About a week in

I’ve been at my aunt’s almost a week, it’s been interesting. (For lack of a more complete phrase.) My cousin’s car has been difficult for me. It’s a stick (manual, for most people, stick for me) and not like most I’ve driven. It’s easy to not get into gear. Which makes it nervousing to drive. But, I did once and got a new pair of shoes. They are comfortable, but I think a bit too large. They have an insert, hard to adjust to. I think I walk wrong! But, I have been able to walk. So, for almost 200 USD, I guess they are ok. The store was very helpful. Place is run by a person with diabetes, because she was frustrated there weren’t any shoes for her feet. She gave me sizes for other brands that would fit, unfortunately those she didn’t have in inventory at the moment. 🙄 I can sometimes feel my feet sliding in these tenny runners, yet the first days, they were tight. The inserts can be removed for other ones, too. I walked further on Wednesday than I’ve walked in ages. It was lovely and blasted cold when I faced the wind! Lake Superior has a brisk breeze at certain times. My aunt’s house was my grandmother’s. It used to have a stellar view of the lake and aerial lift bridge. Unfortunately, this view she’s paying high taxes for is being blocked by trees that used to be trimmed down by city and citizens. And houses are, in consequence, getting taller. My grandma’s house now has a second story that’s pretty impressive.

Pretend this is a sailboat race photo! ⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️⛵️ can’t figure out how to add pictures via iPad.

I walked to a pair of connecting ponds in this city, known as The Twin Ponds. I didn’t learn to skate there, but I did skate on it as a little girl and my mum hung out there growing up. I’m going to put some of my mum’s ashes near or in it. The rest will go to the lake she stayed at extensively throughout her life. My favorite uncle and his ailing wife visited yesterday. It was nice to see her, I wasn’t sure I’d get to. My uncle is a character, he’s always been so. He was just over 3 pounds when he was born, his twin had died in utero. He was brought home to die, and obviously didn’t. I often wonder if his twin had passed on part of his personality to my uncle and that’s why he is so different from the rest of his family. It also might be because he was the only boy among 3 girls! He was supposed to help ‘toss’ mum in the lake, but he might not be available. They are putting new carpet in and moving furniture. (The new carpet is because his wife took off her shoes and walked all over the old one.) He did suggest a good place for some ashes might be where he got to help mum empty the “honey bucket” when the outhouse needed cleaning. (Unfortunately, my aunt can’t find where they might be at the moment. She’s definitely not remembering well today.)

I forgot the link to the fancy place we ate at on Sunday. Here it is. Or, I hope it is! On her real birthday, my cousin asked where she wanted to go. She suggested a place we went to when I arrived. My cousin said we should go elsewhere and suggested strongly another place. My aunt agreed, but it wasn’t a place I’d go again. Smoked bbq spots have too much sugar and I wanted to save for my dessert at the ice cream store. It was a very plain sandwich with a salad prettily prepared with not very fresh rocket greens and sunflower seeds and craisins. The latter I needed to remove because I don’t eat them. I like craisins, but there was ice cream! My aunt had leftover dip of some kind and said those blue chips would be good with it. So, that was on the agenda. The ice cream store was fun. It is all hand made and one kind was rhubarb! I had chocolate chip mint. Unfortunately, when my cousin got chips, it was in a gas station and they only had normal corn ones. It would have made too many stops to find a real store. 😟

My aunt has a hibiscus and what a great plant! It’s huge and has been flowering since my arrival. The blooms don’t last long, but even in death they are fascinating. Like tiny flower mummies with the tall stamens as crowns. I can’t find the one I saw this morning, my aunt is pretty good at picking off dead leaves and probably already plucked it. There are others I can photograph! It’s funny, she’s got tulips that are just finished blooming. Seasons are later here. In Oregon, my white poppies are the last poppies to bloom and the iris are done. Looking forward to going back. There are many places I see that I’d love to go to, but my aunt keeps putting me off. And I’m not sure about going alone! Small town girl here!

Finding joy

One of the reasons for not writing as much as previously is that it seems like my thoughts are all akimbo. Not a lot of get up and go, or maybe it just got up and went! Bunches of doctor appointments, frustrations with changes in the way my body moves (or doesn’t), haven’t written to many people, and even reading isn’t grabbing me as often. In fact, have three books to return and (although they are ones read before) only one was finished. Silly, huh???

Meanwhile, made some (insert absolute eyeroll) like Hostess cupcakes in September and good grief they were NOT. Almost every recipe suggests the crème inside Hostess treats is marshmallow. Like the marshmallow cream like you get here in the states in a jar. The things took ages to make, they used two jars of the marshmallow cream and were incredibly messy and needed kept in the fridge!!! They didn’t seem right at all. Little Bear liked them, he said it was like biting into a chocolate covered marshmallow! So, purchased some Ding Dongs (not ding a lings, although, that song is hilarious!) to see what was inside. Those treats are not like they used to be (redundant phrase of our time). They seem smaller today and the crème inside is skimpy. It is also not marshmallow. It tastes like a frosting. So, when this incident is only a memory, will attempt it again. And use a light creamy frosting that won’t need refrigerated. Keeping treats in the fridge makes people forget they are there and they take longer to get rid of. Which on one hand is good because you don’t need to bake as often, but it is bad because things get stale.

Chuck Berry, link from YouTube.

This week made a ring with burger and crescent rolls. It was super easy and fast and no the directions were not followed. Since it was supposed to be a cheeseburger, just used ground burger, ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, and cheese (forgot the bacon, had bits, but got distracted!). Why the ranch dressing was supposed to be a part of it confused me. Using ranch dressing for chicken ranch pizzas, or with chicken makes sense, but not on a cheeseburger. The chicken bacon ranch pizzas were made using a flatbread recipe. The bread was surprisingly simple and oh my!! Bad bad bad for this person with Diabetes. Carb heaven! (links are to recipes!) Plus, the bread made the house smell so darn yummy!!!!! Will need to make them when butter chicken is on the menu again. (My butter chicken is probably a total cheat, but we like it and it doesn’t take hours to make.)

Thankfully, the sphinx cats are finally in their pupae cases. Mentioned this a blog or so ago, but now they are ALL underground. No more picking leaves and branches for them to snack on. (phew!) Then, of course, Little Bear found another caterpillar. Also a sphinx moth, but it turns into a much smaller moth and doesn’t spend its 5 day life searching for a mate, procreating, and dying. This one is an actual hummingbird moth (white lined) which pollinates flowers. It was also a safe to hold caterpillar (and research showed that natives removed the head and guts and stuck them on a stick over a campfire to eat-there is a video showing some folks doing this), even if it looks formidable in black and yellow!! It consumed a weed Little Bear could only find at work (the weed was supposed to be everywhere and probably is when it isn’t fall), so was incredibly thankful when it buried itself to wrap up in a casing. My main problem now is what on EARTH should be done with dozens of Western poplar sphinx moths in cases. (should count them and see how many there are before panicking) Wonder if they can be sent off to interested persons..and how would one mail a pupae case? Have heard of people mailing bananas as a banana sans container, but these are even more fragile than a nana! Itty bitty box in a padded wrapper???

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels.com

Photo by Etkin Celep on Pexels.com

As words from the world bombard me like a missile into a peaceful city, my heart cries out. Wish the entire world could be wrapped in bubble wrap for a time. The caterpillars are in darkness right now, changing into a new creation. A creation that looks completely different from their previous one and a creation that shows on the pupa what they are going to be. It gives me hope to know that in the uncertainty of tomorrow and the sorrows of today, the necessity of change is not always a horror. The world can’t stay in darkness forever. As Annie sang, the sun WILL come out tomorrow! Meanwhile, rejoice in the tiny bits of joy you find and eventually, hopefully, our rejoicing will resound and echo across the lands.

Did last week really happen??

What a bizarre week to end a longer than usual month. Went to have the shadow removed from an eye, but when in the area to pay the bill pre-procedure, was told it was for both, but they would only do one. (Was so CONFUSED!!) Apparently, in the eye where the retina was torn, a Diabetic bubble was found. The doctor last week noticed it and it was smaller than the one seen earlier in September. But, still!! How on earth did my mum have tons of problems with glucose and no problems??? Granted, she had different cancers in her body, but nothing related to Diabetes. Anyway, visiting another specialist in a couple of weeks.

Me (the awesome rose quartz earrings aren’t wearable anymore. One of the threads broke..might be able to put them on hooks, will need to check!), a super neat image of waterdrops in a hopefully uninhabited web with old leaves and sweet woodruff, and a cute sunflower that somehow showed up in a small flowerbox devoted to snackdragons and petunias. (snackdragons are snapdragons, kid speak!)

The caterpillars are almost all underground. Finally had to get a different container of dirt for their cage. Too many were in it! Was wanting to release them before they burrowed, but those things are fast. (they actually take a bit more than 2 minutes to snuggle their way into the soil) Have only managed to put a couple back into the ‘wild’ and of those, two were snatched from being almost buried. The one in my hand was probably shunted back to the surface in the crowded box of soil. You can see the little horn is almost gone in this fat bumble body. Their pretty bright green turns a bit reddish and their little legs get sharp toes. Probably to help them dig better. In a single month these creatures have gone from egg to sleeping bags under the ground! There are two smaller ones left. Think it is the weather that is sending them underground ASAP. Our days are pretty nice (OK, the triple digits were not nice) and the nights are super cool. In the lower 60s to the mid 50’s. Everyone seems to be getting ready for winter. Little Bear found a large praying mantis munching down on a caterpillar he’d taken up to his grandma’s. Was completely horrified. Detest those things (I know, they are considered good luck, but give me a caged cricket instead!). Any bug with legs that long is just icky!

Saturday was supposed to be busy with outside chores. And it was. But, not the ones anticipated. For some reason a huge and unexpected windstorm hit our area and trees toppled, branches fell, a light pole at the football field was blown down, and more. No one was hurt and the damages were minimal, but it took everyone by surprise. (which was already said!!!)

Little Bear is making a shed from free recycled pallets and was grumpy he wasn’t able to finish it up before the long weekend was over. The Craftsman is working on the outside of the house, he is almost done with the window he started last Labor Day Weekend! Picked a 10 in cucumber and sunflowers, the former will go in my tummy. The latter in my kitchen window. The horse with the flowers is in the field across the road. A young lady owns the pair and one of them gets really bent out of shape if it’s left alone while the other one is being ridden! They were both in the field at this time of day.

Little Bear also found on his trail cams a three legged bear (it turns out a bear can survive a great many kinds of accidents and thrive), a bobcat, a cougar, and saw a deer jump and run from bumping noses with what we assume was a catfish. (the deer was trying to drink and just as the nose touched down, she took off. That water source has a lot of small catfish in it.)

So, September has started and fall in on the way. Next Sunday is Grandparents Day and Patriot Day (9/11) and is followed by National Day of Encouragement. Dove chocolates have mottos inside the wrappers, so think a bag of those to hand out will be fun!

The Bright Side?

There was a song I was thinking of about my latest experiences, but I cannot recall what it was! I’ll just hum that great tune from Monty Python’s Holy Grail, ‘Look on the Bright Side of Life’.

Today is Monday. I hope to get this posted today, but as Mondays go..well, it is one of those Mondays!! Although, to be fair, it probably started on Sunday. I was sorting photos using the storage drive I’d purchased (my passport, nifty little doodad!). I have taken a lot of photos of home the last years and was hoping to get them all organised. (a friend asked what was so important about them? I guess for some, photos from ages past aren’t that big of a deal, but for me, they show milestones and experiences I’d like to remember. And learn from, if necessary!)At any rate, I could not find images from 2014 anywhere, except on a camera chip. I knew I’d sorted them previously, because I had found a record of those pictures. But, after looking, I determined it would be necessary to copy and paste them from the camera chip and sort them again. After sorting almost a month of Alaskan pictures before mom was so ill, I realised I needed to find some photos of Mom’s. She’d taken photos during the same excursions and it is always interesting to see another’s point of view. While looking for mom’s pictures, I found my sorted photos. So, yeah, copied and pasted the sorted ones (that also had mom’s) and deleted the ones I had been working on from the ones on the chip. 

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Then, it was Monday!!! I managed to almost burn a fried egg for breakfast (which was nasty even at almost! ewwwww!), drove for the first time longer than a few blocks and was a nervous wreck. Got to my dentist appointment and discovered it was not a cleaning, like I’d thought, but an appointment that had been rescheduled twice for a sore tooth. I didn’t know I had a sore tooth!!! So, the doctor smoothed down a sharp filling, which was really nice. Now, it doesn’t catch on my tongue! Had a super low glucose, that went super high after treating it in a parking lot. Couldn’t find what I wanted at Walmart, ended up at Safeway and eventually got back to the house. Little Bear came home from work and told me a large shipping containment finally arrived after several months and is slated to be sorted on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Except, Wed he was going to drive me to my appointment in Wenatchee!! 

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One of the blogs I follow suggested paying attention to the magic in the mundane. I used to pray and focus my thoughts on the person who belonged to the socks I was folding or who had used the dishes I was washing or on the person I was addressing an envelope or an email to. Making meals with love instead of with ‘because it needs to be done.’ Can I turn Monday around with that point of view? Let me do and not just try!

 Off to finish laundry and dinner and perhaps I’ll get this posted before it is ‘old’! Although, quite honestly, the bright side should never be old! (all photos from 2014) 

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Heavens to Betsy! (and where did that phrase come from???) I managed to leave a tissue in a pocket, which put bits all over that particular load of laundry. Then, at dinner I found out that Mittens had cornered a mouse, but Little Bear didn’t know that and let it go (The Craftsman had noticed it after his first alarm went off, sort of helped her, and then went back to bed.). They didn’t tell me cuz they didn’t want me to ‘freak out’. I then emptied out drawers I keep bread in and covered bins of bagged flour, bagged sugar, and chocolate. Because I don’t mind mice in movies or books or outside, but I do NOT like them in the house. (Note, now Little Bear has messy basement bunnies, their spilled food is a draw, too.) And my glucose keeps dropping and I’ve already eaten what I thought was a lot of carbs! Piffle!!! (but it is all sort of funny, cuz Little Bear wanted to bring me a glass of diet pepsi instead of milk to raise my glucose. He did bring me milk.) Definitely a Monday!!  (And I really really wish I could figure out how to smallerize photos on Chrome!)

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Where oh where, are those seedlings?

Packets of seeds can be addictive. It seems so simple to put seeds in the ground when the little map on back says it is best and wait. Except, waiting can often go beyond the seedling should appear dates. The worst part of seed packets are the ones that don’t have an image of what the seedling may look like. I recall dozens of weeds I pulled up one summer. They had edgy looking leaves and white sap inside. Then, I saw one had bloomed and realised I was determinedly removing small red poppies I’d seeded in the spring. I’m pretty sure I know what many seedlings look like, but I planted 3 packages of cosmos in my iris bed and have not seen a single one. I pulled up quite a few little plants (see first photo below), but after online investigation, they were not cosmos. Not sure what they are!!! I’ve been dusting the taters and the green and yellow beans with diatomaceous earth because the bugs have been having hefty meals off those. Hoping the stuff ‘works’. I’m trying to be cautious where it is used because I don’t want to kill off ‘good’ bugs like ladybugs or butterflies or bees. It needs reapplied after being rained on (unless it dries out again), so anticipating something survives!! Some of the beans are barely an inch tall. I think the sweet peas I planted were sterile or died. The seeds, I mean!! The nasturtiums came up, but not a single sweet pea. Reseeded them again among the forget-me-nots. The orange poppy seems to be expressing my flower face perfectly!!!!!!

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On the great side, however, my nursery purchased rosebush has flowers on it! It has been awhile since seeing them in person. It is a sharp, pokey plant with tiny scented flowers. It is also one of the few expensive plants purchased for this yard in EO. Most of them have been picked up from box stores or out of neighbor yards. The yew, cedar, juniper, and not so dwarf maple were purchased, too. But, those are trees, not what I consider a plant or bush!!

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The funniest thing this week are the robins. There are many young ones, they have been out and about, so was certain sure they knew how to eat on their own. But, this parent was being worn out by the young! Was fortunate to be able to capture them through the kitchen window. I think I was being looked at, but work went on anyway!

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The freezer was picked up, the last crate from AK was emptied and the stuff brought back (did get a mini storage to put some of the debris in. There is a table we brought back set up in it, too. It will be much easier to sort stuff in that little room than trying to find stuff scattered all over the in law house!), and discovered a night light I’d asked for!! Some of the stuff from the container are already being used. Like the saucepans and my shorts. Wore a summer dress today for about 3 hours. It was a perfect day for temps, but it didn’t last. The black clouds rushed in, temps dropped 20 degrees, and it poured and blew and rained! There was also thunder. Last night there was thunder and sheet lightning, but not sure if there was the latter today. Little Bear was listening to news from E. Washington and heard some little planes blew over! We didn’t get winds of that strength here, but YIKES!!!

I’ll leave you with my elephant light and then a video featuring a composer from more than one favorite movie.

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A New Season

Spring is officially here. The crocus are done, mostly because after they were in their last bloom it commenced raining. Crocus in the rain become purple mush. (must remember next fall to purchase crocus of different colors!) The daffs are up and the first golden trumpets are shining out the glory of spring, the double daffs and the narcissus will follow with their own responses. There are buds of green on the lilac and the rose bushes and violets are springing up all over the yard with tiny golden buttons of dandelions. So do love these months! Even the rain is grand, you can imagine it soaking into the soil where waiting bulbs and perennials and seeds are able to soak in the nourishment of moisture and when the sunshine and warmth comes back. Oh! Spring is such a well-dressed, busy time of year!

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With the onset of March, illness has ran rampant in the household. Started with steroids, though. The doctor had me lined up for x-rays for my sore lower back and arm/shoulder and gave me a run of steroids to help keep me from all the ibuprofen I swallow. Well, the x-rays showed there really isn’t any reason for pain, but the steroids have absolutely helped. Not sure how long they stay in one’s system, but I’ve only had a smidge of pain now and then. So lovely! The taste, however, was beyond nasty. I wrapped them in bits of Jr. Mints to make them more palatable. (odd, shrank these photos a LOT and they look HUGE on my screen.)

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While those were being taken, what seemed to be allergies were attacking. The Craftsman was so sick, he took two days off of work and the doctor gave him sinus infection meds. This gal was sicker than a dog, but had so many errands the first week of March, it was ridiculous. Most days I never leave the house and if I do, it is for one or two errands in a single day and then nothing for weeks. However, this month I had appointments and meds to pick up and discovered my ODL was expired (opted to get the Oregon Real ID and the card is so pretty and shiny. My photo looks like a mug shot, but the card makes up for it!). Since Friday the 12^th have not gone or done much of anything til this weekend. Hae barely even been online. Did email my physician and she told me to get a covid test. Although, she told me that last Friday and this weekend has been a complete change from the last few weeks. Taste and scent have returned for the most part and I don’t have a serious tummy ache. What I do have is worse. Intense itching and a rash all over my body. Reminds me of chicken pox without the blisters. Wore socks on my hands to sleep to keep myself from itching at night. Appears it might be a reaction to an antidepressant I’m supposed to take twice a day and only take once. Did tell the physician, but information on the drug suggests it will go away in a few weeks when my body is used to taking it. The drug has some good side effects, though. Am not as tired and have lost weight!!! (although, that could also be from not eating many carbs while I was sick. Half cups of dry cheerios was my main nibble snack in a day.) Oddly, the drug also causes some of the same symptoms as covid, so there you go! Crazy. The kid was sick for a short while, too. He may have escaped most of what his parents had, hoping so!

Baked Sunday, for the first time this month. Making meals has been about all I could handle. Will need to pay better attention. The brownies had to be taken from the oven a bit after being popped in, had to add another 1/3 a cup of flour to the mixture.  (writing was small. Didn’t realise it was 1 2/3 a cup!) The end result looked unusual, but covered it all with homemade chocolate frosting and was told they are very good.

The animal kingdom here has been modified. Moses is enjoying spring, Mittens is annoyed she cannot go outside, and the rabbit kits have been culled. They were fighting and one of the males ended up in quarantine with the nickname ‘Scarface O’Harelip” because his face had been rearranged. Another had been mis sexed and gotten of the girls he was cohabitating with pregnant! At 14 weeks!!! No matter, Little Bear is hoping for two more litters from adult females. There is a squirrel family chasing around the trees and bushes, red wing blackbirds are visiting the feeder with the finches, sparrows, and juncos, and I’ve discovered a few lady bugs!!! Little Bear also brought me a chrysalis of what is probably an angle shade moth. (I’ll put it outside again!)

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Turning my back on the lovely end of winter. Looking forward to what the new season has to offer!

The end?

The Aristocats! By Disney

Well, it might be, but it might not be!!! Some things won’t be finished, others have been. Life is like that. Never ending circles (ooooh!!! Another Disney movie!!!!).

Here in EO, the sound of illegal fireworks are causing dogs to bark and car alarms to go off. (or is that the neighbor’s high powered car with the missing muffler) The circle of life in the rural bits of America!!!

Meanwhile, the babies are growing. In just days they’ve gotten fur and are sooooo cute! (for being fuzzy animated jelly beans with legs!) Future food has never been so adorable!! Little Bear is being so responsible! He’s measuring food and making sure the adults are eating properly and purchasing things to help the bunnies become the best brood bunnies ever.

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Made delightful garlic cheese rolls again and we’ll have the rest for dinner in a couple of days. Tonight was a stir fry that took way too much time and hilarious personal ring cakes. Those are a dessert from Norway and well, the molds for the rings are not in my cupboards and the size of the cake was a bit daunting. So, made itty bitty donuts using a keto recipe and coconut flour. Not sure what I did wrong, but they were not exactly right. Which worked!! Ring cakes are a tad flat and since the donuts were a tad flat, they stacked very well!! The low sugar inside the donut was overshadowed by the powdered sugar glaze outside. Not photos of those, but they were not too bad at all!!! They were supposed to have mini chocolate chips in them. Alas, the batter was thin and when I poured it out into the donut wells in my donut baking pan, the chips stayed in the bottom of the bowl!! So, the last few I made were THICK with chocolate chips. Those were VERY good!!! lol (I‘ll see if I can still take a couple of photos and add them to my next post.)

Something VERY cool happened, too. Mum had a task she’d not finished. With a lot of help, it was completed. Let me ‘splain. She had a doll she was going to mend and never got around to it. The owner was one of mom’s handicapped friends and she called mom every week for years. In each call, she’d ask mom about the doll. Well, a friend up north kept the doll I’d mended and found how to get it to the girl/lady. Was sent a photo and it made me cry. So thankful that is done!!

To end the year, talked to a financial person who suggested using the cash from mom’s house to pay bills and put into investments. So, today, paid off a large bill for an MRI and am paying for therapy sessions. The therapist is going to teach my body how to move again. Absolutely looking forward to that!!! In the paper she gave me with questions to answer, there were many that made me realise how often shortcuts are taken so hurt is avoided.

Also read a couple of anthologies with GREAT illustrations. OK, the anthologies were hit or miss with greatness, but some were very good. The illustrations made up for it. One is about cats and the other fun fairy tale like stories. The images would make good tats, probably!!!

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So, I reckon it is now the end!! Thank you to all my wonderful friends in here. You, once again, have helped make a year of being alone less lonely!!! May your next months be full of beauty and goodness and when those hard bits happen, may they eventually burst out into lovely.

Dec 29, 2017 Cook Inlet AK

Surrounding the Holidays

From wrapping gifts to checking out the nativity, cats are always putting in the best paw. (Especially like Mittens and her glowing green and yellow eyes under the tree lights!)

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Even the squirrel enjoyed the feasts set before them. (Even if the feasts were supposed to be for the birds!!!)

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The one hanging on the tube feeder hand it figured out. He’d hook his claws around the wire for the lid. One of the others never quite got it and kept sliding down. The theory was that they’d not be able to get to these feeders, but they jumped from the porch to the metal stand or shimmied up the metal pole!! It is fun to watch them look around to see how to go about getting a snack!

Christmas was not bad at all. The guys completely enjoyed the two large gifts they were given and mine were nice. Having a sock full of kit kats was sweet, but the power bars I’d mentioned were on sale would have been more logical! Little Bear actually pulled out the stops with a lovely glass cutting board, Amazon gift card in a HUGE box, and flower bulbs. The latter was entirely sweet, loved the note with them (he also got me caramel corn, but it will keep til a low glucose!). The Craftsman finally finished, the day after Christmas, a bannister so my getting upstairs will hopefully be easier. It’s a project he’s been working on for almost a decade. Finishing things is a positive way to end a year!! He also got me a battery operated vest to help me stay warm. He’s taking it back for a larger one, he forgot I wasn’t a medium sized person anymore. He also found a cute pair of sparkly stud earrings. They are the tiniest flowers ever! My personal gifts to me were my watch and a book. The socks were too large (how a person can purchase themselves socks that are too big is beyond me, but doable!!).

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Adorable note with bulbs and a festive juke box!

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Bannister made from over 100 year old wood. The spot in the red shape is close to the end of the old bannister where it was nailed to the wall. The new one is evenly hung and much longer!

It is soo pretty now!!!

The BEST present was Little Bear’s bunny who actually was pregnant. Christmas Day she began exhibiting what was called hay stashing. They collect every speck of straw or hay they can find and stuff their faces til it looks like they have a hay moustache and then fill their nest box. I had gone out on Boxing Day (St. Stephen’s Day) because I’d had a dream she’d had 6 or 7 kits and discovered she’d also started pulling hair. Her water dish was full of fur!! I came in and told Little Bear she’d need new water and he was surprised. He’d gone out a few hours before and she was hanging around the box and not doing much. So, he went back out and found she had given birth to 7 tiny blobs of bunny! They will gain fur over a few days, which will be a good idea. It is really not very nice out there!!! Freezing rain, snow, and a lot of wind has been the norm for the last two days. Now, he needs to help keep the winter kits alive til they are large enough to grow up on their own til the majority join freezer camp in mid spring. So glad he’s got rabbits and not cows!! He puts a lot of care into feeding these hoppers and measuring out a half cup of pellets is way less stressful than a bucket full of grains!!

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Little Bear is holding Onyx, she’s still too young yet for mating. Maude doesn’t really like to be held, but he’s hoping her bad temper the last weeks has been due to kits!! Under that pile of fluff are 7.

Make Woom for Wabbits

Due to illness, faulty internet, and trying to keep up with the holiday decorating season, my correspondence has been spotty, at best. Working on Christmas cards this week..probably! So, this is from LAST weekend.

This might disturb some readers, but sustainable healthy meat harvest is part of the lifestyle of this family. (Little Bear says, ‘Kind of.’ He’s got to feed and care for and keep the genetic diversity strong, but at this point, the outlook is rather good.) At any rate, a few weeks ago, we drove across Oregon to get rabbits for Little Bear. They were all does instead of two does and a buck. So, he needed another buck. He was looking for Chinchilla, which are supposed to be an uncommon breed. For all the Chinchilla crosses he has found and the pure bred breeders in the area, they aren’t as uncommon as they might be! On Thursday he got a call from the daughter of one of his bosses (there are 3 ladies in the office. Little Bear doesn’t really think it is right to say one is boss over the others!), a lady he also works for. She was with a friend who jokingly asked if she knew anyone who wanted rabbits. Immediately, the woman called Little Bear and handed her friend the phone. The friend had a Chinchilla Californian cross pair she’d purchased several months ago and now she wanted to get rid of them. Two cages (although the rabbits shared one) and food and dishes and bunnies for free. She’d spent a great deal of money on these pets, they were getting larger, and it looked as if the female might be pregnant (go figure!!). Little Bear decided a nearby Chinchilla mixed pair for free was a lot less expensive than driving across country for a single male. He was sent a video of the cages and those also looked good. (when we arrived, he realized we did not need more than one vehicle for the cages and the rabbits and the cages had been lovely things with wood all over the place..that had been seriously chewed upon.)

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Moving a lasagna garden on a PNW December day.

Unfortunately, the new rabbits were going to live next to the other rabbits and one of my lasagna gardens needed moved pronto. (In retrospect, this was not a surprise. It was just something to hem and haw about before it really needed done and should have just been done! Kind of like the roof doesn’t leak when it’s not raining theory) Thus, I spent a couple of hours in a breezy freezing fog moving a garden. Little Bear asked if it was traumatizing. It wasn’t, not exactly. The Craftsman moved the frame for the garden, allowing me room to carefully shovel out with a square shovel sections of earth layers. Careful was the name of the game, since there were thriving bulbs in the bed and metal chicken wire on top of the yard soil. One of the worst parts was missing tulip bulbs. There were a few dug up, but by and large, they were absent. This bothered me. Hyacinth and daffodils of all kinds were full of delicate white rootlets and making new bulbs, but where were the tulips? Once the soil was shoveled off and placed in a wheelbarrow or on a tarp, the wire was fully exposed and able to be lifted. Yup, it had a couple of holes in it! It appeared the ground critters may have chewed up to the wire where the tasty bulbs were and gone through to get the treats. The few bulbs found were near bulbs considered inedible by rodents. (Completely annoyed, even as this is being typed!)

Thankfully, the metal mesh part was salvageable and with scraps from around the yard and shop, it was ‘fixed’. A layer of cardboard was put on top (usually you use newspaper, link is for other post) and then soil from the previous lasagna garden. This wasn’t layered, but just dumped in a barrowful at a time. The beautiful bulbs were tossed in the bed in a naturalization pattern and covered with more soil, the frozen topmost layer, and a nice sprinkling of leftover dirt and garden debris. From 1:30 to 3:10, less than two hours, the garden was moved and put back together! At this time (1030  pm) the rabbits are in the unheated addition to acclimate to the idea that they don’t need a heat lamp at 20 degrees F because they have very warm and soft fur. They will also be separated as soon as possible. If the lady (named Zsa Zsa and renamed Maude) is pregnant by Jimmy Bunny (renamed Bucky), they can’t stay together. Female bunnies are territorial and kits are a part of that territory. However, there is now room for their homes and if this keeps up, Little Bear is going to be top dog in a wabbit empire in record time! Six adults in less than 3 weeks has got to be a record.

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Cage. 200$ on Amazon. Worthless for rabbits. Little Bear with material for fixing cage. Maude and Bucky.

For Better?

I almost think I should repost my last post. I don’t think anyone saw it. But, that is typical for this weekend. (although, I posted it on Thurs..) Oh, well. This one doesn’t have as many photos as Thursday’s, but it is in the same vein!

I’m starting to feel better. I hope this round of antibiotics keeps working. The last ones seemed to lose momentum, but at least this time if they do, the doctor said to contact them and let them know. I’m not sure if it is the rain (which I usually love) or the chill in the house or the lack of people or the job, but I’m starting to think this is never going to end.

I was texted a couple of times this weekend (five by The Craftsman!) and spent a while on messenger with someone who wanted attention (I didn’t get it, but they did! Lol), got a couple of emails, and read books. (I’m so glad to finally get to finish the book I’ve been waiting all winter for! It’s a story of a journey wrapped up in a search for an ancient book. The Bestiary by Nicholas Christopher). I’ve still not made the bed, I feel like a tramp cuz I’m in a sleeping bag on the mattress!! I hope I’ll feel well enough to do that on Monday. I’ve not seen anyone, have a lot of papers to haul to the dump, and am feeling a bit down in the pit of despair! I have seen on FB many people from my past are around, yet most of them don’t realise I’m here. I supposed posting photos of the area isn’t good enough! Lol I know, if I visited with them, they’d notice how boring I am. I’m definitely not a party person. I’m usually the quiet one in the corner who reads or watches. I do not fit most places. Silly, huh? However, it is just feelings. Things which really aren’t as important as what is really going on.

I am wondering if I should throw away the cards from my parent’s memorial services. I have a guest book for mom, we didn’t for dad, and mom’s cards are still in nice shape. Dad’s were in the garage in a chewed on box. I’m not looking forward to sorting the wishes. I did move them from the bad box, but they are still mousy. If I don’t keep dad’s, I don’t really want to keep mom’s! I did find more papers I need to take to a bank to make sure that account is closed. I don’t get mail up here, but they kept sending stuff on that account to me in OR. I’m not sure what mail I’ve gotten since I’ve been here. I take that back, The Craftsman told me the tax bill for this house came. I’ve not done near as much as I wanted to this weekend, I was so tired much of it. I did find some manuals and repair books for the juke boxes. The Craftsman was going to call and tell me which ones were in OR, so I could take those out and give the rest to Juke Box Kid. He texted he had the model numbers, but he’ll call maybe on Monday. I keep thinking my life is spinning in circles.  You know the funniest thing? I was reading in my journal through those months I was taking care of mom and consistently wrote I was tired and frustrated!!! I need an injection of pep vitamins and an attitude adjustment. (I probably wrote that a great deal in here, too.)

My power bill went up from last month almost 100$. I have not turned up the heat, I wear lots of warm clothing, and think it must be the dryer and the hot water heater. I take short showers, but I also use a space heater when I’m in the shower. (in to out and dry, it is about 15 minutes) I put my damp towels in the dryer and use the dryer after I wash at the laundromat. I boil water to wash dishes and that is another electric contrivance. The stove/oven and then the microwave. The fridge has a need of being replaced. I also use my laptop and now that it is finally getting darker by 10 pm, I use lights. I look at this house and can only see the horrible parts in it. My joy in being home has been stifled.

Thankfully, the lake is always there and I noticed the golden eye male has shown up (for some odd reason. I guess he prefers teens over ducklings). I love seeing their white feathers when they dive and shake themselves off. Such a pretty sight in the green rain dimpled water. The other day someone was target practicing across the way and the noise was so loud, the little golden eyes scampered across the water to hide in the weeds! They were cute, their wings are tiny, but they can still run on the skin of the lake.  Friday I also had fun with birds. The chickadees were being very brave. One landed on my shoulder and several times I had them feeding from my open hand. Also, I had a pine grosbeak land next to me. I was startled when the wings brushed me, chickadees are much smaller! (I guess I’ve had winged encounters quite a bit this week-the butterfly in the last post was the beginning). I think birds are for the better! The squirrel was fun to watch eating, too-

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