Month: May 2014

Not a whole lot going on here.  I’m out of a job again, having finally quit my job at *major retailer who’s not long for this world if they keep doing what they’re doing*, which I should have done a long time ago, but I kept hoping to find something else first.  But I finally decided that I needed to quit before I lost my temper at the store manager again.  Its easier to find a new job when you’ve QUIT your last job vs having been fired from it.

The garden is mostly doing very well.  I’m not sure that the sunflowers and corn are going to make it, not sure what I did wrong there, but I have some guesses, we’ll see I guess.  Everything else is thriving, though I added some bloodmeal to the dirt under the cucumbers and the sugar snap peas yesterday as they were looking a bit yellowish.  We came within a few degrees of a frost just a couple days ago, but everything seems to have survived the experience.

We almost ended up with another Tibetan Mastiff this month.  There’s a breeder in Oregon who has a special needs litter, and as such is struggling to place them into appropriate homes.  The number of folks who can handle TMs is limited.  The number of folks who can handle TMs AND the potential medical costs and needs and heartbreak is even smaller.  Unfortunately we were unable to arrange suitable transport from OR to upstate NY.  Apparently NO ONE flies direct flights from OR to any of the upstate NY airports.  I found 1 flight direct into JFK, but thats a 5-6hr drive each way depending on traffic.  My parents who’re in MA offered to pick up the pup at the Boston airport and drive her to us, but even there, direct flights were almost non-exsistant, and none met the needed requirements.  At that point I started looking at what it would cost for me to fly out there and pick her up and fly back (that way we could do a layover), but it would have been $950 just for the plane tickets, another $200 to check the puppy as baggage (she’s to big to go as a carryon), plus crating and medical cert costs.  And since I can realistically expect to have to drop at LEAST that much money on vet appointments within the pup’s first month here I just didn’t have that to spare TOO.

On that same note, if you’re up to a Tibetan Mastiff (think bigger fluffier Akita with extra guardian), and up to the potential medical and heartbreak please let me know, I’ll put you in touch with the breeder.

On a happier note, last week while taking the dogs on their property rounds we discovered that the warblers had invaded the pines on the back lines.  There were a TON of little brightly colored birds hopping around in the pines.  They’re such little jumpy little things, I struggled to photograph and ID them, but I managed to catch solid looks at a Yellow Warbler:

 

A Chestnut Sided Warbler:

 

And a Magnolia Warbler:

 

The late migrating Snowy Owl who was hanging around a nearby farm finally moved on, but not before I managed to snatch one last picture:

 

This year I decided to experiment with putting out orange slices on a platform feeder to see if I could entice in the Orioles, and boy did I ever!

The above are all Baltimore Orioles, and I’ve been enjoying watching them.  Though I could have done without the one male who kept trying to attack his reflection in the window…..

What really made it all worth while though was this bird:

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a female Orchard Oriole!  Not technically rare here, but often hard to spot, and I’d never seen one before.  She’s been back a few times since, but so far no sign of a male, cross your fingers for me!