Choke-Cherry ?

 There are bushes/small trees growing all along the road up the hill from the driveway.  There's one next to our front flowerbed. I think they're choke cherries. They're not chokeberries, that I know. Ken's mom is terrified I'll make jelly with them, even though I told her  I won't--I'm trying to figure out who could tell me for sure--like a county ag type place. Carole said they were.
  We'd just finished our daily walk today, when I heard a car driving by. It slowed down, then I heard what sounded like gravel being poured, then again a few seconds later,  and then it sped off. I couldn't see what it was, tho, because of the trees . I wish I'd jumped into the car to try to chase it down, because I think it was the cat crap jerk.

Choke Cherry or Poison-Berry?

Did you know coneflowers smell very sweet? I had no idea.

Remember this? It used to be the death-by-pricker patch. I think we're going to tear the back deck off and rebuild a small one here with the usable boards, then put a new one out back.

Texas Hots--The Review

 First, no one in TX would have the sense to name this hotdog after their beloved state.  The weenies were of a pink that seems to suit toenails more so than meat. The sauce, secret or not, looked like brown-green, watery diarrhea with a load of onions on top. It tasted sour, beanish, with a hint of relish. The milkshakes( $3.25 each) were watery, more milk than  ice cream with a couple squirts of chocolate syrup. The french fries had to have been from the bottom of a fryer full of vintage oil; they were the cheap, shoestring variety cooked to a very dark brown.  Let's just say burned. The 3 of us couldn't swallow more than one fry each. The restaurant was cute, with cool looking tin ceiling tiles. It looks like a popular place, but that just makes me wonder what the people eat the rest of the week that makes them crowd the place on weekends. We didn't try the Texas hamburger--but apparently it's burger meat folded inside a hot dog bun. We barely made it to K Mart's restroom...

The zoo docent told us that the orangutans' hill doesn't have termites in it.  They poke their sticks in it to get strawberry jello. Sure beats a Texas Hot.

Woodchuckapalooza

   The woodchucks now outnumber us by far. They're everywhere.  The ones in the front yard are now peeking in the basement windows. Maybe they've learned this is the place where they'll not be shot while nibbling clover. Maybe it's because someone  put out piles of greens behind the shed(their original domicile). They've only destroyed the radishes and one borage plant, and now spend their afternoons rolling their fat bellies around in the flowerbed. This one is Rusty's arch nemesis.

This reminds me of the "Hang In There" kitten poster that  hung in every single room in my college dorm.

Glad Time

 The gladiolas have started to bloom. So far they're solid red, a deep purple, and this one. I can't remember if I had this color last year.

Chemung County Fair

Can't remember his name, but he definitely wanted me to take him home to run around our yard and eat lots of treats.

 We spent yesterday in Elmira. Grandma B wanted Walt to experience a county fair. It was a great day--good weather, lots of expensive, greasy food, exotic animals to pet, and many barnyard animals to see and smell. As you all know, walking through a barn and smelling hay and manure is something I really enjoy. I spent a long time in the poultry barn, trying to decide the types of chickens I'd like have someday. I also realized I have no desire to own goats or pigs, though a miniature cow might be a good companion for my  alpacas.

Look what Ken and I bought! We thought it would be a fun past-time while Walt's away.  I let him get the studded bag, and he let me personalize my helmet!

Sorry, pigs. I can't muster up any special feelings for you guys, although you and Rusty would have fun snuffling around the yard.

I think this is a watusi.

Why does he look like a freaky David Letterman? Maybe off the coast from Beaumont/Port Arthur, but not Fiji! The "wild little people" are just toddlers in fruit- of- the- looms.

She's probably a mannequin. Have no idea why the painter's there.

Walt claims this is most likely a dog with mange.

I've always wanted a Polish poofy head, but honestly- they all seemed very diabolical to me, (and I spent a long time with them)

 I'm positive Sesame Street's Big Bird was based on her.

Rochester Zoo

 We went to Rochester Tuesday.  The zoo is tiny; we walked it in just over an hour. The nice part about it, though, is that you can see the animals up close. The bird house is just one large room, and the birds walk all around you. It was odd to see how the zoo is right next to a small neighborhood on one side, and the Genesee River on another. The houses were virtually next door.  I bet they hear some cool sounds at night.

The landscaping was gorgeous. Whatever that is, I want it. (Balloon flower?)

This little guy was a nut. He wandered all over the place like a drunkard, and if one of them knocked it off his head, he'd grab it and put it back on. A really big, old one walked up and knocked a baby out of the box, then sat and held the box so no one else could sit in it. We all know that type, right?

They never moved--I suspect they're stuffed...

I'd never seen a polar bear before, so I was at first excited.

10 to 15 minutes later, he shifted to this position...

I love the ladies' faces. All the men that walked up nonchalantly looked around, then sneaked  a pic with their phones.

Amish, Basketball, Peaches, and Hay

We went for a drive yesterday. Stopped at an Amish store for peaches( $15 for 51 large size), but they don't taste as heavenly as the Canisteo ones from last summer), then meandered down a few roads full of Amish farms before reaching the park. At the store, I saw a sign asking for M.T. egg cartons.  I have a huge amount saved, but I thought they needed the M. T. type( brand??) Walt said that perhaps the sign maker couldn't spell empty, or maybe it was written by a teen. Chat-speak, Amish style.

I wish I'd had the better camera, to show all the clothes hanging there. It must be a pain trying to see whose blue shirt/pants belong to who. Can you see how they hang across the line and all across the front porch?

I like the shape of the hay piles.

Don't worry, they're too cool to have totally matching shoes. Good thing Walt wore his black jeans.