A Slow News Day

Item: Whatever tore up my yard night before last must be something other than armadillos. I blocked the entrance yesterday, but there was still more turf dug up this morning. Since it was pouring rain, I didn't go out to investigate more closely.  Perhaps, as Abe Lincoln suggested in the comments following that post, it might be raccoons doing the digging.

Item: It has rained -- all day. I've worked on making cards -- most of the day.

Item: I attended the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper at church tonight. We had a really great turnout; the cooks were kept busy dishing up pancakes, sausage patties and scrambled eggs.  A good time was had by all. Earlier this evening, I read an interesting post about Shrove Tuesday, by Elizabeth of Yorkshire, UK. 

Item: Made a brief trip after the supper to my stamping friend's home to finalize the plans for this Saturday's Stamp Camp.  It was still raining, but not heavily, and the driveway to her home had about two dozen huge worms crawling on it; some long and skinny, some long and as big around as my little finger.  Rain and warm weather must have brought them out. She told me that her dogs will probably eat the worms tomorrow, but only if they are dead. (I warned you that it was a slow news day.)

Tomorrow is also a day --  Ash Wednesday.

Blown-Up Yard

When I glanced out my kitchen window this morning,  I discovered that the grass under one of my bird feeders had been disturbed -- to put it mildly.  It actually looked like it had been blown up by tiny bombs.  There were shallow holes where grass had once been, surrounded by mounds of grass with the roots still attached, as though they had been exploded from the earth. These holes covered an area about four feet by six feet,  shown in the photo as dark mounds from just to the left of the shepherd's crook holding the bird feeder to the right edge.

I suspect the dirty work was done by Armadillos in search of worms and grubs.  I've had them in the yard once before, early last fall. Gardening Daughter and I found a large burrow/hole beside a dead tree stump through which we believed they had entered the yard.  At that time, we filled it with clay-based cat litter, small to moderate sized fallen tree limbs, and yard dirt, and I didn't see any more evidence of them until today.  

This afternoon, I looked beside the old tree stump and, sure enough, there's a hole that must go all the way to China.  I've stuffed the hole almost to the top, again, and placed a large clay pot in the remaining opening. I'll at least be able to tell if the pot has been moved. 

I don't mind the Armadillos looking for food, but I do mind their tearing up the green weeds grass around the feeder. 

It's just one exciting thing after another.

Tomorrow is also a day.