A normal kind of week.

Thursday:

I 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.

A rant about cow pies...and God bless the Animals

I guess it's about time to make a blog although not much blog worthy is going on, the shed work continues...kinda of

Here she is up to now:

You can see I was able to use the siding I cut into 12" pieces on the front and the side, sort of patch work now...a paint job will even that out.

  

The window is not in the center because I decided to add  a window after the framing was up so its off center, but this is justa shed....

I think it's looks kinda like an old RR depot...If I added some Arts n Crafts roof supports, a couple of old wanted posters, and a water tower, and some track, who knows?... Anyways the hefty overhang will serve me well. Think I have room for a potting table under the front side.

Now the addition is under way that is where the lawn tractor and other yard machines will live. Once that part is framed and roofed, then we can put the wall across the entire back, and the left side, then it will be ready for painting and moving day!  

                                                                                                  My newest daffodils

I am a Libra...balance, and not just balance,  but perfect balance and harmony are the key to my happiness.  Trump, the GOP, and Google (not necessarily in that order) are trying to destroy my everyone's balance.  I finally got Verizon off that list.  

Figured I'd just toss that out and see your reaction...Why you ask?

• Trump has disrupted my balance by creating all this stress in the world with his constant whining, spending, taking undue credit, nagging and lying, I would send him to solitary with no iPhone for eternity if I could.  
• The GOP are like Foxes who sneak into the hen house suck the eggs and kill the chickens while you sleep, they must be trapped and dealt with...before they ruin freakin' everything.
• Google won't update the Win XP that I have nursed and kept alive all these years. It was not on life support but Google put it there.  I have protected it like a fledgling for many years and now Google is trying to make me pull the plug...I refuse.  There is no balance or harmony in that! My computer is purring like a perfectly oiled machine, and when I say that you know it's the truth not like when DJT says that about the Executive Branch.

I can't do online banking without calling my bank, due to Google not updating my system! What harm would it do to allow my machine to update??  I went to their page labeled "How to Update Your Browser" I downloaded Chrome again, but it still will not update....I read all the comments posted by other souls left adrift in the virtual sea, all unhappy to say the least...it was akin to being on the front lines of a protest rally and you're the Trump supporter there in your Make America Great Again hat... I'm comparing Google here...the F word began each comment!  I did not add my thoughts it had something to do with cow pies and all that.

 I figured if I can't get my Senator to change his mind on a Bill that threatens our environment, then how the hell can I get Google to do diddly squat for me?? This is what I hate about corporate control...and the GOP controlled gov't keeps handing out favors to Corporate's whist the population sift through looking for crumbs.  Fascism as I have reported here before is nasty business and it affects us all. When Senator Chaffetz, (the one I desdain more than most) of Utah said, "people will have to decide if they want the new iPhone or healthcare," he was so out of line with reality I wanted to give him a cow pie...instead I left him with a comment containing the words scumbag. Cow Pies were not mentioned.  I can not afford a smart phone, or a new computer, or additional health care expense, because I have to help pay for his heath care, and pay for MY OWN too...and it still does not cover all my medical bills!!  So I may have to go back to writing checks and mailing my bills out, and probably get a part time job!  Does this seem like an angry post to you? It is not, it is a dust dance.  

I will not dwell on all that as soon as the shed is done and I'm cleared for take off I hope to do some travel it will not be my original version of this years adventure but it will be a bright spot on my horizon...while sis is here to watch the dogs and care for Mom....then I will have to buckle down and pay off these mechanical  & medical bills! Life sometimes tosses you cow pies, and you have no choice but to accept  pick them up and toss em' right back...and go on as best you can, patch up what you have and live with it, although the good news is you can rant about it all day long if it helps you restore balance! :o)

PEACE

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

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Story Time:

The Blessing of the Animals.

A little background for this story, some info  you may or may not be aware of.  In the Catholic Religion the St Francis of Assisi is know as the Saint who spoke to the animals, he was the first recorded white environmentalist!  In early October the Catholics hold a Feast Day of St Francis, and they bless the animals such as St Francis did back when he called all animals his brothers and sisters in the 13th century.  

NYC has more Cathedrals than you can imagine.  I actually attended mass there many Saturday afternoons, because it was a beautiful experience. ( I am not baptized into any religion) My Saturday in the city would normally start with a subway ride downtown to 4th st and 7th Ave a mostly gay community! I always felt safe in those areas.  I moved to NYC for many reasons one was to embrace the differences of humanity.  

As I've mentioned before I worked in the EMS system in NYC May of 2001-Oct of 2006.  I have mannnny stories of that time. In that profession we would spend our entire work day out and about in the city, mixing with the multitudes in the communities of immigrants. The city is also deeply entrenched in traditions of all kinds, even the ones where animals are sold for sacrifice.  

On this particular day I was partnered up with Mark, an immigrant from Guiana. We spent many hours in the ambulance just watching the city alive around us.  We parked on street corners of all five boroughs waiting on our next call.  Our conversations didn't always revolve around what we observed, mostly he related life back in his village, while I relayed stories of the Southern US.  I kept telling him we had to find a way to get out of NYC, the farther away we got the better life was.  By this time I had seen all I wanted of the city and was ready to get out of the rat race.  On those rare occasions we were sent out of the city it was like going to another world.  He had been to Pennsylvania once, and other than that he had never been outside of NY state after moving to the USA when he was a teen with his mother.  

We worked a transport unit on this day...hopping from one facility to another. Dispatch sent us to a hospital to pick up a discharge to nursing home patient.  We rode up and down elevators on these calls as each hospital is many stories tall and the nursing homes are the same.  We always walked with me in the front and him pushing the stretcher from behind...as we waited for the elevator I had this weird feeling overcome me.  When the doors opened and we waited for passengers to exit then inside was just us two, the doors shut I suddenly had this vivid impression of rabbits! It was like this overwhelming mental rush. RABBITS!!!!

Mark asked, "what about rabbits?"

I replied, "what did you say?"

He said, "you just said RABBITS, so I'm asking what about rabbits?"

"Are you saying that I said the word rabbits?"

"Yeah, you just shouted rabbits, so what about it?"

I was shocked...
"I didn't know I had said anything out loud, but I just had the most vivid mental image of rabbits!  SO weird, I can't really explain it, like a flash that zapped into my mind."

His lips flatlined,

"You're getting weird," he replied.

"No this city is making me weird. Come on let's get this guy and get outta here," I said.

So I rolled my eyes and frowned, and we went for the patient.  Got him on the stretcher and loaded him into the "bus" as it is called in the city.  We were taking this man to a nursing home in Queens for an admission.  So off we went, me in back with the patient, and Mark driving.

He pulled the ambulance into the unloading area and we got out, unloaded the patient and headed for the entrance.  Then we noticed the cages, lots of cages....of birds and rabbits...we both stopped and stared at each other my mouth fell open, he said his skin crawled, and we were in shock.  We rolled the stretcher up to the cages and right off noticed the rabbits were panting and in great distress.  They were sitting in the blazing hot sun! Poor things!! I went back to the ambulance and got some sheets and spread over the tops of the cages to provide shade, once we got inside I told the woman at the front desk she must get  those animals some water and move them to the shade!! 

She immediately took care of the cages, and then on the way out we found out they were doing a blessing of the animals that day for the patrons at the home. She said, "thank you so much, imagine if we came out here with our patrons and a priest, to find these animals dead  of heat stroke?"

I don't profess to know what my impression was about all I can say is those animals reached out to me, in some way it was like the animals were talking to me.  Mark said his hair stood on end when he saw those rabbits...all the rest of that day we tired to figure out exactly what happened. 

Who knows, but I do believe we are part of this environment if we chose to be, and I always trust my own judgement.

Waiting on the World to Change

My World that is!!

...so most regular readers know I am trying to get my home and grounds back up to snuff after many years of neglect started in 2012 after the divorce decree!  So next on the list (altho it needs a new roof and a new HVAC unit), Im going ahead and doing some of the things I can do on my own or with minimal help and investment.

The shed is an eye sore! This shot shows how close it is to the house...its not normally THIS junky around  it I'm dragging stuff out in prep for the "TAKE DOWN" 

Its currently about 9 x 9...with a lean-to side of an additional 8 ft x 12 ft. an "L" shaped building I dn't need it to be that big. I used to have 2 riding mowers one died so its gone, I have 2 bicycles I only need one, so one is going soon...and there is more of my X's old cast off stuff that is going now that I am ready to tackle this job.  

As the house grew, with the porch addition, the shed got closer, and it blocks the view of the trees out back from the screen porch...so I've decided to make it smaller and move it. My new plan is for it to be 8 x 16 and rectangular in shape. One end is only a 3 sided affair as the mower and bicycles, wheel barrows etc go in there, I think a sliding barn style door will enclose that part of it and make it more weather tight.

 This is a big project.  I had hoped to actually rip it back to the studs and pick it up and move it over and turn the door so it is facing East. It currently faces the house! So I removed all the "stuff", the contents, and its now scattered all over the place and it looks like I'm having a huge rummage sale!! Tarps of every size and color are attempting to keep my gotta keep stuff under cover. It is a hideous mess. It may be too rotten to safely move so may have to completely dismantle it. I put most of the Stuff in storage containers to keep it dry. 

The new location is over to the right, and the gable/door end currently facing South will face East it will rotate 90 degrees. I want to keep it close to the house so when  doing yard maintenance or working on projects it's close enough that its not a deterrent from getting chores done.  In other words I don't want to walk a mile to get a screw driver!

when moved it will occupy this space (above).  I have to cut 2 trees, not a problem as one is bent at a funny angle and one is small--- will do that as soon as it quits raining!!  I have made  progress, now we have had several days of rain and drizzle, so Im stuck inside waiting on better weather to work in.

 

the end is all open now

the front is almost gone

these 2 large camellia trees, will stay although they are blocking some of the view maybe a trim back to shrub size is in order (?), it will be a change for me to get used to as the shed being where it is has also offered more privacy, but I'm ready to make that change and open UP the view around the back.

I can already see daylight!

PEACE

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

What's going on

...now that all my fall travel has been blogged about I have no idea what to say except life goes on here as usual.  Before my sis left she helped me make a few things happen, I have a fence to keep my dogs in the yard and somehow the outdoor faucet ended up on the other side of that fence...meaning I had to go outside the gate every time I needed to water the plants..So we moved it back about 4 ft! It was wonderful because I didn't have to spend one dime...had every thing I needed right here.  I do think I will find a stain to unify the fence color.

                                          The outdoor spigot was on the outside of the fence.....

The fence used to sit right at the bird house on the left...now 

                                                                                           Much better now...

At the beach I found these chairs thro out! So I snagged them for my deck! I had plans of finding some Adirondack style,  theses are actually "deck chairs" like on the deck of a ship in a Norwegian Style, They were in very rough shape and we worked all day sanding staining, and sealing them. I Like the result!

 no rails up yet but have been enjoying the deck anyway...I can take my book out on nice days and do a little relaxing!

I've been doing a lot of wood gathering as I am burning wood to partially heat my house! With all the wood that fell in recent storms, I chain sawed it into fireplace size pieces.  So I'm splitting wood, its a my new free Gym Membership! There's lots more deadwood in the woods to pick up so I have plenty to keep me busy. 

AND a BIG project has begun!!

    

The old shed is coming down...

I have this small yard trailer, have had it for many years...it is a workhorse around my yard but one thing that was a big problem was the tires! They were always flat! Tractor Supply had these solid tires! NO more flats to deal with. AND just in time because I have started the old shed rip down, and move!! It is going to be a slow process, as Im moving things out of it, and have to build a new foundation to put it on, It will be moved over about 20 ft...I KNOW it may not make sense but eventually it will...I will try to take lots of photos. 

And here is a photo of the area around the deck I took this shot March 10th 2013, that's before my accident even, notice the overgrown foundation plantings the out of bounds English Ivy, and the out of control shrubs...

Here is that area today....

We cut the Azaleas back pretty hard but they will fill out again in a couple years it looks better, and it is a very good start on getting it to look the way I want it to look. 

PEACE

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