May 21, 2014 So-Called Experts

Still raining to the norht

Flox & sweet peas in
Mother Nature's garden

Monday 5/19.  Time again for a rant.  This one is against so-called experts, like Dr Oz for example.  He is against so many people thinking they are gluten intolerant.  It is my opinion that he is simply in it for fame and fortune.  Plenty of people who do not have celiacs disease are adversely affected by gluten.  Whether he likes it or not, that is a fact.  The problem with these so-called experts is that they have diminished our ability to think for ourselves.  Just how does one become an "expert" anyway?  It seems the only requirement is to just claim to be one.

It's like the biologists who come into a place they are not familiar with to study the wild life.  They end up "discovering" a "new" mammal or reptile that everyone living in the area has know about for years.  Or deciding that one is endangered because they cannot find very many, when in fact, the area is practically overrun with them.  Once again, experts making claims based on false assumptions.  So, with this writing, I will claim to be an expert on so-called experts. . .

Of course I wrote this sitting on the porch, which is where I do some of my best writing, and come up with some of my most interesting and challenging ideas.  I think I just pick them up as they float by on the breeze.

And, speaking of challenging, yesterday sudoku was hardly one.  However, I could barely fill in any space on a crossword puzzle.  I think I many have used up all those brain cells writing my blog.

I brought another load of wood down from the east slope.  One more ought to clean up that once-big pile.  While I was unloading and stacking it in the wood shed, a small hail shower moved through.  There were still a lot of dark, threatening clouds, so when it stopped I took the laundry in.  Just made it back to the wood shed when a bigger, longer shower began.  Hail and pouring rain that made a horribly loud noise on the metal roof.  The dogs dashed for the porch and when there was a slight let-up, I ran for the house.  It lasted about 40 minutes and gave us .2" of rain.

I got on the computer after our afternoon walk and completely forgot about the wood left in Miss Kitty.  So at 5:00 pm I went out to finish unloading and stacking.  By then the sky was clear except for around the horizon.  Our high for the day was 61.

Larry and Elsie drove up to visit.  Larry was concerned about the circuit into which our short-wave radio was plugged.  We came to the conclusion that it is a problem with the circuit breaker itself.  I have it turned off and will let JB deal with it when he gets home.

Tuesday 5/20.  Today began with a clear, blue sky and 50 degrees.  And again, I began the day by sitting on the porch with my coffee.  While I was there, Jesse ran down the driveway barking.  Dinga just watched.  Then she sniffed the air and went under the porch.  I have learned not to be too concerned about Jesse.  He seems to be quite capable of taking care of himself.  A few minutes later, he came sauntering back up to the house.

Most of the humming birds hover while they are drinking from the feeders, but there are a few who perch.  They sit there drinking and drinking until I am sure that once they decide to leave, they will just be too heavy to fly and will fall to the ground.  There are several plump ones whom I presume are females with eggs growing in there bellies.

And speaking of dogs and bears, I just thought of an incident with Larry's and Elsie's little dog and a mama bear.  Larry had taken him out for a run with his 4X4, when he saw a mama bear and two cubs in the distance.  His dog saw them also and ran after them barking.  Larry soon heard a yelp, and then another one.  Fearing the worst, he headed in that direction only to see his dog come tearing down past him and straight for home.  Elsie was in the house and said the dog literally banged on the door to come in.  He wasn't hurt, but was her velcro dog for the rest of the day!

A robin was in the bird bath this morning.  One doesn't realize how large they are until compared to most of the other birds around who are quite small.  Living Down There, I really didn't think they were big at all, but then I don't remember having so many different kinds of other birds.  Or, perhaps with my busy schedule of dashing here and there, I just never noticed.  Too busy focusing on people and their nature, instead of Mother Nature herself. And there seems to many more robins this year, or maybe I am just sitting on the porch more this year. . .

The wall above the gravel on the south side of the house needs to be reinforced, so I worked on putting rocks there before the day got too hot.  I got about six feet done and it looks pretty good.

On our morning walk, I startled a large bull snake sunning himself on the south ridge.  Then as I was walking back down towards the house, a hawk flew up and landed in a nearby tree.  I took a picture, but because he was in the shade and I had to zoom in, it didn't come out very clearly.  The temperature was already 58 by then and quite warm in the sun.

After lunch I brought down another load of wood from the east slope in Miss Kitty.  This finished the once-huge pile and I started on a smaller one.  There are small ones scattered around all over the slope, so I still have my work cut out for me.

Then I reorganized the pitch wood in the shed and began to bring the last row of wood from the porch into the shed.  We really don't need to use the larger wood from now on.  The kindling makes a nice fire when we only need a small one to take the chill out.

It was another beautiful day with a high of 65.  There is more such weather forecast for the rest of the week, with rain due on Saturday, which is when JB is due back home.  Sounds like he will have a wet drive back, but I will be so very glad to see him.

Wednesday 5/21.  It is 46 and clear this morning.  I hope to get another load of wood down and stacked.  I have started a third row of kindling and, hopefully, that is the only kind of wood we will need for the rest of the season.

Thought for the day: God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done.