Saturday, March 06, 2010

Chat Back for March 6

Answering questions from comments and email.

Multiple Readers said about my Tooth Experience . . .
Yikes, ouch, eeew, ohhhhhh, and shudder.

Thank you for your sympathy and good wishes. My mouth and jaw are getting better quicker than I expected. I'm still babying myself and plan to be back to normal soon.


Shirley asked . . .
Can you eat or are you drinking fluids??

I’m eating soft food slowly and carefully. It works as long as I chew on the opposite side of my mouth and rinse out with salt water afterward.


Sheri asked . . .
Which is bigger, the Flicker or the Pileated Woodpecker?

At a little over a foot long, the Flicker is a large woodpecker. At twenty inches long, the Pileated Woodpecker is much larger.


Sherilan asked . . .
Help! I knit a raglan sweater with Cascade 220 superwash (fit just right), but when I soaked it and put it out to dry, it stretched. Any suggestions for salvaging?

Dare I ask if you knit a decent size swatch and washed and dried it? No, I shouldn't ask? OK. We won't talk about it.

Put the sweater in the dryer on warm and dry it. It should shrink back up to reasonable size.

Superwash yarn has a tendency to stretch. Some superwash yarns stretch a little more each time they're washed. It's a problem, but works well when you're knitting for a growing child.


Janice in GA asked . . .
Do those birds (Yellow-shafted Flickers) range down to GA?

Yes, they range over almost the entire Untied States.

Their official name is "Northern Flicker", even though they also range in the south.

In the western states, their shaft is red instead of yellow.


Judy S. asked . . .
Hmmm, what's our state bird doing in Michigan?

Judy lives in Washington where the state bird is the Goldfinch.

Reading her comment, I was embarrassed to realize I didn't know the state bird of Michigan. Easily Googled. It's the Robin.

Makes sense. The Goldfinches are year round residents in Michigan, but the first returning Robin in the early spring is exciting and conversation worthy. I haven't spotted mine yet, but I'm looking every time I go outdoors. It could happen any day now.




Learning to look both ways before crossing the street.

That's a joke. Michigan deer are suicidal. They will even run out into the road and hit a moving car broadside.

According to the Michigan State Police, there are over 60,000 car-deer crashes a year in Michigan.

This picture was taken out the same window I take most of the bird pictures.

11 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:32 AM

    That's one thing I don't miss about Michigan: the suicidal deer.

    I have to be on the lookout for antelope in Colorado, but they tend to avoid cars.

    I have a friend who hit a cow, but that's another story. :)

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  2. My husband's car must be invisible to deer. Before I bought him those deer-whistle things, he had (counts) I think five car-deer incidents, two that required substantial repairs.

    In our house we say that mourning doves are smarter than deer, because mourning doves sitting in the road will fly away when your car comes.

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  3. I'm just getting caught up on my blogging, it sounds like you are doing well inspite of it all. I'm with you, I don't like taking pain pills and prefer the tylenol, the doctor was surprised when I returned the pain pill to him after major surgery, after trying one - well that was enough for me. From the deer photo it looks like they are lined up Large to small. 60,000 accidents - yikes. Take care and I hope all is well with your family and dear dogs.

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  4. Anonymous10:05 AM

    In Calgary, Alberta, I have seen both red and yellow shafted flickers.

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  5. Glad to hear that the tooth issue is getting better. At least it's over with!! But, continue to baby yourself - perhaps for weeks and weeks! :)

    The state bird of Iowa is also the Goldfinch. And we have flickers at our feeder quite frequently too. I'm not sure if they are the same variety - but they look like your photo. I know my husband always gets that "excited" tone in his voice when he sees them.

    Deer and car/deer incidents are also a big problem here in Iowa. They are such beautiful animals, but can cause very dangerous accidents.

    We are having a big melt-down and with spring rains starting, also the prediction of floods are here. Sigh.... if not one thing, it's another! LOL - but personally, I love having all 4 seasons...with all the accompanying extremes. Take care - sorry for being so chatty this morning.

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  6. I think I have your robins here in Gainesville, FL. They, along with the sandhill cranes, seem to be heading North a little late this year. We've had several morning flocks in our suburban forest yard this week. They seemed to be thrilled with the tiny (15x15 ft) garden patch I turned over yesterday. Have hung my hummingbird feeder and am anticipating their return also. :-)

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  7. Glad you're feeling better! I laughed at your state bird comment; now I'm wondering how many states have the robin as its bird. I think we've seen more goldfinches while visiting in Illinois than we have here in our 30+ years in WA. Crazy, eh?

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  8. I think ALL deer are suicidal - I know they are in Iowa, Illinois, and Texas!

    It's slowly thawing here, too, but our problem is more what's happening north of us, up river. I am happy that Spring finally seems to be in the offing, though - I know that around this time of year, I really miss living in Texas, where it's already Spring.

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  9. Great great great (get it) deer picture. Out your window? Amazing.

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  10. Well, I had to chime in here because my state bird in AL is the Yellow Hammer-known to me growing up in GA as a Flicker. Also, in December, an AL deer ran right into the side of my car. Glad your tooth issues are better.

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  11. Sherilan1:30 PM

    Thanks for the advice. I put the sweater in a pillowcase cover and put in dryer. All is well for now. I did knit a swatch and wash and dry it, but obviously it was not big enough. I think next time I will go with regular wool and knit a bigger swatch. I chose which gauge after seeing the dried swatch (tried 3), but think I will go back through your archives and look at types of wool you used and needle sizes to consider for next time. It took me awhile to knit socks that fit and I guess sweaters are the same.

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