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 |   A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
prompt:Groundhogs ![Merit Badge in Friendship
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It's a badge war but all in friendship! Tag - you're it! *^*Hearty*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Friendship-650.gif) This largest animal of the marmot family is much loved by humankind or not; depending on whether one of these vegetarian cat sized rodents are snacking from your garden or just roaming your fields. In Pennsylvania there has been an open season on woodchucks for lots of years. Open season means a hunter can shoot them at any time of the year. There are reasons for this. They build extensive tunnels underground or under buildings. The tunnels have specialized burrows for sleeping areas, bathrooms, and nesting areas. The animal is called by more than one name. Some of the most used are groundhog, woodchuck, and whistle pig. Many like to reside in mowed yards close to crops of lawn grass, dandelions, and goldenrod. The females give birth to 3 to 5 young at a time and can actually have more than one litter a year. The young leave the female parent within 2 months of birth to strike out on their own. Building their own tunnels. Unchecked they would soon over run the world if given a chance. Unfortunately, man is not the only predator. Dogs, fox, bear, coyote, any animal that will eat meat will predate on whistle pigs. Whistle pigs is one of the other names tagged to them, because they give a loud shrill, warning whistle when they are startled by danger. Lucky for them the animal has lots of fans who rescue them from a life lived in the wild and give them plush homes as weather predictors. In captivity woodchucks, the name I know them from, make excellent pals. playing with toys, being petted and eating a healthy vegetarian diet. Their grey undercoat with a banded overcoat of black and brown is brushed and pampered. The Algonquin name for the animal was "wuchak" which seems to have traveled to English as woodchuck, Woodchucks don't particularly chunk wood they leave that to the beavers. I guess they do eat wood shavings and bark sometimes its part of their veggie diet. There are actually many groundhogs in captivity being used as weather predicters. They have about a 37 per cent accuracy in spite of caretakers who say 100 per cent accuracy. One in Canada tops out at 50 percent accuracy. Yes, there are groundhog weather predicters in Canada and the United States. Philidelphia Phill must hire a good publicist. "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck would chuck wood. Your guess should be approximate. Just a few facts about our favorite February weather predicter from your local journalist. Have a good day. |
| Prompt: Rhyming February  How about: February lacks strawberries. or I'm merry in February. or February follows January. or February cold and airy. or February good for fairies. February is a difficult word to tack on a rhyme. As a poet I don't always show it. |
| “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” – Arnold Palmer. Let this quote inspire your writing. Apondia writes This is another way of saying, "Be all that You Can Be." or The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. ~ Vince Lombardi Or Philippians 4:13 = I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Because there is only one God, some Bible interpretations change this to God who strengthens me. These sayings are meant to bring out the best in people who may be struggling with whatever effort they are pursuing. Encouragement is always welcome in any of life's struggles. In every way it is said, it tells us to put forth our best effort at all times, because we cannot know how the effects will show up later in life. |
| Prompt: Peanuts APONDIA I ate peanut butter sandwiches all during grade school. Now I eat about 1/4 cup of peanuts 5 out of 7 days a week. I just like all kinds of walnuts, pistachios, peanuts and other kinds of nuts. Prefer them for snacks. Having a pumpkin pie for my birthday celebration.  no candles. |
| Prompt: Begin your entry with "The only option I have left is _________." APONDIA This is not a prompt I should be answering today. I try to be mild mannered about most problems, not today. I put in a large order from Chewy.com for different kinds of feed for my pet crew. It has been 6 days since the order and the merchandise is not here yet. They broke the order into two packages and now FedEx will not acknowledge one of the tracking numbers. Everything is supposed to arrive today. I have received emails two days that the package, one or the other would arrive on that day. So far, no pet food arrived. If the packages do not arrive today, I will have to cancel the order, get in the car and find a place to buy the food. The parrot pellets I use are not available anywhere near me. I have been buying them through the mail for years. My patience is just being tried. A game to somebody not to me. The ignorant thing is; any day since last Wednesday would have been better to bring those packages in here, than today. Yes, we had snowstorms, but roads were decent. Today, we are having ice conditions because it rained lightly on the snow this morning and froze. I have ski poles with sharp ends that drive into the ice and used them to travel the short way to the bird feeder when I filled it. the driveway is a slippery mess. I salted the porch and steps to front and back doors, when I went out. It is actually quite warm out. Lots of melting going on outside. I just have to wait to see if they actually deliver my packages today. Keep Warm |
| Here are the two prompts for Week Three Prompt # One: I hereby resolve to get a job. Andre say's "Not Likely". I hereby resolve to take better care of my teeth. ![Merit Badge in The Blogging Banana Bar
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Congrats on Your Super Effort
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The Bar is Always Open from Andre](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-The_Blogging_Banana_Bar-2246010_9.gif) or ![Merit Badge in Hot Potato
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Thanks for helping Andre fracture some New Year's Resolutions!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Hot_Potato-2295276_4.gif) As for jobs, this is what I experienced lately. I could probably not get out of my driveway. Too much snow. So, no danger of me getting a job. and my internet does not allow me to earn money at the level we presently rent. If I made any resolutions like this, it would collapse as I made the sounds of the words. So, let's look at teef. Nope no sense in doing any resolutions concerning teef either. I noticed on the picture Andre sent out one day a couple weeks ago he has big teef. Beavers have big teef too. Beaver teef grow out as they wear down when they chew wood. Human teef just fall out if you don't take care of them. I always say I don't make new year's resolutions. Then, I realized I was thinking I should try to do more walking on my treadmill. And I was thinking that on 01/02/2024. Horrors! Is that a New Year's resolution? If it is it is already trashed because I have not walked on that treadmill since 01/02/2024. However, I might get it done again one day soon. I have been sidetracked by baking new recipes of buttermilk bread in my bread machine. I never tried buttermilk recipes before, and they are exceptionally yummy. I think my children would have liked the new recipes. Too late. They are all in their 50's with their own lives to beat up. It has been windy, snowy weather for two weeks. I'm tired of it, so, I hope it goes away again soon. I watched a documentary video this morning about the Mohawk Trail. I think it would be fun to go vacationing by driving the Mohawk Trail. Maybe not in the winter as a lot of it is in Massachusetts. Probably under more snow now than we are. As for new Years resolutions I wonder what qualifies as a resolution. It is easy to look out at the desolation of snow bound forests and resolve not to visit any outside places near my home for the imediate future. Almost impossible not to resolve to do something or to resolve to not do anything until winter is resolved. word count on WDC = 402 1 apondia#1781748 |
| Prompt: The function of the artist or writer (Blog City) "The function of the artist is to make people like life better than before." Kurt Vonnegut What do you think the function of the writer is, if any?  I read about one book every 7 to 10 days. In that frame of thought I always like stories nonfiction or fiction that can give me a quote about life that is very real. It makes me know I'm not alone on the earth, there are other people who see what I see or experience life in a way I have. I doubt all writers are viewing this as a function of writing. I do think writers fulfill a human need to experience things that others experience in life. And when you set out to write a picture with words into someone else's mind, perhaps you just want to express what is on your own mind without realizing how it will affect the readers. As for another prompt I noticed, snow has been blanketing our atmosphere for several days. It was so thick in the air it looked like the air was foggy for two days. Not fog, when I filled the bird feeder mornings, I noticed the air was thick with tiny snowflakes that accumulated to about 8 or 10 inches of cold white snow on the ground. Keep Warm. |
| Prompt: winter birds We have a lot of birds that brave the weather here in the winter. Cardinals, doves, titmouse, bluejays, chickadee, nuthatch, and some I forgot to name all show up at the feeder daily. Also, crows show up regularly, but do not usually mingle with the smaller birds. Whatever parrot pellets are discarded to the bottom of the parrot cages are recycled to the ground at the bottom of the feeder. This is a treat to the crows who check out the ground daily to find whatever pellets may have been thrown out. Doves are hatching eggs as early in the year as March here. When I first learned this, I was surprised because March weather is not to be trusted. It can be blizzards or warm enough to grow grass. The birds will fly in to clean out the feeder even if the wind gusts are in the 40 mile per hour range. We have wooded areas heavy with brush, bushes, and trees quite close. So, lots of cover for birds to take shelter from storms or hawks. There is a cherry tree outside an upstairs room window. One early morning there was a huge owl sitting on a limb in the tree. I watched it swoop down toward the feeder and catch a mouse. Then it came back onto the limb of the tree and promptly swallow the mouse whole. I know mice simply die if something catches them and they cannot escape. I doubt they stay alive long enough to contemplate their fate. Even though this is about birds, deer also visit the bird feeder in early evening when birds are usually bedding down for a long winters nap. Whatever is left in the feeder is often licked clean by deer. Over the weekend the weather put down 8 or 10 inches of snow. Until it melts, which is supposed to happen during this week it will continue to keep a chill in the air. KEEP WARM. |
| Prompt: winter birds We have a lot of birds that brave the weather here in the winter. Cardinals, doves, titmouse, bluejays, chickadee, nuthatch, and some I forgot to name all show up at the feeder daily. Also, crows show up regularly, but do not usually mingle with the smaller birds. Whatever parrot pellets are discarded to the bottom of the parrot cages are recycled to the ground at the bottom of the feeder. This is a treat to the crows who check out the ground daily to find whatever pellets may have been thrown out. Doves are hatching eggs as early in the year as March here. When I first learned this, I was surprised because March weather is not to be trusted. It can be blizzards or warm enough to grow grass. The birds will fly in to clean out the feeder even if the wind gusts are in the 40 mile per hour range. We have wooded areas heavy with brush, bushes, and trees quite close. So, lots of cover for birds to take shelter from storms or hawks. There is a cherry tree outside an upstairs room window. One early morning there was a huge owl sitting on a limb in the tree. I watched it swoop down toward the feeder and catch a mouse. Then it came back onto the limb of the tree and promptly swallow the mouse whole. I know mice simply die if something catches them and they cannot escape. I doubt they stay alive long enough to contemplate their fate. Even though this is about birds, deer also visit the bird feeder in early evening when birds are usually bedding down for a long winters nap. Whatever is left in the feeder is often licked clean by deer. Over the weekend the weather put down 8 or 10 inches of snow. Until it melts, which is supposed to happen during this week it will continue to keep a chill in the air. KEEP WARM. |
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