Winter Blahs

Well fall is really and truely here. We haven't had the A/C on for a full week (ok maybe more), but the gloomy weather is starting to get to me. I miss the sun. We've had rain off and on for about a week. Usually when fall/winter comes it rains one day and gets cold (below 60 at night) the next, maybe the cold will last for a couple days but the sun usually comes back out. Nope not this year. clouds, clouds and more clouds. But every time I feel like this I check out the weather in WI. Guess what, they are in the middle of a blizzard, the temp yesterday was 79 here, so shut up Sue and be happy. You aren't trying to drive in that crap, and you don't have to shovel it, and your heavy winter coat is sitting in the closet just taking up space.

And to those of you up there in it. I'm so sorry for you.


If you want to see what I'm missing click here.

Becca's Scrapbook

Wow where did October go?


I promised some people that I'd post pictures of the scrap book I sent my cousin for her wedding. Hope this is ok with you Becca. It was a very easy project using Stampin' Up! supplies. so here are the pics. I sent her lots of embellishments because they were part of the kits that I bought but I wasn't sure what pictures she would use and if she'd prefer that it was busy or simple. I went with simple cause it is easy to add, but hard to remove. Well here are some of the pics.

Cheese Heads in the surf!

My Brother and his family came to visit from Wisconsin, this week. They spent the week at Disney World but Wednesday, we went to Vero Beach. Two weeks ago Hurricane Fred was spinning out in the Atlantic. One week ago Fred was downgraded to a tropical depression. This week he wasn’t a tropical system of any sort but the remnants of him were churning off the East coast of Florida.

You can see the size of the waves behind L (Blue suit).

This is E’s happy face.


N was having a good time too.


The spray off to the left was from N.

Here is a close up of E.



We were all a little pink by the end of the day but oh so happy. I’m so glad we were able to get together for our day at the beach.

Getting Lost

Have you ever had an adventure in your life that you really did not think was so great? You were sure that everyone there had just as bad a time as you did. Then many years later you talk to some of the people who were with you and you see a VERY different account of the event although you still recognize it as the one you lived through.
One day my cousins and I were playing in the woods. My parents lived on the back side of a game preserve so we treated the preserve like our own back yard. Well we’d gone a bit further than usual and on a new trail. Now when I say trail I mean more like a deer trail than an actual path that someone has carved out of the landscape. There were several of both in these woods. But we had gone farther and not paid much attention to where we were going as we were picking flowers or gathering berries or pinecones or some such thing. We had been walking for quite some time, when we decided that we were hungry so maybe we should go home. Which way is home? We kept walking until we found a fence. Someone I think it was DB said that if you follow a fence you will always wind up at a house or barn. So that sounded like good advice. Then the fence went through a swamp, now how do you follow a fence through a swamp? So we left the fence. We walked for hours finally we got to the old railroad bed. Oh great, this goes into town. We’ll just follow it until we get there and then call Mom and tell her where we are. (To this day I don't know where in town the railroad bed comes out but we were always told it came out in town. The railroad bed probably goes to the fair grounds since everything else goes there but I'm not sure.)
We followed that for about 20 minutes when the caretaker of the game preserve found us. He was out working in the woods so he took us home.
Now my memory of that day is cloudy and dark as though there is a storm coming, I remember being scared and hungry we finally got home around 2 in the afternoon we’d left probably around 10.

I don’t remember Mom being particularly worried about us. When I spoke to one of the other kids that were there they don’t remember that we were lost. And the caretaker finding us was just a good excuse to have a ride on the wagon. We had found the spring where they had a cup to drink from so we weren’t particularly thirsty and berries to eat so we weren’t too hungry either. My main memory of that day is that I was scared. I was afraid that we were lost and would never get home. I know I was not the oldest one there but I was probably between 8 and 10 so the oldest one who might have been there would have been no older than 12. We’d been gone for 4 hours and Mom just said that we should have stayed close enough so that we could have heard the horn when she honked it. We missed lunch so, oh well, we could wait for supper since we didn’t stay close enough, and that would teach us to not go so far.
I think about that now and how if my niece and nephew who live there now were gone for four hours that the police probably would be called. And a search conducted. Sex offenders in the area would be chased down and the pond would be searched. Just cause some kids got turned around in the woods.

But it truly amazes me that to this day; I am the only one that remembers that we were lost. No one remembers the idea to follow the fence because it would take us to a home; no one remembers the plan to follow the railroad tracks to town, or even trying to remember which side of the tree the moss grows on. My memory was that we were just guessing which way to follow the railroad bed but who knew where else it might go if town was behind us. Now I know that as long as we walked in a straight line we would have had to walk no more than a mile or two in any one direction before we would have come to a road. The road would have led to a house and we would have been “saved.” But at the time I didn’t understand that, I was scared.

That V-zon company

I have had several issues with the phone companies. I will not use AT&T because of problems I've had with them in the past. I would prefer to not use Verizon because of the issues I've had with them as well. Unfortunatly I did not get a choice. I was very happy with AllTel for my wireless phone and internet provider. Then Verizon bought them and I've been upset ever since. While Alltel was my wireless internet provider I never had problems accessing the internet, I never got booted off or anything. I should clarify that I did have trouble when I first signed up but once we got the hardware straight I've been very happy with them. Now that V company is my provider and suddenly I can't stay connected and sometimes I can't even connect. One week I'd been unable to connect for 3 days before I called because I just didn't have time to wait on the phone. Then when I did connect the guy who spoke to me said that they were having Nation Wide problems and I would not be charged for the days I could not connect. OK, I can deal with that.

So about 2 weeks later I receive my bill and no credits, no difference and I can't connect again. I call them up and tell them what I was told. The answer was "I have no record that anyone talked to you so we will NOT be honoring that." WTH!! "Well I can't connect today either." "Oh, we are having Nation Wide issues today and you probably won't be able to for a while." "How long?" "I have no idea." "Are we talking hours or days?" "I have no idea." " I would like to speak to a supervisor, now." "None are available right now, can one call you back in about an hour?" "Sure." "What should I say this is about? the nation wide problem?" "No, I want to talk to them about customer service." I'm still waiting for the call back. I'll call them again when I think I can talk to them without blowing my cool. But in the mean time I'll get my thrills other ways.

Tonight as I headed to work, I saw a Verizon truck pull out behind me. Now I was going about 10 mph over the speed limit when the truck zoomed past me. So I very calmly took my foot off the gas and slowed down to the speed limit. As I got to town I saw a cop make a u-turn with lights on. My thoughts were that I was probably going to come up on an accident. Imagine my surprise and glee when I saw that Verizon truck pulled over with the cop behind him. Love it when things turn out. LOL

I wonder if the cop was having trouble with his phone too?

My Big Man

Recently my new man has been having issues with me. Seems that when I've wanted him to pay attention in the past I might have poked him with my toe. Just a little nudge. Suddenly Cujo has come to visit. Couldn't figure out why all of a sudden he was acting up. Then I noticed that he is limping. Of course it is the same side he has presented to me when I've nudged him. Never noticed it before but then it is rather subtle. Apparently I've been hurting him and he isn't real forgiving. So we've been having some talks and things are getting better now. Doesn't hurt that I took him to the vet and they gave him some good drugs too. Have to keep him quiet and no running, for at least three weeks. Then we'll talk to the vet again and decide if he needs to have surgery. Let's all say a prayer that he does not need surgery, hate to have to do that to him. Vet thinks that he probably jumped too hard or ran into a hole when he and Ruf were out havin fun. He may have even been limping before he moved in since with his short legs you can't really tell, unless you are looking for it. He puts his foot down but when you go back and check his tracks in the sand, one paw-print isn't as clear as the rest.

A little update on my buddy. Since he's been given the pain pills he is much friendlier and he doesn't limp much at all. Hard to even tell there is something wrong with his leg. I'm so glad.

I read a post at Is Ray Wrong Ray asked what your mailbox says about you. I said that mine says I'm sick and tired of the punks messing with it.

Last winter our mailbox needed replacement 3 times. The neighbors had to replace theirs 5. Plastic ones hold up better. So my husband and the neighbor decided to create a holder for our boxes. Here they are working on it. If you look closely you will see that the white metal one has been shot. Luckily mine was furthest from the shooter so I only had one pellet go through mine.



Here is the finished product. Put up in January. Neither of us has had to replace our box since. Although the game of hit the mailbox with a baseball bat still goes on.

Sounds of Spring

Frog choruses remind me of my childhood.
My grandparents moved from WI to AR in the mid 60’s after raising their family and welcoming many grandchildren to the world.
One spring Grandma said she missed the sounds of spring, the frogs waking up and singing in the swamp outside my mother’s front door, and the robins coming to wake us up in the morning. So I decided to go and make a recording of the frogs for her. We were trading tapes as letters around that time anyway. So I took my cassette recorder out to the swamp and recorded my letter to Grandma. Talking to her over the sounds of spring. I wanted to be sure it was getting everything so I played it back. I could hear nothing more than my voice talking. I was so disappointed that my grand idea had failed that I took the tape back into the house and finished the letter in there. I mailed it off.
When Grandma got the tape she called to ask me why I had stopped recording outside as it was the best tape she’d had in quite some time. I said that she couldn’t hear the frogs anyway so why bother, plus if I took it in the house I wouldn’t have to worry about if the batteries were dying. She assured me that yes she could hear the frogs and proceeded to play it for me over the phone. It was then that I realized I just couldn’t tell the taped frogs from the real ones.

Country life

I love living the in “boondocks.” I see things like the Eagles that I’ve shared here. One night when I came home from work there was a Bobcat standing on the hill. It ran when I drove in. But I did get to see him. I saw a barred owl another night when I drove in at dusk. It was sitting on the perimeter fence. I drove past it and it never moved. It only flew off after I had gone into the house to get my camera.

One evening when D and I were first working on the property we had set up a boom box while we were cleaning up around the pond. I believe we were still picking up irrigation hose from the grove at the time. We stopped to take a break and listen to the wildlife. We were talking about all the frogs and critters that were singing so nicely and that we really didn’t need the boom box. When we shut it off…everything went silent. Apparently the frogs and critters were just singing along.

Another time I had been working later than usual so I came in around 2 or 3 am. When I got out of the car I stopped to take the time to listen to the night. First the turtles would sound off. Their deep bass a rhythm for the melody. Then the bull frogs would sing the Tenor chorus. Next the Frog choir would sound in, singing the melody so sweetly and finally the peepers would sing the aria. Next they would all play their parts together until one or the other would make a mistake and practice would start all over again. I stood outside that night for almost an hour listening to the choir practice. I felt as though I were listening to their rehearsal for the big concert coming up. It took me back to the days that I was in the band. First the Tubas and the drums play the rhythm to get the beat. Next the Brass play the melody and finally the woodwinds fill in the sound. Each practicing their own part separately then all together as a group. Wonderful memories all.

Is it live or is it Memorex

All of our dogs are rescues, except for Ruf who came home with us because the police officer thought we needed a guard dog and she had a litter that she needed to find homes for. So they all have little quirks that came from their old homes (or we assume that is where they came from). For instance Cocoa, Ralph and Katie react to door bells. We have never had a door bell so if we are watching a movie and a door bell rings they head to the front door and start barking. Haven't tested Kirby on this one yet. But today D put in the movie "Three Men and a Baby." Remember in the beginning when the baby shows up and they try everything to keep the baby quiet? Well as that was playing out Kirby started getting upset. The more the baby cried the more he was agitated. Finally he started jumping up on the TV to find out where the baby was. At this point D decided it was best not to upset him any further, so we may not be able to watch that movie again unless we mute the baby crying. Even when I ejected the tape 30 minutes later Kirby was still looking for the baby. I thought for a second that he was going to take the tape and run with it.

A new man decided to live with us this week. D has had Basset Hounds all his life, they are his favorite dog. He kept telling me he wanted one but of the dogs that needed homes none were Bassets. Then one day we went to the feed store to get Smokey some food so he doesn't have to eat the bird seed and we saw a sign.

Basset to a good home. I tried to cover the sign because we had just decided not to increase our family again. But...Kirby came home with us anyway. Isn't he beautiful!!! And just as sweet as can be.

Since it is such a dreary day here in Central Florida I thought I'd play with CDW and join her Goofy Gaggle of Geese contest. Check it out at MSFH. Here you can see a Yoke of Yarn that I think is going to strangle me. Especially since it isn't my only one.
And here we see a scramble of scraps. I think I need to make some card candy or work on my scrapbooks for a while.

Show Time

As I look at the picture of the Sand Hill Crane I am reminded of last spring. I was working in my craft room, long before I had any feeders out there; when I heard the cranes making a racket quite nearby. I looked out the window and there they were just beyond the pile of dirt. I know it was spring time because he was showing off and looking for love. While I was watching them I realized I wasn’t alone in enjoying the show. All four of my dogs (this was before Katie came to live with us) were lying on the pile of dirt not 20 feet from the cranes. Now Sam and Ruff absolutely love to make any bird they see fly. But they were all laying on the hill watching. When the Cranes had decided they were done they just calmly walked away. All four dogs laid their heads down and went to sleep. It was almost like they said, “Ok, shows over, nap time.”

New visitor

Can't believe it has been over a month since I updated this. I'll have to get better. Last Wednesday (April 29) I had a new visitor. D called me and told me to look out my window. Right there not 15 feet from the window was this guy. The sand hill crane is about 3 and a half feet tall or better.



He stayed around for quite a while. I got these pictures then we ate lunch. My batteries for my camera went dead about that time. I'll have to go to the store and get more. Anyway after lunch I was clearing the table and looked at the kitchen door and he was looking in the window. We decided about that time to share some of our corn bread with him. So I set it on the blocks behind him but as I walked out the door he decided he'd had enough and walked away. I haven't seen him back yet but I have faith that he'll come back.

Sonic Boom

The shuttle landed today.

What that means to me is that around 3:30 it sounded like a bomb went off or maybe thunder. Needless to say it upset my babies something fierce. Usually there is one or maybe two booms as it goes over. Enough to wake the dogs up and get them all barking. Well today I'm not sure why but, there were the two usual booms and it sounded like rolling thunder after that, the windows were rattling, the door shook, etc. Took me a few seconds to realize it was the shuttle and then it took several minutes to convince the dogs that there was no one they needed to kill. All four were on high alert. Even D was headed for the door. I'm so glad I learned to pay attention to those kind of things. One morning the shuttle landed quite early around 7 AM. I was sleeping and heard the boom. I bolted out of bed and went looking for the smoke from the bomb I was positive I'd heard. Maybe it was an accident right in front of the house. That time it took me most of the day to figure out what had happened. After that I pay attention to NASA.

Feeders

Well since that post I've had to put up a second feeder. I was filling the one up twice a day. The second one only holds sunflower seeds. I thought it would go faster, as they all seem to dig for the sunflower seeds. But I was wrong. So now I fill my regular feeder at least every other day and the sunflower feeder once a week.

As you can clearly see they are both quite popular.

That being said, I joined the Fiber Guild last Saturday. This was the second meeting I went to. The first they were teaching crochet. I'll have to take pics of a few of the projects I've finished. Needless to say I already know how to crochet so at that one I didn't learn much. Although I did learn how to roll a ball of yarn so that the yarn is pulled from the inside out. That way the ball isn't rolling all over the place. But if you use a yarn caddy it isn't a problem anyway. This month we made cloak pins. Which was fun. Here is my finished product.

I suppose I could have sanded a bit longer and made the circle very smooth, but I wanted to use it in my hair and a smooth one with that large a hole would soon be lost. I like the rustic look anyway.

This time I'm sure

I'm finally seeing birds regularly. There is at least a pair of these silly Blue Jays.

They like the sunflower seeds and throw anything else on the ground. Messy birds.

Then there is this pair. They are so beautiful.

The male has the most beautiful song. Grandma always described it as "pretty bird" but it seems more like a song to me. He also stands out in the bushes. He's such a show off.

I've seen as many as 6 starlings around the feeder also but can't seem to get a good picture of them. They move too fast. I'm filling this thing every two days now and Smokey is not getting much if any of it.

Birds?

I was very excited to finally get a birdfeeder that I could watch from my craft room. So of course I fill it and wait...

It looked like this.

Then it was empty? But I still haven't seen any birds yet, what is going on? I refilled it and soon it was empty again. I had expected to see somthing like this...

Or maybe even this...

Imagine my surprise when I finally figured it out. This is what I found.

Here is a closer view.

Sneaky horse. . . wait is that D's hand holding the feeder for him? Now I know. At least I can see the others now and then.