Bunny Wars

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about all of the birds and animals in our backyard and how pleased we are to see them.  I wrote that we sprayed to keep the deer and rabbits away.  The spray has worked for the deer, so far, and we had some success with the rabbits until little ones came along.

Two weeks ago, a small rabbit, without fear, showed up and started eating our plants, starting with the flowers and then the leaves.  A couple of Aloma’s prized perennials were stripped bare.  We would go out to the flowers and yell at the rabbit and wave our hands; he just watched us and kept eating.

I decided to take action.  I bought a slingshot on Amazon to shoot ice from our ice machine at the rabbit.  Ice didn’t work.  It hit the edge of the slingshot and shattered.  So I tried cherry pits.  I could shoot them but the rabbit wouldn’t pay any attention, even if the cherry pit landed a few inches away.

One morning, I was on the computer and felt like I was being watched.  Our bunny was on the sidewalk of our neighbor’s house looking straight into my window.  Every few minutes he would run around in circles and then return to watch me.

Finally, bunny number one was growing, thanks to the excellent salad bar in our backyard.  He was becoming wary of my slingshot and would keep away when one of us was outside.

Bunny number two now appears.  She’s much smaller than my hand and is totally without fear.  We can walk right up to her; she’ll look up and keep on eating.  She ignores the slingshot and even comes on the patio to watch us.  Last night, she crept under our grill cover and would peak out and then pull back under.  Shoot me if I say she was playing peek-a-boo.

The slingshot is now history.  I shot within a few inches of her; she looked up, and instead of running away, she ran over to where I was standing and looked up at me as if saying, “Steve, something scared me.  Please help me.”

Okay, now I’m on her side.  We have bonded.  I’ll buy netting for Aloma’s flowers to try and save them.  If bunny number two wants more food, I’ll go out and buy a head of lettuce or plant more flowers. 

If she wants to come inside, it’s okay.  But I’m not going to play peek-a-boo.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

Women's Softball

A couple of weeks ago, I watched on television the finals of the women’s college softball championship.  After watching teams play in the regionals, I was pleased to see Florida State win the national championship.

Why the interest in women’s softball?  My daughter, Mary, played three years in high school and I watched her play every game I could get to.  During the first game I watched during her sophomore year, she played third base and went back for a foul ball, dogging spectators, and made an over the shoulder catch.  The next batter hit a slow roller to third.  She charged it and threw a strike to first base beating the runner by a stride.  I knew immediately she was a better third baseman than I ever was.

My experience playing third base was with the Babe Ruth League in Ocala (ages 13 to 15, I believe).  I made the all star team and we won the Florida State Championship before a defeat at the regionals in Tennessee.  I was okay at third base and had a batting average over 400, but the regionals in Tennessee were my last baseball games.  I never played again.

I remember one of Mary’s close games when, with the bases loaded, she hit a line drive so hard to center field that it was still rising when it passed the center fielder.  She just looked at it, then turned and jogged to retrieve it.  Mary was rounding third before the center fielder even touched the ball.

Mary went on to gain all-county honors and her team played in postseason tournaments.  It was a fun time for me.

I also love to watch women’s soccer on TV.  I’ll try to remember to write a blog about Mary’s and our son’s best sport.

Seasoned Man

Fauna

When we lived on Lake Norman, we enjoyed the numerous and varied wildlife.  We had feeders for the birds, enjoyed the antics of the chipmunks and battled the woodchucks and squirrels.  The week after we left, a bear surprised the new owner by exploring his garbage can in the garage.

When we moved to Carolina Preserve, we didn’t expect much wildlife.  After all, the houses are ten-feet apart, and we have about 15-feet of lawn behind our home that ends at a slope rising about 30 feet, filled with love grass.  We got permission (for us and three neighbors) to plow the love grass under for about 15-feet up the slope and mulch and plant flowers and shrubs.  We love the plants and spend hours on our deck watching them grow.

And the birds and animals now love our backyard.  Mockingbirds, bluebirds, cardinals, an occasional goldfinch, robins and a brown thrush come to eat suet that we have put out for them.  These birds then drink and bath in water that Aloma changes daily.  We also have house wrens, hummingbirds, doves and a pair of mallards that have taken up next door and grace us with their presence every day.  The only birds we don’t like are the starlings.  They come in flocks and empty our suet feeder in minutes, if we let them.  All of our birds bring their babies by after they have fledged.  We love the silly kids.

Not to be outdone by the birds, animals have come to see us, too; they include a few squirrels, rabbits, deer, and a fox.  We spray stinky stuff on our plants to keep the deer from eating them and have rabbit spray that sometimes works.  A feral cat had kittens under one of our shrubs but moved them after I started checking on them every day.

Butterflies and bees enjoy our pollinator garden.  Chameleons race along our deck and then stop and blow out a pink thing under their neck.

To our surprise, we have more wildlife here than we had at the lake.  As we watch our plants grow, we enjoy the abundant wildlife.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com

Master Plumber

I noticed the toilet in the guest bathroom was leaking.  I took the top off and after the tank filled, water was still running.  I cleaned the flapper, which had no effect.  So, off to Lowe’s to buy a new flapper.  It went on easily, but the water was still running.  The water level was above the drain pipe.  It was the toilet tank valve that wouldn’t shut off.

During my younger days as a homeowner, I didn’t think twice about fixing a leaking toilet.  Thirty minutes to the hardware store and another thirty minutes for the repair - job done.  It didn’t work that way for me this time.  Thirty minutes to the hardware store to buy a new valve - and then the fun began.

I used a sponge to dry out the toilet tank and then disconnected the supply line.  No problem except there was no room to get to it so I had to lean over and use a mirror to see where I could use a wrench.  An hour later I was ready to remove the old valve.  Even with a mirror, I couldn’t get a wrench on it, so I used adjustable pliers and move it about ⅛ inch at a time.  My thighs were screaming at me as I leaned over for three hours getting that blasted connection loose.

The new valve went right in place; I secured the plastic connector that the instructions said to only hand tighten.  I decided to buy a new supply hose as the old one was probably ten years old.  After my third trip to Lowe’s, I installed it and hooked it up to the valve.  I was getting pretty good at using a mirror.

I turned the water on and had a minor flood.  Evidently, when the instructions said to hand tighten, they were not referring to an 80-year old man with arthritic hands.  I used my adjustable pliers and the leak stopped.  Victory!

No, not a victory.  The new valve wouldn’t shut off, so water went into the overflow pipe and the toilet still leaked.

On day three, I sponged out the tank again, brought Aloma’s mirror back and removed the valve.  When I took it apart, I found a big piece of debris that prevented the valve from closing.  I removed it, put everything back together.  My thighs and knees were killing me.

I turned the water on and the water level was perfect and there were no leaks.  After three trips to Lowe’s and three days of work, I got the job done.

What I would do differently if our other toilet develops a leak?  I now have the name of a good plumber.

Seasoned Man

stevelem117@gmail.com