Raccoons!!!!!!

I've a family of raccoons in my attic!

No kiddin', I saw 'em yesterday morning. I was headed out the back door to get my watering can to water my plants, and stopped before I opened it because I was staring straight at a pair of baby raccoons sitting on my trash can on the back deck. If I'd opened the door, I could've touched 'em--they were THAT close!

So I ran to get the camera, but it was out of batteries. All I had was my cell phone, and it only had room for two pictures. Grrrrrrr....



So once I had my cell phone ready, I got that first pic--and then Momma showed up. I watched her pull another baby out of the opening to the attic and then she carried it in her mouth up over to the rooftop.



Okay, so I printed out that second shot and gave it to Keith and Stella (my landlords), slipping it under the door just before Stella went to work. It must've made quite an impression, because Keith came over a li'l over an hour later to discuss this latest development. (;^)

Breakfast Change-Up

I had a li'l extra time this morning for a good well-cooked breakfast. But instead I decided to cook it myself. Heh.

I went with a familiar recipe and changed it up a bit. The original came from "The Joy Of Cooking," and consisted of:

1. Fry up some bacon.
2. Spray the inside of a muffin tin with Pam.
3. Sprinkle some Chile Powder on the bottom of the tin.
4. Wrap a strip of fried bacon around the inside of the tin.
5. Crack an egg into the tin.
6. Sprinkle Paprika and Black Pepper on top of the egg.
7. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.
8. Chow down.

I started off by putting on a Tony Bennett album. This is important!

Well, I changed the recipe by making scrambled eggs, adding 1 cup of milk to 12 eggs in the bowl and beating it until it was well mixed. But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, I gathered some Basil, Thyme, Rosemary and Parsley from my front porch planters.

I got the Green Onions and Bell Pepper from the fridge, brought the spices inside and chopped up everything but the Parsley. I also got out the Peppered Bacon and the Colby/Jack Cheese. From left to right you see Rosemary/Thyme, Bell Pepper, Green Onion, Basil.

Chopped Bell Pepper, scrambled eggs, chopped Rosemary/Thyme, chopped Green Onion, Peppered Bacon, chopped Basil, shredded Colby/Jack.

The Peppered Bacon was fried up, but was pretty greasy, so I drained it and allowed it to get somewhat sopped up by the paper towels on a plate.

I sprinkled some Chile powder in the tin, then dropped in the Basil, Thyme and Rosemary.

Then I wrapped the Bacon around the inside of the tin and filled the tin with the chopped Bell Peppers and Green Onions.

Then came the Scrambled Eggs.

Finally, I sprinkled the grated Colby/Jack on top and put it in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes. I change the baking temperature because my oven cooks it a li'l differently somehow...

Then, since Tony was done singing, I switched to The Oscar Peterson Trio and waited for the breakfast to bake.

It's ready!!!!! You can tell because the eggs and cheese are rising up over the tin like a muffin.

Now, we add the whole-grain toast, orange juice and Sumatran Sunset coffee by Boca Java, and we're ready to dig in. Mmmmmmmmm... Scrumptious.

Buddy wanted some, but he had to settle for cuddling up into the good-smelling cooking spot.

Absolutely Inspirational

I just saw this video for the first time this morning. All I can say is, "wow!"

Some of you have probably seen this before, so it's no big thing to you, but this impresses me to no end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QEmp7tbqoM&NR=1

Edited to say: Okay, so the video won't embed into this post for some reason. It's a woman with no arms taking care of her newborn baby, among other things. Truly impressive. ---Jeff

The Longest Day

[Photo: Chief Photographer's Mate (CPHOM) Robert F. Sargent, U.S. Coast Guard]

It has been called "The Longest Day." In fact, a movie by that name was released several years later with John Wayne. The opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan captured the absolute chaos of the event that occurred sixty-four years ago today.

D-Day. The Invasion of Normandy. The largest amphibious landing in history. Out of a total of 130,000 troops landing that day, 29,000 were killed. But it was the beginning of the end for that era's "Axis of Evil."

I salute all who participated, and I salute your entire generation. As Tom Brokaw noted, yours has earned the right to be called "The Greatest Generation."

(Edited to say: I saw this speech on YouTube. It's by Ronald Reagan on the 40th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion.)

President Ronald Reagans Speech at Point-du-Hoc, Normandy:

Oooooh! A Bug!

I saw this bug this morning, and I haven't a clue what it is. It looks cool, though. Kind of looks like a cross between a Mosquito Hawk and a tiny Grasshopper.

Any experts out there know what this is?





Edited to say: One of the guys I sing with, Bruce Caldwell, sent me an email and said,

"Hey, thanks for the photos. I have gone through all the insect guides I
have, and My best guess is a nymph, narrow-winged tree cricket (Oecanthus
niveous), but body shape across the back (winged area) and the "striped"
antennae don't really match exactly. So... Answer...I think it is a species
of tree cricket, but don't know which one for sure. BC"