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Backyard native flower status: Pink and white California roses and Elderberry. There appear to be flower buds on the milkweed! A pink wild rose in full bloom surrounded by green leaves, with a background of branches and more foliage.

A white wild rose with yellow stamens, surrounded by green leaves.

Clusters of small yellow elderberry flowers with green leaves on a bush against a cloudy sky background.

A cute tiny ladybug resting on a large green Milkweed leaf with visible veins and a cluster of flower buds in the middle.

#Yarden #NativePlants

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Backyard trees have decent fruit set. New Century Asian Pears, Hosui Asian Pears, and a Nectarine Green leaves and an unripe, small unripe green New Century Asian Pear fruit growing on a tree branch with a cloudy sky in the background.

A young tree with small, green Hosui Asian Pear fruits growing among glossy green leaves. The tree is supported by a stake. The background is a blurred garden setting.

A fruit tree with green leaves and reddish unripe nectarines, growing among the foliage. The ground is covered in gravel, and a shed is partially visible in the background.

#HomeOrchard #Yarden

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From a few weekends ago, Tree Swallows racing through the skies above Black Butte Lake. A Tree Swallow, nearly a profile view, in flight against a clear blue sky.

A Tree Swallow flying, directly below showing its belly and wings, against a clear blue sky.

#TreeSwallow #Birds #BirdPhotograhy #BlackButteLake #Fujifilm

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Cool orange headed beetles on our milkweed today A pair of small beetles with orange heads and dark bodies are clinging to the stem of a green Milkweed leaves. A smaller beetle is atop the larger beetle. The background is softly blurred. #Beetles #InsectPhotography #Milkweed #NativePlants #Yarden #Fujifilm

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From this morning, a Cranefly on a Milkweed leaf #Cranefly #Milkweed #NativePlants #Yarden A close-up of a crane fly is on a green leaf surrounded by blurred foliage. Craneflies are really weird looking.

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Colorado's outdoor companies are buckling under Trump trade war:

“I’m the U.S. manufacturer using U.S.-made materials and Trump is putting me out of business,” she says. “We figured out U.S. manufacturing and we figured out how to take care of our people and it came crashing down. I’m doing everything Trump wants but we are being punished by this tariff bullshit.”

#USPol

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Ospreys are amazing. Last week, before our eyes, one plunged into Black Butte lake and caught a fish! To grab a fish, an osprey plunged deep into to lake water, while keeping its head above the water. There is a large dead tree branch overhead, and the background is full of Willows.

A osprey, with a captured fish in its talons, flying low over a body of water surrounded by trees. Branches frame the foreground, and the bird's wings are spread mid-flight.

A blurred image of an osprey in flight over a body of water with lush green trees in the background. The osprey has a more noticeable fish in its talons. #Osprey #Birds #BirdPhotography #BlackButteLake #Fujifilm #SOoC

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You got this  #WrensDay #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Birds #BirdPhotography #Fujifim #SOoC

A small Bewick's Wren is perched on a winter naked Willow branch. This Wren, for once, isn't singing but is squat against the branch, looking out. It has a really long narrow and dark tail and white stripes on its head. Its body is mostly gray.

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At Black Butte Lake this last Saturday, we were treated by a flying formation of American White Pelicans. They are captivating flyers. #AmericanWhitePelican #BlackButteLake #BirdPhotography #Birds #Fujifilm #SOoC

Against a blue sky, four American White Pelicans are in a straight line formation, spaced by mere feet. They are photographed as a diagonal across the frame. The rear edge of their wings are black, the rest of their body is white.

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Useful FastMail Rules that rely on Headers by @jsonbecker

Mail rules on Fastmail that make my life better: json.blog

Rules include newsletters & Democrat political email

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Yesterday: Damselfly and a Mosquito at Black Butte Lake #Damselfly #BlackButteLake #Fujifilm #SOoC A blue damselfly resting on a rock surrounded by wet, sandy ground with small pebbles and a mosquito to its left. Both are surrounded by wet brown muddy muck.

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Spectacular day at Black Butte Lake today A single tree stands atop a grassy hill in the distance, framed by lush green trees in the foreground. Below is a body of water reflecting the greenery. The sky is bright blue with large, fluffy clouds.#BlackButteLake #Fujifilm #SOoC

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Okay, dilapidated front yard sprinkler valve assembly is removed and system capped off. The water line diverged before the valve assembly so I simply capped it off after the T so the backyard assembly and hose bib still gets water. PVC primer & cement hardly used and will go bad before next need 😜The image shows a cluster of irrigation valves partially buried in the ground, surrounded by soil and gravel. Wires are connected to the valves, which are part of a lawn or garden sprinkler system. The wires are disconnected from the sprinkler line.A removed irrigation valve assembly next to a house foundation, surrounded by dirt and rocks. A shallow pit where the sssembly was is nearby, and an irrigation box lid leans against a wooden fence. A red PVC cutter tool and a hand trowel on the ground.The image shows a pit with cut PVC piping connections, surrounded by dirt and gravel. A red pipe cutter is lying on the ground nearby. A disconnected sprinkler valve assembly is discarded to the right. A PVC cutter tool is visible.A small, muddy excavation pit next to a building with exposed pipes and finished clean (compared to older pipes) white cap fittings. There are tools and work gloves nearby, along with gravel and a trashed valve assembly.

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My latest project is to remove one entire unused sprinkler valve assembly. Took a bit of care excavating but now I know to cut four pipes and cap at least the inlet (the pipe coming from the bottom of the photo). In a perfect world, I’d remove the three PVC runs into the front yard (mostly native plants there & no lawn!) but that’s a lot of work for no practical good payoff whatsoever. #yardenA trench and excavation revealing three standard Orbit sprinkler valves connected to PVC. One line tees off around the valves, presumably to the backyard valve box. There are two wires coming out of each sprinkler head. The soil is moist with some red coloration. Clearly the soil has experienced moist anoxic conditions.

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Dad and Son Crash Underwater Drone Into Unexploded World War II Bomb | PetaPixel:

The cops asked them for all the footage for analysis and later discovered the bomb they had found was a Nazi SC 500 — a bomb commonly dropped during the prolonged raids of British cities by the German Luftwaffe in the winter of 1940/41, better known as the Blitz.

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Bushtit! A small gray-brown Bushtit is on a tree branch surrounded by green leaves and twigs. It has a rather active pose, like it’s in the process of turning around.#Bushtit #Birds #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoC

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Towhees are all the rage right now, so here’s one busy looking for food at the Refuge’s parking area A small brown California Towhee with a dark brown head, reddish brown body, and pinkish legs stands on a parking lot with cracks filled by dry grass, looking down as it searches for food. It is a profile view and only its back is illuminated by the sun.#CaliforniaTowhee #Birds #BirdPhotography #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoC

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AirlineReporter has a JFK to Singapore flight report up! World’s longest flight.

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Loggerhead shrike from the Refuge the other weekend #LoggerheadShrike #Birds #BirdPhotography #SacramentoWildlifeRefuge #Fujifilm #SOoC

A small Loggerhead shrike, mostly gray with black eyeshadow, is perched on a bare tree branch against a backdrop of a clear blue sky and blurred Willow foliage.
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Flew from Orland-Haigh Field (O37) to San Francisco International in the Beaver, and ATC told me to taxi to the Coast Guard hanger but it’s been DOGE’d. Closed and locked. #JokingNotJoking #XPlane #FlightSim #ThrandaDHC2 #USPol

A small purple airplane is holding short a closed gate in front of a Coast Guard hanger. In the background, there is hanger with a classic red sign "United Air Lines" with at least two United Airline aircraft tails visible. Many tanks and other parked aircraft are somewhat visible in the distance. San Bruno Mountain is prominent.