Mostly Nature and a Wounded “Bird”

For the near future at least, my posts will be all about local views and happenings, ranging from our home and yard, to local dining venues and on to short back road drives and what we might encounter along the way.

I’ll start with my ‘wounded bird’.  We haven’t been doing too much lately although I will admit I’ve been more physically active than usual.  The crux of the matter was surgery that was performed on Laurie’s ankle in mid-March.  A couple of years ago she’d broken her ankle and had to have a plate and screws installed to allow it to heal. 

Well, as time passed the ankle healed but the screws were becoming an aggravation and risk, so she had to have all the hardware removed.  Then it was 2 weeks in the cast (photo) with no weight bearing, followed by 2 weeks in a ‘boot’ using a walker to lessen the pressure on the ankle.  Until the end of this month, she’ll be in the walking boot (no walker)…and then she’ll be free to 'fly' once again!  As a person that doesn’t sit still well for very long, this has been a challenge for my better half…

Fortunately it is spring season and drives around the countryside yield lots of blooms, plenty of greenery…and in this case a cute pair of donkeys’ along-side the road.  These local outings gave Laurie a break from sitting and reading or watching TV and they certainly cheered both of us up…

Did you know that there are more than 40,000,000 donkeys in the world?  Also, donkeys are stronger than horses of the same size.  Did you know that there is increasing demand for donkeys in China?  At least 7 African countries and Brazil have banned the sale of donkeys to China.  Donkey-hide gelatin is obtained from the skin of a donkey by soaking and stewing.  It is an ingredient in Chinese traditional medicines as well as some edibles.  It’s called ‘ejiao’ and estimates are that between 2,300,000 and 4,800,000 donkeys are slaughtered annually to satisfy the demand for ‘ejiao’.

Blogging ensures that I learn something new every day…even if what I learn isn’t a positive thing.

We both love red bud trees and their blooms, perhaps even a little more than we love the more dominant dogwood blooms that overlap the end of the red bud’s blossoms. 

For those that don’t know, the eastern redbud is a large deciduous shrub or small tree that is native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico.  Some species thrive as far west as California and as far north as southern Ontario Canada.  It’s the state tree of Oklahoma...

The flowers range from light to dark magenta pink and they appear in clusters beginning in the early spring.  They appear on bare stems or branches before the leaves begin to show themselves.  These flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees such as blueberry and carpenter bees.

With Laurie hobbled, I’ve been the ‘cook’ for the most part.  However my skills are limited to frying, grilling and microwaving.  Simple is better as I’m not patient enough for anything that takes much time.  Laurie got tired of sandwiches, grilled meat and microwaved offerings.  She saw an ad for Hamburger Helper and became nostalgic…so I bought a couple of boxes of this ‘quick and easy’ meal.  It’s basically hamburger, noodles and seasoning combined in a big frying pan. (There are also tuna and chicken versions)

In any case, we had leftovers from the first Hamburger Helper entrée we’d eaten in a long time.  So it became a breakfast option.  I ‘browned’ it up a bit with some cheese in a frying pan, grilled a buttered leftover hot dog bun as an accompaniment and then topped it with 2 easy over eggs.  Not a great breakfast, but filling…and the food didn't go to waste.

Laurie took these photos from her recliner… They are all about ‘dove love’!  In the first photo the male…all fluffed up and ready to go…appears to be trying to convince the female that he’s worthy of her attention.  In the second photo she appears to be telling him “Hell No!”  But, in the third picture, it appears that they’re making up and baby doves could be in their future.

There are 3 dove species native to Tennessee but this pair are mourning doves…colloquially as the turtle dove.  This bird is one of the most abundant and widespread North American birds and it’s a favorite gamebird for hunters as well.  More than 20,000,000 birds are shot annually in the USA but doves are prolific breeders.  In warmer areas of North America, a pair may raise as many as 6 broods (12 young or squabs) in a single year.  FYI, mourning doves are generally monogamous.

Speaking of broods and breeding, a neighbor took this photo of a mama red fox nursing her young…while looking directly at the photographer.  It’s like she’s saying, “What are you looking at?  Leave us alone”!

We have a number of red fox and their dens scattered around our area in common grounds, the edges of the golf courses and on undeveloped lots.  One family has a den just a lot away from our house.  The red fox is the largest fox and it is the most widely distributed member of the order Carnivora.  It can be found in most of North America, Europe and Asia as well as in parts of North Africa.  Other than their beauty, the best attribute for fox families in the neighborhood is that they are voracious rodent hunters…mice, voles and rats for the most part…but they also help hold down the squirrel population.

That’s all for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave