Sandhills Nat'l Wildlife Refuge --no labor at all!

2 posts in almost as many days? What's going on? Anyways yesterday we went to Sandhills NWLR.  We really are fortunate to have a state park and a wildlife refuge within a few miles of our home! It wasn't too hot so off we went--the hope was to see wildflowers and butterflies..we saw some of each a bit too early for the full force of the wildflowers and the butterflies seemed to be having tequila shots or something they were so buzzed they wouldn't sit still...but Mom has to pack today she is headed to my sisters for 2 weeks...so it was now or 2 weeks from now and we decided to do both What the heck!

the lillies are in bloom so little white dots along the edges of the ponds..the water was so warm...a footsoak was in order Mom sure enjoyed it--

Little shiners came to nibble at her toes..lol I was busy photographing the wildflowers weeds and such while she soaked...

 

                                   Tall Iron-Weed 

Joe Pye Weed

 

                                                                            Eastern Kingbird

 

                                                                           Button Bush really cute

  

                                     

This was my favorite shot of the day!!

I always make a mistake trying to I'd dragonflies...

more sightings included....  

buckeye butterfly

                                                     

Got a pretty good look at some blue grosbeaks and one posed for a somewhat distant photo..his breeding color fading a bit now to drab I am digging his big beak tho!

Just so you can see how vast the landscape is...

I caught a glimpse of an egret near the backside of one of the ponds...and then I saw she was not alone..

 Pretty far away but I think that is her  a white form little blue,  with her and they are traveling with a domestic duck they def. were all 3 together! They moved around as one unit not getting too far from each other...sorry the whites are so blown out...I'm still trying to figure out this camera..I am NOT a fan of digital buttons!! I'd rather have analog for that--one button for F-stops one for SS, etc..the good ole days but the film I can do without...do love the digital format for that!  Anyways this is like the incredible journey...it was 2 dogs and a cat right? How cool is that??

Then we carried on into a different area of the park...stopped to check on a few other sites..

Mom looking for more wildlife...once in the forested area I spotted this...and please do convince me it is a willow flycatcher cause that would be a new lifer for me!

not great crisp shots as he was high up in the tree...but here is what I see: Un-remarkable eye-ring,  whitish throat, orangey color to the slender beak, has some pale wing bars, buffy-breast, notched tail, and that flycatcher hair-do!

I put it on Ebird they will probably scream at me...but so be it!

Safe Travels on Labor Day!

PEACE

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

Lunar Spell

I went outside with my camera last night--I still don't have a complete handle on the settings of this Panasonic camera..but I was able to get a kinda cool Moon shot--

the big flat impression midway in my photo.....wonder what  this is?  Is it a mare (dead sea) a crater, or what? Have you ever studied the moon? Its spell binding to me!

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/moonmap/moon-map.html

What do you think? Be safe this Labor Day!

PEACE

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

Something Constructive!

It got a wee bit cooler here today! We had the AC off until 1 pm that was nice! Little by little it will cool, the leaves will fall, and it will be time to turn on the heat! Our open window "window" is pretty short!  While its nice out I was able to get one of those "planned upgrades" done to the DLEX ,,,now If  only I could afford the shocks, brakes, tune up, and tires------I finally realized what I need is not a good job but a HANDY man!! But till I sign up for Cougars R US let me show you a job I was able to do!!

Remember that light project I spoke of...like when I want my double doors to be open on my van and the back light is on...and I'm always afraid the battery will get run down..I found one in
                                                              drum roll please
                                             XXXXXXXX---WALMART---XXXXXXXX

WHERE ELSE? Dang I hate that-- but it was there right on the shelf for a couple bucks grabbed it up and SHEZAM put it in...as follows!   The old one is held in by 2 screws...fumble around and get those out--

  

Tug gently  on the wires till the point of attachment is found  like shown below.

Make sure the light is OFF I turned mine off by closing the door that has that little "thing" that when you shut the door it turns off the light..dont cut this wire with Power ON, if you have to disconnect the Positive side on the battery under the hood, then do that....! You could BLOW something or get hurt if you cut it with live power running to it!  Snip- Snip-

Here is the kit I chose it has a push button on/off switch which I can leave in on position and when I open or close the door it will come on...but when I'm camping and want both doors open I can push the button to OFF..it has a clear cover and its a bigger bulb...

here is some of the tools you will need!

You have to strip back some insulation off the wire to expose the copper...I used that electricians red..pliers on the left it has handy stripping notches you just close it on the wire and pull off the insulation.  Only strip about 3/8" off like so...

I wish I had thought of buying some CRIMP connectors but I didn't so I used some of these twist kind I had in the tool shed. (if you use crimp connectors you don't have to strip the wire you just insert wire in each end then squeeze it and it cuts thru the insulation and makes the connection, you can get them in the auto section) Connect white to white and black to black...then secure the connection with the nuts.  YOU could just use black electrical tape..Black is normally the Positive wire.  White is neutral--here is how I did mine.

At this point check your light make sure its working...Open the door to make the wire live, and push the button to turn on the light. It works so close the door again and turn off the light...

I put black electrical tape around those twist nuts to make sure they wont work off and push wire and nuts up in the hole inside the roof...

Now its time to put the attaching screws in...my headliner is on a board of some type so it accepts screws..

I love this magnetic screw holder on my cordless screwdriver...without it I could not hold this screw with my clumsy hands...

Mount all 4 screws keep it straight if you can...NOW I forgot to put that black gasket around my installation,..I did keep it to put in at a later time if it becomes a problem!  Since this is an inside installation I don't think it will be an issue.

 

Then put the cover in place and insert the 2 screws in it...and test it....ON

OFF --cool beans!!

...another thing I spoke of doing is when I removed the TV from the headroom area..I put up a piece of plywood that I glued some cloth too!  I found these 3 trash cans and I used them to make some storage containers.  In order to make it so the stuff I store doesn't slide out I put this netting purchased at Jo-Anne's around the top of each can like so....I used duct tape to hold it on..

and I have 3 of them!! Now its not a huge behemoth TV and I like the Celestial fabric and extra storage! And I can pull these cans out and put stuff in the top bin too as long as its not heavy stuff.

Pretty simple eh???

Another issue was this annoying wire that keeps falling down!! It scares Annie when she rides on the bench seat so I finally did something about that using some double sided tape...

Poked it up in there and put a nice big chunk of tape over it in a couple of spaces...and it worked!! (so far)

Out of Sight ---finally!!

Felt good to have some things go Smoothly and  it also felt good to be doing something constructive!!

PEACE

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

Freaky Friday!!

There is more to life than Trouble and Toil, Struggle and Strife!!! Oh What a tangled web we weave, eh?  I wish I could catch this guy and gently place him inside the medical clinic that is trying to drive me insane...look at those fangs!!! I'd like to wait outside and see all those "desk jockey's" run for their lives...is that evil or what? *snicker*

I am afraid of spiders!! So I keep my distance--this is of course the black n yellow Garden Spider he is quite large, including his legs he is probably the size of a silver dollar!

This one I had to look up its the Arrowshaped Micrathena 

the sun was not co-operating so not a very good shot i tried to darken it up so you could see that  triangle shaped shield on her back! Its another orbweaver.

The Ruby throated is the only hummer we have in this county...upstate in the mountains maybe you will see other vagrants and now they say leave the feeders up some are overwintering! This one def gave me the stink eye!

Caught a Red Admiral resting---look at those antenna---almost looks like he is sending some kind of signal into outer space!

And its time to pick! Grapes that is--they grow wild here so there's plenty for the taking! All my efforts last yr to Seek and Destroy vines sort of left me HIGH n DRY for the pickings, with great quantities UP high where the vines grow all the way up to the tops of the trees!! I did however get a batch and I think tomorrow Ill take a walk around and find more.  I was attacked by fire-ants while picking grapes this morning--they swarmed my feet and bit the daylights outta me!!
HOLY HOT TERROR! It is a dangerous world out there!!

And behind that you see...PEARS

I .......borrowed these from a tree in the yard of an abandoned house nearby....I swear there is a ghost living there...the door s-q-u-e-a-k-e-s and I swear I see something move...<<<<shudder>>>>-----I didn't see the sense of letting them rot...so as quick as I cold I dashed to the tree grabbed my skirt full and then hi tailed it outta there!!! Creepy---even the deer were not getting at em'' heck the deer wont even allow one bloom on my pear tree they will come and stand on hind legs and jump up to get those buds off.....then come back during the rut to scratch off their velvet and in the process damage the tree trunk!!! These are not the kind you buy in Walmart-- they are old fashioned pears good for preserving so I will make preserves, and share!!

...and at least one pepper is glowing in the dark its so ripe!! More are turning--I love these sweet peppers,

Its 100 degrees today so after the picking spree I've spent the rest of the day inside...nursing my ant bites....doing this n that...tomorrow I'll probably start on those preserves!!  I love to watch disaster movies on Friday night if one is on...like Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Meteors, Volcanoes, Giant Spiders, and Ants !!  Have a great weekend!

PEACE

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

Karma and other irritating bits of information

Speaking of Karma..

Oh yeah I was--

We have to be our own advocates these days! Don't take anything for granted!!

I'm still wrestling with the medical records errors problem.  The clinic has NOT done what they said they would....so I shot off via snail mail an enlightened letter to the director whom I have not been able allowed to speak to as the underlings are her guard dogs.  No matter...the letter is important and I hope she reads it...

I am a Libra...that means BALANCE has to occur! I have been researching and found this out--

In my case.... information gathered in NOV of 2013 was attached to a medical records of  March, May, July. Its out of date information...according to the Documentation Guidelines of CMS.GOV (its the center for medicare and medicaid services, the largest Insurance companies in the world, I don't have either but the guidelines set up by these Govt Entities are set in stone!) It states if you have outdated information on a report it should NOT be included on the report ---or the date this information was collected must be on the report!! SO there is my base for complaint on that part of the medical records...where Review of Symptoms and Family and Social History was attached to each report as if it was done right then and there it wasn't and it was not properly documented. Its a paper pushing world we live in, so when you push paper it better be right!  

Secondly I found this on the HHS.GOV 

That's the US DEPT. of Human and Health Services website...

according to Code of Federal Regulations:

Correcting information

If you think the information in your medical or billing record is incorrect, you can request that the health care provider or health plan amend the record. The health care provider or health plan must respond to your request.  If it created the information, it must amend the information if it is inaccurate or incomplete.  If the provider or plan does not agree to your request, you have the right to submit a statement of disagreement that the provider or plan must add to your record.

For further information on this topic, please refer to 45 C.F.R. §§ 164.508, 164.524 and 164.526.

So I am within my rights to ask for this to be corrected and if it is not I can put in a report of my own which must become part of the permanent record!!!! Yippie score one for the Giffer right.  Yep I'm keeping score and taking down names..

 speaking of which....I called 3 times yesterday asked for a return of phone call...all 3 times I asked to speak to the director, at 9 am she is in a staff meeting, at 11:30 she is with someone in her office, at 3:30 she is in a staff meeting...WHAT another staff meeting? So I asked the name of the person who answered the phone...she refused to give me her name!!! 

this is a Free Health Clinic they take Federal and State dollars!

On their website they show people getting surgeries etc for problems...

http://www.cmcofkc.org/ourpurpose/

Yet when I asked if they provided MRI's diagnostics....they said NO why do an MRI if you have no insurance to pay for a knee surgery? Well they had a surgeon help this woman! I believe I've been discriminated against!!

Its the never ending saga....you use the Govt rules to try and get something the Govt is keeping you from getting? Wow I feel like I'm chasing my tail!

Somewhere along the line this information may help someone else out there who is having a similar problem...what was it they used to say on the X-Files?

The Truth Is Out There!

OH YEAH=

I had my first sale on Etsy! One of my vintage Winnie the Pooh teddies is off to his forever home in Texas. He was so happy to finally be adopted!

PEACE

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

Cheering up With Simple Green!

  

Spent a fair amount of time tending my flower pots this week and re-listing Ebay items that ran out last week, in the afternoons when it heats up...Ebay sent me free listings until the 20th of August!  I have increased my inventory and continue to move my Vintage items to Etsy! Its so much easier there to list, now if I can get enough to draw in a sale--Ebay is  making it so hard to be a seller, they think they are our bosses! HA got news for them, we can end our listings with one click of the mouse! No listings No fees! They want us to offer 90 day return for holidays...Holy Cow, I think they are trying to push out the "used" item dealers such as myself. 

                                                                                    Anyways I got some work done on that over the past couple days! Check out the new link to my Etsy store on the sidebar.  I want to eventually have some hand made items!  I took some photos of the annual pots I also played with  fancy framing it felt good to be creative!---I've been trying to relax more and get involved in doing anything to keep my mind busy!  We sort of stayed with a white, green, and maroon, theme this yr. Mom and I worked on these pots in the spring, and now we are enjoying them as well as the butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. Mostly its impatiens, caladiums, periwinkles,  and some cool greens of various kinds-we don't have a green thumb per-se, but we always try to have flowers every summer   I purchased one flat with 6 impatiens, one flat with 6 periwinkles and a few blue petunias...we rooted or seeded the rest, there is one Dahlia in there too it bloomed already a deep purple. 

I usually fill my deck up with plants! Having basal right by the door is good thing I just reach out and get a leaf or two when I need it..

Like I've shared before I normally root sweet potato vine year to yr so these are a couple of yrs  old now...added marigold, coleus I grow these from seed, and some wandering jew--I keep this alive year to year. We love our Hostas too..

These impatient like the shade, take quite a lot of water too...but they keep right on flowering! AND *knock* on good wood--the squirrels don't bother 'em! these photos were lined up wonderful in my draft screen but when I post they are scattered all over the place!! I thought the smaller size would work better but its hard to make them stay put!!

And I've really enjoyed my small water garden this yr! That's it up behind the gazing ball..AND here it is centered in a larger size so you can see all the little plants up close! Some frogs have enjoyed hanging out there too this summer... 

We have tadpoles in our water barrels! Hope they hatch out soon, we need to use the water, we like to water the plants with rainwater, they do so much better on that!! Plants are one of the best parts of summer...the flowers  and the fresh veggies too!

 Today we peeled and sliced up fresh SC peaches to freeze!! We put them on a cookie sheet and freeze; then put the frozen slices in zip-lock bags so it wont stick together this way we can open the bag and get out whatever we want and not have to thaw the whole bag!

PEACE

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