Perri. A wonderful film that I believe has finally been released to DVD.

This little squirrel was checking out the new bird feeder off my deck. I liked the way the background came out (all those trees leafing out!).

Poor Dandelions.
called:
weeds

they are:
eliminated
eradicated
excavated
mowed down
pulled up
poisoned
hated
unloved
unwanted

Now really, if you had never seen one before and your mind was not prejudiced against them, would you think them ugly? Unlovely? Just look at thier sunny yellow-ray faces! I picked this little bouquet and brought them inside.

Why is it that people feel the need to have huge expanses of green grass with nary a spot of yellow? Who started all this “weed” business anyway? Maybe it was the Round-Up people, or some other pesticide company in need of customers. It’s a conspiracy, I tell you. Dandelions have gotten a bum rap. They have medicinal value, plus many people treasure dandelion greens as a culinary feast. I clearly remember when we lived in France, people would go around with baskets collecting the tender, early leaves to eat.

Now, I don’t mind them in my lawn at all, but I do tend to keep them out of my flower beds.  [Ahem ... double standard?]

I found this poem in a Google search, and really liked it. So, here it is:

Ode To The Dandelions
(or Why I Shouldn’t Cut The Grass)
by Nancy Ness

The sun shines high: the rain’s gone by.
It’s Dandelion Day.
From fertile spawn my plush green lawn
Is mottled yellow spray.

The neighbors’ round, all cutting down
Their blades and flowers gay -
Now green they’ve got, a common lot,
While mine’s in vast array.

Why should I mow these lovelies low,
Defying Sunshine’s ray?
To bring them down the sun might frown,
And turn blue sky to gray.

I’ll let their seeds fallow new weeds
And mow another day.
Resplay they should, the neighborhood.
The Dandelions stay.

So, with deep regret, I must admit that our lawns are sadly and badly in need of mowing for the first time this year, which means the dandelions must go. At least for now.

I love birds of all kinds, and we certainly have many different varieties that frequent our yard and woods surrounding the house. One of my all-time favorites is the Goldfinch. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but their little chirpy peeps are soothing to the ears. I didn’t even know we had them around. I didn’t see them last year. Since the bears have not been around I thought it was safe to hang a finch feeder on the back deck and see what happened. Filled to the brim with tempting thistle seed, it didn’t take long to attract an audience.

I heard them before I actually saw them. I looked out and could see them sitting in the trees like bright yellow ornaments.
chew-eee chew-eee 
Soon they decided it was safe to come and get something to eat.

Yesterday morning I looked out and saw a bright blue bird, and on further inspection saw that it was an Indigo Bunting! Gorgeous little blue bird! It was dark and dreary, so I couldn’t get a good pic of him. But, I happen to have a photo that I took of one at our cabin in Colorado, so I’ll share that one instead. Same bird; different location. They are rare in Colorado, but not here. I hope to see him again.

SIGH. Sam, our Maine Coon cat, is always in trouble for something. He is into everything! He is the epitome of a problem child. He gets in these moods—and you can see it in his eyes—where he is just looking for trouble. And, he usually finds it. This time I didn’t see it coming. I had been knitting on my purple lace scarf and laid it down on top of my knitting basket while I went to chat on the computer to a friend about her brand-new litter of puppies.

After about 15 minutes or so, I sat back down to take up my knitting again. It was gone; nowhere in sight. Poof! Disappeared into thin air. It took me a minute to digest this dilemma, and then I took action. My first reaction was to blame the dogs who were all laying around looking innocent. They said they didn’t do it. Okay, maybe they didn’t carry it off, they certainly didn’t look guilty enough. I looked all around for it in the kitchen and sunroom, and finally my search led me into the dining room. Such a sight beheld my eyes! My lovely scarf was on the floor, and the ball of yarn was wrapped around the chair and table legs in a very neat web.

It was then that I knew who the guilty party was. Look closely in the photo below and tell me if you can spot him. Sam strikes again.

What to do? I just stood there for a minute, taking it all in. And then I started to laugh. I just couldn’t help myself. He had done such a good job. It was obvious he went around in the same pattern twice with the ball of yarn in his mouth. Just look at the precision in which this web was woven!

I just couldn’t be mad at him. There was no harm done—no dropped stitches, or rips or tears. I only wish I had seen him in action. I had been right in the next room but I didn’t hear a thing. Usually when he’s tearing around the house he makes his little chirpy-burry noises, but this time he was quiet as a mouse.

Now watch the video where I question the accused.
[Note: If you don’t want the QuickTime videos to play on opening my blog, go into your preference setting in QuickTime and under “movies” make sure you un-check the “play movies automatically” setting. I tried YouTube with this one, but it was taken in such bad light their version was too grainy.]

I hereby find the defendant, Sam, GUILTY as charged. Knitting rescued. Case closed.

Using the night shot feature on my little camera I captured the moon last night as it rose behind the trees. Soon the trees will be too leafed out to get this shot until late autumn.