Tuesday, March 21, 2017

A normal kind of week.


Thursday:
Polaris Optics PrecisionView 10X42 HD Professional Bird Watching Binoculars. Phase Correcting Laser 10X Focus Closes in to the Sharpest, Brightest, Clearest Detail. Waterproof. FogproofI got a new pair of binoculars.  Polaris 10 x 42. HD  I tried them in the back yard, a huge improvement to my oldies.  Sharp and easy to use.  I dropped my old ones on concrete and they have not worked smoothly since.




 Friday: Mom's bathroom faucets had to be changed due to leaks, so I did that for her.
Saturday & Sunday
We framed the "mower storage side of the shed", and have the roof almost finished.  We started putting up some trim and it is a big improvement to the over all look of the building.  Now it sort of looks like a shanty that needs to be torn down. LoL....but its very strong, in fact it's probably the strongest shed in SC, no in the USA, no make that the World, it's like very, very, very strong, it's the strongest, and we are the very best shed builders, the very best!
Just a little fun with some words...there it is cuter than it looks in photos...lol 






Monday the Carolina Wren started sitting on 5 eggs, she used the same house she had her last yrs nest in, she added some more dog hair to the lining...we know that because she has some fresh Jimmy hair in there too. 




And 4 deer were wandering around in Sundance's  old pasture...can you pick them all out? 2 does' with 2 yearlings. You have look hard for that last one. 


                                                             
In the Afternoon:
I put up this new very spacey looking antenna. It rotates with a remote control.  It was a blast to assemble. Actually I enjoy a challenge. It's fun, tinkering, is my favorite thing to do when I'm hanging around home.

This Friday:
Jimmy has to have a fat tumor removed! I was playing with him a couple weeks back and felt this large lump...its irregular in shape, and about the size of a small summer squash. It's located just between his front legs at the base of his chest.  The vet suggested it be removed, he said  normally it just pops out pretty easy. Hope it's that simple...keep Jimmy in your good wishes. 


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Story Time:  Was that a plane or superman?

I love to go birding, or just birding in my yard or along whatever path I am traveling.  But before I got seriously interested in birding I didn't know jack about birds.  I knew a few of the birds that hung around in my yard, like Cardinals, Blue Jays, and the Northern Mockingbirds.  But that was about it.  I was more into horses most of my life and I knew about horses more than I did birds.   Sundance, was the last horse I had (1975-1996)  and we enjoyed our rides, he would nearly run over me to get his bridle on, he loved going on trail rides as much I did.


Sometimes we met up with other riders,  a couple neighbors who also rode,  we would arrange to meet on the trail and ride together.  Sunny liked hanging out with another horse for a couple hours and getting out of his pasture.  I enjoyed being on the trail and enjoying being in nature it's from a very different perspective up about 5 ft from the ground on the back of a horse.  

We went out a couple or three times a week.  He was a good natured and happy go lucky horse. He was also a spooky horse.  I don't mean he had a "dark side", I mean he spooked easy! When you talk about a horse spooking it means he will quickly jump to the side, because something surprised him.  He would normally spook and jump sideways then stop, raise his head and have a good look at whatever scared him before loudly swishing his tail.  Once he was satisfied nothing was wrong he would move on like it never happened!

Horses are born with this instinct to run as fast as possible if some prey gets after them...so some horses will spook, whirl, and run.  Sunny didn't go that. When he spooked he would literally jump out from under you to one side or the other, away from whatever spooked him. I had to always be ready for anything to happen! He could jump 6 ft to the left in a blink of an eye...and if he caught me off guard, I could end up on the ground! I rode him for 20 yrs and he never threw me! He was not trying to throw me, if he really wanted me to fall off he could have easily made that happen.

One day we headed down the dirt road on the way to our favorite woods trail.  Sunny was  taking long relaxed sure footed strides, swishing his tail happily as we made our way down the lane.  He knew where we were headed and he was excited to be on the way.  THEN IT HAPPENED! Some huge gray "thing" that looked like a flying dinosaur suddenly burst out of the trees and flew right in front of us.  Sunny spooked so hard I had one foot out of the stirrup and was way off center, one more centimeter  and I'd be on the ground.  He swooped left and stopped dead, lifted his head up and starred at the monster flying away from us.  I was in shock, I'd never seen anything like this huge grey winged thing, and it squawked loudly as it took flight clumsily. 

It took a few minutes for us to regain our composure and shake off the scare.  The rest of our ride went off without a hitch and when  Sunny was back in the barn groomed and relaxing afterwards I told my husband about this huge bird that had spooked Sunny and surprised me.  He seemed to not believe my identification of the monster, so I drew a picture of it!!  He agreed he had never seen anything like it either.

So one day after work I headed to the library to find out what this monster was I had seen...The World of Birds was the title of the heavy reference book I plopped on the table and began my first bird ID search.  I compared my drawing to the amazing birds in full glossy color.   I turned a few pages and was enthralled at just how many kinds of birds there were.  THEN there it was, the huge monster, the gray dinosaur, the bird that put a 900 lb horse and me to quivering...not quite a speeding bullet, but the Great Blue Heron.

That was the first bird I used a book to track down and the interest sparked from that encounter.  My friend Sunny opened up a whole new world for me and I am never disappointed by the world of birds!

PEACE
Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

8 comments:

  1. This must be the "Shed of the year" winner.
    Those H bins are good. I dont have a pair, mine are Bushnell's, but my friend has and they are a huge step up from mine. Money well spent there.
    When I'm out cycling and come across horse riders I always shout out or speak so that the horses know I'm close and there is no problem passing them. Its the sudden appearance of a cyclist that spooks them, as they cant hear you approaching.
    Hope your doing OK health wise.

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    1. HI Dave good idea to let the horses know you are around...Today I got what we need to go forward with the shed at Lowes, so want to wrap it up asap. I'm doing good, I am wearing this very uncomfortable monitor stuck to my chest! It itches and I can't wait to be rid of it, have to wear it till March 30. Dr wants me to take a medication that I do not want to take, so I'm hoping to find an alternative, and add more vigorous walking to my life! After this testing is finished.

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  2. Your shed is marvelous daling. No it is really coming to the completion stage. I couldn't build a bird house. Fixing faucets at your moms and toilet seats at mine. I knew it was time but when my friend lost her balance and grabbed for the seat lit it broke off, just glad she didn't fall to the floor.

    You story is wonderful. That size bird would have me so freaked out I would have flown off the horse and crawled for cover hahaha. Sounds like he was a great riding buddy. Wishing the dog does fine let us know

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    1. Haha, I was trying to imitate "45" by using so many adjectives about my shed, I should be ashamed of myself, but I'm not!
      Glad your friend didn't fall a fall in a small place like a bathroom can cause trouble! Sundance was my best friend for as long as he lived, and even beyond. I will updates Jimmy's surgery on my next post.

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  3. Oh I love that story of how you got interested in birds. We were rafting on the McKenzie River once when a GB flew up squawking like that and nearly caused me to bail out of the raft. I had seen them before, but never heard or saw one taking off. I know exactly how you and Sundance felt.

    Have you heard about Spark Birds -- people write about the bird that first got them into birding (sparked their interest). Yours is the best one I've read.

    Oh and your shed is definitely one for the Guinness Book of Records. Best of all sheds in the world for sure.

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    1. Happy Spring! I have never heard of Spark Bird, how fascinating! The old shed is really stating to be a New Shed! Today we put the rest of the tin on the mower side! SO Glad to have that hard part behind us. I asked my sis did she think we could tackle putting a roof on the barn, (it's 15 x 24 ft) she said only if we do it within the next 2 yrs, before I'm 65 and she is 70!! LoL.

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  4. Hurry up and get that roof on that shed ;>). Bill and I built a shed/shop on our lot where we used to live on the lake (in our RV); I was trying to think how long ago that was -- but we said (or at least I did) that I think this might be our last big building project. I'm thinking 6 or 7 years ago, so around 70 yeah. That's the deadline. (We've actually done some more projects since then, but not quite as hard as physically demanding as putting on roofs and walls ... all that.

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    1. The roof was the hardest part for me...because I had to stretch and reach beyond my comfort zone while up on the 10ft ladder. I really have to get all the big jobs done the next couple years or it won't get done at all..

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