Hidden in stone

Some other photos from when we were playing tourist.

One of the perks of living on the bottom of an ancient lake bed is that the local sedimentary rock is sometimes filled with fossils.

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The fossil above is one of many scattered about some limestone columns we passed by.

There is also a fair amount of granite in the area, and sometimes you can really see the mica bits in sections of layers.

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This picture is from a big, decorative rock sitting in a park.

I’ve always loved rocks.  They often have the most interesting things hidden in them.

The Re-Farmer

Morning kittens

I hung out after putting kibble out for the outside cats, hoping to lure some kittens.

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No such luck.  Going past where I was sitting to get to the food bowls was the most two of them would allow.  Beep Beep came over for pets, as usual, and her tuxedo came with her, though he wouldn’t let me touch him.  The little bobble headed orange tabby came close enough to play with the end of a stick.  No sight of the calicos at all.

That grey tabby is getting to be a really big tom!  He’s definitely heftier than his mother (though that doesn’t take much, really), though still not fully grown.

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I can’t get over the size difference between the teeny tabby and all the others. It’s quite noticeable when he’s with his brother.  Hard to believe they’re from the same litter!  It’s good to see that he’s very active and playful, and has a very hearty appetite.  He just looks sickly and half starved. :-(

The Re-Farmer

Pollinators

A couple of photos from when we were exploring the native plants garden.

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This bee photo was pure serendipity.  It was the first of several I took, in quick succession, and the only good one of the bee!

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This was in a structure near the native plants garden that I think is actually there to disguise and protect some infrastructure equipment.  There were several wasps nests in varying stages of construction, all on the shadow side of these support beams.

I didn’t see the spiders until I uploaded the photos, though.

I’ve seen many wasp nests in varying stages of construction before, but never have I seen the cells exposed like this, at this size.  The little ones on the left of the photo is usually about as big as they get, before they get covered over.  I think the high level of protection they have in these locations may have something to do with it.

The Re-Farmer

A long, but good, day

Today we made a trip into the city to play tourist, run a few errands, then pick up some stuff for my husband’s birthday.

It made for a very long, but enjoyable, day.

We started off with an early lunch, taking advantage of being in the city.  It turns out that Le Burger Week started today (I’d never heard of it before), so I tried the burger offering at an Asian fusion type place.

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I can’t even remember what it was called, but it was SO good!  Even better after I realized it had jalapeño in it, and took it out.  I love the flavour, but don’t do spicy well at all, due to damage to my tongue. :-(  That spiral cut potato in the background was delicious, too!

It was really hard to choose from the menu, though.  I had originally intended to have a bento box, and as good as the burger was, I’m still not sure I made the right choice.

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My daughters both ended up choosing a sushi and sashimi bento, while our guest chose the shrimp one I had been eye-balling.  The only sushi we have available out here is grocery store sushi.  I’ve tried it.  It’s pretty… dry.

Choices like this is one of the things we do miss about city living!!!

While playing tourist, one of the places we visited as a prairie garden filled with native plants.

It looks a lot like our outer yard, except with all the varieties in a much smaller space. :-D  Mind you, there were a few things I’ve never seen before, but most of it was quite familiar.  I’ll post some of the better pictures I got, later on.

As we ran errands before heading out, my darling daughters found, then got, something for me.

Meet my new friend.

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I think I will call him Yorick.

Alas, he is too big for my dash.  As I write this, he sits on my printer, looking at me.

He is soft and squishy and marvelous.

The Re-Farmer