A hawk and lizard visitor and G. Washington.

 Another flat overcast day with moderate temperatures. Usually we get this sort of weather in May and June, but a bit warmer. I almost watered this morning but then dug in the soil and saw that it was still very wet about an inch down.

As I was walking Rocky one of the Red Shouldered hawks landed in the tree overhead. I actually got about 8 seconds of it calling but it's not worth posting here.  It flew off too soon which is why I only had 8 seconds. The soil in the raised bed is definitely wet below so no real need for watering despite about a half inch of dry on top. There aren't any seedlings or seeds that need the surface moisture so it'll stand until tomorrow. That west bed is coming long nicely for sure. It looks like everything will be ready at the same time.

Need to move one of the traps under the potatoes, they are still getting munched on like crazy by the slugs and snails and bugs. The plants still have another few weeks for sure of growing before I can dig them up.

Pea pods are all growing nicely, those are two of three that I picked about the same size. The rest of the pods are roughly the same size so will leave them all be until ready to pick. I ate all three of these pods right off the vines. Not bitter at all and looking forward to tossing some in a salad or stir fry sometime later.

 

One of the lizards came out of the woodpile and paused long enough for me to get a picture or three. I moved very slow and carefully in order to get some pictures. A dark variant of Western Fence Lizard. The coloring surprised me because I had only seen the lighter colors of Fence Lizards around the garden and growing up. This one was very healthy and full grown, not sure about male or female though. When it did move, it just ran along the wall and then onto the fence behind the peas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So it seems that it's entire possible this one may be the one that was in the raised bed the other day and I can now see how it would get in there. Easy jump for a lizard from the fence to the trellis or the edge of the bed. This makes me smile and thankful they are there, it means they're getting well fed on bugs and stuff not just in the woodpile but under the Jade bush and in my garden. Possibly even hanging out by the compost and catching fruit flies.

I tried finding a quote from George Washington's journals but it's difficult o get to any directly even going through the Library of Congress.This is from a summary of his journals:

"Washington's preoccupation with the weather was clearly an extension of his needs and interests as a farmer. He was not a scientific observer, as was Jefferson, and his weather records are irregular in scope and content. If he was not scientifically accurate, he was at least persistent. On April 30, 1785, when he was unable to record the weather personally because of a trip to Richmond, he put Mrs. Washington in charge of the thermometer. "Mercury (by Mrs. W's acct.) in the Morning at 68 -- at Noon 69 and at Night 62."  

He had a 'keen interest' in the weather and temperatures because that's what farmers need to do and his persistence but not scientifically accurate reports sound a lot like mine.