Non-Blogging

Hello!

I decided to chronicle the advance of spring, taking roughly one picture a week from March 15th to May 8th. This view of the Mississippi River is taken from the Marshall Avenue/Lake Street bridge.


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Finding summer employment has been a challenge! Although I had a lead, I applied for many other positions; medical records, nannying. One cashier job that paid $8 hourly had over 100 applicants. I was one of the fifteen chosen for an interview (without knowing the pay!) Anyway, the lead paid off and I'll be starting job training later this week. I'm quite thankful! More on that later.

To pass the time and alleviate the stress I've been budget gardening. My definition of this is to use supplies we already have and to move existing perennials into different locations. Also I love fixing up my yard!

My shade garden, with a border made of glazed bricks I found buried and stacked around the yard! The bricks are crooked because it appears we don't have a true poured cement sidewalk; rather it consists of cement pavers which are not set in a straight line.

The herb garden:


The window boxes.

The tall scraggly plants are vincas which were rescued from the front yard last fall and wintered indoors. We'll see if they survive and flower after I trim them down.

The front garden.
I'm excited that the white anemones and lily of the valley came up of their own accord!

Obviously I purchased some annuals to fill the flower boxes and garden bed. I love the perennial creeping phlox and divided a big box. Hopefully they'll flourish!

My neighbor's school had a flower sale and I purchased this lovely fuchsia for only $17!


I have a new rain awareness now because I have to water everything! May has been dry as a mofo; we're two inches behind here in Minnesota. R and I are thinking about getting soaker hoses.

The dryness has had a serious effect on that most important spring crop, morels!

I found a few dessicated specimens at our old apartment. (Shhhh!) No one seemed to catch me walking hunched-over around the property....

Even my expert 'shroomer Dad has had trouble finding morels in Wisconsin, although he did spare a meal for us when we visited last weekend.

As R and I drove to the Motherland we spotted:

A turkey vulture in a tree!


Wild turkeys!


A porcupine (deceased.)


A sandhill crane!

Hope you're all having a fantastic May!
Wendell!

The South American Degu!

Howdy all!

I hope April is going smoovely for you. Things are great here! Today I watered my gardens for the first time and discovered tulips and lilies emerging! Since this is the first spring in our house I didn't know what to expect, other than the 80 bulbs I planted in the fall.





Last weekend I was so excited to host my cousins Miss Lippy and Big W from Wisconsin - their blog links are visible on the right of my screen. It is always fun to have visitors, and these sisters are awesome in general. Not only did we feast at Brasa and on pizza from Pizza Luce, but also conquered the MOA and IKEA, the latter with Maven herself!

Miss Lippy and Big W shown here after the big shopping day, bonding with Stella:


Apparently Big W has a former colleague who was really into having pet rodents, including a South American degu. What?!

Have you heard of degus?! Let us learn together.

Fer cute!

Degus, or Octagon degus, is a cousin of the guinea pig, capybara and chinchilla. Tonight I learned the above critters are members of the Caviomorph infraorder of Rodentia. These guys have different skull structures than other rodents, and include some Rodents Of Unusual Size in Africa too. Not to forget our own North American dude, the porcupine!

Side Note: I am totally fascinated by how animals evolved throughout the planet, and the role of plate tectonics in how these rodents moved from Asia to Africa and to South America.

There are four species of degus with populations in Chile and Argentina, including a distinct variety living solely on Mocha Island off the central coast of Chile. (Field trip necessary.)



Degus are four to seven inches long and have furry-tipped tails. These social rodents are herbivores and live in complex social groups. Together, they dig extensive tunnels. Along with plants and cacti, degus eat nuts and roots. In rough times they supplement their diet by eating their own poo, (coprophagy) like rabbits.

Side Note: My dog prefers to eat cat poo and other, mystery poop she can quickly snatch off the ground before I stop her.

Degus have a complicated vocabulary of squeaks and grunts with which to communicate, along with urine scent marking. Unlike some other rodents, degus see well, probably because they are active during the day. A degu superpower is the fact they can see on the ultraviolet spectrum, and their white belly fur and urine glows when viewed through an ultraviolet lens!

Some white belly fur:


Like most rodents, degus reproduce on the regular. The females even nest together and nurse each other's babies. Unlike other beady-eyed critters, degus have a long gestation period of 90 days. This allows the degu pups to be born with fur, vision and hearing ready to go.



Degus are also really intelligent, probably because of their social systems. Scientists have taught them to use tools in captivity. They also become easily diabetic when fed too much fruit, and are used in laboratory research to study the disease.

In fact, it was through the lab that degus first became house pets! They are easily trainable, intelligent and affectionate pets, "grooming" their owners by stroking them with their teeth! It is also convenient that they are active during the day. Because of their burrowing habits, however, a degu can easily chew through the plastic bottom of most guinea pig cages, so more rugged housing is necessary. Degus can live eight to thirteen years in captivity.

OMG I totally want one!

Fuzzy fuzzy degus,
Wendell!