Last time, I only talked about my best old friend’s visit and some of the things we saw and did. Even then there were stories and pictures I left out. You wouldn’t know it to look at it though, as it was twenty-one pages printed and included somewhere around 100 pictures. My folder says there were 114 pictures but I don’t think I used them all and I don’t care enough to go and count them.
Left
in the folder are 81 photos and I probably won’t use all of them either!
“What did you leave out?” you wanna know.
For one thing, I left out the road
pictures on the way to Towanda to look at big house as well as the big houses.
I know that’s something some of you like to see so let’s get them out of the
way first.
“Look, they buried their pet in the front yard,” I pointed out.
“I’m
not sure I’d want to bury mine in the front of the house,” Trish said.
Looking at it on my ‘puter, I’m not sure it’s a grave marker so much as it is a memorial. It looks like this homeowner is blaming someone for the cat’s death as “by” and a name are scribbled out.
Trish made the cutest little gnomes for Miss Rosie and me. The only thing lacking was a nose.
“We
can stop at Dollar Tree or Dollar General and look for gnome noses if you
want,” I told her.
“Let’s
try Dollar Tree first.”
Mike waited in the car while Trish and I shopped. At the checkout, we met this cutie-patootie.
I looked at her nametag which I thought read CAO/MHE. Is that her title, I wondered, although I have to confess, I couldn’t think of a single job title with those first letters.
“What’s
your name?” I asked.
Phonetically,
she said, “Keeva.”
“How
do you spell that?” I do that sometimes when I want to remember how to say
something. When they spell it, it gives me a picture in my head.
Keeva
picked up her name tag. CAOIMHE.
I
was shocked. “That’s how you spell it‽”
“It’s
from my heritage,” she said. “It’s Irish and means beautiful.”
“Look,”
I said to Trish, “someone else who’s brave enough to wear her hair short.” I
wore mine really short for a lot of years.
“My
parents hate it,” Keeva said. “They hate some of my other life choices, too.”
I
wasn’t going there. We finished our transaction and left.
A
couple of more pictures I took at Wyalusing Rocks and didn’t show you, as well
as crossing the Rainbow Bridge.
They
were perfect.
I took a picture when she gave Miss Rosie hers.
“Rosie! Get your thumb out of his nose!”
They are so cute. Mine has a purple
hat.
“Did I miss talking about anything you wanted to remember?” I asked Trish on Facebook Messenger.
“We forgot doing the Shoeboxes and how the trolley engineer drove from each end and how the seats reversed,” she answered.
The Shoebox campaign is collecting
gifts for children in underprivileged parts of the world. We don’t know where
our boxes will be sent. Our church collected washcloths, soaps, toothbrushes,
shoes, socks, coloring pencils, crayons, toys that fit in a shoebox, and a
bunch of other stuff. On a Saturday when Trish was here, she helped to pack the
boxes. We had enough stuff to fill more shoeboxes than we had. We packed 63 and
will send for more shoeboxes.
The trolley doesn’t turn around when it gets to the maintenance building. There are controls on both ends of the trolley and all Brooks, our engineer, had to do was go to the other end of the trolley to operate it.
And
so you’re not facing backward, the seats are reversible. The seat itself stays
stationary while the back lifts and hinges to the other side. It’s pretty cool.
>>>*<<<
I
still have this picture in my file from October first as a reminder of
something I wanted to tell you.
“What’s
that?” you ask.
I
wanted a fitness tracker and Mike got me one from Morning Save. “We’ve seen
these sell from $125!” was the sales pitch. “iTouch Air 3 Smartwatch and 3-in-1
Charging Stand Bundle for only $30!”
Mike got it for me.
After I got it I decided to Google it. I could’ve bought one for $50. Maybe they inflate their numbers to make the deal sound better than it really is, I don’t know.
“You
still saved $20,” my best girl Joanie said.
And
so I did.
At
the time I wanted the tracker I was working out five days a week and wanted to
make sure I was getting my heart rate up into the fat-burning zone. Then I
missed a day, turned into two days, turned into a month! Where has the time
gone! I’m hoping life will slow down a little and I can get back into working
out. Joanie even gave me some new workout clothes to help get me motivated.
She’s such a good friend and I love her.
When
I set the watch up, it asked for age, height, and gender. Silly me put the
wrong age in. I haven’t been 63 in over a year!
I
couldn’t figure out how to do it, so I contacted iTouch.
“You
can definitely change your gender and height on the mobile app. However, if you
want to change your age you need to delete your info.”
Seriously? I can change my gender —
like that’s ever going to change — but not my age? They didn’t ask for my
birthdate so how’s my watch gonna know when I turn another year older?
I’m
not going to get into a discussion on transgenderism, I’m just telling you how
I feel.
Something
else sitting in my file for a while is this picture.
“Hey
Peg!” Mike yelled from the recliner.
“What?”
I yelled back.
“Come
here and see this.”
On
the security camera were turkeys walking single file out of our driveway.
It wasn’t more than a few days later when Miss Rosie told me they had a “turkey parade” going across the bridge. I think that’s a good name for what’s going on here. Do turkeys do this a lot or is it something this particular flock of turkeys does?
Speaking
of birds....
Meep
and Meepette had a clutch of four eggs while Trish was here.
“Does
their chatter bother you?” I asked her.
“Not
at all. In fact, I rather like listening to them.”
She
must’ve been listening to them because one day she says, “I think the babies
have hatched.”
“I
don’t think so. I’m not looking for them for a few more days.” Nonetheless, I
got my ladder out and peeked in the nest. Sure enough, there sat a little Meep
with his mouth wide open. “How did you know?” I asked Trish.
“Because
he sounded different. More excited.”
I
guess I wasn’t as tuned in on the nuances of his meeps as Trish was.
One
egg never hatched and the other three babies died within a couple of days.
“I
don’t think they’re feeding them,” I told Trish. “In the wild, if you watch,
the parents are constantly going in and out of the nest feeding the babies and
I don’t see these guys doing that.”
This
time it wasn’t my fault. I left the babies totally alone and just took care of
the regular feeding and cleaning of cage.
A
few days later, I see Meep mounting Meepette. A day later a second egg appeared
in the nest beside the unhatched one. Then a third and fourth egg. I’m not
letting them hatch out babies they’re not going to take care of.
Thinking about
it, I thought of a couple of more reasons why they might not be taking care of
them. I only give them two teaspoons of seeds plus a teaspoon of nursing
formula a day. I thought it was enough because I’d throw out food the next day.
But what if it wasn’t enough? What if they don’t feed them because there isn’t
enough food? Self-preservation dictates that they take care of themselves
first.
I’ve
doubled the seeds I’m giving them, but still only one teaspoon of the nursing
formula.
Another
reason I’ve considered is maybe Meepette thinks all the babies have to hatch
out before she starts to take care of any of them.
With
that thought in mind, I took all but one egg out of the nest. I let Raini have
them if she wanted them and she ate two. I froze and threw away the last one.
Now
we’ll wait and see.
If
they don’t take care of this one then they don’t get to hatch any more babies
out. It’s just cruel to let them die of starvation.
>>>*<<<
A
first touch of color in early October.
Walnut hulls piled neatly on the side of the lower single-lane bridge.
“Do you think squirrels did it?” Mike
asked.
“I’d be inclined to think kids did it.” Would squirrels by this neat? Nearby is property owned by several families with kids and they bring their RVs in from time to time. They happened to be there when I took this picture.
We finished roofing the section we were working on. It took us a day longer than we thought it would because our old backs can only take so much bending. It may not be the prettiest but it should do the job.
We finished and I was picking up and cleaning up when I saw this strange-looking fly lying dead on the roof.
Before
I left the roof, seven more magically appeared. I didn’t see ‘em fly in; don’t
know where they came from. I gathered them into the palm of my hand and took a
picture.
“What are they?” I know you wanna know.
Google Lens says they’re Water
Boatmen, an aquatic bug. A Google search says these guys do fly and are
especially active at night. Who knew‽
We
were out one day and stopped at McDonald’s for lunch. I never noticed the sign
that says no photos or videos allowed. Maybe because we don’t use this door
very often? Anyway, I did take pictures inside this McDonald’s before. I
thought the walls painted in a kind of steampunk style were interesting. I never used the photos though.
“Did
they put that up because of you?” Mike asked.
“I
don’t know.”
>>>*<<<
This time of year, it’s a rare treat to see a butterfly. Even rarer for me to get pictures of them as they don’t alight for long. I did manage to get a shot of these two, on two different days. A Mourning Cloak...
... and a Cabbage White.
>>>*<<<
I
was at the Kipps’ one day and noticed Miss Rosie’s paint bottles were open.
“Rosie!”
I exclaimed. “Your paint’s gonna dry out.”
“I
know. They’re just so hard for me to get open.”
>>>*<<<
I
thought these two pieces of wood were interesting. One curved back on itself, a
world growing inside.
The other is curved and looks like a doorway.
On my way to CDI class one evening, I stopped and took a picture of the setting sun shining through the trees in a weird orange glow.
Some of you have asked about my last commission, Harry the Paddle.
Here
it is! The guy I made it for was very happy with it and even gave me a tip. He
thought I didn’t charge enough.
Not
to worry, my loves. It’s for decoration only.
Speaking of generosity, this guy sells produce once a week at the end of the shopping center parking lot. Sometimes when I stop, he sees a “spot” on one of the tomatoes he’s packing and replaces it with a different, bigger tomato. He even gave me an extra tomato once.
>>>*<<<
I
was sitting on the patio with the dogs one day when a chipmunk, or some people
call them ground squirrels, came in for some of the fallen seed from the bird
feeders. Before I could do anything, Bondi was on him like a flash! If he’d’ve
climbed up the tree to the feral cat house, he could’ve escaped his fate. He
jumped and missed and Bondi nailed him. It was all over in less than a minute.
Poor
guy.
Speaking of poor guys...
One of my cats keeps bringing stuff in
to eat in the middle of the night. Sometimes all I find is a blood spot and some
inside part or another. Stomach, liver, I don’t know and quite frankly, don’t
look at it that close.
This
one I didn’t have to look at very hard to see it was the remnants of a bird. I
wonder who brought that in and deposited it in the food dish. Maybe the guy
sitting there licking his chops? Spitfire.
I picked the little bird up by his little foot and went out the door. On my way to toss it over the fence, I find a mouse on the stone walkway. Someone had a land and air buffet.
>>>*<<<
Mike’s
friend Vernon has retired from the salvage yard and passed the business on to
his son.
“Aaron’s going to have the crusher out to crush some cars,” he told Mike.
We drove out to see the crusher in action but missed it. I took a few pictures anyway.
More random road pictures.
The boat messes up my old cars picture.
All the white stuff in this picture is Virgin’s Bower. It’s a clematis and readily climbs the dead tree.
Virgin’s Bower has several other names including Devil’s Hair, Woodbine, and Wild Hops.
The
Native Americans used this wild plant for a variety of ailments. An infusion of
the root was used to treat kidney, stomach, and nervous ailments. They would
combine it with milkweed as a remedy for backache. It was also used in the
ceremonial “black drink” that they took to purify themselves at the time of the
first corn harvest.
Herbalists
at one time used a liniment of Virgin’s Bower to relieve skin eruptions and
itching as well as prescribing a weak leaf infusion to treat insomnia, uterine
diseases, and nervous headaches and twitching. They also recommended it as a
tonic to stimulate urination and sweating.
As with all natural
remedies, you need to know what you’re doing. Some people are sensitive and
just touching the leaves can raise blisters. Use this plant wrong and it can
cause bloody vomiting, severe diarrhea, fainting, and convulsions. It goes
without saying that there are safer alternatives.
Often
times plants that flower in the spring flower in the fall as well. It has
something to do with length of sunshine and temperatures.
This
one, according to Google Lens, is Corixa, also known as Guelder-rose.
>>>*<<<
Sometimes
I do things that amaze even me.
Case in point, I was making that dessert with the crescent
rolls and cream cheese filling. I must’ve gotten distracted, but I don’t
remember with what, and when I went back to dessert-making, I went looking for my
favorite spatula. I couldn’t find it anywhere! I looked first in the dish
drainer, it wasn’t there. I looked in the utensil holder on the counter, it
wasn’t there either. Where did I put that? I wondered. It wouldn’t be
the first time I put something back in the wrong place. I checked the silverware
drawer thinking I might’ve dropped it in there when I was putting silverware
away. Nope. Maybe the utensil drawer? I have two of those and it wasn’t
in either one. I’m pretty sure I checked a couple of places twice before I resigned
myself to using a different spatula and turned my attention back to the filling
I was mixing.
Wouldn’t
you know it! There in the bowl sat the spatula I spent ten minutes looking for.
And the kicker? I walked past it several times.
I laughed at myself and took a picture.
>>>*<<<
Are
you ready for a couple of Raini stories?
It’s
unbelievable how smart she is. After telling her something just a couple of
times, she gets it and remembers.
“I
think she understands English,” Mike said.
Just
recently I taught her, “Let me see your belly.”
Raini
flops down (if she’s standing) and rolls onto her back.
She sometimes loses her ball and when she does, she plays
with this three-winged rubber thing. It doesn’t squeak anymore but when we’re playing,
she’ll often take the time to chew it a time or two.
Just recently, she’s started some behavior I’m not crazy about. When she drops it and I go to get it, she’ll grab for it again.
She
nailed me.
It didn’t bleed but left a blood spot under the skin.
Now I don’t trust her. If she tries to grab it while we’re playing, I walk away and won’t play with her anymore.
Raini
loves to jump so much! I don’t think her leg has ever completely healed because
she’ll limp from time to time.
“Because you make her jump!” Mike blames.
That’s
true. But only because she needs to jump like she needs air! It’s what she lives
for. That’s probably part of the Blue Heeler’s need to have a job to do.
When Trish was here, I took pictures of Raini jumping. In this picture, she missed the ball.
I find it interesting that sometimes if she misses the ball with her mouth, she’ll catch it with her front legs, feed it to her mouth...
... and get her feet down in time to land.
>>>*<<<
I’ve
been putting the Ma & Pa Kettle movies onto DVDs for my best girl Joanie. I
usually do other things while they’re recording but I happened to be watching
in time to see the police in the process of arresting Pa Kettle.
“I
didn’t do anything and if I did, I’m not guilty!” he said.
I
had to laugh.
Speaking
of movies, Mike and I were watching a Jennifer Lopez movie and in the movie
they recite the rhyme Little Dutch Girl.
“Your
mom taught it to you too,” J.Lo said.
I’m
thinking, I never heard that one before. It didn’t take me long to find
it on the internet and there’s something like 15 variations. I think this is
the one, or close to the one they used in the movie.
I am a pretty little Dutch girl, As pretty as I can be, and all the boys in the neighborhood come chasing after me me me. My boyfriend's name is Tony, he comes from the land of bologna, with a pickle on his nose and 3 sore toes and that's the way the story goes! One day he gave me peaches, one day he gave me pears, one day he gave me 50 cents and took me to the fair! After the fair was over, I asked him to take me home, he ran off with another girl and left me all alone! I gave him back his peaches. I gave him back his pears. I gave him back his 50 cents, and kicked him down the stairs!
>>>*<<<
This
much catches you up most of the way.
Mike
and I took a trip to Carbondale to pick up a cast iron farm sink for my kitchen
and I’ve got pictures to show you. We’ll start with that next time. I’m gonna
leave you with a couple of pictures to tantalize.
Let’s call this one done!
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