Today's walk report: 071022

 The usual suspects... or at least the usual variety of suspects.

I got a late start, I've been spending, oh I dunno, about a month replacing an old broken window in my office. I happen to have a pretty good idea how old this particular window was too because when I was about 12 years old I had accidentally kicked in its original predecessor window (est. 1953) whilst climbing in the window above it. Hey, bonehead stuff you do when you're a kid. That's over 50 years ago. That day, I measured (28" x 29"), rode my bike over to a little privately owned hardware store about a mile away, had them cut me a new piece of glass that they taped up in cardboard, came home (carefully) and replaced the broken one. The hardware dude explained the process and I had seen it done before. I got away with it. Amazing! The break I tore out this time was that very window which I broke by inadvertently kicking a rock into it while I was rotor-tilling this property in October of 2011. Bonehead stuff that happens when you get old. That was a packaging tape fix, however, recent squabbles between Lucy the Cat inside and feral Cam the Cat outside, near said window, convinced me it was time to put in a plexiglass replacement. This took me awhile to finalize. Why am I bringing this up? Well, because the goal today was to add the glazing to the acrylic installation and finish the project. Don't let them fool you! Cutting that stuff to size by scoring it and then snapping off the portion to discard is a lot more challenging then what the OPTIX (brand I used) acrylic people lead you to believe. I had a practice sheet. Cutting 1/2 way through a .093" thick sheet took over 20 swipes with the same plastic cutter shown in the video and even then a clean break is dubious. Instead, I used a 4" circular saw and a 120 tooth blade. That was also tricky. Since all the sizing mess I've found a place that cuts to size at what appears to be a reasonable cost--although I don't know about shipping. Anyway, I told myself I only get to go for a walk if I get the glazing done expeditiously this morning and I did. 

Here are some pictures and as a bonus some from when I got home.

Honestly, the best part of going out was talking to Docken on the phone before, during and after the excursion. Thank you, Docken. By the way tomorrow is her birthday! Happy birtthday, Docken!

First, picture an adorable tiny little California cottontail bunny, about the size of a baseball, just the cutest little fuzzball of a bunny you can imagine. You've got that image in your head? Good, because for the life of me I couldn't get focus with the camera. Meanwhile... remember the continuing story of the century plant (Agave americana)? well. the flowers are dying back now and the base of the plant (another picture I didn't get) is looking pretty sorry. Here are some of the lower branches of flowers.

Here's a long shot of the plant from the other side. You can tell the upper flowers are still rather vibrant looking. The cactus are Echinopsis pachanoi and the tree to the right is Eucalyptus lunata 'Moon Lagoon'.

Remember last week I mentioned missing male Calypte anna hummingbird "Dusty" when he's gone? Won't you? Does this spot look at all familiar? Take a look at my post from June, 26th.

My friend Trey gave Dusty his name and here he is living up to it. Notice the yellow pollen on his head.

Rounding a corner this California ground squirrel gave me a bit of a startle coming down this Caesalpinia gilliesii bush.

The late start didn't help me much on the lighting front and also, even though it was only 9:20 AM, I could already feel the approaching heat. Once I'd get up to try for a better angle and sunlight that wasn't inundating my view, this female Selasphorus sasin hummingbird would move to an even sunnier position. I finished off on the photo front from a bench and continued talking to the birthday girl as I proceeded back to my car. I drove to other parts of the campus looking for photo ops but nothing jumped out at me and it was obvious that walking would soon be uncomfortable.

Back at home during my backyard watering (it was 95º) this gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) hung around long enough for me to put the hose down and run inside for my camera. The Tithonia rotundifolia flowers just started blooming last week. 

By the way, my kitties, Lucy and Cam no longer fight at the windows. In a way, they are friends now. I'm going to do a post about Cam and basically why she's here and why it matters soon. Here's Cam from two days ago.

Have a great day and don't be a fascist!