Cordelia's Mom, Still

The Huntress Returns

Posted on June 17, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Yes, the fenced in yard is wonderful, but there are drawbacks.

In order to make room for the new fence, we had to clear the brush and overhanging tree limbs, and for the sake of expediency, we threw that stuff next to the garage pending removal on trash day. Of course, we then forgot to actually take it out on trash day.

Subsequently, we noticed a couple of large bunnies going in and out of the brush pile, and they were driving Puppy Cody nuts. So, today hubby went out and bound up the branches and moved them elsewhere, determined that they will go out to the curb next week (hopefully).

When the brush pile was removed, we discovered a bunny nest underneath. Guess we should have thought of that – after all, two large bunnies playing around the yard?

Enter Puppy Cody. Took her all of 30 seconds to find that nest before we could get to it – and she grabbed the uppermost baby bunny and took off. Yes, she proceeded to eat the poor baby before we could get to her. Hopefully, it won’t make her sick. I just keep reminding myself that it’s merely meat, and dogs are used to eating meat.

The other babies are, as far as I know, still in the nest – which we covered with a large heavy plastic pan to keep Cody away from it. The pan is rectangular and has raised areas at each end, which should allow the adult bunnies to get to their babies.

If the adult bunnies come back. I hope they do. One dead baby bunny is upsetting enough.

Poor Cody is frustrated that I won’t let her out to do some more hunting. I can’t blame her for acting like the dog that she is, but that doesn’t mean I have to like that part of her personality.

Poor hubby had to pick up the dead baby bunny. Not much of a Father’s Day for him, I’m afraid.

So, enough sadness for today.

What is this flower?

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my readers to identify a flower that’s growing on a bush in my front yard (see photo above). No one was able to give a definitive answer. The best we all could do is decide that it’s some kind of dwarf honeysuckle or mini-hydrangea. Since it smells like honeysuckle, I’m going with that.

What is this flower?

Now you all have a chance to identify a different flower. What is the pretty red flower pictured above? It also grows on a bush and has no scent.

And, since we’re playing “What Is It?“, you get extra points if you can identify the make and model of the new car my daughter bought yesterday. See the photo below. Hint: She bought one of the blue ones.

Enough for today. For those who are grilling in honor of Dad, have a hot dog or hamburger for me. We’ve had our share of excitement and are staying in for the rest of the day, except that I will go out this evening and water the flowers in front, including the one below (which I bought, and which was tagged with its identifying information, yay!).

MiniFamous Neo White + Yellow Eye Calibrachoa

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

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Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Pets, That's Life | Tagged bunnies, bunny, Cody, dogs, nature, Puppy Cody | 35 Comments

A Short Stroll in the Park

Posted on June 10, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Amy Rose has her favorite parks, and I have mine. Amy is into hiking and bike riding, bless her athletic little heart. I’m more into groomed sedate pathways, preferably not too far from a clean public bathroom.

Now that I’m off on Fridays, I discovered that my normal library branch is closed on that day, so I researched other branches. There are several within easy driving distance of my new home, but the listing that jumped out at me was the Audubon branch. I had totally forgotten about that branch – and the fact that it is adjacent not only to the Amherst Police Station and Town Court (should I ever need to go there, heaven forbid) but it is also next to Walton Woods Park.

A number of years ago when our kids were young, we occasionally took them to that park for a nice walk. There is no playground, but it is very pretty, and restrooms are available in the library (a must with young children).

It’s a perfect park for a fat old lady like me. The trail is only 1.4 miles, and is completely paved. Even I can do 1.4 miles on a paved trail.

So, off I went to return some library books, pick up some new books, and take some nature photos.

The entrance to the park is not easy to find, but having been there before, I knew just where to look.

Immediately inside the park entrance, the path comes to the man-made lake and forks in either direction to surround that lake.

There are benches placed strategically for those of us who need to rest, a lot.

As I stood at the bottom of a short incline taking photos of the lake, another “mature” couple strolled by and commented that nature is beautiful. I smiled and replied, “Yes, it is, but I’m not taking bets as to whether or not I’ll fall into the pond.” They chuckled and moved on.

I decided to take the path opposite from the way they were going so as to have a bit more privacy and came upon another bench, and a large boulder which people can sit on should they choose to do so.

People fish in the lake (I guess it’s kept stocked). Some fishermen are not as good as others.

I really had gone less than 1/4 mile when I took the final photos. Just past the next curve is a fairly new housing subdivision. Many times when walking with our kids, I envied people who lived in those houses – such a great view!

Then my camera battery died! Had I really taken that many photos since I got that camera? Yeah, probably so. Next time, I’ll need to charge up the camera before heading out.

It was a nice, peaceful walk, however short – and now I have a new place to go for photo shoots. If I remember correctly, the far side of the lake can get a bit wild despite the paved pathway.

A little piece of heaven only 15 minutes from home, where even my aged legs can manage. Definitely, I will be going back with a fully charged camera.

And, on the way home, I noted two other small parks that I didn’t previously know about. I intend to check those out, too.

There will be lots of park photos in the future. Surely, something to look forward to.

Back to work tomorrow, but it was a beautiful, enjoyable weekend (and no contractors – yay!).

Hope yours was relaxing. too.

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

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Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Photography, Road Trips & Cars, That's Life | Tagged lake, nature, parks, stroll, Walton Woods, Western New York, WNY | 19 Comments

Thank You, Robert Frost

Posted on June 8, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

Yes, indeedy. Good fences do make good neighbors.

The people from City Fence in Buffalo did an awesome job of fencing Puppy Cody in while at the same time fencing the loony neighbor out. I love my new fence!

(Note: For those of you who only come here for photos of Puppy Cody, scroll down to the bottom – but really, don’t you want to read the post first?)

It didn’t take long for the bunny chasing to begin. The very first night, I took Cody out on a long retractable leash to get her used to her new “playpen.” Halfway across the yard was a bunny, who obviously wasn’t expecting visitors. The poor bunny must have come out of its rabbit hole in the lawn (gotta fill that in!) because when it realized Cody was within scent distance, it ran and couldn’t find its way out of the yard. Those fences are right down to the ground. I had been assured there would be no gaps through which a 44-lb. dog could escape, and apparently even a small bunny couldn’t get through!

Excellent work, City Fence!

Thank heavens for the leash. Cody would have caught that bunny as it tried valiantly to leap over the six-foot fence section at the back of the yard. Poor terrified bunny!

Fortunately, there are two gates, both of which have some ground clearance – not enough for Cody to squeeze under, but fine for a small critter. Allowing Cody just a wee bit of leash length, we managed to chase that bunny to the side gate so it could escape before being caught and maybe eaten, and before having a little bunny heart attack.

After which, Cody and I went back inside and collapsed. It was really hard holding that dog back while she was whimpering in frustration and trying to run. She wanted to play catch-me-if-you-can! After all, the bunny started it.

For now, Cody’s excursions into the yard will be somewhat limited. We need to fill in several holes which present serious hazards to a speeding canine. I let her out off-leash for purposes of taking photos for this post, and hubby would not be happy if he found out, so don’t tell him. Hopefully, we’ll get those holes filled in this weekend.

I can only hope that one of those holes is not, in fact, a nest of baby bunnies. That would not be a good thing, at least for some of us. I’m sure Cody would love a bunch of new little playmates, but the bunnies might not appreciate it and I don’t need my shoulder torn from the socket while attempting to hold back an overly excited dog.

Next step is to put up privacy screening along the back so that we don’t even have to look at Miss Loony Tunes. May she tend her plants from her side of the fence and enjoy the fact that she is now fenced in by neighbors on all three sides. That’s what happens when you irritate people over silly little issues, like peeing dogs.

And now the promised photos of Cody enjoying her new yard:

Wait, I don’t have a leash! What am I supposed to do? Mom ????

Oh, ok. Let’s go explore!

Whoa! Gotta be some bunnies back here somewhere!

Where’s that bunny?

I’ll just wait for that bunny to come back.

Well, if that bunny’s not coming back, guess I’ll just have to play by my own self!

Mom and Jamie put some pretty flowers out front. I think the bunny wants to eat them. Gotta catch that bunny!

Happy Friday, Everyone! Enjoy your weekend!

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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com

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Images by Cordelia’s Mom

Posted in Household Items, That's Life | Tagged bunny, City Fence, Cody, dogs, fence, houses, neighbors, Puppy Cody, yard | 35 Comments

Finally!

Posted on May 30, 2018 by cordeliasmom2012

It only took nine months, but the fence installation has begun!

Puppy Cody will be so pleased to chase the bunnies and squirrels.

In hindsight, it’s just as well that the first fence contractor stiffed us last year. At that point, we had only met the neighbors on either side of us, and both those families are normal.

The lady behind us, however, is not.

At 6:30 am on Easter Sunday, I took Cody out on leash to do her business. We walked the perimeter, and she decided to “go” along the back property line. We were fully on our property, but the lady behind has some kind of flower garden which encroaches several inches onto my land. Unfortunately, Cody was in that encroached area.

Where Cody peed. My land starts at the end of that fence. The “garden” is over the line.

Miss Loony Tunes came running out of her house, in pajamas and curlers, screaming at me to get the dog off her plants. Really, I didn’t even realize they were “plants” – they looked like dead weeds to me. I simply responded, “Ok, and you stop your dog from pooping in my yard.” (Yes, her dog runs loose, and we have found piles well inside our yard.)

She started to reply, and Puppy Cody and I simply walked away. No way am I getting into some kind of confrontation on Easter Sunday, especially when I’m not even fully awake.

The next day, I called the fence contractor and changed our order. What was originally going to be a four-foot fence all the way around, will now be six feet along that back line. (Lesson – never piss off Cordelia’s Mom.)

I’m glad I made that call. Over Memorial Day weekend, we watched Loony and her teenage sons climb all over, putting in new flowers, shrubs, etc. – and they were doing it from my side of the line! At one point, we watched them relaxing on my lawn. We didn’t even feel comfortable going out to do our own yard work because we didn’t want a confrontation.

Now we understood why the chain link fence which was along the back line when we first looked at the house had been removed at some point last spring. She wanted to expand her garden onto the adjoining property.

Beginning of the 6-foot fence.

It was difficult not to say anything, but we knew the fence work was starting on Tuesday. We decided to let Loony do all that work and be surprised when she learned that from here on, she will have to tend the garden from her side of the fence. It won’t be easy for her, poor thing, but maybe next time Loony will think before she ticks off her neighbor.

Guess I can understand why there’s a fairly new six-foot vinyl fence between her property and her northerly neighbor. Looks like there may be issues there, as well.

At any rate, that back line is a couple of hundred feet from my house, so once the fence is up, we’ll no longer have any dealing with Miss Loony Tunes. We’ll put a privacy screen against the chain link to block the view. Problem solved!

Already looking good, isn’t it? Once the concrete sets, the chain link will go up.

Only another five to seven days, and Puppy Cody can play! I can hardly wait.

(Meanwhile, I’ve done some gardening of my own. Can anyone tell me what the white flower is? It grows on a bush and was here when we bought the house. The Peruvian Lily is in a pot that we bought over the weekend.)

Name this flower – please?