Category Archives: Blogging Community

Mosquitos Are Productive ( in a bad way)

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Since moving to the desert 5 years ago, I have become acquainted with a pesky pest that drives me buggy. It’s scientific name is Aedes aegypti.

These little buggers are very adept at reproducing. Some other charming characteristics are they are very small which makes them hard to spot, especially when your eyesight is not as good as it used to be. Their bites are very itchy and produce a good sized bump on my skin. I don’t feel them when they land on me. I sometimes think I see a tiny insect flying by that quickly disappears from sight.

I did have our local vector control here to spray outside about a month ago. I think I need them back. In the meantime, I have invested in various products to combat these little invaders.

I’m applying insect repellant at night so I don’t have to sleep wrapped in my covers, during the hot summer nights, just to keep the bugs from getting to me.

These buggers can carry some nasty diseases too.

Device that emits blue light to attract the bugs and trap them
Aedes aegypti info from my local Vector Control district
Aedes Aegypti image via Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District

Wish me luck!

This post is part of the Writer’s Workshop hosted by John Holton. One of our prompts for this week is ‘product’.

To AI or Not To AI

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Have I used AI in my writing? In the past I tried GrammarlyR and the WordPress editor program. My computer gives me spell-check hints with a squiggly line under mis-spelled words. I don’t think these editing aides are AI. I think the closet to AI type assistance was GrammarlyR. But, although grammatically correct, I decided I did not like it. I want to write in my own style and way with words. It may not be for everybody but I want my writing to be in my own voice.

I have started to run into AI on my Google searches and with the customer service departments of various companies. It does feel a bit strange and new. The AI has a more natural expression than the old customer service robots. The Google AI search responses summarize a lot of info and has a section where I can engage with the program with more focused queries which is interesting and kind of spooky too. It feels like I am interacting with an entity.

The AI entity offered to provide strategies that I could use with the word puzzle games I like to do online. I told the entity that I would think about it. But I know I am inclined to resist using the suggestions because like with my writing I want to use my own brain.

This post is for Writer’s Workshop hosted by John Holton. A prompt for this week ‘Do you use Artificial Intelligence for anything? Have you ever used it to write a blog post? What is your opinion of it?’

Featured image by mohammed_hassan via Pixabay.com

Badge by Patty, http://anothercookieplease.com

Coincidence or Synchronicity

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 ” Sychronicity -the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (such as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality…” (Merriam Webster.com)

I’ve had the experience more times than I can count. I am thinking about my daughter and she calls. I am thinking about her and feel something may be wrong. I call her and find out she is having some problem. Or I will say something and my husband will say he was thinking the exact say thing. Many of you may have had these experiences too. I don’t think of them as coincidences do you?

This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday’s prompt ‘Coincidence.’ Featured image ‘Solitude and the Sea’ by the artist Jacques Bodin

Around The Bend

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I do love word games like ‘Spelling Bee’ or Wordle. I like the challenge of trying to find words with a certain amount of letters. I like it when I can think of lots of words with the same endings or similar sounds, when the suffixes are the same like -ion.

I do like my own language, American English. English is made up of words from many different countries though. And I do like learning about word origins.

It’s harder for me to learn new words these days. I attribute this in part to sleep deprivation. But maybe the new words are not as comforting to me as the ones I already have tucked away in my brain.

These ramblings are for ‘Writer’s Workshop.’ Featured image via macey11@pixabay.com

Turkey Time

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This is the first year in a long time since I am not making Thanksgiving dinner at my house. My brother-in-law will be doing it. I am bringing some side dishes. I think this is a good idea, to take a break. The most important thing is to spend time with my kids and grandson.

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving. 🦃

Featured image by Jill Wellington on Pixabay.com

Hello Again

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Exercising my writing muscles. Definitely feeling rusty and lethargic. Sleep deprivation could be a contributing factor. More on that later.

How are you all doing on your journey through life? Are you driving, or taking an Uber? Are you being swept along in strong currents? Do you have a sturdy craft or at least a good life jacket? I feel like I barely have floaties lately. Maybe only one floatie.

‘Let’s go swimming’ by peasap via Wikimedia.orgI

Blossoming

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Our citrus trees are blooming. The fragrance is tropical, similar to gardenias. The grapefruit tree still had a lot of unpicked fruit. I harvested 20 more grapefruit off it. I have a picker tool but these last fruit are mostly up higher and tucked into the branches. My picker tool got stuck a few times and it was hard to pull the fruit out. My efforts shook the tree and some blossoms fell off. I do not want the tree to lose blossoms, but there are still a lot left on the tree. The tangelo tree is really blooming, and I think we will get a big crop this year. Even the other orange tree that hasn’t bloomed for a couple years has some blossoms and a small bird’s nest. Speaking of bird’s nests, the Say’s phoebes continue their construction over our patio door. I hope they are successful this year.

The roadrunners haven’t been around. It could be that there is a lot of man-made construction going on near our community. A large earth moving project to build flood channels. There will be another housing project going in east of us. I hope the roadunners aren’t driven off permanently.

Blossoms tucked under leaves along with some fruit
A couple of large grapefruit found under some leaves
Tangelo has a lot of blossoms this year
Powder puff bush blooming

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie the Explorer.

Incidentally

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The moderate temperature and sunshine led me to sit out on our patio today and read a recent book selection from the local library, ‘The Rising Tide, A Vera Stanhope Novel’ by Ann Cleaves. The author has really got her Vera character down pat. Her mannerisms and humor clearly illustrated. It is very comforting to read mysteries that you know will be solved by the end of the book.

I thought while sitting outside that I don’t spend enough time enjoying our yard. I have missed out on what is going on out there. There are hummingbirds who fly under our lounge chair and peck around. I wonder if they’re gathering cobwebs for their nests like I saw the Say’s Phoebes do.

There is a bird nest in one of the citrus trees. It looks a bit messy. I am not sure if this is intentional or if the nest has been disheveled by the wind. The birds have not had a lot of success with nest building in our yard.

Bird nest in orange tree

We have a low flow sprinkler system on our property. Around a fruit tree in the yard is a small tree irrigation ditch. When the sprinklers are on it fills up with water that is slowly absorbed into the ground. I recently noticed a group of finches making good use of the little pond. They were taking sips of water and jumping in to splash around. It was fun to watch them from behind my patio door. This morning there was a white-crowned sparrow in there.

White-crowned sparrow splashes in water
White-crowned sparrow by Wolfgang Wander via wikipedia.org

We have been harvesting some of the grapefruit. Not as many as last year but still enough to share with neighbors.

Ready to pick more grapefruit
Our pink grapefruit

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer.

Featured image is a ‘Lesser Goldfinch’ by Andy Reago and Chrissy Mc on Flickr.com