Daisy’s Big Weekend Adventure!

What a gorgeous summery weekend we had! Can you guess where we took Daisy for her first big summer adventure?

You got it – the beach! But not just any beach – this is an amenities-free beach and a nature preserve, a completely natural peninsula along our coast. No noisy boardwalk games, no oily fried smells filling the air, no man-made attractions detracting from nature’s beauty.

This was Daisy’s first time on a beach, and we were so excited to see how she’d react to the sand, the new salty-sea smells, the water, and all the other new discoveries.

Why is all that water rushing toward me? Is that a giant bathtub??

What’s that over there?

Needless to say, she LOVED it!

This is one happy pup!

What a great time we all had! Daisy was constantly on the alert, chasing birds while they flew overhead, testing the salt water, checking out the sand (and deciding it wasn’t so tasty after all!), and investigating the newness of it all.

This is SO cool!

I’ll be posting more pictures of the great birds and other natural beauties of this place soon!

WOW! Our Latest Culinary Discovery: Sweet Red-White Corn!

We discovered this unusual corn at a wonderful little local Italian market – we didn’t even know either one existed (both the corn and the market!) until last weekend! It’s a hybrid variety of sweet white corn and red Indian corn – and it’s delicious!!

Sorry for the bad lighting; the kernels are more white than yellow!

DD and I can only manage half an ear of corn with dinner, and I was glad I had reason to break an ear in half! Take a look at the color pattern difference in these two halves of the same ear:

Two halves of the same ear - very different color patterns!

We were enjoying the corn so much, I didn’t think to take a picture of the cob after a bite was taken until I’d already demolished two rows. While some of the rich redness in the kernels fades during cooking, the cob stays ruby red:

Faded kernels, deep red cob!

The differences between red-white corn and regular corn is that the red-white has slightly crisper kernels and a bit lighter corn flavor. I’d get more of this unusual corn in a second; in fact, I’m getting more tomorrow!  :D

What We’re Doing During This Unbearably Hot Summer….

It hasn’t been what we’d call a “fun” summer – it’s been SO hot and humid that none of the neighborhood kids are even playing outside and hardly anybody is even barbecuing!! We were more active during all those heavy snow days – at least we could breathe when we went outside!

This hot weather poops me out!

It’s been over 100 degrees and HUMID, so the heat index is still 110+. But we NEVER miss the county fair, so we went last weekend in the evening instead of during the day – the temps actually went UP 2 degrees and the humidity got worse! That’s just crazy! If you didn’t carry around a big ice cold lemonade or some such drink, you just melted away into a big puddle.

So all of our outdoor plans for Daisy have been curtailed for the most part – she can’t stand excessive heat and runs to lie in the shade almost immediately. So instead of going here and there to explore new outdoor places, we turned this:

into this:

and this:

into this:

Chocolate covered blueberry clusters

MORE chocolate covered blueberry clusters!

We may be stuck indoors, but we’re having a great time with summer fruits!

Peeking and Poking – The Real Peeping Toms

We’re among those in the midst of a dangerous, nasty heat wave. Last week we had temps of 102 with a heat index of 110+ for several days, and it’s still bad. It’s absolutely unbreathable out there. I’ve spent more time indoors this summer than I did all winter!

I heard reports that farm animals (particularly cattle) and wild turkeys have been dying from the heat. I didn’t want that to happen to our little (and big) visitors, so I put a tray of water on the patio near the bird feeder so they wouldn’t dehydrate.

Okay, I didn't realize this old pan of my grandmother's is actually a roasting pan and the water got warm....fortunately we didn't end up with turkey soup!

I guess they consider this a safe haven now, and they’re getting more curious about what lies beyond the walls. First they started peeking:

Then they started poking:

Yes, it’s actually tapping on the glass door with its beak! How wild is that!?

Thankfully, Daisy doesn’t like the heat at all, so she’s been lazying about on any pillow she can find. This keeps her away from the glass door, where I’m sure she’d have gone ballistic!

It's too hot to move!

Stay cool, my friends!

Daisy’s Summer Park Romp

This weekend we took Daisy for a mile-long walk around the lake in a local municipal center. Naturally, she was VERY happy to be going for a ride….

I don't know where we're going, but I can't wait to get there!

….and VERY excited at the sight of a new place to explore….

It’s such a beautiful place – the Town Hall and Police Department are housed in a classically-styled, unimposing brick building, and they’ve kept the area natural (other than keeping the grass mowed) and let nature do its beautiful thing.

Well we picked one of a string of brutally hot days for this walk (heat index of 102+) – the trail is mostly in the sun. Even though we got out there by 9:30, it was already getting nasty.

So we decided to quit after the single one-mile loop around the lake, especially since Daisy was panting up a storm.

The bullfrogs croaked their love calls, turtles jumped and splashed into the lake, dragonflies flitted about, birds of all sorts created a cacophonous melody, and ducks and geese  floated serenely across water muddied by recent storms.

It was sheer heaven, despite the heat. Daisy loved every second of it as much as we did!

What's over there? Let's check it out!

Talkin’ Turkey – Oh, The Drama!!

Wow oh wow – this is a real turkey of a summer! LOL

Remember those three little wild turkeys who quickly turned into medium-sized turkeys? They come to our bird feeder every morning now and peck at whatever has landed on the ground.

The original trio that's now The Twosome.

WELL….. last week a family of TWELVE wild turkeys showed up – two parents and TEN little fuzzers!

A few members of the Clan of Twelve with Poppa.

They usually come for dinner and spend at least 20-30 minutes dining on whatever has fallen from the feeder.

Today, both Turkey Clans showed up at the same time. Not good.
I couldn’t get any photos because I was riveted to the action and didn’t want to walk away to get my camera.

The medium-sized turkeys (now only two instead of three; I don’t even want to think about that) approached the food area at the same time as the Clan of Twelve. The Twosome were more than happy to share – not so with the Clan of Twelve. Momma and Poppa ran the Twosome off, flapping their huge wings and making never-before-heard (by me) turkey warning sounds.

Poppa was content to push them ten yards away – but not Momma. She went after them, driving them hither and yon, until there was half an acre between those two usurpers and her brood (now down to only 9 babies, but I don’t want to think about that either. They’ll always be the Clan of Twelve to me.).

Momma (light colored), Poppa, and a few kiddies.

One of the babies actually tried to step in and chase off the Twosome as well! Ah, like mother, like daughter.

By the time Momma came back to her Clan, Poppa had rounded up his group in a tight little bunch, and they all headed out of the yard. I don’t get it – they’d earned Exclusive Feeding Rights, yet they passed up the food and left.

Apparently the Twosome was hiding behind the huge evergreen in the back corner of the yard, because once the Clan had gone, they came back and reaped the rewards of their patience.

This is like a combination of an Aesop’s Fable and a daytime soap opera: The Days of Our Turkeys? The Turkeys of Our Lives? The Young and The Turkeys?

Needless to say, I had to keep Daisy AWAY from the window during this whole fiasco. But she’s back on guard now.

Poppa and a few Poppettes

The Perfect Havachon Bed

Earlier this summer, I switched our thick, heavy fall/winter comforter over to a lighter-weight summer bed cover. I’d folded the winter cover over several times and propped it up so DH could help me put it away.

Well, wouldn’t you know that little Daisy would discover this cushy cover and claim it for her own? She stayed on it almost the whole day, not wanting to give up her new-found bed for anything – not even her favorite back yard window!

No matter how many blankets and pillows she’s curled up on, I don’t think anything compared to the softness of this comforter! Thank goodness she doesn’t shed!!

This is the best bed EVER!

 

::YAWN::

 

Could you please leave this here forever?

What do you get when you leave a man alone with a dog and a clipper?

Man + Clipper + dog with long-haired ears that tend to mat = end result of:

Who knew her ears were so tiny under all that hair?!

Before the cut - which do you think looks better, long or short hair on her ears?

Woman + Clipper + long butt hair that tends to trap you-know-what = end result of:

Daisy's butt cut, a bit too much cut from the butt, I think....

Lemon Plum, Anyone?

We interrupt our usual Daisy posts to bring you this little touch of summertime fruit…..

DH is off this week, and we’re trying to get a LOT done around the house in preparation for some big renovations this summer. I won’t have time to post as much as usual, but I did want to pass along a picture of one of the most unusual plums I’ve ever had:

This is a lemon plum. I’ve never seen one before or since we got this one at a local farm market. They always have some unique fruits in season at this wonderful place, and DD and I like to try almost every new thing we find there.

The lemon plum was fabulous! It started out summer-yellow and reddened to a luscious color as it ripened over the next couple of days. It actually did have a slight lemony taste mixed with the plum flavor – we loved it! And the fact that it was shaped like a heart just made it all the more appealing.

Guess Who Came To Dinner….And Breakfast!

Wild turkey family!

Yup, a proud mama turkey and her three little turkey-ettes! Early yesterday morning, DD heard what she thought was an injured dog call outside, but when she opened the sliding glass door blinds, she saw the Wild Turkey Family hanging out on our patio!

The Three Turkey-ettes

They left after a while but came back again in the evening; apparently they’re just strolling around the neighborhood, hanging out, finding food, and bringing smiles and awe to all who see them.

That Mama Turkey is one BIG bird!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Where'd the turkeys go??