Here is a picture of a garden snail on our front porch this morning. She was a lovely little snail. Unfortunately, we left for about 2 hours and when we returned she was nowhere to be found. She was headed for a planter on our porch, but she didn't make it. We think a roadrunner may have gotten her. We heard one in our yard this morning.
I found some interesting information about snails
A snail's life by S. Seagraves:
Snails evolved from sea snails 600 million years ago
Snails hibernate during the winter and live on stored fat.
Snails are nocturnal
Snails cannot hear and have poor eyesight
Snails rely on their senses of touch & smell to hunt for food
Snails travel in irregular paths, often in a circle
Snails may live up to 15 years
The largest snail ever found was 15 inches long and weighed 2 lbs
Snails bodies produce a thick slime, because of this slime they can crawl across the edge of a razor and not get hurt.
Snails are hermaphrodites, they have both male and female reproductive organs
A little poem by R. Wayne Edwards:
Where he goes he leaves a trail.
When he goes where he shouldn't be,
his trail is there for all to see.
Our life is like the little snail.
Where we go we will leave a trail.
The things we do and the things we say
are the trail we leave from day to day.
http://wwwgeocites.comsseagravessnailfacts.htm
From Jwayland
66 comments:
Can't blame that Roadrunner. I had escargot once. A friend cooked it with lots of butter and garlic. It was pretty tasty but just about everything is when it's cooked in butter and garlic. Throw in some lemon juice and I'll eat my fingers.
Great post Jan. Makes a great meditation for our Sunday!
Since you aren't putting up the posts Jan, the blog is not listing you are a contributor. I think if you just accept the invitation I sent you, it will list you with the contributors.
If you need me to, I will send you another invite and just click accept. I want you included in the list of contributors.
Carol's right Jan. I'm on the list, even though I haven't made a post, because I 'accepted' the invitation. If you need any help, just ask any of us.
Jan, I prefer to think that little snail made it to safety.
We don't see many snails here in the high humidity for some reason. Now in the dry climate of California we had a lot of them. I don't get it. You'd think they would like humidity.
I learned a few things from your information list. Very interesting that they can live 15 years (only under perfect circumstances, I'm sure) and I was kinda freaked out at the thought of a 15", 2 lb snail.
Jan, I loved receiving that picture of your 'beautiful' grandchildren. It would be really nice if you could put it up here too. I know Ivy and Solar, as well as others, would enjoy seeing it too.
from the last thread:
Carol, Cats love roofs, some cats more than others. Since yours is actually a stray, she uses her instincts even more, since it's hard for her to find safety. The roof is a safe haven from predators and everyone else.
Cats just 'love' heights (I'm sure that's instinctive too). They're well aware that dogs and most other animals don't climb or jump like they do, at least not as well. Plus, they're out of sight of the other cats, because at times, other cats are their worst enemy. Just like those guys at the jail you take care of, there are a lot fights, and a definite hierarchy. It's an all around good look out point for her. She's up there with the birds, but not to worry, the birds will see her first. Plus I bet you rarely see a bird on your roof. The only other consideration, is they will go after a squirrel, but 'never' can catch one that I've seen, unless it's a newborn. But squirrels are smart too, and know where to go.
That little cat is lucky to have you provide that safe haven for her Carol. (I hope she's not pregnant, if indeed she is a female). If it's a male, then he gets in more fights than a female, since the largest majority of fights are between the males (like humans :).
Yes Jan, what Chloe said, I love looking at young children, I love them all, its the older ones that I have an occasional problem with....the big kids in the swamp, never....
Well, IM off to do more outside work now, for my nieghbor. I just had to shut off the Geroge S. show, I just can't stand Peggy N. I can watch someone like Pat. B and others, but not her..even her frowns are condescending to me....
I agree with you about Peggy N. Solar. I can't even look at her. Stephanopoulos I like.
I saw that you and Don1 got to chat a little over at TM. It sounds like he's doing well. You're smart to get outside in the cooler weather and get things done. Here, well it's going to be 91 today. We have a lonnnnng summer season. But hey, it's not 100.
Morning Chloe,
I haven gone yet, I had thought that I might have interrupted Sturg, I did like his posts this am, and wanted him to know that I was a little discourteous.
I did not post it yet, and was thinking about post that here. His post reminded me of what was told to me by my older bros..
It might be a good idea for here if we could link someones post from tm and comment on it ..don't know how to link anything yet...can you outline the steps for it..you and Carol, could always go and look at the original comment at tm...but JW and others could not...just an idea..or have you done this already?
Good Morning Paul!
I think that's a 'very' good idea. We could just copy and paste the whole comment here, and just credit who it came from. Next time we're here at the same time, I'll show you how to do the link. It's very simple, but if I try to link the formula that I use (from that page I linked) it changes into a link of it's own. But I'll figure out a way to bring it over, so everyone can see how easy it is, once you try it a couple of times.
I have to go someplace for a couple of hours and will check back in when I get back.
ps You are 'never' discourteous. There's plenty of room at TM (and here) for all our comments, and I don't see anything wrong with changing subjects either.
Carol, please send me another invitation. I will accept this time.
"Our life is like the little snail.
Where we go we will leave a trail.
The things we do and the things we say
are the trail we leave from day to day."
I identify with this part of the poem by R. Wayne Edwards. In the past 10 years or so I am more aware of how my words and actions have an effect on those I am in contact with and then come back to me.I am a teacher and sometimes students will tell me how my words and even non verbal behavior has had some effect on them, sometimes positive and sometimes negative.
I am reading the book, My Life in France, by Julia Child. She talks about escargot and how to cook these and many kinds of fish. I just cannot imagine eating "snails" I bet you would like her cookbook Carol - Mastering the Art of French Cooking. She cooks a lot of fish. She uses a lot of butter and cream in her recipes.
This is a quick hello before we dash off to dinner. Hope you all are doing fine. It was a glorious weather day in Banchory, Scotland. Fine castles were seen and done.
Good news and bad news. The good news is, our luggage arrived from London safely. The bad news is, we appear to have neglected to pack our camera recharger. We each thought the other was responsible for it. The battery is dead from the photos we've taken. With no recharger, the photos we have are the photos we get. If anyone has any reasonable suggestions, I'm all ears.
I hope there is wine with dinner.
Hi guys. I was out fishing. Now that I broke my fear yesterday, I moved up to taking the boat farther from home. I'm going to be a full fledged river rat soon. I might have gotten up to that quarter eagle feather today.
And I got another Rambo award today also. I was casting this Chug Bug, a top water lure at the bank and of course it got hung up in a tree. I pulled real hard and it came flying back at the speed of light and bam, it wedged firmly in my left hand with two of the three treble hooks implanted near my knucles.
While my hand was still in shock, I pulled it out. It wasn't easy since the barbs were deeply embedded. If I would have waited another minute I wouldn't have been able to rip that thing out.
I took out a Wet One with antiseptic and wiped off my hand. I'm glad I got that tetnus shot the last time I had an unfortunate hook accident.
Maggie wants to go with me fishing but I won't let her because I don't think she would be as brave as I am if I hooked her. She's a pansy ass.
Jan, I loved your post and will send you another invitation.
Hi Ivy. I don't have a clue what to do except maybe buy a little throw away camera to take some pics. When you get the pics developed, have those put on a CD and then download them to your computer. At least you can capture the memories.
Chloe, did you notice, I got that hyperlink to work this time. I did have to do it twice.
My SF came to visit and bring a cow check. Sold a calf. Mooooo hoo.
Now, I'm off for more adventures. The boat traffic seems to have slowed down.
Carol, I accepted your invite and signed up on google. I don't know if there is anything else that needs to be done.
Carol, I hope your hand is ok. Can you write Rx's? You may need some antibiotics.
I have changed my name to wayfarer - see my pic, don't you think I have a cute face?
Ohhh, you got a little dog picture Wayfarer. How cute.
I can write Rx's Jan for the prisoners, not for me. It would be unethical and illegal to write myself a prescription. I will just double up on the vit C and hope for the best. I can get a prescription for antibiotics if I need. It is kind of sore. Good thing it was my left hand.
Why don't you have a little pic there Chloe?
Jan, thank you for the snail pic and stories. What a great post! May we still address you as "Jan," as long as we know you are aka "wayfarer?" Lobie's picture is such a treat.
Carol, you give new meaning to the saying "get the hook." Hope you are not in too much discomfort. Thanks for the camera suggestions. I thought of another...our friends here have a camera, we can ask to borrow it, and get them to e-mail us our photos. I'm leaving the actual solution to Hubs...he's the one who forgot to pack the recharger.
I'm zeroing in on the identity of my mysterious hooter...I think it is the Scottish Tawny Owl.
Ivy, I found a site for the Scottish Tawny Owl. They want people to listen for it and report it.
"ITS "tu-whit, tu woo" call is instantly recognisable, having even made its way into Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost."
" Now, birdwatchers in Scotland are being asked to listen out for the sound of the tawny owl and to make a note of where they hear the owl's call."
High Beam Research
I did it Chloe. I listed a link.
Chloe,
Carol's encouragement of an avatar for you is good, now that ours are showing up here on the posts. It can be anything that represents you. I'd love to see what you come up with, you are so creative. Thank you for your earlier compliments on mine. That "Ivy St." sign is in Estes Park. We came upon it quite by surprise.
I'm envious of your hyperlinks. I haven't had time to work that process out for myself yet.
What you talking about Ivy. You were the one who could do it. You did it on all of your New Posts. I couldn't make it work.
I bookmarked the site Chloe gave us where they said how to do it and then I cut and pasted what I needed to include in it.
Carol,
I linked in a post, but not in a comment box. They appear to be not precisely the same process. I will focus on it later when I have the time.
Thanks for the owl link. Yours and another it led me to were very good representations of the sound. Now I need to try to put the auditory and the visual together so I can be certain. In other words, I gots to see 'dat birdie.
Ok, I used my picture from Facebook, but will take a new one this week.
I don't know about Carol reading a cookbook Jan. I think she could write her own.
Is Wayfarer Jan? Jan, is that you?
Carol, I can't believe you wounded your hand again. And you were so brave. How's it doing?
How did you get the hyperlink to work this time on your main post? I also noticed you mastered the technique to link down in comments. Good work!
BTW, My hummer feeder is up and running, but it was late today, so I won't know if I'll get any hummingbirds until tomorrow.
Ivy, Glad the weather is good, and that you seem to be having such a good time. I think Carol had a very good suggestion about buying a temporary camera.
I hope it's not too late for the hummer feeder. I have noticed the hummers dropping off some. Maybe already heading south. I have a feeling we are going to have an early and maybe harsher winter down here.
Several things indicate the early, harsher winter. One is that El Nino. I read a while back that it would decrease potential for hurricane but also lead to harsher winter.
Well, I've considered that Carol. So if it's too late, then I'll have a head start next season (when will that be?). Even if that happens, I may still get a couple of strays. Who knows. I'm ready for them if I do.
Chloe,
Our Scottish hosts say the weather today was the best it ever gets in northern Scotland. It really was spectacular....like one of our brightest fall days as I recall in the northeast U.S.
This is not a tourist area. There are other visitors, to be sure. But we are getting a sense of the real people. I am working on learning how to correctly pronounce words and place names. Reading phonetically, we bungle everything at first.
Some are curious about us to. I received a kind compliment from a cab driver on my "nice accent." Our host's children preface questions with, "I've been wanting to ask an American this..." His parents shush him, but I laugh and say, ask away...
Oh Ivy, what great fun! So much more fun than the usual tourist traps. You get to experience the real people and get a better understanding of the country. What a great opportunity.
PLEASE keep passing on these little tidbits of your trip. I feel so fortunate to have you sharing this stuff with us.
Chloe,
My books say leave your feeders up with fresh nectar all year round. You will get some hummers, even "late."
There are no hummingbirds in Scotland, according to the field guide I picked up today. The children have heard about them from their father who had seen them, in turn, when he visited our home, and they wanted to know more in detail. But they also requested a run-down on every wild creature inhabiting our yard. They were a little squeamish upon seeing my pictures of Charlotte.
I do love cookbooks Chloe. I looked at that cookbook on Amazon. A friend bought the first volume after seeing that movie, Julie and Julia.
There's two volumes. Do you have them both Jan or just volume 1.
What did the host's kids ask Ivy?
How funny Ivy. Are they afraid of spiders? I didn't think about what a difference the climate must make in changing the types of creatures that they see there.
Carol, You really should see that movie, Julie and Julia. It's not one you want to miss. Can't you go to a matinee on the weekend? I normally go to the first morning showing (which is normally late morning) and it's such great fun. The theater's now are so enjoyable... they're all digital and the sound is amazing. There is no comparison to that and seeing the movie on TV, even a big screen.
Just think, we're getting to talk to Scotland tonight, thanks to Ivy. I just love the internet.
Here's the formula that you use to Create a hyperlink in the comments box
How to hyperlink
Instruction in my next post....
There's this little lizard, proper name is Anole, sleeping on a branch of my Norfolk Island Pine tree on the porch. I first noticed him the other night. It's so cute sleeping on the branch.
Anoles
I would take a pic but it would probably startle the little fellow.
Copy the formula from the link I posted and paste it onto wordpad or word, whichever you use. I can't paste it here, because the site will convert it to a link. Save the wordpad on you desktop for easy access in the future.
To use the formula, highlight the words from the formula 'text you're link from' and delete them... put in it's place the name you want to call the link (with no extra spaces), identical to the way the formula is now. (leave the quotation marks)
Then do the same with the web address. Copy and paste the one you're linking, and put it in place of the words: web address you're linking to, with no extra spaces.
(If you want your link to be called the same thing as the url address, then put that url address in both places, instead of a name in the name place)
When you post, preview first, to make sure it turns blue, assuring you it's a link, then once it's right, click on Post Comment.
Carol, let me think...
The older child is very curious about politics and history. What's driving like in our country? Also, how many languages do we learn? Plus, the list of wild creatures, though that is mostly the younger one. The game there is he calls out the name of an animal or bird, and I say if we have that or not. He has a long inventory of animals to ask about.
They're also engaged telling me all about their world, and they're just wonderfully bright and articulate (and I love their accents.)
Are you sure you can't take the pic Carol? Maybe the flash won't bother him.
I love using your hyperlink formula Chloe. I just copy and paste. Then I erase the example website link and the name of the website and copy and paste the site I want to use. It's easy after you do it a few times.
Would you want someone to come in Chloe when you are sleeping and flash a gigantic camera in your face? LOL. I might get some bad Anole karma.
I love accents too Ivy.
Solar, Are you around?
I want to see if that link and my attempting to explain how to do it makes any sense.
Hell no, I'd be mad as hell Carol. I didn't think of it that way. But Ivy's spider didn't mind and Jan's snail didn't mind. And Maggie never seems to mind.
Ivy, that sounds like so much fun. It must be neat meeting people from other countries. I get to meet a few in jail. Big whoop huh.
Yeah, linking gets a lot easier, once you use it a few times. Just like everything else, it just takes a little practice. Of course, copy and pasting the web site is fine too. It's just that Jan wasn't able to view them that way.
Carol, I always thought they were chameleons. I will have to make a correction to the creature list for the children.
I have not attended to this time zone change well at all. Here is it three o'clock in the morning, and I'm not getting any sleep. I better try to get some shut-eye now, it's almost time to get up.
By the way, all our food has been wonderful. The jokes about bad British cuisine are no longer accurate.
Nite Ivy.
You're right, if you don't get the sleep you need, your trip and experiences won't be nearly as enjoyable.
Time for me to wind down too. See you tomorrow.
Ivy, I used to call them lizards or chameleons also but when I looked chameleons up on Wiki, I couldn't find them. I just recently found their real name.
And Chloe, Ivy's spider works the night shift and Jan's snail was up and at um, slow, but at um.
Chloe, yes its Jan Wayfarer. I probably should go back and change my handle to just "jan" Didn't mean to be confusing. Wayfarer was sort of a spontaneous answer to a question.
Carol, I don't have either of the volumes of "Mastering the art of french cooking" I don't cook - I heat up food. I do agree with Chloe, you could write your own cookbook. Its just that "mastering the art... is now a real classic.They talk about the book in the movie and in the autobio I am reading about Julia C.
Ivy, I love your descriptions of the conversations you are having with the children. Keep them coming. I think kids are amazing - so curious about everything.
Chloe, your pic of Emma is adorable. She is a beautiful baby. A good pic for your ID. Lobie is mine because she is our baby.
Jan/Wayfarer
Yep, it's time to go iron my morning clothes and take a shower since I've been roughing it all day. Didn't take a shower, put on makeup or even brush my hair today. It's nice not having anyone to impress and the river didn't mind at all.
When I turn off the TV, Maggie knows it is time for bed. She jumps up from her couch coma and runs to get her owl toy to take to bed. She just loves her bedtime.
Carol, I clicked the link on "anole" and enjoyed seeing the pics. I especially liked the one of the green anoles mating - I am still LOL. I remember one time while living in Louisiana that one of my sons had brought in a green lizard (anole) and it got loose in the house. We were expecting company and we were all searching for his lizard. Our company arrived and told us there was a green lizard on the inside of the drapes in the living room window. Mystery solved!
That is what I love about weekends - don't have to put on make up and can wear anything I want.
What time zone are you in Jan? Is it one or two hours earlier there?
Lobie will go to our bedroom and if we do not follow her within an hour or so, she will come back and get us. I think its great Maggie likes her toys. Lobie never took to toys. I have little throw rugs all over the house for her and whatever room she is in, she finds one to curl up on. Night all.
Carol, I am in Mountain time zone. It is almost 8:30 here. I think it must be 9:30 there.
Jan, do you ever watch the Daily Show or Colbert Report? They are both very funny, political humor. You can watch both online the day after they air on TV. They both run Monday thru Thursday. Watching them is one of my bedtime rituals on Tuesday-Friday.
At the house I can watch them on satelitte but here, no satelitte.
I had a cherry turnover in the oven so I had to postpone bedtime ritual to eat it. I started it late, had a craving. Probably be eating that baby all night. Reflux.
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