Welcome back to Joani’s Corner.
When is this heat going to end? My poor plants have suffered but
are still hanging in. Both my plants and I will be very glad to be
out of the 90 degree wilt days. I’ve run out of excuses to stay
inside.....the house is clean, the laundry is done, shopping is
completed....etc., etc.
It’s surprising that so many
plants have done just fine even with our now limited watering
abilities.
On September 23 there will be a full moon. It’s most familiar name
is the Full Harvest Moon. And this full moon is right at the
Autumnal Equinox. Which means that the angle of the moon’s orbit
is relative to the Earth’s horizon and is at it’s minimum. This
causes the full moon to be very bright and to rise above the
horizon much faster than usual and it will appear to rise about
the same time for several days.
Other names for it is the
Full Corn Moon which allows the farmers more time to harvest corn.
Another name is the Full Barley Moon it’s time to harvest and
thresh it.
Central
Florida
Average High - 90º - Average Low - 72º
Expected rainfall is 5.76"
In 1988 the record high was 98º
In 1956 the record low was 56º
Tallahassee
Average High - 89º - Average Low - 69º
Expected rainfall is 5.01"
In 1927 the record high was 102º
In 1967 the record low was 40º
Jacksonville
Average High - 85º - Average Low 73º
Expected rainfall is 7.53"
In 1972 the record high was 98º
In 1981 the record low was 53º
Melbourne
Average High - 88º - Average Low - 72º
Expected rainfall is 7.20"
In 1972 the record high was 98º
In 1982 the record low was 58º
Florida
Wildlife Adventures for September
Hawk (Photo: Joani MacCu)
Some northern birds will begin returning to Florida.
So get those bird feeders ready and stock up on bird
seed. And don’t forget the squirrel baffles!!
Hawk migration begins in Gulf County.
Bald eagles
will be returning to nesting sites and will begin
courtship. Watch for them it is quite a sight to see.
Gray bats start their migration to Alabama caves for
winter hibernation.
Manatees will be returning to
the warmer waters of our rivers, bays and near water
plants.
Spadefoot frogs will be chirping in the
evening especially after heavy rains.
Blue crabs
begin their migration from the shallow panhandle coast
to the deeper waters for the winter. The blue crab
‘jubilee’ also begins along the beaches in the
panhandle.
(click to enlarge)
Hints: This is a nice and unusual plant to own. It’s a tough
little plant and will do well in a hanging basket.
It
prefers to live in partial to light shady areas outdoors. Water
lightly only as needed.
It’s grown for it’s foliage which is
blue green and not it’s inconspicuous flowers.
Now it’s up to
you.......do you know ? ? Whatizzzit ? ?
and one more... Squirrel Chronicle (Let me see, I think
that's Chapter 11)
I thought the squirrel
chronicles were done....a few years ago. I was so sure that
everything that squirrels could do to irritate me was
over.....it isn’t.
These questions go over in my
squirrel-shattered mind. Do we give them more credit than is
due? .......Are they really as clever as it seems? .....Do you
think they have nightly meetings just to discuss their daily
experiences with us humans? ..... Are they really from another
planet and are they trying to think of ways to drive us off
our planet? Are they actually the devil in disguise sporting a
furry tail and speaking in squirrel chatter? As far as I’m
concerned these things are all absolutely true.
Ok.....this is what actually happened to me........ as I
was innocently trying to put up the Christmas decorations last
year...... Tom had just left for a consultation and would
be away for just about the whole day. I was ‘leisurely’
(remember that
word...leisurely) dressed relaxing on the porch that’s off our
bedroom. All the windows were open and a nice breeze was
coming through. Since I had the whole day to myself, I decided
to make a list of things I’d like to do for the day. Should I
stay home and decorate for Christmas?.......go shopping?
......do a little yard work?
As I was deep into my
thoughts I kept hearing a strange sound like clanking and
boards hitting each other in the distance. As this porch is at
tree height on an upper level of our home, I looked outside to
see if it was a baby bird calling for it’s parents or maybe
two limbs hitting each other in the breezes. There were no
squirrels in sight either. Finally I went downstairs to locate
the sound hoping nothing was wrong in the house while Tom was
gone. All seemed ok.....and quiet.
As I was going
upstairs.....the sound came again so I went out the back yard.
Still not dressed for being outside at all. Then I saw the
culprit.....or should I say culprits. About 5 or 6.....maybe
10 (that’s called squirrel imagination).....were stripping the
bark off our river birch tree while chattering and chasing
each other through the tree and jumping off to our pool screen
and running around making quite a bit of noise. I went out the
screen door and slammed it loudly to scare them off. I should
have known better.....they probably only thought I was in
contention for their noise contest. Realizing I wasn’t fooling
around or maybe seeing that I wasn’t really dressed for a
confrontation, decided to scurry off....except for one. IT
stayed there and looked down at me......I picked up a piece of
mulch and started to try to throw it towards it......didn’t
move at all.....I reached for another piece. When I looked up
again it was gone......gone meaning I couldn’t see it.
All seemed quiet so I decided to give up and go inside. Since
I was barefoot and my feet were super dirty by now, I didn’t
want to track muddy footprints all over the patio so I went
around the side of the house. Thankfully the yard is fenced in
or the neighbors would have thought I had gone way off the
edge. My relationship with the neighbors is rather tenuous
anyway.
Anyway I washed my feet off nicely in our
fountain.....that also could have been a sight to
see....walked to a wood deck Tom had just finished and finally
got to the patio so I could enter the house. The door to the
house looked pretty good to me. But when I got to it.....the
door was locked.
Our daughter had come home and
noticed the door was unlocked and locked it. I knocked on the
door.....but to no avail. She enjoys having her radio a
‘little’ on the loud side...... it’s a good thing the weather
was nice and warm......
There has to be a solution to
this...... by now hopefully some of our neighbors may be off
to work, out Christmas shopping or inside enjoying breakfast.
I had no choice but go to the front of the house and get in
the garage door. Luckily we have one of those key pads to open
it.
Luckily Tom had left his bright blue plastic tarp,
thankfully it wasn’t see-through plastic, on the deck that he
was reconstructing. I wrapped up in it and headed to the front
of the house. If anybody saw me......with or without that
tarp, they probably would have called for back up! No cars
came and I heard no doors slamming.......I was safe. The
garage door opened nicely and I was at last and thankfully
inside. Whew....what a relief!!
So as I see it......the
squirrels enjoyed yet another Episode of the Squirrel
Chronicles at my expense and possible embarrassment. I just
know they were up in one tree or another watching the whole
situation and giggling their little furry heads off.
word...leisurely) dressed relaxing on the porch that’s off our
bedroom. All the windows were open and a nice breeze was
coming through. Since I had the whole day to myself, I decided
to make a list of things I’d like to do for the day. Should I
stay home and decorate for Christmas?.......go shopping?
......do a little yard work?