Sunday Turtles

To be strictly accurate, this should have been Saturday Turtles.  But it's Sunday and I'm posting now.  The turtle part, however, is from Saturday.  Frasier had another turtle toy that he found in the back yard.  He was very interested in something at the fence line and Bill could see that it was something dark.  He thought it was a turtle, but couldn't tell for sure that it wasn't actually a snake at first.  Frasier didn't have any better luck with this one than he usually does, he tried to pick it up but the shell was just too difficult for him to manage.  Also, this was a bigger one than he's had to deal with before.  It was a female and she was not happy!  I don't think I blame her, she was just trying to do turtle things and this large coyote dog was trying to play with her.  She has been liberated to the area behind the house, but she didn't particularly want to be.  The dogs had been doing some excavating and there was a spot that nearly went under the fence.  I scraped out a little more dirt, just big enough for her, and put her mostly through it.  She almost backed up, so I had to encourage her gently to go forward.  I thought she was about to turn around and come back under the fence, but fortunately she realized that she didn't really want to be in our yard.  Which is a good thing, because she was a fairly large turtle and I'd had a hard time picking her up - everytime I thought I had her, she would literally jump away from me.  Turtles have a defensive posture which includes opening their mouths wide and she was doing that every time I tried to pick her up.  She never did stick her head out of the shell, but it would have been the next thing she did.  Because turtle neck length varies between species and even between individual turtles, I really wasn't sure how far back on the shell to place my hands.  So I had to try to grab pretty far back and she would use her back legs to dislodge my hands.  They have long claws and very strong legs, so she was really hard to grab and then even harder to hold onto.  (Yes I know - tortoise not turtle!).

Otter and I did some thrifting this afternoon.  She found what she was looking for, she needed a blouse for a specific outfit and we found one that would work.  As well as a couple of other blouses and a skirt for her, plus we each found a couple of books.  No Fenton, which has been typical lately.  Also no yarn.

Speaking of yarn, I've given up on the crocheted dachsund project.  The pattern just wasn't workable.  I had attempted to make a couple of other things from that pattern book and had difficulties, and I finally just realized that it was pointless.  Crochet patterns are like any other patterns - if they aren't correct, then it doesn't matter what you do.  And this one wasn't correct.  I went over what I'd done so far and compared it to the pattern a couple of times and I didn't make any mistakes on it.  The book is now on Craigslist, and if it doesn't sell then I'll either donate it or let Otter turn it in for credit at the used book store we like.  I do have another book that I got out of the library, which is one that I'll probably buy.  It's fun, it is a pattern book for zombies, vampires, "aliens" and other creepy critters.  I started making something from it this morning and it was so nice to use a pattern that worked!  Otter has requested a few things out of it.

It's a cleaning & craft day today.  Sunday generally means laundry and misc. cleaning, and Otter's also got a craft project.  Which has taken over the kitchen table at the moment.  Bill's been working on pachinko machines and the dogs have probably been snoozing, which is 99% of their normal activity.

The hostas in front of the house are starting to bloom.  They have really spread out this year, which is what they are supposed to do and is what I wanted them to do.  The morning glories are doing great, there have been a couple of blooms but it's kind of early for that.  The vines are growing very well.

I heard a woodpecker this morning, I think it was in one of the trees in the back yard but I never saw it so I'm not sure.  I've seen a couple of hummers and two orioles.  And purple martins!  Someone down the street has a house, so we see them every year and they are enjoyable to watch.  Bill saw a bat the other evening, but I haven't seen any yet this summer.  Hope that the one he saw stays around and that it invites friends!  They eat a lot of mosquitos, so we always like to see them.

Besides, bats are just cool.