Bats From The Past

I just glanced out my porch door/window, and I saw something that is still almost as fascinating as the first time I noticed it: bats in flight.

It turns out a small (as far as I can tell) colony of them live somewhere in the immediate vicinity of my house.  I do not know where exactly they live, but when the seasons grow warmer, and I am lucky, I can sometimes catch sight of them.  The first time, I just happened to look outside right at sunset, and it took a moment to realize what I was seeing when a silhouette when flashing past my field of view.  While our neighborhood is home to a very healthy community of swallows, who sometimes fill the air, their peak time is about an hour before sunset.  They were long abed, and their swooping flight is quite distinct from the flight of my sunset visitors.  It was a sort of flittering motion, combined with instant, on-a-wingtip changes of direction, and that was my big clue: anything flying like that had to be an insectivore, and there's only one creature that comes right to mind when one is thinking about insectivores that come out as night falls.  So I was seeing a bat!  That was a real first for me.

I could hardly believe it, but once seen, they are kind of unmistakeable.  I have never seen them well enough to tell their exact species, given how they are zipping about in near darkness, but they are small and I assume that if there are some near my house they must be from a species that is pretty common.

My only other encounter with a bat, besides the occasional glimpse of my neighborhood colony, was one at my mom and dad's house.  They have a lovely porch, with all the usual patio furnishings, including the table with an umbrella for providing shade.  Well, one day while I was there on a visit, a little black bat had apparently decided that the table umbrella (folded down at the time) was a perfect, cozy spot to sleep away the daylight hours.  Alas for the bat, we elected to go out to the porch to relax, and when dad opened the umbrella out, there was the poor little bat hanging there--and probably wondering what had happened to its great napping-spot.  Dad quickly called us all out so we could see it, and we were privileged to get a really close look at it. 

It wasn't long before it flew crossly off to a nearby tree, but I managed to snap this picture:

Just look at those adorable ears and nose!

That definitely ranks as my closest-ever encounter with these fascinating creatures.

On The Homefront

Like many Saturdays, today has mainly been about getting things done around the house.  Along with stowing groceries and starting the laundry, I took the time to water everything outside on account of how hot it has been.  I even watered the bigger trees, because if the summer is half as hot and dry as it feels like it is planning to be, I figured it would be a good idea to fortify everything against it as much as I can.  So the planter box got some water, the fig got some water, the redbuds got some water, the kitty got some water....

Hold on a second....

The real main event of the day, however, is an event that has been in the works for a while.

One thing about having my first real job post Grad School has been coming to grips with the fact that I am no longer a lowly student living in a grad pad.  It was a nice grad pad, really, and perfect for my circumstances at the time, but it was pretty clearly intended for the rental market, and I furnished it on a pretty tight budget.  The few nicer things I had in it were either the furnishings that had been in my room for years growing up, or were pieces my parents had to spare and were kind enough to pass along.  (I don't recall ever thinking such things, but if, at any time, I ever was so foolish as to think that it was "lame" having parents who spent so much time in antique stores, I have long since realized my folly.) 

So, I had a lot of work to do when I moved into my new place.  There were only a couple of things to do to the house itself; one room had previously been a nursery, and was painted ohmigosh PIIIIIIINK, so that had to be fixed, and the back door to the patio was originally a (really ugly, cheap-looking, ill-fitted) set of French doors, so a much nicer sliding door had to be acquired and installed.  Also at the top of the list was a washer and drier set with more than two cycle settings between them.  (The set that sold with the old house were on the simpleminded side.  Their general settings were Harsh and Harsher.  The Washernator and Dryzilla got the job done, but they were not kind to clothes.) 

Once these items were taken care of, however, I was still left with two empty rooms, one half-empty room, and a totally tasteful collection of Walmart Special particle-board furniture that desperately Needed To Die.  This whole process of furnishing my new place has taken quite a while (is it still a "new" place at almost three years?) but after a long journey the place is really looking great.  I picked up a set of office furniture for the first guestroom/home office/den (the ex-nursery), and bought some nice living room furnishings from a colleague who was nearing retirement and looking to downsize (that worked out well for both of us).  Then came the super-classy particleboard entertainment center.  That turned into quite a project.  After all, if I was replacing the furniture, it might be time to think of upgrading the serviceable but now way too small TV that sat on said furniture.  And if I was going to get a really nice TV, it was going to need some sound to go with it....  The people at Best Buy loved me that day.

All this, of course, has been the work of a couple of years (no hurry, right?).  With the Great TV Upgrade, the last piece of particleboard was finally dead, and I felt quite accomplished if I do say so myself.  The one thing really remaining was the dining room--or, more accurately, the space intended to be a dining room but which has gone unused because of a complete lack of dining furniture to dine on.  Well, a little while back on a particularly pleasant Saturday I hopped into the faithful car and took a road trip up to a great little antiques place my Mom and Dad discovered on the route between their place and mine.  They had exactly what I was looking for: there was a cute drop-leaf table with Queen Anne feet which would fold nicely out of the way if/when I need the space for orchestra practices, and a set of really neat chairs with a kind of unique design to their backs. 

The biggest hitch was getting them all back home, since my car--as awesome as it is and all--definitely did not have enough room.  So I had to arrange for shipping, which was not cheap, but it was the only feasible way for me to manage things.  It also meant having to wait for a while until the shipping folks could arrange the pickup.  Well, after all of that, today was Delivery Day, and I can now proudly say I have a proper dining room--and a fully furnished house!

The dining room is a small space, but a nice one.  Here it is "before," ready and waiting:

And finally:

An actual dining room!  The pictures on the wall are hung thanks to my parents, who took time to help put them up before heading home last week.  Only one thing was needed to properly complete the whole ensemble:

There!  Is perfect.

Leo got to spend a little time in "kitty jail" while everything was being brought in, as he apparently thinks he's part of the cast of The Great Escape, making it his mission in life to find a way out the front door.  However, he clearly held no grudge against the new arrivals, finding the table to be an excellent vantage point from which to survey his Vast Domain.  The chairs were also objects of great interest:

Does this mean he gets Fancy Feast....?

So!  It was a very exciting day, and it really feels nice to have finished (more or less) putting together my home.  Now to decide how to celebrate....

And We're Back!

Well, it has been a busy few days.  My parents came down from Arkansas so we could celebrate my Dad's birthday, and so they could attend the orchestra concert I took part in.  Both parts of the visit were a smashing success, and we had a great time all around. 

When not at concerts or celebrating birthdays, we played some cards (I did rather well, if I do say so myself) and did some antiquing downtown.  Dad found some records, and Mom found a few small items.  There was nothing in the way of what I was looking for, but we did stumble across something Mom and I thought was kind of neat:

This USDA pamphlet describes what was the cutting edge of hive design, suggests how to get bees to move to the "new digs"  and as a bonus recommended the best choice of toxic chemical for the removal of bee colonies in inconvenient locations (in the walls of one's house, for instance). 

Mom also brought me a rooted cutting from her really wonderful fig tree.  I'm really excited about my little guy.  He grew a bit wonky, but I picked up a plant stake, cut a strip of soft cloth,
and along with its cozy tree ring for mulch, it is all tucked in safe and sound. 

My baby fig!

Even though it is due to rain at some point in the latter half of the week, I went ahead and ran it some water from the hose since the poor fellow was only just transplanted over the weekend. 

While picking up the plant stake, I checked to see if Home Depot had any Snapdragons or Portulaca in--still no joy, much to my disgust.  I am going to have to do some serious scouting around town this coming weekend.  But, all is not completely lost: among the many sneaky, unwelcome weeds to "volunteer" to come up in my flower beds was one surprise guest who will be allowed to stay. 

Surprise!

Those heart-shaped leaves are the hallmark of a common Violet, and I have a pretty good guess as to this one's parentage.  It so happens that teh bigger redbud tree came with an extra stowaway, in the form of a violet from Mom and Dad's yard.  Now, Violets are shade-loving and extremely tough, so this one survived a couple of bad brushes with a negligent lawn-guy and has, in fact, managed to thrive.  It has also seeded one whole patch of the backyard with its offspring.  (Violets are also extremely prolific.  One very small pot with maybe two violet plants managed to cover my whole side-yard where I last lived.)  Clearly, yet another of the Stowaway's offspring has appeared, and managed to find itself in some prime real-estate.  This might be called a new approach to weed management:  if you can't beat them, choose them. 

Naturally, my Loyal Furry Assistants were on the scene during today's gardening efforts.  Leo made sure the new baby was safe, and Khan-khan arranged to look very decorative:

My parents also brought another redbud sapling when they made their trip, which was a gift for Super Sociable Guy and his family, who have really been very good friends and very sweet to me.  I delivered it to them yesterday, and they have already picked it a spot and got it securely planted.  I chatted with my friend about it today, and he is quite pleased, and I recommended that he pick up a tree ring to help it along.  It was fun to chat, as always, and I mentioned the new fig.  Sociable Guy smoothly suggested that, you know, if I ever needed any help picking figs down the road when my tree is established that he and his family would be happy to help out.  Just sayin'....

I'm looking forward to it.