What a Lousy Day

Today was one of those days where you wish you'd stayed in bed. Got to work this morning and found out they've cut my hours. I'm down to only 3 days per week. This gave me a miserable headache and when I tried to buy some Excedrin (only thing that helps) I saw that all of it had been recalled.

Lots of slobs at the store today. I lost count of how many times I had to pick up their messes in the shoe dept.

I was exhausted when I got home so I took a nap. Steve slept with me on the couch. All of a sudden, he jumps up and goes and pees on the rug in the corner of the livingroom. I grabbed him, stuck his nose in it and yelled at him. He took off out the cat door and I haven't seen him since.

When I started cleaning up his mess I found a puddle of water under my bathroom sink. The drain has corroded (sp) clean through and the water was pouring out under the sink.

Then, I put the rug in the tub to soak with some baking soda and vinegar. When I tried to drain the tub, it was clogged.

I'm going to run away now.

All Good Things...

Today is my last day of vacation. It's been a great 11 days but it's now coming to an end. :o(

I didn't do a whole lot. Made some changes on my blog, fixed a couple things around the house. But mostly, I just enjoyed not having to deal with customers, shoes or bosses!

I got a taste of retirement...

AND I LIKE IT!

I Wonder if the Ground is Frozen Solid

Tomorrow I think I'll see if I can erect a pole to put at least one of the Chickadee nextboxes on. I don't like where either one is. I can't see them from the kitchen window and that's the best place to shoot a video so I don't bother the little critters too much. It looks like some birds have been removing the wood chips. I wouldn't know which birds, since I can't see the darn things!

I also need to fix my mailbox. It's leaning a bit (actually, a lot) to the left. The snow banks have been keeping it upright all winter but they're just about gone now.

I really can't wait til Spring. I'm getting a bit tired of the same old birds and hope to see some new 'lifers' during migration. 'Cheesehead' hasn't been around since I shot that video of him sitting on the Bluebird house. I miss the Bluebirds, the Orioles and the Hummers, too.

Enough already!

Last week we had temps in the 50's and most of the snow melted. Sunday night we got another 8 inches or more. I've had enough of Winter. Even though February is the shortest month of the year, it sure seems to drag on and on.

I finally got around to putting a new door knob on the back door of the garage where the 'would be' thief broke in on Christmas night. I put in a dead bolt lock, too. Next week I'm going to install a motion detector light back there. Hopefully if someone is nosing around again, a light coming on may discourage them.

I had a bit more PVC pipe leftover so I made another Chickadee nest box. Can't wait til the weather gets warmer so I can put it up. Hopefully the Chickadees will like it.

Chickadee-dee-dee

I've been trying to get a nice close-up of one of these little guys for the longest time. I was about 10 feet away when he came to the feeder and this time he stayed long enough for me to capture him.



I was looking towards the sky hoping to see a hawk in flight when this thing flew overhead. It was heading east.



Speaking of hawks, here's one I took last week.

Pathetic, ain't it? LOL

 

What a Great Day!

The weather was perfect today. Beautiful blue skies, not too hot and no humidity. I wish we could have this kind of weather year-round. I took advantage of it and finished doing some work in the backyard.

While I was whacking the weeds I glanced upward and saw a hawk soaring high in the sky. I grabbed my camera to get a shot of it. You've heard of the Incredible Hulk? Well, this is my Invisible Hawk!



He had gone behind the tree before I could capture him.

I'll get 'em next time!

Two years ago Huey cut down the huge willow tree that had caused me so much grief over the years. Along with the mess it made in the yard, the roots would completely block the pipe or inlet into the septic tank and about every 6 months or so I'd have problems with every drain in the house and the toilet wouldn't flush. I've dug that damn septic tank up at least 3 times over the past 24 years. I am too old to be doing that now. But since the willow tree has been gone, I've had no problems with drainage whatsoever.

Anyhow, the stump is still there. I've been burning it slowly but surely and it's getting smaller and smaller with each burn. Since I don't have garbage pick-up anymore I burn my paper trash in the stump. Also, my neighbor has a huge brush pile out back that is from a poplar tree they cut down years ago and some pine branches they've trimmed. I've been grabbing big pieces of that to get a nice rip-roaring fire going on my stump.



Today I even cooked hotdogs over the coals. They were delicious!



While I was sitting by the fire eating my dogs, the birds were eating, too. They didn't seem to care that I was there nor did the smoke from the fire bother them. The Downy Woodpeckers came on a regular basis. I was less than 10 feet from them when I took these pics.

Female:



Male:







Yesterday I saw a Hairy Woodpecker eating at the suet cake. They're very similar to the Downy but quite a bit larger and have a bigger beak. The one I saw was at least 11 inches long. He didn't stick around long enough to get a pic. I also saw a Red-Breasted Nuthatch...a first-time sighting for me.



So, at the end of the day my yard work was done, my belly was full, I was tired, dirty and smelled like a camp fire...but I was happy as a lark!

Yipee!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. The sun is shining, the Christmas madness is over and I have a new follower! Hi 'reen!

It's amazing how the sunshine can affect your mood...mine anyway. Sure wish we could see more of it around here this time of year. At least this month hasn't been as bad as last December was. We had so much snow that I thought we'd be buried the entire Winter.

It reminds me of a story...ya'll like stories, right? :o)

Last Christmas Eve (Dec 24, '08) I was out shoveling my driveway for the umteenth time that month and it was snowing like crazy. As I pushed my shovel along I noticed a huge loader had stopped across the street next to my mailbox. I didn't think too much of it and continued to shovel.

Soon after, the loader had pulled to my side of the street out to the end of my driveway and the driver was hollering something. Now, I'm old and deaf and couldn't hear what he was saying, so I walked toward him and asked, "pardon me?"

His reply: "Do you want me to do that for you?"

Me: (completely shocked!) "That would be great but I'm afraid I can't pay you anything."

The Driver: "Don't worry about that. It's Christmas!!!"

Me: (completely grateful) "That would be wonderful. Thank-you!!!"

He then asked if there were any obstructions that he'd have to be careful of and I told him there was a reflector post at the end of the driveway burried in cement but I didn't really care at this point if he 'took it out.'

The Driver: "Okay. Stand back."

And I did. I stood back and watched as he cleared my driveway in a matter of one or two minutes. It was a sight to behold. I believe I had tears in my eyes!!!

When he finished he hollered, "Merry Christmas!"

My reply: "Thank-you Santa!!!"

It was, without a doubt, the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me. I love that guy! Whoever he is.