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| Counties that grow peanuts on the left, drought map on right |
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| I believe that D1 is the equivalent of Mean Soil Moisture - 1.0 Standard Deviation. D2 is MSM - 2.0 Standard Deviations and so on. |
Source of drought picture.
Source of peanut production by county (Note: there is one county in Texas that produces a lot of peanuts that I trimmed off to make the two maps match.
Conclusion: This might be a good time to buy peanut butter.
Toys for children
Quicksilver had her 4th birthday this past week.
Kids are very quick to identify playground equipment because it is almost always combinations of vivid red, vivid yellow or vivid blue.
While walking in town (Eaton Rapids) to get to the library, she saw some toys. She liked the blue one best.
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| Photo take with the driver's permission |
Gardening report from Southern Belle
The tomatoes and peppers were planted at the widow's house.
The "garden" consisted of two raised beds, 4' long by 2' wide. They were tucked underneath the eves on the west side of the garage...so half-day of afternoon sun. The beds were 8" deep trays held up with 4-by-4 legs.
The customer was happy.
Thanks for all of the comments in the previous post
It feels odd to not have Zeus or some other dog around.
I was not aware of how much attention I paid to him. It was just part of the normal fabric of life.
For example, our main security camera (which we think of as a window where the builder didn't put one) looks down the length of our driveway from the corner of the garage. That feed captures Zeus's kennel. EVERY time I look at that feed "window" I monitor Zeus's body language.
We have owned single or multiple dogs continuously since 1988.
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| The data for life-expectancy by dog breed is squishy. There is not a lot of it and it is known to have self-selection biases, i.e. owners of posh purebreds are more likely to register data than owners of mutts. |
We will probably get another dog but it will be on our terms; our timing, the size that will work for us, breed and so on.
On average:
- Smaller dogs live longer than larger dogs
- Dogs with longer muzzles live longer than dogs with pushed in muzzles
- Crossbred dogs live longer than purebred dogs.
Some breeds defy expectations. Border Collies, Australian Shepherds and Jake Russel Terriers are over-achievers for longevity. I am clueless regarding the personality of a Jack Russel x Border Collie cross. They are both very intense dogs with the Jack Russel being ADHD and the Border Collie OCD. It could go either way, best of both or worst of both.
Seedling trays
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| Japanese Water Iris |
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| Wibb Watermelon. 2021 seeds. 6-of-9 planted germinated so far |
Tasteless jokes
The best thing about being a grave digger is that it is one of the very few professions where you start out right at the top.
I'm seriously thinking about getting a Yorkshire Terrier as I've been dogless too long.
ReplyDeleteA neighbor I help has one that is an effective vole and rat getter. Amazing how fast it can dig up a whole nest and destroy them. I MIGHT name mine Conan for the ability they have to wipeout rat nests.
Plus, that silky fur cleans up easily.
Seems they were bred to be ratters and alert guard dogs.
Easy to feed, nice to keep the lap and hands warm and unlike Jack Russels and Border Collies don't get nearly as destructive when you cannot be actively handling them.
Joe if you get a Jack-Border mix I strongly suggest a couple of things. CAGE TRAINING when you're not hands on them, and like Quicksilver a strong COME HERE and DROP IT command setup.
Bored Jacks and Bored Borders are destructive. Awesome working dogs but are as I said hands ON dogs. Too much energy to be ignored.
The sweet-spot for dog size for our "operation" is in the 30-to-40 pound range. Big enough that it can do "its business" when the snow is 8" deep and too big to crawl down a woodchuck hole and get its face ripped off.
DeleteOur four kids chose our last five dogs. The Boston Terrier was too small for our climate and wildlife. The Shepherds were not particularly well trained (kid's dogs...sigh!) and could bowl Mrs ERJ over. The other two dogs were a Lab-Border Collie with a too-strong hunting instinct and a Border Collie.
The 30-to-40 pound range is not heavily populated with dog breeds. A few of the larger Spaniels, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, smaller female Heelers, some Mountain Curr lines, large-for-breed male Beagles....and then there are not many mainstream breeds left.
Boutique breeds with very small populations tend to have horrific inbreeding issues. Boutique cross-breeds tend to be 80% sizzle and 20% steak.