Piffle

Where you been?????

2010-02-28T12:35:00.007-05:00

I think we've been over this before in some previous posts. Yep......I'm lazy. Anyway, since the last post the new year has started out alright enough. I did have shoulder surgery a few weeks ago. They had to surgically release a frozen shoulder. It was the worst the doc has seen. I was in really good hands. My doctor did a fellowship with Dr. James Andrews. You know, the doctor all the pro athletes go to when they have shoulder injuries. All is going well. The rehab is the killer part. I've got six more weeks of those guys beating me up. Thank goodness for pain killers. We have gone out hiking a little bit this year already. We saw our first Barred Owl in the wild at Vandolah Nature Preserve in northern Allen County. Hiked THE Bicentennial Woods as well, but didn't see any new birds there. I have seen a bunch of Bald Eagles around lately. I travel around the area for my job, and this is the first year I've seen Bald Eagles. I've seen them about 3-4 different times. Seems like they are making a comeback. I received a Bird Cam for Christmas this year. Which is kind of a neat toy. I've set it up in the front yard a few times and then Jake and I see what we got. So far I've got a lot of pictures of squirrel butts. Which makes Jake crack up.

Synchronized Eating

Cheese

Butt

Attack of the Squirrel!

I've also got a few pictures of Eastern Bluebirds which have been coming to the yard a lot lately.

They eat the "Bark Butter" I smear on the tree. It also brings in the White Breasted Nuthatches more than the suet cakes and we've seen a Brown Creeper too. The first time we've seen one of those in the yard. It also brings in a few unexpected animals.....

Bird Dog? and Kristel

Jake (under the cover of darkness)

Oh well, they got to eat too. Well, that is all for now. I'm so itchin' for spring. Got a lot of hiking/bird watchin' to do.

Adios,
PDub

Annual Christmas Letter Returns

2009-12-20T08:07:00.000-05:00

Hello again everyone. It is that time of year again. That’s right. College Bowl season. Go Badgers!!!! It is also time once again to update all you all on the events of the past year. Earlier this year, our family got a new addition. No, we didn’t catch a Chinese baby shot from a tee shirt gun at a sporting event.. We got a dog. Shiloh, the Golden Destroyer. How did that happen you might ask? Well, I tell you. I was tricked!!!!! I remember it quite well. (Hand to chin. Do do do…..do do do.) It was a blustery winter day. Early February. Super Bowl Sunday to be exact and some team I don’t care about was playing not the Bears. It was around the 6th hour of the pre game extravaganza. I was deep in a chili cheese dip coma and I hear a faint, cherub voice coming from behind me. “Honey, Sweetie, I’m taking Jake up to Hamilton and getting a dog. I’ll be back in a little bit.” “Yea, yea, sounds good.” I reply, as some commentator is saying something about 3rd down red zone efficiency. When I awoke from my coma, I find a dog licking my face. Then back to licking its……well, you know. Then back to my face. Oh man. If he wasn’t so darn cute, I would have punted him half way down the street. So over the course of a few months and plenty of accidents and mishaps and what not, he fit right in. On the plus side, I do know how to walk on water. Or, at least, urine soaked carpet. Same thing really. Later in the year I got some troubling doctor type news. I’ve been feeling off for a couple of months and couldn’t quite figure out what it was. So, as any good American still lucky enough to have health insurance, I went to the doctor. After a little too thorough examination, he came to the conclusion that I was suffering from Coulrophobia. It is no big deal really. I just have to stay away from circussess’s, certain fast food establishments, In Living Colour reruns, Kristel’s big red shoes, and that one guy at the downtown Greyhound bus station. Speaking of Kristel, she is well on her way at becoming an English Major in the Literary Army. I’ll have to salute her more’er. She just needs one more Spanish class and she’ll be done. Wait a second, one more SPANISH class? That sounds a lil’ funny. Spanish for an English Major? Strange. I’m just glad she passed her Basket Weaving class. (Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas?). Jacob……Ah, Jacob. That little weasel. He has been a huge pain in the…..We interrupt this boring Christmas newsletter for the premiere episode of……Phil Cooks up some Low/No Salt Dishes!!!! Now we join the program already in progress…. “So I says, is that your dog or did someone step on a shoe. Ha, ha, thank you. I know, I know. Now back to the recipe. So you’ve taken the ground beef, deer, whatever out of the freezer. Next, call your wife and ask her how to defrost it. If you don’t have a wife, I’ll go ahead and tell ya what she says. Apparently there is a button on the microwave that says “Defrost”. Do that. Good. Next, y’all take a bucket of unsalted butter and grease a skillet pan good. Now, make sure you turn the exhaust fan on, cause it is goin’ get a lil’ smoky. Then form the clump of beef, deer, whatever into something resembling a hamburger pattie or two. Plop them into a preheated skillet. Let’em cook a bit then flip them over. After they fall apart, just break dem up into bits and pieces. Cook’em good until some of the small pieces turn black. That is how you know they are done. Dish it up on a plate. Squeeze the special “low salt” ketchup and honey mustard on top. Don’t be bashful now. There… now garnish with the B&G unsalted bread and butter chips (now no longer available, humph). Mmmm, mmmm, now that is lookin’ good. Season it up good now. You don’t want to taste the beef, deer, whatever. There…..all done. You’ve just made yourself a Phil’s Hamburger Scramble. Enjoy. Oh, y’all should wait a couple of hours before goin’ anywhere after enjoyin’ your Phil’s Hamburger Scramble. Just in case y’all need that “home field” advantage. You know what I mean.”.…..Back to the Christmas letter…….So as you can see, we’ve had one busy year. I know, I know, should have wrote more on the rehab thing, but we are out of time….Merry Christmas y’all and to y’all a good night.

Philip, Kristel, Jacob, and Shiloh

Kristel’s Note: This year the paragraph was invented, but Phil, in his usual fashion, chose to ignore this development. Also, Jacob started his own publishing house. He is on track to be the McDonald’s of literature: “Billions and Billions written….and strewn about the house.

Another long time between posts......

2009-10-20T21:56:00.003-04:00

I know, I know. Why have a blog if you ain't goin' blog. I've got a lot on my plate. First and foremost, I'm recovering from a shoulder injury. The kid is misbehaving. The planets have not aligned yet. I still have not processed the Red Sox getting bounced out of the playoffs. Okay, okay, so I've been lazy. Here......here is your stinkin' post. Look......pictures.

Jake spots the allusive Kristel Finch

"Smile Jake" (Take 72)

A relate to the Famous Janesville Cow. Found outside a Cheese Shop in Michigan.
Mmmmmm, cheese.

Jake gettin' ready for Army. (AD reference anybody?)

Random Butterfly

Jake spotting the really allusive Phil Finch

Jake.....down for the count.

Random Flower

Kristel floating on the water

Jake learnin' 'bout cow parts.

If'n you don't like my captions, make your own. The most cleverest one gets nothing.

PDUB

Weekend Happenings......

2009-08-16T20:50:00.006-04:00

Hello again folks. Had a terrific three day weekend. I took Friday off to spend the day up at my boss's'sss's lake place with my family.

.......FOOTAGE NOT AVAILABLE......

And I wasn't allowed to take the camera. It was a fun, fun time. Shiloh, our golden retriever, went as well and had a blast swimming in the water. My shoulders got a lil' burned and they hurt, but I was told I was just being a big baby and to suck it up.

Saturday evening we went to Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area on a whim towards the evening. Went to Area D marsh and saw a boat load of Green Herons. There had to be 25 or better of them. Also saw 3 Sandhill Cranes, which we had never seen before. Footage was found on those guys.......

Today (Sunday) we went to Eagle Marsh in Fort Wayne in hopes of seeing the recently reported Blue Grosbeak, but to no avail. We got out there around noon and it was hot. How hot was it???? Well, hot. Didn't spend a bunch of time out there. Towards the evening Jake and I went back out to Eagle Marsh. We saw 21 Great Egrets, about 150 Red Winged Blackbirds, some Bobolinks, Pied Billed Grebes, Lesser Yellowlegs. Jake wants to call it Hop Bunting Marsh, because every time we took a step either grasshoppers or frogs jumped out of the way and it seems like every other bird we saw was an Indigo Bunting. We also met some birders out there looking at either a Semipalmated Sandpiper or a Western Sandpiper. I'm leaning more towards a Semipalmated Sandpiper, they were leaning more towards the Western. Neither of us were too awful sure. Them buggers are hard to tell apart and it was too far out to get a good picture of it. Couple of pictures Jake wanted me to take.......

Some sort of butterfly, I guess.

Monarch Caterpiller

When we got home, we found this guy on the cone flowers in front of the house.

Eastern Tigerswallow Butterfly

All in all a very good, but tiring weekend.

PDUB

Post Script: That wife of mine made a great Low Sodium Salsa and Low Sodium Black Bean Dip. Food with actual taste. I can eat good, flavorful food again. Yippee!

Hey, Where Did Ya Go?!?!?!?!

2009-08-08T13:03:00.008-04:00

Hello again everybody. It has been awhile since my last post. I've been coming to terms with my newly diagnosed Meniere's disease. I've been doing a little bit of research on it and the subsequent low salt diet. In a word or two......it sucks. But, of course, it could always be worse than this. So for that, I am thankful. Anyway, still had some chances to go hiking at Eagle Marsh and here are the picture highlights......

A flower of some sort.

SKUNK!!!!!

Pretty sure this is a female or juv. Bobolink

Large Milkweed Bug

Lesser Yellowlegs

Coot Family

Blue Winged Teals

Green Heron and Killdeer

Hooded Merganser

Swallows (Barn, Bank, Bank, Tree)

So there you go. Looking forward to the shorebird migration coming up soon. Hopefully Eagle Marsh attracts plenty of them. Till next time, PDUB out.

Post Script: Anybody know any good low/no salt foods or recipes

Eagle Marsh Weekend

2009-06-28T16:25:00.007-04:00

EAGLE MARSH

Hey there.......hows it goin'?

Wanted to get back to Eagle Marsh after the Open House last weekend. So what better time than this weekend.

Saturday Morning

I got up at 6:15 (check local listings) and nudged the wife to see if she wanted to go. A groggy "no" was her response. So......off I went. After a quick stop at DD (America runs on that stuff) I arrived at just about 7am. Decided to do the big loop first. Nothing of note until I got to the back corner of the property, then the birds where everywhere. Indigo buntings, Song Sparrows, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, all types of Swallows, and many more I probably missed. A bird explosion I tell ya.

It was very wet from all of the dew. My shoes and socks were soaked. Next I went straight up the middle of the property. Cutting in between the two big wetland areas. Here is where I saw Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Mallards, a TON of Red Winged Blackbirds and Killdeer, yet more Swallows.

Next, I walked the path towards the Engle Road entrance. Here I saw an Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Pewee, a bunch of Bluebirds. Got to the main entrance and walked up towards the barn. Saw a couple of Dickcissels. Heard a bunch more.

At the barn there had to be a hundred or so Bank Swallows. (I think they are Bank Swallows anyway). All on the electrical wires.

Tree Swallow sitting up on his house y'all.

On the long walk back to the car I took a trail that turned out not to be a trail. Ran into a Belted Kingfisher.

After a few hundred mosquito and horsefly bites, I finally made it back to the car after 4 hours of stompin' around. It was a very good morning of wilderness walkin'.

Sunday Afternoon

Talked the wife into going with me back to Eagle Marsh. We got there a little before noon. Parked at the main entrance this time. Walked the path up to the barn. More Dickcissels and Swallows. And this guy.......

A Spotted Sandpiper.
Never seen one of these afore (a Jake word). We also spooked what was probably a Green Heron, but we never got a good look as it flew away from us and we never saw it again. A Great Blue Heron was nice enough to pose for some pictures.

Went back to the car and drove to the opposite side of the marsh by the Boy Scout building. Walked the path between the hotels and marsh. Saw a couple of Dickcissels (boy.....they're really fond of this place) as well as Bluebirds, Turkey Vultures, Song Sparrows, Indigo Buntings. Oh, and the several thousand Red Winged Blackbirds and Killdeer.

Next, we made it through the middle of the marsh and walked the back side. Here we spotted another Sandpiper. Wasn't sure exactly what it was until we got home, but it turned out to be a Juvenile Spotted Sandpiper. That or the uber rare Common Sandpiper made it all the way down from the Alaska/Russia area.

This lil' fella was unaware of our presence for a few minutes. It was so close I could've kicked it. Well, maybe a step and then kick.

Next we Saw these two. Another Yellow Warbler and a Cedar Waxwing.

The walk along I69 didn't produce much except my wife's allergies kicked in with all the hay they got down. Finally made it back to the car after a total of a 3 hour tour. What to do after such a wonderful afternoon? Zesto! You betcha'

Later for you

PDUB

Post Script: Photos for you

www.flickr.com/photos/chinesevacation

Eagle Marsh and Summer Tanager (Part Deux)

2009-06-20T22:29:00.008-04:00

Had a wonderful, fun filled day today. First, Jake and I went to the open house at Eagle Marsh. Ate lunch first (of course) and then went on a guided nature walk.

At the end of the nature walk, got a somewhat nice picture of a killdeer.

Went to the barn and saw these three fellows next.....

Barred Owl

Red Shouldered Hawk

Jake's favorite was the Screech Owl because he "is sooooooooo cuuuuuuuuuute".

Eastern Screech Owl

Next we took another nature walk. You know, for kids. They netted a baby turtle, bugs, frogs, etc. from one of the ponds. Jake had a lot more fun on this one. He loved the teeny tiny minnows in one of the buckets.

It is a pretty cool place. I can't wait to get back out there when there are less peeps around to do a little birding. They have an impressive bird list already. Check it out online at www.lrwp.org/files/Eagle_Marsh_Bird_List.pdf (FIXED)

and donate some coin while you're at it.

And to top the day off. Kristel, Jake, and I went to Cook's Landing in Allen County to see if we could show the boy his first Summer Tanager. After waiting ten minutes or so........

There he was. Still battling his evil twin brother and still not getting a good shot in.

All in all, a very satisfying day.

Later for you,

PDUB

Summer Tanager

2009-06-01T19:06:00.004-04:00

We went to Cook's Landing off of Coldwater Road in Allen County because of some reports

of a Summer Tanager. We have not seen one of these bad boys yet so we decided to check it out this past Saturday. We got there and waited for a few minutes and...................nothing.

We got out of the car and looked around a bit. Not that big of a place. Got back in the car and suddenly......

He was protecting his territory from his evil twin brother in the side view mirror. Never could quite get in a good shot. It stuck around and bonked into the mirror for awhile until Kristel started feeling bad for it and we left about 15 to 20 minutes later.

Took Jacob back there on Sunday evening.

But no such luck that time.

He really wants to see one, so we'll probably head back out sometime soon.

PDUB

WHITE WINGED DOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-05-14T22:19:00.003-04:00

Hey everybody, would you look at what Jake saw in the yard before school today. He told Kristel that he saw a new dove. Kristel asked what it looked like. He said "It had white patches, no spots,.......a head, two eyes and a beak".

He was right.

We all saw it in the evening and got a chance to take some pictures. These guys are usually found in the southern states. I guess they are known to be way out of range in the spring time. Whatbird.com says: "Although the White-winged Dove is most commonly found in Arizona and the southwest, its range is expanding nation-wide and into parts of Canada. " Of course that is what I just said.

P Dub

THAT'S THE BIGGEST BIRD I'VE EVER SEEN....Seen....seen......seen!!!!

2009-03-22T20:25:00.003-04:00

Would ya look at that bird.......WOW!

Hello peeps, We, and by we I mean Kristel, Shiloh, and I, went to a southwestern Allen county road to see some birds that were reported on the ol' IN List Serv. We couldn't stay too long cause Shiloh was gettin' restless, but we saw...

Tundra Swans.

This is about the only two picture that turned out at that site. We also saw a bunch of Ring billed gulls, Northern Shovelers, and a huge flock of Starlings to name a few. None of which are the BIGGEST BIRD I'VE EVER SEEN....Seen...seen....seen....

Next up.... Fox Island.

Nice day for some hikin'. Pretty quiet, bird wise. Until the BIGGEST BIRD I'VE EVER SEEN....Seen...seen...seen.... showed up. But before that we saw a very cooperative White-throated Sparrow and managed to get a couple good pictures. See.....

Anyway.....Some nice hiking and gettin' out of doors to enjoy this great big beautiful world. When all of a sudden I hear something off in the distance. What is that? It looks HUGE. Oh, wait...... Thirsty dog.

Okay, I'm back. Where was I....... Oh yea.....I hear something coming up behind us. Then out of seemingly nowhere it showed up. The BIGGEST BIRD I'VE EVER SEEN....Seen....seen...seen. And I was lucky enough to get a picture of it. I have no idea what kind of bird it could be so if anybody can help me identify it, I would greatly appreciate it. Well, here it is........

I can make out a bunch of field marks, but can't find it anywhere in the field guides. Thanks for your help in advance. Until next time, Choo choo ca chew.

P Dubbin'

Late Night Birdwatching with Conan

2009-03-02T22:57:00.002-05:00

LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN

Birdwatching in Central Park

Stumbled upon this in another blog and thought I would share it here. Enjoy.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/58213/late-night-with-conan-obrien-birdwatching

Good Day.

P Dub

Super Snowy Sunday

2009-02-07T12:38:00.007-05:00

Pokagon State Park

February 1st

Hello again peoples. The family had a wonderful time at Pokagon State Park in Northern Indiana this past Sunday the 1st. We stopped by the Nature Center first before heading over to the Toboggan Run. It wasn't too busy. We got in two runs in about 45 minutes. They rent the sleds by the hour, plus I got the heaviest sled they got, so we were already tuckered out. It was a chore lugging that thing up the slope.

After the Toboggan run and a quick snack at the warming center, we went back to the Nature Center to check out some of the birds at their feeders. Red Headed Woodpeckers, White Breasted Nuthatches, and Pine Siskins. Oh my! Then off to the trials. The two knuckle-heads went nuts. Mooning, snowball throwing, and all around goofin'. Turned a relaxing walk into a whole lot of fun.

Then after the drive back home and some resting up to watch the big game. I get suckered into this.......

He is soooooo cute........and full of urine. Wow, that dog goes twice an hour, I swear. It's been a week so far and it took a little while for him to warm up to us, but he is running around and having a good time already. Wow, what an exhausting, fun day.

That is all,

Pub

Ice Storm, Gingerbread Rorschach, ETC.

2008-12-28T14:21:00.006-05:00

Hello again everybody. Things have been hoppin' around here. Leading off we have the ICE....ice.....ice.....STORM...storm.....storm....

It hit on Friday the 19th and made for a wonderful day of work. I went on 5 service calls and 3 of which did not have power. Tough to work on a TV with no power. A lot of folks without power. The power company said about 80 to 90 thousand or so just in Allen County. We had a bunch of birds at the feeders the day after. Even an EASTERN BLUEBIRD.

Which is really, really odd. We never get bluebirds around here. Even when the weather is A-OK. It must have been hungry and probably cold. In fact, it was sooooooo cold (How cold was it?) My berries froze. Thank you, thank you very much. Try the veal.

In other news, Kristel and Jake made a gingerbread house. Jake basically did all of it with Kristel's help. He told her where to put the icing and he put the candy on it. But.......Hmmmm......Something looks a little odd. Don't you think?

What do you think? Leave your comments in the, well......comment section.

What else, what else? Update on the hitler kitty. We haven't seen it around for quite sometime. The last we saw it, it was limping away from the feeders. Probably not good news. Also in not good news, the snowy owl was hit by a snowy car and is no more. That is a lesson for you kids out there. Look both ways before chasing after voles across the street. In better news, we all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a great New Year. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kristel on the 31st!!!!!!!! AND Happy wonderful first year of marriage on the 5th of January to Kristel as well. Thank you for putting up with all my crappy crap.

That is all,

P Dub

Oiy with the snowy owl already....

2008-12-14T22:11:00.005-05:00

Went out to see the SNOWY OWL again. It was a very windy, overcast day. Kristel and I found it in the field it was in the last time we saw it. A little closer to the road, but hunkered down pretty good. Still tough to get a picture. Still had to zoom all the way in (18x). Here is one of the better ones.

Also, we saw an AMERICAN KESTREL on the way back. Kristel had never seen one of these afore. Here is some blurry photographic evidence....

So all in all, it was a pretty good day. We'll try again to get a closer picture of the owl sometime soon. Also, earlier in the week, we heard a couple of GREAT HORNED OWLS calling back and forth to each other in our neighborhood. I've never seen one of those afore. Maybe I should go all Survivorman in the neighborhood and try to see it. Of course the neighbors would call the police.....again.

That is all....
P dub

SNOWY OWL!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-07T15:19:00.005-05:00

Saw a SNOWY OWL today (12/07/2008) in southeastern Allen County Indiana. We had never seen one of these before. Not the one in the picture above. That is from Cornell's website. The one we saw was at a pretty good distance in the field. Thanks to Pam and Rick for showing us where it was perched and the IN List Serv for the reports. In the picture below, it was perched on the pole with the brush around it above Jake's head. Toward the top and middle of the picture.

It is kind of rare to see them this far south. We tried to get some pictures, but it was just too far out in the field. We stopped on the roads all around the field and zoomed in all the way (18x) with the camera. Here are a couple that you can tell what was there.

It was a pretty cool thing to see, even if it was
way out there. Looking at the reports, it likes to roost about 50 to 100 yards off the road. We might go back and see if we can get a better look at it and maybe some closer pictures.

Stay tuned....
P-DUB

Super Sneak Preview of the Christmas Letter!!!!!!

2008-11-22T10:03:00.003-05:00

The letter that gets sent to family and friends in the Christmas cards. Slightly censored to preserve privacy. Enjoy......

Xmas/End of the year letter. Part VII

Hello again everybody. It is that time of year again to get you all updated on this crazy, crazy life in Dubsville. Jacob’s (The role of Jacob is now being played by Gary Coleman) big change this year is going to kindergarten. He has had an up and down time so far. Some weeks he does a really, really good job. Other weeks he snatches the basketball out of the gym teacher’s hand and chucks it over the fence into the parking lot. “What'chu talkin' 'bout, teacher?” I blame the influence of my father, Captain Admiral Dick York. All in all, he is doing very well. His asthma and allergy issues seem to be under control. We will find out this winter, when it is usually at its worst. This past Halloween he went as a dog petting, black tipped reef shark. It seemed like every house he asked if they had a dog he could pet. At one house, he even forgot all about the candy and started to leave without the goodies. Kristel (The role of Kristel is now being played by Dame Judi Dench) is finishing up at IPFW and moving towards getting her degree in Engwish this May. Soon to be a writer of a best selling book about Arfalopes that gets optioned for a major motion picture that stars Jim Carrey, Alan Alda, and Gary Coleman. Oh, and co-starring some young “it” girl I’m sure. We’ll be sure to wave and acknowledge all the little people from our mansion on the hill. And, of course, the normal sized people too. As many of you may or may not know, Judi and I (The role of me is now being played by Ted McGinley) got hitched this past January. It has been an absolute wonderful, wonderful time. Wonderful. Really. Although the tabloids would have you believe differently, there is no bun in the oven. Let me repeat that Joe Biden style. “There. Is. No. Bun. In. The. Oven. (yet.) Period.” Just some nice cinnamon rolls. You know, cinnamon rolls are very underrated. All gooey and melty and stuff. (The role of the Cinnamon Rolls is now being played by Ricky Schroder). My work is still the same. The glamorous life of fixin’ TVs. People are still crazy and I actually fixed one this year. Yay for me! I’ll try for two next year. I have the absolute bestest boss in the world. He is gracious and has the kindest heart of anyone I’ve ever seen and also gets this newsletter. Hey John! Wha? Something on my nose? Gary loves going to John’s lake place and smashing his face tubing behind the boat. How else is he going to lose his teeth? He also enjoyed swimming with the minnows (actually swimming with the minnows, not some swimming with the fishes reference) and insisted that he filmed them even though he had no camera. That Gary always has delusions of grandeur. Wonder where he gets that from?

Peace and Holly,
Ted, Judi, and Gary.
(pkdubs.blogspot.com)

Statler: “That wasn’t half bad.”
Walter: “Yep, That was all bad”
Statler: “They really jumped the shark this year.”
Walter: “I blame Ted”
Both: “Ha ha ha ha”

Here kitty, kitty, kitty......

2008-10-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hello you old broomsticks. Interesting happenings around the Dubs homestead. While scientifically observing the birds (saw a ruby crowned kinglet. Yea), we spotted a small, mostly white, somewhat hitlerish moustached, bird-cat.

Seemed a little straggly and really skittish. And, I guess, really cute according to Kristel. Really cute. Really. Cute. I'm not that fond of cats around the house due to their annoying little habit of killing the birds. House sparrows are fine, but the cats don't seem to care which ones they get. I didn't run this lil' feline off because someone would have kicked my butt. Ahem. Kristel. So, we watched it for a little bit to see what it would do. It did something I have never seen before. It went to the ground bird feeder and started to eat the birdseed. Wha?

Squirrels, raccoons, possums, and now cats!?!?! What other creatures do I have to watch devour the birdseed instead of the birds? A five year old kid???? Not yet anyway. Maybe a six year old kid. Who knows? Kind of wanted to kick a lil' kitten butt all over the yard, until this happened.....

YES!!!! That cat is cool. He or she, we aren't that close yet, can go mousing around here any day of the week. He/she got two of those lil' suckers in under 5 minutes and the bonus of all bonuses-ss is he/she went after one of those pesky squirrels too. Almost got it. Sweet. This mouse killin', squirrel chasin' kitty cat can pull up a lawn chair and chill out on the front porch all day long if it wants to. Now if it could just stay away from the seed, man. Kristel is feeding it cat food, so that might work. Although the cat food was out there the other night and it still ate some birdseed. Oh well, can't have everything. Look at that lil' sweetie!!!!!

That is all,

PDub

Vark!

2008-10-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

This afternoon Jacob dictated a story to me about 2 (or 3?) snakes. My mom (Peachie Pooh) came over to visit shortly after this dictation, and here is a summary of the conversation that ensued:

"Hey Jacob what's the coral snake's name?"

Jacob: (in a high pitched voice, holding a stuffed snake) "My name is Tommy"

(grabs stuffed gopher snake) "My name is Vark!"

Peachie: "Why Vark?"

Jacob: "Because he's brown, like a Vark!"

Me: (laughing) "What's a Vark Jake?"

Jake: (not laughing, asks me seriously) "What is it?"
What he's really saying is: "Duh, You're the adult. You should know these things."

A minute later Jacob is on the floor giggling playing with a stuffed squirrel and proclaims to Peachie Pooh: "Fire in the hole!" and toots (fluffs, passes gas, whatever) a resounding toot that could make a grown man jealous. This sort of behavior is frowned upon in our home (I had brothers who continually farted upon each other's heads, and I would like to keep such instances in the past). I tried not to laugh, but the fact that I had no idea where he learned "fire in the hole" with reference to flatulence, cracked me up all the more. The fact that I laughed means there are many more instances of "fire in the hole to come." AHHH! I'm doomed to relive my youth!

Another minute passes and Peachie Pooh asks Jake, "What's the squirrel's name?"
To which Jake responds emphatically, "His name is Nut-Eating Running Brown Thing."
Peachie Pooh: "Must be an Indian Name."

Ouch...
You hate to see that happen to Nut-Eating Running Brown Thing

Kristel Dub

Pokagon

2008-10-20T21:01:00.000-04:00

One of our favorite places to hike. Didn't see a whole lot of birds, but enough. Found a flock of Cedar Waxwings. Didn't get any great pictures, but here is one anyway.

Spent about three hours here on the 12th. Quite a busy weekend on the trails. We usually don't see a bunch of people, but that day we saw more than usual. Probably due to the changing colors of the trees or maybe the annual pie eating contest. Who knows? I like pie. Pumpkin, Pecan, Dutch Apple. Mmmmmmm.......pie. I need pie.

That is all,

Phil Dub