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Mentor

What's outside of your picture window today?

Posted by John, Volunteer Mentor @johnbishop, Nov 25, 2020

As we get ready for the real winter to show up and COVID-19 still playing a major part in our lives I like to spend moments of my day de-stressing about what's going on in the world today. All I have to do is look out the window and observe some of natures beautiful creatures, how they interact and ponder how small it makes my troubles seem. Sometimes I may even get the opportunity to take a photo or two. How about you? Anything going on outside of your window(s) that you want to share?

For those members that have the ability to size your photos before you upload them to the discussion, may I suggest using the following sizes:
– 500 x 335 pixels (landscape)
– 210 x 210 pixels (square)

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @joyces "FWIW, there are some flowers that deer will not eat: daffodils, dahlias, daisies, some lilies, lavender,..." + (show)
@joyces

FWIW, there are some flowers that deer will not eat: daffodils, dahlias, daisies, some lilies, lavender, pinks, marigolds. I have a huge flower garden, full of flowers that deer don't bother. Oh, yes, butterfly bush, too. Veggies, though, are another matter. When Dad was alive and lived here, he had a huge veggie garden, surrounded by a 6' fence. One of the does was smart and figured out that she could get uphill from the garden and, with a running start, clear the fence. Once she was in the garden, she panicked, couldn't get out, although Dad came and opened the gate. Before she finally found the courage to use the opening, she had pretty well sliced everything up with her hooves. Also, they will often "trim" things f

Here on the coast, fuchsias grow wild. However, the deer always prefer the tenderer ones grown in hanging baskets!

Jump to this post

Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to them, but... Butterfly bush from the coast doesn't grow here, and the native variety never gets to bloom as they eat the tender shoots in the spring. This year they have eaten marigolds, dahlias, hardy hibiscus and rose blossoms, even tall and creeping sedum (first time in 40 years) and basil from a pot on the patio. They even nibbled the hydrangeas.

We are in a drought, so everything in the nearby creekside path is dry and unappetizing compared to our yards.
Sue

REPLY
3 replies
Mentor
Ginger, Volunteer Mentor | @gingerw | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @sueinmn "Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to them, but... Butterfly bush from the coast doesn't grow here, and the native variety never gets to bloom as they eat the tender shoots in the spring. This year they have eaten marigolds, dahlias, hardy hibiscus and rose blossoms, even tall and creeping sedum (first time in 40 years) and basil from a pot on the patio. They even nibbled the hydrangeas.

We are in a drought, so everything in the nearby creekside path is dry and unappetizing compared to our yards.
Sue

Jump to this post

This year the deer loved my cherry trees, and the cherry plums. They did leave the rose bushes alone since there is lavender planted between them. Wild blackberries were fair game, for both the deer and bear. But the roses only flushed once, due to the drought.
Ginger

REPLY
1 reply
Mentor
Chris, Volunteer Mentor | @auntieoakley | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @sueinmn "Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to them, but... Butterfly bush from the coast doesn't grow here, and the native variety never gets to bloom as they eat the tender shoots in the spring. This year they have eaten marigolds, dahlias, hardy hibiscus and rose blossoms, even tall and creeping sedum (first time in 40 years) and basil from a pot on the patio. They even nibbled the hydrangeas.

We are in a drought, so everything in the nearby creekside path is dry and unappetizing compared to our yards.
Sue

Jump to this post

We are in a serious drought as well, they really have been hungry critters in our yard, but I cannot begrudge them food or water. They bed down at night under my giant fig tree.

REPLY
ess77 - Elizabeth | @ess77 | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @sueinmn "Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Please tell my deer! Everything except my hosta & daylilies are supposed to be unappetizing to them, but... Butterfly bush from the coast doesn't grow here, and the native variety never gets to bloom as they eat the tender shoots in the spring. This year they have eaten marigolds, dahlias, hardy hibiscus and rose blossoms, even tall and creeping sedum (first time in 40 years) and basil from a pot on the patio. They even nibbled the hydrangeas.

We are in a drought, so everything in the nearby creekside path is dry and unappetizing compared to our yards.
Sue

Jump to this post

@sueinmn and @joyces et al

My word, Sue, you have a hungry bunch. Your drought sounds bad. Didn't realize you are having that kind of issue. We experience drought, but then we get good rains. We do seem, in Northern Florida at least, to have periods of about 10 years weather changes, either wet or dry seasons. Seems to be cyclical and fairly easily predicted. We go from flooding in our last of 3 streets, to about 3 -4 feet deep in center of street, into cars, the front doors, seeping into the walls and foundation in some years, and my patio flooding into my den with rain water flowing under my gate and fence onto the patio and getting well above ankle deep at times. We haven't had this kind of rainy season for years....I think maybe 10-12 years. But, this year has been quite wet. Haven't used my sprinklers for lawn much as usual.

Thus, the wet summer has produced my newly found mosquito allergic response. I had a tough challenge this year with at times 10-20 bites after outdoor visit to get feeders to clean. Never bothered me before this summer. But, I used 800mg CBD cream, Cortizone 10 cream, Benadryl cream, Benadryl capsules... One night, I took the last prednisone tablet as I was so desperate for relief. After using all that stuff, I finally dropped on the bed....my new mattress and new 4'' topper that make it sooooo comfy for me now....unconcious. Had to knock myself out to get relief!

It appears while you're roasting and dry, we're wet and soppy. We have a creek at the back of the condo property, running across the back of our property, eventually to the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. Jacksonville has the St. Johns River flowing northward from the center of the state to the ocean. It's a beautiful water source, quite wide and impressive. We have a nice port and 3 naval air stations. We have the Intracoastal Waterway that that runs along the Atlantic coastline through our area North up the east coast and south on down the state. Tropical of course with flooding and hurricanes and tropical storms.

Our property was built in the 70's on reclaimed land, filled swamp land. Beautiful old live oaks and pines and all kinds of trees lived on this property before we were built. Today, couldn't get permits to build at all 'cause of the altitude, we're just above sea level. I live in a swamp. Makes for a big adjustment when flying to CO or the Rockies. sea level....humid and makes for great complexions! bad hair days, tho.

Spent time cleaning and filling all my feeders this last week. Today, have new family members coming to my pit stops. New cardinals, chicadees...so tiny!, waxwing, house finch, woodpeckers, and darn if I don't have a couple of smaller squirrels, the little cute rats! They today opened the large...huge cage feeders for woodpecker seed cakes and suet. They opened it when I put a new, big and expensive cake in there! I just looked out and it's almost gone from the ground. I'm going to put a couple of ties on it next time.

Hope all are well and safe. Enjoy your beautiful, lovely animals, woodchucks, deer and elk and bears and owls and eagles and ducks and all the precious gifts we see from our windows. It is a gift to get your pictures, too.
Blessings to all. elizabeth

REPLY
1 reply
joyces | @joyces | Aug 27, 2021

Although western Oregon is known as being rainy, we're really suffering from drought, even here on the normally moldy, damp coast! Last September, we had a forest fire seven miles north of us that took nearly 300 homes, mostly of low-income tourism workers, a real tragedy. We've been on fire alert since early April. We've already packed the most expensive of our mass of collectible fly fishing tackle, and I have an outsized box ready to hold the most valuable original art, fly plates, for when we're evacuated this year. Last year, I learned that while you're throwing things into the car to evacuate, you really need to look at what you're wearing: we have a well, so no water without electricity (which had been out for three days), so I'd been dipping water out of our creek to force flush the toilet, wearing my absolute worst yard clothes. I did grab a basket that had come out of the dryer just before the 'lectricity went out, but it didn't have anything useful for when we were staying in my son-in-law's late gramma's house in a very upscale neighborhood. This year, we are better prepared! I've owned this place for 60 years and have only worried about too much moisture in the past...hard to believe that everything's so terribly dry.

REPLY
1 reply
Mentor
Sue, Volunteer Mentor | @sueinmn | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @ess77 "@sueinmn and @joyces et al My word, Sue, you have a hungry bunch. Your drought sounds..." + (show)
@ess77

@sueinmn and @joyces et al

My word, Sue, you have a hungry bunch. Your drought sounds bad. Didn't realize you are having that kind of issue. We experience drought, but then we get good rains. We do seem, in Northern Florida at least, to have periods of about 10 years weather changes, either wet or dry seasons. Seems to be cyclical and fairly easily predicted. We go from flooding in our last of 3 streets, to about 3 -4 feet deep in center of street, into cars, the front doors, seeping into the walls and foundation in some years, and my patio flooding into my den with rain water flowing under my gate and fence onto the patio and getting well above ankle deep at times. We haven't had this kind of rainy season for years....I think maybe 10-12 years. But, this year has been quite wet. Haven't used my sprinklers for lawn much as usual.

Thus, the wet summer has produced my newly found mosquito allergic response. I had a tough challenge this year with at times 10-20 bites after outdoor visit to get feeders to clean. Never bothered me before this summer. But, I used 800mg CBD cream, Cortizone 10 cream, Benadryl cream, Benadryl capsules... One night, I took the last prednisone tablet as I was so desperate for relief. After using all that stuff, I finally dropped on the bed....my new mattress and new 4'' topper that make it sooooo comfy for me now....unconcious. Had to knock myself out to get relief!

It appears while you're roasting and dry, we're wet and soppy. We have a creek at the back of the condo property, running across the back of our property, eventually to the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. Jacksonville has the St. Johns River flowing northward from the center of the state to the ocean. It's a beautiful water source, quite wide and impressive. We have a nice port and 3 naval air stations. We have the Intracoastal Waterway that that runs along the Atlantic coastline through our area North up the east coast and south on down the state. Tropical of course with flooding and hurricanes and tropical storms.

Our property was built in the 70's on reclaimed land, filled swamp land. Beautiful old live oaks and pines and all kinds of trees lived on this property before we were built. Today, couldn't get permits to build at all 'cause of the altitude, we're just above sea level. I live in a swamp. Makes for a big adjustment when flying to CO or the Rockies. sea level....humid and makes for great complexions! bad hair days, tho.

Spent time cleaning and filling all my feeders this last week. Today, have new family members coming to my pit stops. New cardinals, chicadees...so tiny!, waxwing, house finch, woodpeckers, and darn if I don't have a couple of smaller squirrels, the little cute rats! They today opened the large...huge cage feeders for woodpecker seed cakes and suet. They opened it when I put a new, big and expensive cake in there! I just looked out and it's almost gone from the ground. I'm going to put a couple of ties on it next time.

Hope all are well and safe. Enjoy your beautiful, lovely animals, woodchucks, deer and elk and bears and owls and eagles and ducks and all the precious gifts we see from our windows. It is a gift to get your pictures, too.
Blessings to all. elizabeth

Jump to this post

Oh, Elizabeth, I laughed about the squirrels. Last winter we had to use bread bag ties to keep the suet feeders closed, and heavier wire to fasten the feeder to the pole.
Sue

REPLY
1 reply
ess77 - Elizabeth | @ess77 | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @sueinmn "Oh, Elizabeth, I laughed about the squirrels. Last winter we had to use bread bag ties..." + (show)
@sueinmn

Oh, Elizabeth, I laughed about the squirrels. Last winter we had to use bread bag ties to keep the suet feeders closed, and heavier wire to fasten the feeder to the pole.
Sue

Jump to this post

@sueinmn well, that does make me feel a bit better....not much, but at least to know you with so much outdoor knowledge and experience has trouble with these little fellows, kind'a makes me feel better. Will add, I'm getting a tad smarter than they are. I climbed on a 2-stepper ladder and hung several feeders further away from the limbs and trunk and higher so the squirrels can't jump or reach/stretch to them. HA! At least for now. there are a couple they can't get to. Give them time and I'll need to figure out something else.

I had no business getting on that ladder, but I was determined and a tad angry at finding one of my favorite feeders with the special anti-squirrel removal top hanging on the side of the feeder. I fixed it, cleaned it and filled it and had no intention of getting beaten.

So, those guys opened the darn seed cage! NO! I have tough, plastic ties to hold my computer wires I'm using now. I also will next add some heavy wire if they open this time.....

Did you finish your daughter's window/woodwork sanding? You are amazing. At times I'm in wonder at your energy and strength. Other times I'm filled with a tiny bit of jealousy! Hope you're doing wonderful things now and enjoying the family and friends. Pooh! I'm confined to the house except for Mayo appts! and most of them are now video! Let's get this immune system fixed, right?

Chat later. to bed now. bless you all. elizabeth

REPLY
1 reply
ess77 - Elizabeth | @ess77 | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @ess77 "@sueinmn well, that does make me feel a bit better....not much, but at least to know..." + (show)
@ess77

@sueinmn well, that does make me feel a bit better....not much, but at least to know you with so much outdoor knowledge and experience has trouble with these little fellows, kind'a makes me feel better. Will add, I'm getting a tad smarter than they are. I climbed on a 2-stepper ladder and hung several feeders further away from the limbs and trunk and higher so the squirrels can't jump or reach/stretch to them. HA! At least for now. there are a couple they can't get to. Give them time and I'll need to figure out something else.

I had no business getting on that ladder, but I was determined and a tad angry at finding one of my favorite feeders with the special anti-squirrel removal top hanging on the side of the feeder. I fixed it, cleaned it and filled it and had no intention of getting beaten.

So, those guys opened the darn seed cage! NO! I have tough, plastic ties to hold my computer wires I'm using now. I also will next add some heavy wire if they open this time.....

Did you finish your daughter's window/woodwork sanding? You are amazing. At times I'm in wonder at your energy and strength. Other times I'm filled with a tiny bit of jealousy! Hope you're doing wonderful things now and enjoying the family and friends. Pooh! I'm confined to the house except for Mayo appts! and most of them are now video! Let's get this immune system fixed, right?

Chat later. to bed now. bless you all. elizabeth

Jump to this post

@sueinmn, @johnbishop, @loribmt, @becsbuddy, and all...

I've been resting all day upstairs in my recliner, on the phone making appts, hiring housekeeper, etc.
You will never guess what I'm now doing. ITCHING! In the last couple hours, I've gotten bitten several times by skeeters! Arm. elbow, back of knee, ankle, thigh......just killed one! I can't slap them 'cause of the arthritis in my fingers/hands/wrists etc. Bought a solar zapper for pario, it helps but not enough. Just got one for inside. I have it hanging in the den/kitchen area off the patio. Good. It catches and dehydrate them!!!! Tiny bit of guilt at killing, but not much at all!

NOw, have another one I ordered should be here tomorrow, plug in to use outside a little and inside upstairs a lot. Also, did you know they make huge fly/skeeter swat zappers? They do! I got 2 yesterday and will have one upstairs, one downstairs as soon as I figure out how to make them work! Now, this is a whole lot of energy expended on killing little biting bugs. Guess what Sue could do with my project????

Just killed one on the laptop screen! i'm getting better...
Love you all. Gotta' go and get some benadryl. CBD cream and to be. elizabeth

REPLY
2 replies
Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @ess77 "@sueinmn, @johnbishop, @loribmt, @becsbuddy, and all... I've been resting all day upstairs in my recliner, on..." + (show)
@ess77

@sueinmn, @johnbishop, @loribmt, @becsbuddy, and all...

I've been resting all day upstairs in my recliner, on the phone making appts, hiring housekeeper, etc.
You will never guess what I'm now doing. ITCHING! In the last couple hours, I've gotten bitten several times by skeeters! Arm. elbow, back of knee, ankle, thigh......just killed one! I can't slap them 'cause of the arthritis in my fingers/hands/wrists etc. Bought a solar zapper for pario, it helps but not enough. Just got one for inside. I have it hanging in the den/kitchen area off the patio. Good. It catches and dehydrate them!!!! Tiny bit of guilt at killing, but not much at all!

NOw, have another one I ordered should be here tomorrow, plug in to use outside a little and inside upstairs a lot. Also, did you know they make huge fly/skeeter swat zappers? They do! I got 2 yesterday and will have one upstairs, one downstairs as soon as I figure out how to make them work! Now, this is a whole lot of energy expended on killing little biting bugs. Guess what Sue could do with my project????

Just killed one on the laptop screen! i'm getting better...
Love you all. Gotta' go and get some benadryl. CBD cream and to be. elizabeth

Jump to this post

Hi Elizabeth, Our friend @loribmt mentioned the swatters a few weeks ago and I bought a couple of them. Mine is rechargeable and has a flashlight in the handle. Easy to use but never seems to be around when I need it 🙃 You just hold a little button down on the handle and swat the little buggers.
REPLY
2 replies
ess77 - Elizabeth | @ess77 | Aug 27, 2021
In reply to @johnbishop "Hi Elizabeth, Our friend @loribmt mentioned the swatters a few weeks ago and I bought a..." + (show)
@johnbishop

Hi Elizabeth, Our friend @loribmt mentioned the swatters a few weeks ago and I bought a couple of them. Mine is rechargeable and has a flashlight in the handle. Easy to use but never seems to be around when I need it 🙃 You just hold a little button down on the handle and swat the little buggers.

Jump to this post

@johnbishop, @loribmt ,@sueinmn, @gingerw and all...
Like that one better. Looks like a tennis racket. How'd I miss that info from Lori? I found mine by mistake...
Night. To bed....Elizabeth

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