Different angles

Here’s a picture of a bee from a different angle. It was also taken through some taller grass. Kept this one because it shows some pollen on the back of the bee and just enough detail for us to say we like it. We are going to upload the pictures we took during the lunar eclipse and see what they look like.

This male cardinal thought he could blend into the background. This one was darting all over the place so he must have enjoyed the cooler day. At any rate, we catch ourselves ducking down so as not to hit our head on a branch.

Tried a slightly different angle for a picture of the old church steeple. This one was taken while the weather was trying to decide if it was going to rain or clear up. The clouds slowly danced away across the sky, and it cleared up great outside.

Today I’m going to cut back on my coffee consumption. Figured instead of my usual 30 cups a day I’d try 10. Drastic I know but I’m not getting any younger so thought I’d try a healthier lifestyle. Let you know if there are any changes. Enjoy our Tuesday as we will. Now for half a cup of coffee.

Unintended post

Was going to do a post with pictures of the lunar eclipse but due to circumstances beyond our control we must make a substitution. After all, we have to work with what we got. So we’ll start with a couple of feral kitten pictures and see where things go.

This little guy is the Alpha male of the litter and was staring at us as if daring us to come closer. We did not. We do admire his courage.

This young lady is the cutest of the bunch, in our opinion. Looks like she’s getting ready to go the ball, if feral kittens have a ball.

Now we’ll switch from kittens to birds. This female cardinal didn’t like the wind and was vocal about that fact. Or at least that was what we thought.

We added this lads photo because it shows he has a little mange around his eye on one side. He seems otherwise healthy and we’ve been keeping an eye on him.

Here’s the two having a late lunch together and they seem to make a nice couple. We’re betting they had the safflower seeds.

Finally, a spider has been busy again this year building a web between two telephone wires. This is at least the third year in a row that said spider has chosen this spot for a web. Must like the view. We hope you find these pictures almost as interesting as lunar eclipse pictures.

Enjoy our Monday as it’s non-returnable. Now for a break.

Sunday snicker

Fifth grade teacher Sister Agnes was leading her parochial school class in an arts and crafts activity; tie-dying t-shirts. A couple of unruly students were getting a bit reckless with their bottles of dye when they accidentally spilled several ounces of pink pigment down the back of Sister Agnes.
The jaws of every kid in the class dropped as they watched to see how the aging nun would react.

Their amazement only grew as her worn and slightly faded garment repelled any evidence of a stain.

“Holy Mother of God!” one student exclaimed, “it’s a miracle!”

Sister Agnes shrugged and went about her work without concern. “It’s not a miracle,” she replied. “Haven’t you ever heard? Old habits dye hard!”

Got er done

This little guy has been hissing at me for a few days, but we managed to get a picture of the feral kitten yesterday. I understood his mood as we had been trying to get a new 5G cell phone working for a few days with no success. It all started when our cell phone provider informed us they would longer allow my 3G antique cell phone and stopped support.

So they sent a brand new 5G cell phone, complete with instructions to the house. Once I opened the box and took out the contents I realized it was going to be trouble. Three days, and five hours of talking to a tech on the phone later, it was still a paperweight. A supervisor finally concluded that the problem was not on their end and the phone was bad. Said supervisor told us they would send us another phone in 4 days.

So I went out to the local cell phone provider store to see if someone there could fix the phone or give me one that might work. Boy howdy, I hate progress. This store did not have any cell phones on site and shipped all phones by Fed Ex the next day. And I was told I couldn’t just get another phone from them but would have to deal with the main office. Or I could wait and one of the stores techs could take a look.

Told it would be around a 15 minute wait I decided to see if they could get the paperweight to accept calls. An hour later I was taken back to a little desk with a sneeze guard down the middle and the told a tech would be out in a few minutes. 15 minutes later the tech graced me with his presence. He figured out the wrong SIM card was in the phone, made some calls, put in a different SIM card, and got the flip phone from hell working.

Not sure how I’m going to like it but do know I like it a little better now that it’s working. I want to thank the wife for putting up with my attitude during this trying time. Now I just have to figure out 9,462 preference settings and I’m good to go. Enjoy our Saturday since it’s here. Now for more coffee.

Upcoming eclipse

If you are a fan of such things, are awake to see it, and the clouds don’t get in the way, we can watch the Full Blood Super Moon AND the first total lunar eclipse of 2022. The other total lunar eclipse will happen on November 8th. A super moon occurs when the full moon is at perigee, or its closest to the earth for the month.

Total lunar eclipses occur when the whole moon passes through the innermost portion of Earths shadow, known as the umbra. During these types of eclipses earth blocks all direct sunlight from reaching the moon. The earth blocks the sunlight and gives the moon an orangish red color while all sunlight is blocked.

If you’re on the east coast of Iowa the eclipse should start around 8:32 pm on May 15th and end around 1:50 am on May 16th for a total duration of 5 hours and 19 minutes. If you are elsewhere, you should be here anyway. Or just figure in your time zone and you’ll be close enough.

Said lunar eclipse will make the moon appear red at times, hence the blood moon. We saw the last one and about mid-eclipse it did look red. This eclipse will also be visible in parts of Asia, Australia, northern and eastern Europe, and most of South America.

We going to hope for the best and plan for the worst. We’ll have the camera batteries charged up for best case, and a frozen pizza ready for the oven in the worst case. That’s what we know, and now you do also. Enjoy our Friday. Now for some coffee.

Confused again

We’ll forewarn you that this post will upsetting to some. So, if you still wish to continue reading, please make sure you have a safe space nearby. To others who are not so easily upset, this is an opinion piece and chances are mine may differ from yours.

Guess confusion happens when you have common sense. The latest news that had me cross-eyed was that Biden signed a new law that requires all gas-powered vehicles built after 2026 to have a remote shut-off switch. We’re told the law doesn’t include electric vehicles as they already have said switch.

So I’m thinking, inflation is high, gas prices are through the roof, drug and alcohol abuse are skyrocketing, crime is on the increase, taxes are up, and a shut off switch is more important? Can’t blame this one on the younger generation as Biden is older than myself. When is everybody going to wake up to this nonsense.

And I heard a politician crying over the possible end of Roe v Wade stating that the government has no right to stop womans reproductive rights. Huh? Isn’t abortion the exact opposite of reproduction? Obviously, I’m not a woman so I don’t have a car in that race, but I do have an opinion. Said opinion may have some spitting out their coffee if they read it, but it is my opinion.

Hasn’t abortion become more of a cosmetic surgery as opposed to real health problem? Seems like some people who are happy they got an abortion so a baby wouldn’t get in the way of their career or they felt it would ruin their figure. Abortion is not a Constitutionally protected right nor a God given right.

To those still with us, enjoy our Thursday. Now for more coffee.

Heat wave

Yesterday was day one of a three-day heat wave and the temperatures were in the mid-90s while the heat index was over 100. So with heat like that we grabbed the camera and went outside to take some pictures. Now we’ll share a few.

Once noon had passed Lil Bit didn’t move too far away from the water bowls, and we can’t say we blame her. With that thick black fur coat she would have to be hot. We also kept fresh water in the bowl.

Birds came out to get some seed while it was in the shade. Not sure if they waited for the shade or just happen to fly by at the right time. With it being so hot we figured they would just peck and run, but they hung around.

Saw a few blue jays playing around in the heat. Not sure what they were up to but they lasted longer than I did. Fund birds to watch.

This little guy was the smart one. Just perched on a shady branch and watched the other critters go crazy. He did not seem impressed with their antics.

As it got toward late afternoon the moon put on a good show also. Enough light to see detail yet not so much as to block it out. We think the camera worked anyway.

Finally, a cluttered view of the sunset. When the suns path changes with the seasons we can’t always get a clear shot. It was definitely interesting. Enjoy our Wednesday as we’re not officially at the middle of the week. Now for some coffee.

Few more pics

With a lot of research, and a little luck, we found out that the bird pictured above is called a Cape May warbler and that Iowa is in the birds migration route. Not sure why this one picked our yard to take a break in, but we’re glad he did.

There is a house wren coming if for a landing in the center of this picture. Hard to see at this size, but if you enlarge the picture it looks better. The wrens were planes at an airport with all the landings and take offs. They even managed to stop long enough to have some safflower seeds.

This cat slept between the weeds and the hostas all day. At one point I went to check on him in case he was sick. He was not and shot a me nasty look for interfering with his nap. We didn’t think older cats napped that long.

At one point even the sky got strange. We’ve seen contrails before yet don’t remember seeing dark lines crossing the sky. Probably doesn’t mean anything, just made us curious.

We shared one of this couple yesterday so thought we’d share another today from a different perspective. We were further away for this shot but still like the outcome.

Finally, one of the male cardinal thinking things over. He’s looking to the south, the church is to the south, could it be he’s religious? Or he could have just seen something shiny.

Enjoy our Tuesday as Hump day is only a dream away. Now for some coffee.

Nice weekend

We had a good weekend that wasn’t too hot, but was windy. We also got some pictures and will include a few here. They run the gamut from good, to great, to not so hot and here, in no particular order, they are.

We have another batch of kittens in the neighborhood, and they were so skittish we could only get a shot of this one. There are at least 4 in the littler and we’ll try to get some pictures of them all if possible.

Don’t know if these are weeds or small trees yet decided we like the look. There are several in the area and none are taller than 3 foot. The color against the green background makes them stand out.

This one show mama cardinal, a male house finch, and a male cardinal out by the seeds. The male cardinal is in the very bottom right side of the picture. Almost seemed like mama said that it was her day and he could wait to eat.

The fight at the feed station didn’t spill over into a little later in the day, as this picture shows. The couple got back together, and both seemed happy. The pine tree sure saw a lot of birds over the weekend.

This little house finch must have been hungry the way he flew in. Looked like a plane on the runway. When he had his fill, he was gone just as quick.

This colorful little critter lit in the pine tree but couldn’t hide if he wanted to. He was just too brightly colored. Not the sharpest shot but does give you an idea of what he looks like. Fun to watch also.

When the moon came out Saturday night it put on a good show for us fans. Didn’t get a chance to talk to the man in the moon as we think he was napping. Or just didn’t want to talk.

Enjoy our Monday, it looks to be a warm one here. Now for some coffee.

Sunday snicker

Jesus walks into a bar.
He sees a Russian man with a glass of water.
Jesus asks “My son, are you a believer?”
The Russian replies “No.”

With a wave of his hands, Jesus changes it to a glass of wine.
“Well my son, do you believe now?”
The Russian frowns and shakes his head.

The next day, Jesus comes into the bar and sees the same man.
“My son, are you a believer yet?”
The Russian replies “No.”

Jesus waves his hands and behold! The glass again is changed to wine.
“Well my son, now you surely believe?”
The Russian frowns and shakes his head.

On the third day, Jesus enters the bar and approaches the Russian.
“My son, are you a believer yet?”

The Russian looks up
“If I say I believe, will you just leave my vodka alone today?”