Ate my first home grown raspberry for this year! Yum. Looks like they
will be ripening for awhile now. Yeah!

This evening, the neighbors who live in the rental next door (downstairs), had
some sort of Spanish fundamentalist Christian service. Lots of
shouting and an amen at the end. I thought the Orthodox Jews in the other
direction were going to start singing and praying since they were
outside on their porch but I didn't hear them after this.

I've uploaded a soundfile of the Spanish Christians to my Yahoo
Briefcase here: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/lipwak It's titled
"070106.aif" and in the "sounds from around the house" folder.

From my 2nd story kitchen window, I see a deer eating weeds in the
"garden". I say "garden" because it is a fenced in area that used to
be a tended garden but now the fence has several gaps and all that is
growing there are weeds, my raspberries and some mint. As the deer
headed over to the raspberries, I open the window and ask the deer
not to eat the raspberries. He/she looks up and after staring at me
for a few seconds, heads over to the gap in the fence and heads out.
Thank you! Nice to have obedient deer!

A RED raspberry has been seen! Lots more coming! Some even on the
bushes that I left in the shade. Hoping for two crops this year!

Possible bracts seen on the bougainvillea. Some reddish leaves. And a
few new leaves but overall it seems to be in suspended animation.
Odd, since it has been outside since May.

Reddish leaves seen on the unknown bush next to the privet.

The catalpa blossoms are fading.

The two monarda (bee balm) are beginning to show buds, the one on the
right moreso than the one on the left, which is a bigger plant.

Got the reel to reel to work so I can start listening to those tapes
I haven't heard in 30 years! Let's hope it keeps up.

bird of prey

As I walked back from getting the mail today I heard lots of peeping going on in the trees. I stopped and looked up and there was this guy (female?) sitting on the branch, looking down at me. We looked at each other for awhile and then he/she flew off. Someone has suggested that this is a broad-winged hawk. I guess that is an ex-squirrel it's got. There were several younger birds that flew off when this one did. (I should have gotten a movie of this so the sounds could be heard too.)

Yesterday's two fawns and (mom? dad? friend?)
At least two fawns have been seen around here lately. Maybe this is a reunion with one of their parents?

Indian Point siren test

For the first time since I moved here in July 2003, I can hear the
Indian Point siren clearly. They had a test at 10:38 am this morning
for about 4 minutes if I remember correctly. It came on very loud and
then for the balance of the remaining time was very low level! Very
loud for about 10% of the time, very low level for about 90% of the
time. I know the sirens rotate but they don't seem to rotate at an
even speed because the loud parts were not regular in coming. (I
listen to a lot of music so I think I can tell when something is
irregular.)

So, I am glad the siren is loud for the first time in 4 summers. I do
wonder though, how many people know that that siren is for Indian
Point? It sounds like any other fire alarm. If you didn't know that
the Indian Point siren test was conducted today or hadn't read about
them in the past, how would you know that this siren is for Indian
Point? Why would you pay attention to it? I suspect that 90 some odd
percent of the people who hear this siren a) don't pay attention to
it so that if it wasn't a test they wouldn't do anything and b) don't
know it is for Indian Point.

They are replacing all the sirens by next year. The new sirens will
have the capability to give voice instructions. I don't know how
often they will test the voice capabilities. Will the voice
instructions be helpful? Will they be in Spanish and Yiddish or
Hebrew as well?

I'd just as soon have Indian Point closed as soon as possible, Start
the decontamination process.

I think leaving the cat in the house with most of the windows closed
after I sprayed Tilex on the bathroom tiles has made her a bit
skittish. She's jumpy, looks afraid of things that I am not noticing.
She's getting better tonight so it isn't long term.

Wow, this is turning out to be a great day. I start out getting a few
good e-mails from friends. Then I see the plant I thought was a
Lamb's Ear has a yellow flower on it (and is a Lambs Ear). It's
running along the ground more than I've seen it in the past but it
looks happy. Then, the cat is begging me to do something to
entertain her, leading me into the kitchen. Does she want to be fed?
Well, it's time for her pill and she's begging for her pill!!!
Actually she is begging for the Pill Pocket that the pill gets
wrapped around but I am amazed!

I check the geraniums and instead of their blossoms having been
knocked off with all the rain we've had, they've been nipped by the
woodchuck or the rabbit. (Maybe deer...). The leaves are fine so
they'll survive and hopefully bloom again. Might have to do some
small animal-proofing around the birdbath.

Fireflies seen tonight. I tried taking a movie of them since we also
had fireworks going on about a mile away and I could hear the music
from that event too. Really awful stuff. The movie didn't show any
fireflies though, not surprisingly. I don't think it is worth saving
just for the fireworks sounds.

Poison ivy hasn't itched in two days. It looks terrible but it seems
to be getting better.

Saw some ants in the kitchen today (and one just now in the
bathroom). I thought they had given up and I was almost ready to put
food that they could get into back on my shelves. Looks like I'll
have to wait. I probably should spray with some commercial spray.

OK, Here is a re-enactment of the paper in the planter scene yesterday.

Before, a lovely verbena plant, given to me by Keep Rockland
Beautiful. Pretty much at it's peak.

Yesterday morning. I find the newspaper in the pot. A good shot or
was it placed there?

Then, as I remove the newspaper, I see the plant has been eaten. By
who? Woodchuck? Deer? Rabbit? Newspaper deliveryman?

Yesterday I also noticed that the potting soil that came with the
catnip (that never germinated) had become like a sort of ice due to
the rain. Bizarre. I wonder if anything will grow underneath it?

Some pics of the catalpa blossoms. The tree is in full bloom now.
Amazing colors in the blossoms. And they're fragrant!!! Lovely to have the catalpa and the privet smelling so sweetly. I don't know how long it will last but it is enjoyable while it does. (it's like the birds. You heard them for awhile and then they fly off, further north. The bird song activity here has fallen off although I do hear enough at times.)

A day lily has bloomed. That is the first one I've seen here. I'm so
glad some were able to get this far. The woodchuck, with it's hole a
few feet away, had a field day eating all the others in early spring.