A sure sign that spring has arrived....

We got up to thunderstorms this morn...they rolled around, left and then came back a time or two. Everything got a good soaking...in fact, some places still have puddles of water even though the sun was out before noon.
You might think the sure sign of spring I was talking about is the thunderstorms, but in fact, I meant that the buzzards are back in full force. Roger worked around in his shop all morn, while I fooled in here...playing on the computer and making a meatloaf...about the time we got done with lunch a friend of mine stopped by. I ask her if she wanted a bite to eat, but she didn't care for anything. We took our Cokes and sat on the front porch in the shade and visited for a few minutes.
After she left, Roger and I decided to go for a drive. Any direction we looked, we saw buzzards circling. I do not know what about this area draws them, but there are just so many of them. Last year they were like this, and we went down south of Terre Haute at least a couple of different times, and hardly saw any. We both just could not believe the difference in the number.

Now, I saw a few along all winter on the way to Sarah's house...but it would be like one or two. And only that...oh, and speaking of Sarah's house....here is a little video that she sent me of a new singing star. Enjoy!

Hanging around....

Though I really don't see a lot of people hanging out clothes these days, other than the Amish, most times if I see clothespins on a line, they are like the single one above...that one that is pinched on the clothesline....not the ones hanging upside down. Then, this morning I was blog hopping...actually looking at quilting blogs for a few minutes....just trying to get a little inspiration and one of the girls had a picture of clothespins on the line, and they were hanging upside down...like mine below.
I have just spent 30 minutes trying to find that blog again, and cannot for the life of me find where I seen it. But I had been meaning to do a post about clothespins for a while now, and being that Roger re-set my clotheslines posts this week, I thought now would be a good time to do it.

Anyway, there is a method to my madness....I always keep mine hanging upside down, their 'jaws' around the line for the simple reason they are easy to slide along as I need them. You know how sometimes you hang out socks and need one every 3 or 4 inches, then other times it is towels and you need one every couple of feet....if the clothespins are just hanging there like above, it is a simple matter to just slide them along in front of the towels. Or if you need a lot and they are more scattered....you can just walk along sliding them back to where you need them.

Now my mom, nor my BFF's mom never, ever left their clothespins on the line....I don't know why. I think because of how weathered they become...they wear out quicker. Back then, they did not have money just to throw away...they took care of what they had. A few cents here and a few cents there really adds up.

I went to plastic for outside because of the organic nature of wood...if I leave them out, they get really, really nasty. I think because of all the traffic, being that we are in a small town...it stirs up more dust that settles on the clothespins and they get just black and gritty. But even the plastic ones wear out quicker being in all the extreme temps....I will go to hang something up one side of the pin will simply break.

And notice the size of the clothespins above...I needed some new plastic ones, so one day Roger was headed to the store. I told him to pick me up a new bag of plastic clothespins...those huge ones are what he came home with! Our local Wal-mart does not carry the small ones any more. The big ones do not have as strong of a spring and are not as good. No matter how I pinch them over the clothes on the line...if it is windy, it seems like they slide together.

So, I was looking at Wal-mart at the wooden ones....all they had were the ones made in China. I have been that route before, and if things have not changed, they are not worth carrying home. They come apart at the spring at the least little thing. Several years ago, I either read it in Heloise's hints or heard Martha Stewart tell to make sure to get the ones Made In MAINE...mind you not the Main Stay brand that Walmart carries. So, that was what I done several years ago, and I am still using those down in the basement.

When we went over to Arthur, Illinois at the beginning of the week, we went to this Miller's Dry Goods that is out in the country...I found two packages of the wooden ones made in Maine and I grabbed them up too quick to talk about.

There now...isn't that the longest thing you have ever read on clothespins????

Not my usual roadside shot....

I made it back by this place yesterday evening...I had passed it a couple weeks ago and could not get a decent shot. It is located where it is not very convenient to stop....and there were several cars. And even yesterday on first going by, there was too much traffic but on my way home I wound my way back by and got a couple of hurried pics.
These are not the best...the only little, little lamb I captured is in that black one in the last pic....but on farther in a corner were these little, woolly bundles....just so little. I have never been around sheep, but I think I would really enjoy them. I just love to hear their little bleating calls.

It has been another nice day here...with the clouds gathering a few times but dispersing for the sun to shine again. Now, I think they have returned to stay. We are supposed to be getting rain over the next few days. I am not sure about the percentage of chances but I do know thunderstorms are predicted over the next several days. Hopefully I won't complain too much.

Does anyone besides us watch American Idol? Is is one of the few shows we like to watch...and some years are not as good as others. Read that as some years I really, really get into it and others I just watch it cause it is better than anything else. Well, this year, in my opinion, they have a group of really talented contestants...there is only one I really don't like but I won't say his name. And there is a girl I am not crazy about, but it is more her personality than her singing ability.

Anyway, it is one year, that is sort of hard to choose who I want to win. I think this makes the fourth season we have watched it...I think I know who I want to win though I sort of waver between a couple of them, but if he don't so long as the one guy does not win I won't be mad.