Wednesday, June 29, 2011

From the sunflowers...

I just have to show you these...there were several of the bumblebees and none were ever completely still....and most were rushing from sunflower to sunflower as if they were in a race for their life....
I like the way this one looks beside the bird feeder...most of the sunflowers come to right below the bird feeders. (I had Roger make the hanger for the bird feeders and he made it extra tall till the feeders would be out of reach of jumping cats.)
When I was taking pictures of the bumblebees and sunflowers, I noticed this seed that had been caught in the sunflower's limbs...

Well, that reminded me of working at the orchard. I think I have told this before, but not sure. Forgive me if it is a repeat. Anyway, we had over 20 varieties of apples at that small orchard. And I was always in on all the picking...very seldom did a variety get totally picked by anyone else. So, I am speaking from a lot of experience.

Fuji apples were some of the later varieties to be picked...and the Fuji variety we had had real long stems. So, I always had a pair of clippers and as I picked each apple I had to cut the stem shorter...or else when they were being washed and bagged, the stems would poke holes in the other apples.

I cannot tell you how many sunflower seeds I found hidden down in around the stem! It was not hulls, but whole seeds. Another example of birds hiding food. There is no other explanation for it. There were no sunflowers near, other than what the owners put in bird feeders up by the house....and these would be up in apples in the top of trees. And Fujis were the only apples they hid them in...at least that is all I ever seen. And I think I would have noticed if they had been in others.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

After the screen is gone....

I want to remind you that all of these can be enlarged by clicking on them.

I did take the shot above yesterday evening....but the rest of these are from today.
I cannot help but show a couple more of the goldfinches....this one above is no more than a yard away from me....just right outside my window.
Can you spot the one above...it blends right in...
This cardinal is looking rough....there is one that comes occasionally that is beautiful, but I never seem to be there when he is.

Old Blue was there several times today, but he moves around a lot...he is very hard to capture.

I so wish I had taken this screen out a long time ago...well, maybe not. I just want to sit there with camera near at hand.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Goldfinches

This afternoon, I came in here to see if I had any email...and there not over two feet from my computer were these goldfinches...and wonder of wonder they were so engrossed in what they were doing that I sat here and took at least a couple dozen photos...none of which were that good.
I have thought about taking a screen out this window forever but had never done it. After I saw the shots I took that should have had some wonderful captures, I had Roger take it out for me. It is normally a job I could have did by myself, but still not quite capable with my shoulder.
I had to use Photoshop Elements to get these to look even as good as they do. After we took the screen out, they did not come again....but tomorrow is another day.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The view from Merom Bluff...

Yesterday we stopped at Merom Bluff to see what the Wabash River looked like from up there...as you can see it is full to the brim.
I spotted these two flowers while up there...and I don't know the name of either. I have seen the one below before but don't remember seeing the one above. With my memory, that is not saying much...I could have seen it and forgotten it.
If you know their name, feel free to chime in....I have did a little searching but no luck so far. Whatever they are, I think they are beautiful, specially the blue/purple one.

Meow, meow

We went for a little drive today, and was gone 6 hours or so. When we came home and I got out of the Rav, I heard this meow, meow. Which is not really all that uncommon. Puss Puss usually comes to greet us giving those quick little meows. But I did not see her anywhere, till I looked up and there she was on our roof.

She started getting up there last summer....the first time or two we got the ladder and got her down. But we didn't get her soon enough the next time and she got down by herself. It took us a while to figure it out...she goes up and down the trellis at the end of the porch.

Then here in the past month or two, Bubbie wanted in but I ignored him for a few minutes. By the time I opened the door, he was no where to be seen....but I heard him on the awning over the porch. I didn't know it was him till he came down the trellis/wisteria vine!

And do you want to know what they are after? Well, we could never figure it out....till just a couple weeks ago. I was sitting out on the porch talking on the phone and a tree frog croaked...I think it was Puss Puss first there and boy did she zone in on it. She jumped up in a chair under the sound and put her feet on the back of it... Then in a little bit, Bubbie was there, and when it croaked again he did the same thing...only instead of jumping on the chair he was reaching up the post...so there is not much doubt when they hear the tree frog over at the other end of the porch, they probably run up the trellis to try to get to them.

I think we have the craziest cats....I have had cats all my life and have not had any to surpass these.

On top of Puss Puss's greeting today....Cougar was acting kind of strange. Roger went to his shop shortly after we got home. I passed by the bathroom and Cougar was just laying in there. He never lays in there. (Bubbie goes in there and pulls towels down, then crawls under them...but Cougar never goes in there unless we are in there.) In a little bit, I was in the living room and heard this pitiful meowing..I went and looked down in the basement....only to realize he was still in the bathroom. He was in the tub....so I went in and petted him a few seconds and gave offered him a fresh drink of water. Still this meowing...but he followed me out and went to the door as if he wanted out.

I let him out, and he went outside and immediately turned around, sat in front of the door and meowed as if he wanted back in. I opened the door, he came over and meowed and turned away without coming in.

So I continued on with the housework I was doing, stopping every little bit to open the door to see if he wanted to come on in. He didn't....so when I came to a good place to take a break, I picked up my book, a glass of iced tea and some cheese and crackers and went out there. Of course he got a couple bites of cheese, and I petted him and talked to him some more. That was all he wanted...just a little bit of companionship. He got up on top of the grill, and that was the last I heard from him.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Sharp-dressed man

Top coat, Top Hat.....I don't worry cause my wallets fat......just a little ZZ Top in case you didn't know.....and this post title is due to THIS post over at The Run 'A' Round Ranch.....I saw her post and immediately thought of the cardinal and how perfect the title would be....
However I had to resort to the snow photo above because the one I had taken the other day does not shot his 'top hat' to perfection.
Plus if you enlarge it, you will see that he is losing some of his feathers. But he is still a gorgeous bird, no matter what.
********************
Before I left home, in the winter we always fed the birds. No, we didn't buy birdseed. I am not even sure if I had ever seen birdseed to buy. And I for sure didn't know anyone that did.

We took a milk jug and cut windows in the sides, leaving the bottom at least two or three inches deep, and would use a string to tie the handle to this trellis mom had at the end of the porch....plus someone, not me, would make some kind of flat 'tray' to nail to the top of a fence post.

We would crumble up leftover cornbread as the main food, and I know we used other stuff but I cannot remember what else unless it was corn. And the birds would just flock to both....there would be cardinals in abundance. I can remember seeing 9 or 10 male cardinals at the same time. Plus there would be different sparrows, chickadees, tufted titmice, and probably wrens, though in all honesty I can't think for sure. But being that they were there all the other time, they just about had to be there then. Mom would also save leftover fats and make a suet for them...

Then come spring/early summer, when we were no longer feeding them...the cardinal would suddenly appear on the fence post, flitting his tail and almost like he was scolding us. We took that as a sign he wanted food for babies...so I would crumble a little cornbread on the post. Here he would come, grab a piece and take off back to the cedar thicket. We never tried to follow, so did not know for sure if they did have babies, but always felt like they did.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

My choice

I came home with this gourd...that one in the back with a sunflower painted on it. It was only $10...not bad for a work of art.

*********************
It is getting ready to pour down here...looks like a real storm rolling in. But it has been sounding/looking like that for an hour or two now. Hopefully, it will not be anything like what happened down home yesterday.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Flooding in Tennessee

First, let me say these pictures were not taken by my....they were taken by my BFF/sis-n-law....this is taken looking from their yard..
Gap Creek used to always flood every so often during the summer...but it never even came close to this. If you will click on these, in the second photo, right in the middle you can see that small clump of something which is actually the stop of a small bush I would say. Anyway, see that line running there....that is the railroad. And the railroad there is up above ground level I would say at least 3 or 4 feet...I am thinking maybe more than 5 feet. I don't ever even remember the water reaching over to the railroad, much less going over that.
It is just almost hard to believe even with seeing the pictures...you just never know. It will probably be a while before all the damage is known. Thankfully, they lived higher up than this got....

It has gone down since these were taken...I am not sure if it is all the way down but the railroad crews are working on the railroad. It washed out underneath and railroad ties are just sitting there. My brother nor a neighbor that has lived around there all his life...he is in his 60's....neither of them have ever seen the water this high.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

More examples of the Bridgeton tornado

Just thought I would show a couple more examples from the tornado at Bridgeton. The big old sycamore above was near the creek, but not right on the edge...you can see how big it is/was in comparison to Roger. There were a lot more trees down on up the creek, but the town itself did not seem to have damage, except for the mill which I showed the other day. Of course, we just passed through. So there might have been more damage than I realize. The mill was bad enough.
And just out of town about a mile or two is one of my favorite barns of all time...as you can see it was damaged. Again. It has not been that many years ago that this side was hit. I don't think it was quite as bad as this...but I could be wrong. I hope they repair it again...I bet I have a hundred photos of this barn.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Is it enough popcorn for her??

To be honest about it, Sarah said she did not enjoy it half as much as what we had here that night last week...we are still laughing about that.

We also have more tales to tell. Sarah made her crib into a little bed with the half side rail a couple days ago. She spent the first night in it, and the next morn, she got up and did not cry for her mom. Sarah heard her open the door... Lorelei came down the hall and there is a corner there and you either go into their bedroom or on down the hallway a bit and into the living room, etc.

Lorelei got to that corner and slapped the wall hard with her hand twice and yelled, "STOP!!!! STOP SWEEPing!" (sleeping) We think she wanted the whole world awake.

Well, we went over yesterday to help a little with a plumbing problem...well, Roger to help and me along for the ride. So, she does go to bed in her bed, and she woke up crying this morn about 5:00 a.m....I forget what all she ask her mom for...she went through a whole list of stuff, but Sarah convinced her to go back to sleep.

Then, when I woke up, I could hear her chattering away...I thought she was up with her mom in the living room already...soon as I stepped out in the hall she stopped so I didn't realize she was in her bedroom still. I thought maybe Sarah had taken her to their bed. Being that I was up, decided to do my exercises....

About that time, I hear Sarah get her....she said Lorelei was just sitting on the edge of her bed kicking her feet saying "mommy, mommy, mommy" over and over, and when she walked in, Lorelei quick covered her own eyes with her hands, and said "Surprise!" That kid has way too much fun....

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Bridgeton Covered Bridge....

This poor bridge has seen more than its fair share of troubles...it was burned down in April of 2005.....and the whole thing rebuilt by a community of volunteers by October of 2006. You can read about it here....
A couple of weeks ago, give or take a day or two or three, we had some real storms and some tornadoes go through. Guess what...one hit the bridge...it took out some of the sides on both sides. We had heard about it but not had the chance to go by till day before yesterday....
The old mill also had the roof taken off and had some water damage to things inside...as you can see they were getting ready to re-roof the day we were there.
It was officially classified as a tornado that hit there....thank God it was not wide spread. There were places were there were lots and lots of trees down...I cannot imagine seeing acre after acre of stuff just destroyed as those in Joplin, Missouri.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Memories.....

Clara of Clara's Corner has suggested for us all to share a childhood memory on Mondays...I plan to participate when I think of it and can pick a memory I want to share.

I think I have shared this before...but some may not have read it so bear with the part that is a repeat. The above is the Arthur Elementary School I attended for eight years....it had four rooms plus the entryway. There were four teachers, each one teaching two grades. Each of the four rooms had a stove in it...not a pretty coal burning stove, but just one of the plainer ones. I think starting in the 3rd grade, the teachers would pick a couple students to go bring in a bucket of coal...everyone volunteered. Maybe they did it in 1st and 2nd grade, but if they did I don't remember it.

Notice all the windows....again I don't think we did it in first and second grades, but from about 3rd grade on up, the kids washed the windows. At least the bottom three rows of window panes...maybe we did the fourth, but I for sure don't think we went any higher. I only remember girls being chosen to do that job...but again all of us volunteered. The teacher would choose two of us...one for the inside and one for the outside.

And then there was the chalk boards...again students took care of them. And we loved going outside to clean the erasers. There was a pump house that was tacked on to the actual school, and we would beat the erasers on the walls of it...sometimes we would stand back and throw them at it. Again, the teacher chose two....again everyone volunteered.

And then there was the outhouses...all the students volunteered to clean them also! All we had was cold water and a broom...and I suppose soap cause seems like I remember carrying buckets of water to rinse after we had scrubbed the outhouse. Again two kids were the lucky ones chosen for the job.

I don't know if the teachers chose two because they knew we would enjoy doing the jobs more that way and volunteer more readily, or if they thought the jobs actually needed two people...and with all these jobs, remember the class size...there was 5-6 girls in my class most of those years, and not many in the class above or below our grade either. And there were even fewer boys in our class.

But all this is not really the memory I was planning to share. The memory is about library books. We didn't really have a library in the school...I know in the 5th and 6th grade room, there were a couple shelves with old, old books on them. I don't even remember looking at them. I have no idea if there was anything worth reading or not.

I don't remember if I was in 3rd or 4th or 5th grade, maybe even 6th grade when a car started coming and bringing children's books to school. I think they were brought from another school, but I am not sure. The hallway or entry way had a long bench in it and they would spread the books out there...you just cannot imagine the thrill of getting to go pick out books with shiny dust covers....it was a wonderful thing for us when they started doing that.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Popcorn tales

After last night I will never think of popcorn in the same way. I will always get a smile on my face and remember Sarah and I laughing so hard it almost hurt.

Here is what happened....

Lorelei and her mom and dad were spending the night here. Her dad happened to be gone when the following happened....only Sarah, Papaw and I witnessed it, and it is hard to describe till you get the full picture.

Roger decided to pop some popcorn...all of us love popcorn. Lorelei is no exception...we knew she liked it but did not know how much. Roger first pours the popped corn in a big plastic bowl, adds the salt and butter...then gets smaller bowls to give one to me and one to Sarah....thinking Lorelei would just share with whoever.

That was not quite how it went...Lorelei seen it and her eyes lit up....she had to have one of the small bowls. We figured fine...Sarah and I will just share. Still not how it went. Here she came and wanted mine...I thought she wanted to trade. No...she took it and her bowl and went and sat down in the living room.

Her mom went and got one bowl and told her she had to share. Here came Lorelei and she gave me her bowl...then went over to Sarah and got the other bowl. Sarah and I are both thinking she is just going to take the one bowl. NO...she came over to me and had this gleam in her eyes and took the bowl of popcorn I had. Sarah and I are done laughing so hard it hurts...but Sarah tells her no...and she just starts crying...the big old tears just rolling down her cheeks. I did not have the heart to not give it to her.

She goes in the living room and sets down on a stool in front of Roger...she is eating her popcorn when she realizes Roger has a BIG bowl of popcorn. Again her eyes just light up...she reaches into his and starts getting handfuls of corn to put in her bowl....

Roger asks Sarah what is wrong....has she been abusing Lorelei by withholding popcorn.

This by no means fully describes it...

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

From the strip pits

I have not been taking any pictures at all; just not been feeling like getting out and about. But late yesterday I decided it might do me good mentally to get out for a few minutes. Never mind the fact that every night there has been beautiful sunsets, and I have wished I was out there after the fact. Anyway, I just happened to see the deer above...he was barely visible in that sea of grass. After seeing him I started keeping a better lookout, and managed to see 7 before the evening was over. But I bet there was at least double that number, and maybe more that saw me. They were so hard to spot...most times I would see the ears first, then part of their head...but the grass/hay was so thick that was all I would see unless one ran.
I also saw a couple of these frogs...I suppose this one was waiting for a meal to come by on wings...he was in almost the same position when I left the place.
And I saw a few dickcissels but no good shots....I will have to go back later to see if I can get some earlier in the evening. It was late by the tie I took this...so not such a great shot.
*******************
Oldest daughter is back to her job now...let me tell you Lorelei enjoyed her. She could not get far from Lorelei's sight...and Lorelei was just totally happy having the three of us together. I am trying to think of some of the funny stuff she did while her aunt was here, but cannot think.

It was good to see oldest daughter...we even went to a quilt shop or two to find fabric for the backing of her quilt. It is odd...when she first leaves, it don't hit me till a bit later just how far away she is. I want her back cause we miss her, but yet she really enjoys where she is, so I don't want her back...does that make sense? I think for any parent, all they want is for their kids to be happy...

I have got to get headed to physical therapy here in a few minutes. That is going okay...only one of the exercises so far is really hard to do. It really hurts to do it. The others I have to really concentrate to do them right. I don't know if it is because I have been sitting so tensely for so long, or why. I do know now that this started sometime before February 3. I happened across pictures of all the ice we had then, and this was already started when we had it. If I had only gone to the doctor then, this would be a thing of the past.