What's on your mind? (2024)

70’s here today. I just put the tomato starts out to acclimate. It has been a weird year, but then again, every year has been weird. Have found over the years that you’ve adjusted/adapted to the climate changes? I have here in the Rocky Mountain west.
Keep cool!

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I can’t say that I have adjusted to change much, but I have certainly accepted the months upon months of gardening in intense heat and literally no rain.

I wrote “literally”, but I have noticed every year it rains exactly once between mid May and late September, and every year I say that never happened.

So virtually no rain.

Maybe I am too busy learning to notice change .

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Well this is a new one for me . Dropped by the nursery today for a bag of potting soil . I asked the nursery man . What is the difference between the two . For a dollar more . He said he looked up what is the difference. " one is vegan potting soil the other is not ." I chuckled and said ill have the non vegan bag please. Who knew . The bag on the right is non vegan.

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Earthworms! Interesting that it doesn’t seem to be labeled to advertise it!

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Thank gawd you’re not using Glacier Gold!

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I googled and according to their website, the one on the right contains fish emulsion and the one on the left has mycorrhiza additives or something like that. It also contains earthworm castings and bat guano – someone else more qualified can comment on whether that’s still vegan :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

Sounds like exploitation of worms and bats to me. I think that is the reason why some vegans don’t use honey, exploitation of bees. I can’t remember my source on that bit of info rattling around in my brain so I could be wrong.

That’s what I remember as well, at least “in the strictest sense”.

But in that case, the idea was the honey was destined to be something for the other bees. Not sure if worms and bats benefit from castings and guano. Guano in particular, since they leave it on my stoop.

A link to earlier chapters of our bat journal. Last summer we stage an exclusion project after they ended up in our HVAC.

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nature can be ‘cruel’ and attempts to betroth nature are often defeated.
we have nesting birds in the eaves, on the downspout turns, behind the shutters, in the ornamental trees . . .

it is a joy to watch / see - and sometimes not so joyous.

earlier outside our window, a small hawk took down a ?young bird/fledgling? - who squeaked and squawked . . and there was very little use in attempting to interfere . . . no possibility to save the victim bird. . .

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That’s why I got rid of my bird feeders. :grimacing:

My neighbors periodically post photos of one of our resident red-tailed hawks sitting on their air conditioner and enjoying a delicious breakfast of pigeon.

I had to go inside when a hawk was having a chipmunk for breakfast on a branch in our linden tree in the backyard.

I feel less horrible about the chipmunk & the rabbit I hit in my 30+ years of driving. Sure beats getting eaten alive.

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Us too, it keeps the mosquito population down. The bigger the droppings, the better…


I’m sure you know this, but for others, be careful of bat (and chicken) guano. It can harbor and grow histoplasmosis fungi which can make for a nasty lung (and more rarely, systemic) infection.

You should see my chest x-rays. Every time I’d go in and some doc wanted to do a chest x-ray, I’d warn in advance that all those spots they were going to see in my lungs were calcified granulomas scarrings, not tumors.

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^ This. We’re wondering whether the robin nestlings on the ground ended up there because another critter raided their nest. It happens.

Every morning in this time of robin season, the murder of crows scan the robin nests and pick what they can find. In the late afternoon the Cooper’s hawk will try its luck for the left overs. Earlier this afternoon I saw a crow chase down a ground squirrel. I’m not sure if it was successful, but I know Ms. Fox caught on late yesterday afternoon. I don’t care for the ground squirrels; they make ankle breakers in the lawn and eat just about everything (except chives this year) in my garden. :sob:

Here’s a good one for bad restaurant service. Maybe I should have posted this on the ‘Tipping’ thread.
I always pay cash. Once burned, twice shy with the credit card from many years ago.
Today’s tab for me was $15, for a lunch salad, no beverage, not even water. I handed the server a $20 bill when it presented my check. Server did not come back, nor had asked me if I needed any change. I asked server where my change was, and server said, " I don’t have any change for you". I explained that I would like some change back so that I may tip the server properly. It was going to be 20%= $3. Effing A! I had to accompany the server to the (separate) bar to get $5 back. They apparently don’t deal with ones or coin. I wasn’t comfortable leaving the five spot. NO ONE had any change or coin. So I went out to the car to rob my parking meter money. The ‘beach’ came out and gave me their 2¢. I told the server I was getting their tip from my parking meter money. Server continued the tirade, so I just wished them a lovely afternoon and left. Later I called and spoke to the manager who related to me a different story; one that was false…that I walked out on the bill! Hoo boy…won’t spend my time or dinero there, evah agin! Beware of crooks of any stripe. Good thing the rest of the day is going well🌞

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Wow! What a bad experience.

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Wow, sounds like the server from hell lied to the manager too (or the manager is just as bad)?

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you should name the place.

most people would appreciate a heads-up to avoid such ‘joints’

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