What are you up to today? This week?

[heidiiiii]

I bought myself a lobster yesterday before I went for my scan. Big 3lber (and then some) for $4.99 a lb. We kept it in fridge till I got back. I boiled it. Fred cooled it off and put in fridge for me. Today I will empty out the meat, use the shell to make stock, and I will make a lobster salad with half, and lobster fra diavolo with the other half. This is my treat for such a yucky week or two.

It is cold and rainy. It was 38 deg f this morning here in shoreline CT. Brrrr! I am cleaning, gonna work on my new budget, and cook.

I also have to call neuro to make a appointment.

[KathieB]

Deb, I'm with Holly on the snake thing. I looked up other sand snakes and found that they eat lizards as well as insects. That snake was your friend. Don't kill 'em, let animal control remove 'em if you must, but by removing their habitat, they'll relocate on their own.

I owned a little house in Virginia several years ago. I went into the basement to do laundry one day shortly after moving in and spotted what I though was some black tubing draped over the washing machine. I picked it up on the handle of a broom. Turned out it was a blacksnake that must have been 6 or 7 feet long (I had to hold the broom handle up high so it wouldn't drag on the floor) and heavy! I carried it outside and let it go. All the time I lived in that house there were blacksnakes in the yard, some under the outside kitchen steps and a nest under a lilac bush out by a shed. I never saw one mouse and didn't see any snakes in the basement again, either.

I rented another house in Virginia before buying the one above. I was in an upstairs workroom when a friend dropped by to visit with her one-year-old. Not wanting to stop work, I hollered at her to come on up. We chatted for a bit before she asked if there was some reason I had a snake in the kitchen. Turned out to be a blacksnake that was stretched out on the floor beside the 8-foot long kitchen island in serpentine curves (appropriately enough ). It was longer than the island. I took the broom and herded it out the back door. I suspect it had been living under the island for a few days, as there had been a distinctive coppery-odor in the kitchen that disappeared when the snake left.

Never had a mouse problem in that house, either, unless you count the (exquisitely clean and fluffy) one I found in a load of sheets I took from the drier one day. I think he tried to get in through the outside drier vent, which was very near the ground, but he looked clean enough to have gone through the wash cycle, too.

In short, unless they're venomous, snakes are our friends. :hug:

[havanaholly]

Except for copperheads and water moccasins most venomous snakes are extremely shy and will leave quietly, given the room to do so. When we lived in Jacksonville I had to coax a momma rat snake out of my washing machine; she had curled up around the outside of the drum. I laid a broomhandle across the open top (it was my mext-to-last top-loading machine) and began to fill the tub so she would come out. As soon as she did I carried her on the broom to the lugustrum bush hedge we had in our side yard, and turned her loose there. She or one of her friends used to raise their babies underneath the washing machine, occasionally the babies would poke their little heads out and hiss at my toes whilst I was loading or unloading the washer. As our house backed up on a storm water drainage ditch we occasionally got mice and rats up in the crawl space of our house, and the neighbor cats would go after them. Having rat snakes was much quieter and just as efficient. In Havana I would gather up the occasional snake and turn it loose in out greenhouse. I surely missed the snakes and feral cats when they were all killed off and our house became infested with mice.

[kat57]

I agree with the others,as to nonpoisonous snakes. I learned the hard way a few months after moving into this trailer. While alone here one day I came across a 4 foot snake stretched it's full length beside the trailer that scared the daylights out of me and I vigorously beat it to death with a shovel. Too late I learned it was a rat snake. Being that I had a big rat in the trailer shortly after,I could have slapped my own self! That is when we started feeding the stray cat that had been hanging around at the edge of the yard....Now that we've had to relocate her and all the others that came from her,I sure hope another rat snake will decide to take up residence! We've only seen one cottonmouth since moving here,way out in the driveway,but I keep my eyes open wide when I'm walking outside!

[KathieB]

Holly, your rat snake and my black snakes are close cousins. The snakes I encountered in Virginia were black rat snakes. We have black/rat snakes here in Missouri, too. One day we watched one climb our largest oak tree. He went up about 25 feet to a natural bowl formed by the trunk and a branch and had a gay old time soaking in the rainwater that had collected there. He later crawled around to the other side of the trunk and entered a hole --a natural birdhouse -- that was inhabited. Apparently he was treating himself to a spa day with lunch. He also used the rough bark around the edge of the hole to help him shed his skin. It hung there for weeks, flapping in the breeze like a banner. This was several years ago. No birds have used the house since. We don't have mice here, either.

[rackey]

My niece Tara is from Philadelphia, and her boyfried is from New York City. They are both visiting my brother and sister-in-law, but unfortunately their washing machine is leaking and their printer isn't working. So, I am waiting for Tara to come to my house to use my printer and for her boyfriend to use our washing machine. - Kids - you got to love them at any age.

I played Trivia Pursuit with them last night, but even though the game was out before they were born, they won. They were playing against me and my sister-in-law, and my brother who was helping both teams plus playing on a team by himself. He just wanted to answer the questions.

[Deb]

In short, unless they're venomous, snakes are our friends. :hug:

Understood. I probably sound like I'm making light of our reptile population but as you know, it's my way of coping with stress thru humor. Please remember that I was raised out here by a scientist and am very, very aware of the fragile eco system. However, this house stood vacant for almost two years after it was built and during that time there was a major water main leak that went undetected for three months. The house was renovated properly and sealed tightly but the yard had reverted to the wild. The neighbors told us that the weeds were knee high in the backyard and the combination of water and ground cover made the perfect breeding ground for bugs which invited the reptiles to move right in. The yard was only cleaned up and landscaped two months before we moved in and it was done without getting rid of the ants, gnats, and other bugs. Obviously, we're getting rid of the bugs by taking care of the yard, but that leaves a lot of hungry reptiles whose food source is depleting rapidly and they're becoming aggressive. Aggressive/hungry reptiles will need some pushing back or else they *will* move inside, especially in the desert where survival options are extremely limited. BTDT and if you've ever found a rattlesnake by stepping on it with your bare foot, you learn a valuable lesson about what happens when reptiles go looking for food. (Or any wild animal for that matter.....when I was 9 a mountain lion ate my 3 pet rabbits in the backyard) Living out here is a delicate balance of living in harmony with nature........but that also means establishing boundaries of where the reptiles can and cannot go.

There were two reasons to kill the snake: One is that it was dark and the snake wasn't going to sit there waiting for me to research what variety he was. Under the orange glare of the street light, there was no way of telling for sure if it's banded markings were orange or red. It's size and slim nature plus the way it moved indicated that there was a possibility of it being a coral snake. I didn't determine exactly what kind of snake it was until I'd had an hour to research it and compare it to the pic Bruce took. So at the time, there was a question about whether or not it was venomous.

Secondly, there is a "tot lot" toddler playground on the other corner from our house and a jr high school half a block away. The rule of snakes in populated areas is always, "When in doubt, take it out", especially if it's in an area where there are a lot of kids.

I've shared my reptile stories because I thought people would be amused by them. However, I'm very well educated about living in the Sonora desert and how to achieve a balance between human and nature. If I tell you that we've killed a snake or a spider, then you can rest assured that it was necessary and that I don't need to be educated about it. Now let's drop the topic and move on.

[jbnmini]

Well, Deb- your reptile stories certainly keep me entertained! LOL

I will be madly packing my suitcases tonite in preparation for our trip to the west coast for my daughter's graduation from Seminary! Getting very excited!!

In the meantime, I stayed up until midnight last nite, and did some last-minute stuff this morning to finish up the playscale house rehab I've been working on. Tonite the owner comes over to pick it up. I was kinda hoping to get out my girls' Barbies to "test it out" first, but I may not get the chance. :/

I'll post pics in my gallery if I get the chance while I am away.

Hoping to check out a miniature shop in Lincoln City, OR while we are in the neighborhood!

[Deb]

I will be madly packing my suitcases tonite in preparation for our trip to the west coast for my daughter's graduation from Seminary! Getting very excited!!

How cool!!! You must be very, very proud of her. Graduation from Seminary is special indeed and I wish her the very best as she begins the life of ministering to others.

<grinding my teeth and grimacing> I think I have potting soil behind my ears and between my teeth but that's sort of to be expected when one tries to pot plants in 25mph winds. LOL! But I have all but two planters filled and I'll finish those up tomorrow. I've been working on arrangements of various succulents with different types of plants for assorted effects. It's all experimentation about what goes well with what as I plan for my future rock and cactus garden, I still need to go post a pic of my black rose aeonium over in the garden thread because it's soooooo exotic and beautiful. I'll do that after I take a shower. And maybe a nap.

[havanaholly]

We called to cancel our part of the potluck tonight, since the last bridge into FL from AL is expected to flood, and it was built in the 1940s; the others are all under water. The part of US 90 that is called Scenic Highway in P'cola, because it used to follow the escarpment along Escambia Bay is now partly no longer along the escarpment, but is either at the foot of it, or else IN Escambia Bay. Most of our soils along the Gulf Coast are clay mixed with sand, so not particularly stable when saturated... Apparently we are the only house along our section of road that didn't get water in at least part of the house. I just hope they can get the bridges repaired/ stabilized before our doctors' appointments next week...

[sparklepuppies]

Holly, I hope you were able to make it to your potluck okay today with the flooding.

Jackie, have a wonderful and safe trip out west! I know you are so excited and proud!

Deb, we had a windy day today too. Crazy windy. There were lots of trees down, 2 on our street, but luckily none in our yard. We had about 10 of our county school without power early this morning, the last came up around 11. But, my boys' schools (not in the county system) had no power due to the tree on the power line (that we had to detour around) and the blown transformer. They cancelled school (it's not part of the school system), after I dropped them off and made it to work of course. So the boys missed another day of school, I think that makes 8 now. Oddly, the county school a mile down the road still had power. At least with some schools not having power and network, that made for less people calling me with computer problems!

[sparklepuppies]

Oh yikes, Holly! Sorry you didn't make it, stay safe. My friend has family in Pensacola, and their houses flooded today as well.

[rackey]

Holly, I sympathize with your neighbors, and I hope your home stays unflooded. We are getting heavy rains in New Jersey, and while my basement only got about an inch of water twice in 57 years because of ground saturation, many areas of my town flood pretty badly whenever the Raritan River overflows.

For the most part, this has been a chilly spring, and right now it sounds like most of the nation is experiencing severe weather or environmental conditions. I pray that some day soon we can figure out ways to improve our infrastructure to prevent many of our natural disasters.

[heidiiiii]

Rain but warmer today. I am going to meet an old friend for lunch and spend some time catching up. Be careful with the wildlife Deb. You are new to their habitat. If you get a chance, have you or Bruce take some pictures. I would love to see a big ole lizard.

[Roxxie2]

Happy May 1st!!!! It snowed last night and the flowers are all blooming in the desert. I have to get out my sewing machine today and do some hemming and such. I hardly ever buy clothing that actually fits me. Hopefully I will get the housework all done today so I can play with my minis tomorrow :suck:

[Deb]

Rain but warmer today. I am going to meet an old friend for lunch and spend some time catching up. Be careful with the wildlife Deb. You are new to their habitat. If you get a chance, have you or Bruce take some pictures. I would love to see a big ole lizard.

The lizards are sprinters so they don't sit still for pictures but here's a pic from one of the .edu sites of a Giant Spotted (or Tiger) Whiptail Lizard that are one of the biggest varieties in our yard. (we also have great horned lizards, aka Horny Toads, another type of whiptail, and alligator lizards) These whiptails are about five or six inches long from snout to vent and then their tails can be up to twice as long as their body.

Lizardzilla and Bridezilla are spotted whiptails and mature enough that their tails aren't blue anymore. (the young ones have blue tails and underbellies) They're both well over a foot long with their tails and I can recognize them because they're always together--a kind of oddity among lizards who are usually loners. Judging by their maturity, they've probably been living in the yard for at least one year, maybe two. There are also alligator lizards in the yard and one of them came soldiering across the patio yesterday. I immediately named him Stubs because he has no tail. Lizard tails are sort of detachable. Mother Nature made them that way so they can escape a predator, like the neighbor's black cat that I've seen diving into the rosemary bushes from time to time. If a predator catches them by the tail, the tail comes off and flops around for awhile which allows the lizard to make a run for safety. Lizards without tails are either very slow or very curious. Stubs is curious because he couldn't help stopping to look at this and that even tho I was herding him along with my Sooper Soaker. <grinning> Ever since I got that thing I have the cleanest lizards in town.

More wind here today but nothing like you've been getting Sarah!!! Are you staying inside and waiting it out safely? <giggling> Even with the power out, I bet you still get at least one call from someone who wants to know why their computer won't boot up. hehehehehehe

Holly, I'm glad to know that you're still above water and will keep my fingers and toes crossed that it stays that way. Stay off those bridges till they get them fixed! It's times like this that I take great comfort in knowing that you have a kayak and know how to use it.

I'm off to finish my last two planters and then do my morning ritual of watering and filling bird feeders. I'll use all black oil sunflower seeds today because in this wind, that's the only thing that won't blow right out of the feeders before the birds get a chance at it.

[Selkie]

Thanks for the picture. It helps a lot.

Where my grandparents used to live in FL they called all the lizards they found around their place chameleons. I doubt it was the correct name though because the pics I see online don't look anything like the ones we had. Ours were skinny and flatter and only went from greenish to brownish. The ones online look like they have humps on their backs. Ours did not. They were not too large, maybe 8" at the absolute max - most 5-6" including their tails.

They used to snap their tails off if you caught them by the tail. It seemed as though they must be growing new ones cuz we could never see the stubby ones later on. Do they normally grow back or do you think it was peculiar to their kind?

Any thoughts on what ours might have been?

[kat57]

Sounds like the Anole lizard,Selkie.

http://srelherp.uga.edu/lizards/anocar.htm

We have tons of them everywhere we go in the South...I love watching them,but have never caught one by the tail! They are very quick little things! They turn from bright green to almost black,depending what they are perched on. But they aren't true Chameleons,although that is all I knew them as myself,until a few years ago.

Don't know how Anole should be pronounced,because when I look it up I get conflicting versions. I like to say Anna-Lee.(A as in on,not an). They are harmless and they bring me comfort and a smile,since they've been in my life for so long!

Family members finally came to get my boss' wrecked car-sooo glad I'll no longer have a glaring visual reminder of the fatal crash in my yard. It just about unnerved me! And we have a big mess in the yard,after all that rain. I hope it will dry out and get warmer soon,so I can get out there and redo everything I spent last week doing! But it is so beautiful today-the birds are so happy!

We had some sort of turtle in the yard yesterday. Not a Box or Snapping variety. He had a more slender neck and lovely yellow stripes along the side of his face... I believe he was definitely old enough to have seen humans before and be used to them,because he didn't immediately withdraw into his shell and was stretching his neck to look at my son and me as we gazed at him.

[Selkie]

That one looks more like I remember them. That link says it likes spiders. We had tons of spiders there - huge old things with leg spans like the palm of a man's hand - not daddy long legs though. Don't know what they were but I wished those old lizards had eaten more of them up. I didn't mind the lizards but was petrified of the big spiders as a kid.

[havanaholly]

...Holly, I'm glad to know that you're still above water and will keep my fingers and toes crossed that it stays that way. Stay off those bridges till they get them fixed! It's times like this that I take great comfort in knowing that you have a kayak and know how to use it...

As we went out our road to US90 to go to the post office to mail out boxes (you all know who you are...) there were four hoses across the road pumping the water out of yards. The big two-story Jim Walters house had water up to their front porch and their entire front yard was under water (the man who lives there is a park ranger at the Blakely State Historical Park in western Baldwin County; we met him when we went there to hike); the vehicle was parked at the end of the driveway on the street with a kayak beside it; when we got home the kid had just paddled the kayak back to the house after getting their mail out of their mailbox.

At the post office the gentleman in line ahead of us was in his jammies; he was evacuated at 2 AM today by boat by the sheriff when the water went up to his roof; his jammies were all he has until he can get back into his house and get his clothes and clean them. He was inquiring as to how he could get his mail.

...Where my grandparents used to live in FL they called all the lizards they found around their place chameleons...

Growing up in S FL we also called the anole lizards "chameleons" because they could change color from green to brown and back. I've heard anole pronounced an-OL-ay. When we were camped at Blackwater River State Park a year or so ago we had two of them spend an afternoon on the fence between our site and the one next door, fighting with each other. It was a hoot when one of them grabbed the other one's snout in its mouth and swung his opponent off the fence and then just held him in the air and swung him back & forth.

After the stop at the post office we stopped at the small RV dealer that had called us while we were on our recent adventures, since we are actively looking for a smaller camper and he had gotten in some new, smaller units recently. We are in the process of researching the 18+ unit we both liked. Then we hit the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and our favorite charity thrift store, as we're looking for a second hall tree for the house and move the one we have (which is missing parts) out to the shop. After lunch we stopped at a new bank to see about possibly moving the account we still have in Tallahassee. On our way back to the house we noticed the pumps were still pumping and the doublewide in the middle of the lake that used to be their yard (front, back & sides) still had water above the bottom of the floor.

[KathieB]

That's some serious flooding, Holly, and way too close for comfort! I'm glad you're on the high ground.

[havanaholly]

That's some serious flooding, Holly, and way too close for comfort! I'm glad you're on the high ground.

We are, too! We checked the flood plain maps before we offered on the house, being as we're so close to both the Perdido River and the Styx River. But we got over a foot of rain in 24 hours and both the Perdido and Styx have significant logjams both above and below I-10 and they overflowed the bridges, stranding motorists there; and downstream the Perdido flooded the US98 bridge at Lillian, AL; and with our Styx River bridge being nearly 70 years old and significant stretches of US90 in Pensacola either under water or gone we hunkered down and glued ourselves to the local weather stations.

[kat57]

Glad you dodged this one,Holly-flooding is not fun! My sister lost her house to flooding after Katrina,so it hits home for others to have to go through all that! I am just glad I'm here instead of my old neighborhood in Mississippi-my street would always flood when it rained alot. Those in the house across from me and I were lucky that we were just about the only ones on our street who's houses never flooded the 27 years I was there,although it was right up to my doorstep many times. I haven't been to town all week,so I haven't seen how bad it got farther in land over here. We were ankle deep in our yard,but it's about gone. Just a soggy mess of leaves and branches to clean up. I just did all that last week! Yuck!

See what I mean about pronouncing Anole,Holly-everyone is different. I keep seeing it pronounced as rhyming with Canoli!LOL I never actually say it out loud,so...

[Roxxie2]

Last weekend.........snow! This weekend.......75! I finally made it down to Santa Fe yesterday and went shopping in Michael's and Hobby Lobby. I was disappointed that Michael's did not have the Creatology Castle Puzzles that I was looking for. That Micheal's is so disorganized and out of stock almost every time I go. I bought some paint and a couple of items in Hobby Lobby but it wasn't a very productive trip. Oh well, it was 85 degrees and not snowing!

[KathieB]

I spend a good bit of yesterday and today tweaking the itinerary for our upcoming Big Motor Trip. We'll be on the road from May 22 to June 22, including a week in Cuba -- Missouri to Miami and back again, with a lot of stops in between. The stops are a mixture of friends, relatives, miniaturists and miniatures, including Ron's in Orlando and the Miniature Cottage in Nashville.