Messages from Tom Cat

[agate]

From Tom Cat on Saturday (I had referred to a fish fry he had mentioned):

I wasn't exactly out for a fish fry. It was around 6 hand-size or bigger pan fish (bluegills, sunfish or pumpkin seeds, and a crappie) that Joe's son caught off our dock the day before Memorial Day. Joe filleted and fried them up on an outside grill, with potatoes and beans. They were good, and definitely fresh. I was out fishing and got a couple of bluegills too. I need to go out fishing now that Joe helped me put up the dock. I'm just getting my gear back together. Do you call fish like bluegill, sunfish, rock bass, etc., pan fish or bream? Bream's the term they used in Georgia. Joe's son Carter also caught 2 northern pike, but they were only 14-25 inches long. The legal length here is 26 inches. That's OK since I'm not fond of northern anyway. Too many hair bones along the spine that are really difficult to fillet out.

I got an extra face mask and small bottle of sanitizer in the car in case I forget to put one in my pocket.

Today I got the pull-behind mower for paths in the main prairies but spent over 3 hours repairing it. Something bent underneath and caught one blade, plus the pulling rod got bent, and when I got it back going the blade belt broke. I got most of it cut. It's 44 inches wide, 8 hp engine, and 18 or more years' wear. I'm trying to get a riding mower that I can put a snow blower on for winter. I'm having problems repairing old machines, and pushing small snow blowers up a 1200-foot driveway doesn't make it anymore.

Time to figure out something for an evening meal. Take care.

Does anyone know the answer to his question about bream vs. panfish?

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Sunday:

Got more mowing done today and spent an hour or so before dark fishing off the dock. No luck with the fish but enjoyed watching the swallows and geese flying over. A nice break for the end of the day. I got the fountain cleaned so if Smudge falls in while doing morning stretches, she'll have a clean bath. Take care.

[agate]

Sent by Tom Cat on Monday (sorry I'm late with this!):

A nice day here with the high 50's this morning, going to high 80's by the afternoon. The living room window bird feeder has a few gold finch on it now. They are our most common bird throughout the year. We did have a tom turkey in the back yard yesterday morning. We haven't seen many lately. Joe and his wife Joanne were up here for the weekend. He has a few trail cams out. He is getting pictures each day of our pair of foxes and their 2 kits. They normally won't attack adult turkeys but will get some of the young turkeys. What he has gotten on the cameras lately is a coyote. They can take out grown turkeys, young deer, and deer in poor health. For our 24 years up here, I've heard but never have seen a coyote.

I've been taking walks through our 15 acres or golf cart rides each day. It clears my head some and reminds me why we retired here. For 10 of those years Ann would drive the golf cart on her own through the property. She loved doing that. After that I had to drive her with the cart. She really got out quite often on the land, until the last few years, when she couldn't transfer from the wheelchair to the golf cart on her own. I imagine she may have told you about that.

I'm so glad to know that you knew her for around 18 years or so. More later. ...Take care.

[agate]

Another message from Tom Cat:



This is why they call it butterfly weed. It's one of the milkweeds that butterflies eat on and lay their eggs on. As it matures it will become a bright orange color.

[Lazarus]

Weeds are usually lovely...wish people had not been trained to poison weeds to eradicate them from dull lawns.

[agate]

And this one is from over a week ago.

Just has a little excitement out of the living room window. Two hummingbirds were divebombing an oriole that was sucking up their sugar water. The oriole left. There are the things that make living in the country surrounded by woods and prairie wonderful. I should be more thankful that this is what Ann made possible when we retired here in '97.

I masked up and got a few groceries about 7 AM yesterday morning. That's senior hours. Still mind-boggling to see less than half the senior shoppers with no face masks. As Dr. Fauci commented, people just don't want to understand science....

I'm adding a picture of our little red squirrel. Take care.

[I'll try to get the squirrel photo to show up in a new message window.]

[agate]

Here is the red squirrel mentioned in the previous post:

[Virginia]

I love the butterfly weed. I only have those regular gray squirrels around my house.

[agate]

I've never seen a red squirrel "in person" either--just the gray ones but some are very very fat--almost porky!--and others are pathetically thin.

[Jeanie Z]

:) A few years ago when I jogged in the park I carried peanuts for the squirrels. One was an albino white squirrel. They would follow me around the park and some came very close. We live next to the park and they travel on the telephone wires in the back yard. They drink out of my bird bath. Jeanie :)

[agate]

Will be be firing off a few rounds from my swivel gun cannon today for the 4th. My friend Joe will be here with wife, Joanne. I might put on my gentleman's clothes for the period. Lacy shirt, button down collar, French button down double fly pants, & a wool waist coat, plus a tricorner hat. It's very uncomfortable, but if it weren't, it wouldn't be gentlemen's clothes.

Later Tom Cat took a photo of this event: