“The highway of life is filled with flat squirrels that couldn’t make a decision.”
I’m still inside the house with the AC blasting. When I opened the door for Henry, I felt the heat, the interminable heat. When I’ve asked Alexa the weather, she has said a chance of showers the last few days. She said it again this morning. She’s been wrong every time.
I am not a fan of Alexa’s. She is quite limited. When I hear her say, “I don’t know that one,” I have a tendency to curse at her, not because it makes a difference to her but because she frustrates me and cursing makes me feel better; however, I wonder if I’ve been locked inside the house for far too long when even inanimate objects are targets for my wrath, my ire. My Google in the kitchen answers most questions. I like My Google. I hate my Alexa.
When I was a kid, I thought my transistor radio was the height of technology. It was big and was brown leather with holes in the front so I could hear the music. It also had two buttons on the front, one for tuning, another for volume. I took it everywhere. I loved that radio until the Christmas I got my new radio. It was small. It was red plastic. The volume button was on the side, the tuner on the front. It could fit into a pocket. It was a marvel.
I haven’t mentioned the spawns of Satan lately because I haven’t seen them in my yard, but yesterday afternoon foolish me filled the feeders for the first time in a couple of months. Early last night I went out on the deck with Henry and saw a spawn trying to get at a feeder. The talking drums must have been busy sending the message to all spawns far and wide the feeders were again filled. I chased the spawn away or so I thought, but that crafty spawn waited until I was gone. When I went out this morning, the thistle feeder was empty. The spawns had torn a hole in the bottom. Thistle was all over the deck. My new feeder, placed outside for the first time yesterday, was empty. The pieces covering the holes had teeth marks making the holes big enough for the spawns’ paws. I’m going to refill the feeders today, and I’ll shake cayenne pepper on all the seeds. Spawns won’t eat seeds covered in cayenne but birds will. That will have to do until I can figure out how to electrify my deck rail. I don’t want to kill spawns. I just want to jolt them a bit.
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keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
August 9, 2020 at 1:26 pm
I just looked at our weather forecasts and now they say it will be almost as hot from Wednesday as it has been this weekend. Too bad it didn’t happen during my vacation when we had the coldest July in 60 years 🙂 🙂
They say that we have more squirrels here now than in a century, I don’t know about that because I rarely see any. They are much more shy here in the countryside so it is way to far from the forest to m y cottage to make them come here to eat the bird seeds.
Have a great day!
Christer.
August 9, 2020 at 11:37 pm
Christer,
We also are feeling the heat, and it will stay hot for the rest of the week. Rain is predicted for Thursday, maybe a thunderstorm. I really hope so as everything is just so dry.
Because there hadn’t been seeds in the feeders for a while, the spawns were elsewhere. One day of the seeds in the feeders and the spawns are back. Henry chased one into the yard. I hope he scared the heck out of that spawn. I’ll add more seed tomorrow.
Enjoy your day!! I hope work goes well!!
August 9, 2020 at 2:16 pm
Hi Kat,
I won’t have any of the voice activated devices in my house including Siri on my iPhone or iPad because they are not secure. My wife and I are debating if we should setup our Ring doorbell. However, technology advances have been amazing since we were kids in the 1950s.
Like you my first portable radio was about the size of a small lunchbox and ran on D cell batteries because it was filled with vacuum tubes. The first shirt pocket transistor radio was the size of a pack of cigarettes and ran on a nine volt battery. It also came with a small earphone for private listening. We were amazed that we could listen to music anywhere at anytime and both radios were only AM receivers. We knew that FM transmitted a better sound quality but it was only available in large HiFi sets. In the early 1960s the first broadcast FM stereo transmitters and receivers became available and by the 1980s they were small enough to fit in a boom box. I remember the comic book Dick Tracey using a wrist radio telephone. I never thought I’d live to see something like the cell phone, much less the iPhone.
My former neighbor placed a humming bird feeder on our shared back porch which only drew mosquitoes because it was filled with sugar water. I’ve never seen a hummingbird in Texas.
Another hot, humid clear sky day. Heading out to the backyard pool for the afternoon.
August 10, 2020 at 12:05 am
Hi Bob,
I like Google. He mostly answers my questions. Everything I’ve read indicates the iPad is quite secure, even more secure than a laptop. I don’t know about the iPhone. I figure there are really smart people who can hack into everything.
When I was in the eighth grade, my seat was by the window, and under the window was a bookcase. I put candy in the bookcases and sometimes put my radio there too. One day I was listening to the radio and put the earphones in so I could hear the music. Sister Hildegard called on me. I got the candy out of my mouth but didn’t get the earphones fast enough. The nun thought I was deaf!!
I’ve seen humming birds by the deck. They were attracted to the red feeder. It was amazing watching them.
I was busy today.
August 9, 2020 at 4:12 pm
Hi Kat,
I agree about Alexa. When Rocky asked her something she replied that she thought he was asking about Mars and that she didn’t know very much about Mars, herself. But apparently she understood Dog.
We had a breeding pair of red tail hawks here this past few months. The chick whom we have named Baby Hawk has fledged and spent a month or so figuring out how to be a real hawk. The chipmunk population was drastically reduced during all that time. Baby Hawk’s parents were diligent hunters. The squirrel population was somewhat reduced as well but not as much as I would have liked. Baby Hawk has learned to fly really high up and has moved on to other places. The squirrels are bouncing back. Haven’t seen any chipmunks, though.
The heat has returned here as well. The AC is rumbling in the window again.
Enjoy the evening.
August 10, 2020 at 12:23 am
Hi Caryn,
It doesn’t matter how many times I repeat the word, Alexa keeps saying the wrong word. Maybe I should bark!
A chipmunk had dug a hole in my front yard. I filled it up. He didn’t come back or maybe he was just being tricky and waiting until I left. I would have loved to watch the hawks and their babies. I had a robin make a nest on my window sash. I got to watch everything. I always put out a metal holder filled with dust balls and lint so the birds can have nest material.
I just came in from the deck. The heat and humidity are awful.
August 11, 2020 at 11:34 am
I brush out Rocky in the yard and leave his copious amounts of fur out there for the birds. They arrive as soon as we go inside and the fur is all cleaned away within a half hour. One windy day I watched a sparrow run down the middle of the street chasing after a ball of Rocky fur.
August 11, 2020 at 2:36 pm
Hi Caryn,
I yelled at her again today. She couldn’t find a simple word. I told her I hated her. I’ll have to move my Google to the den.
Perhaps I should put out a sign telling the hawks they are welcome here. I’d be fine if a few of the squirrels went missing in action. They have started to drive me crazy.
I just came in from the deck. It was blistering. I have to go to the dump, but I’m not happy about it!