Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Not what I expected from a birthday, but hey...

All set to drop the girls off at school and do some solitary birding, I hopped in the car and drove to school. No one in the parking lot. Wha...?
Did you know that today is a National Day of Mourning? And that schools were closed?
Damn.
So I got to spend the whole day with the girls, which wasn't in my plans, but we had fun anyway.
Pics from Magrish Riverland Preserve:
Burl: An outgrowth on a tree, possibly caused by bacteria, causes the tree to grow these lumps. If they are small, the tree can continue to grow, but if the burl is large, it can cause the tree to die. I first read about burls in Birds & Blooms magazine.
Wood turners will pay big bucks for a large burl. The burls are harder to cut than a regular piece of wood, since the grain is not straight, but curled and fancy, hence the wood turner's desire to use it. It makes beautiful bowls. (Hint for next year's birthday!)


Hey, Mary! I saw a great blue heron today, too!

It was darn cold this morning at Magrish. Even the river scum was frozen. This could be anything...I bet it's animal fats.

Pam has me looking in appreciation at fungus now. Here you go, Pam!

And finally, why I truly love my rats:

Penny, the "mommy" rat, loves my long-sleeved nightgowns, and crawls up to my elbow, turns around, and just hangs out. If I bend my fingers down, she will groom them. She crawled all the way up once, and got hold of THE GIRLS (ahem)...so I don't let her go up that far anymore.

Since I had the girls on a day I wasn't expecting to, Geoff took the girls to our YMCA so I could enjoy some solitude. Thanks, Geoff. Love you.

So ends my 34th birthday. Thanks, all of you, for sending your warm wishes, and also to Mary and Pam, who did special posts just for me today. I love blogging.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey happy birthday! i've heard rats make great pets - they sound like fun.

-carri ann
aka bilbos mum

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Susan! I wish I was 34 again.

Mary said...

I'm with Dave. I loved my 30's.

I don't think I'd enjoy Penny crawling all over me like you described. Yikes!

Glad your birthday was a good one, Susan!

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday. The rats are ...well...I couldn't do that. But, hey, whatever makes you happy - and you sound happy!

Blessings to you!

Anonymous said...

I never thought I'd say it but your rat has a very sweet face peeking out of your sleeve!

The Swami said...

Lynne,
Swami thinks you had better make an emergency visit to an eye doctor, or perhaps a whole team of them:
a rat with "...a very sweet face..."

This definitely indicates a major vision problem.

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I had no idea about the National Day of Mourning. I feel bad -- didn't mourn at all yesterday!

Oh well, I'll think some nice thoughts for Gerald Ford today -- I doubt he'll mind.

Good job on Geoff for giving you some solitude -- that is a wonderful gift!

Anonymous said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSAN !! Hope it was a good one.

Anonymous said...

I love burls - for the cool bowls they can make, of course, not for the damage they can do to the tree. I hope you receive a wooden bowl for your birthday next year - if not sooner.
Cool fungi! They're all over the place once you're on to looking for them, aren't they? Just like birds are now that I'm looking.
Ouch ouch ouch - thinking about a rat getting ahold of "the girls" - no!!!
Yay to Geoff for giving you some time off after you expected the day to yourself!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to have missed your birthday yesterday, but I was in deep Mourning.

Hope it was happy.






Har har.

Anonymous said...

I love it, a rat-lover. I have cats now but had rats for years. I used to love how they would hang out in my sleeves. Most people don't understand what wonderful pets they make.
I'll be back for the carnival.