First ever red breasted Grosbeak!

  What an interesting little bird. I've hoped to see one for a while now but never have. Not until yesterday! He showed up and stayed all day.....until George almost caught him! I'm hoping he will come back to the feeder today. The second pic is through the screen so is kinda weird but you can see his red breast fairly well. Pretty neat huh? He has a beak kinda like a parrot.

Well, gotta go outside for awhile and do some yard work before the heat comes on. Back in bit.
  It's a day later. Didn't get back to this til now. Oh, and my little wrens are back. Or they just now showed themselves again. They used to live in a tree right off the back porch but disappeared a few years back. Guess they didn't like all the activity out there. Anyway, saw them yesterday and happy they are around. Got iris' blooming along with one peonie (literally one flower), red buckeye and two different roses. One beautiful pink one and Vena's crown of roses that is yellow.

  Also have fruit coming on if the blight doesn't ruin it. Plums, peaches and nectarines! I'm so excited about them. I sure hope they make it to edible fruit. I love spring!

More balance

  Wanted to share more of our balanced pack. The cats are in the pack also. They think they are dogs and the dogs don't mind.

Sometimes they drive me crazy but I wouldn't have it any other way.
  We went to the spring opening of our "local" drive in a couple of weeks ago. A double feature that we actually wanted to see.. most of the time the movies they play are not something we would actually pay to see. lol More family stuff with animation. I'm, for the most part, not into cartoons. Once in a great while,, maybe. The theater is actually around 26 miles from home but when you live in a small rural county that's how it works. No big deal but for old folks with bad backs the round trip and sitting for another 4 hrs can be rather trying. Just have to get work done first so you can re coup the next day lol . And 2 movies for $7 a head is just not bad at all. You can take your own snacks but the theater actually makes their money on the concession stand. There is a playground to entertain the kids with before the movie starts that includes swing set, volleyball, basket ball goal,slide etc.  You are even allowed to take a small BBQ grill as long as you are done before the movies start. They provide a place to put the hot coals! Just make sure you have a fm radio in your car so you can have sound. Pretty nice set up if you ask me.

  Another form of entertainment for country folks is the plain ol' campfire. Nothing beats a nice campfire in your own backyard to enjoy the simple sounds of an almost summer night. Just perfect!
Watch the night sky come up and enjoy the sounds of the horses, cows, coyotes and owls. Throw in a sound or two of chickens and night birds singing to top it off. Not forgetting that to be able to share it with a loved one makes it more special.

  We have a new type oriole in the yard this year. It's an orchard oriole instead of a northern oriole. Kinda cool to add a new bird to our visitors!
  (stock photo from wiki, I did not take this pic)
Handsome little guy, isn't he? I haven't seen our northern oriole visitor yet this year but I'm sure they will be around soon. We did however lose one of their nests in a wind storm. Leaves us two in the walnut tree. The hummers are back also. Have only seen a couple, may be the scout for the rest. Not sure, we normally don't have many stop here. I keep feeders out but they mostly eat from our flowers etc. ...
  Had a wonderful day outside working in the yard. Just piddlin'. Almost bedtime now so will close.
Have a diamond day!

Good grief it's already mid April!

  Time sure flies by the older you get. We weathered the rest of winter just fine. No big giant snow storms or ice storms etc. . Have used up too much propane this past year but really no more than usual. Just started out with less. Dang it!
  I think the eagles have finally left for the year. I am pretty sure they will be back next winter.

Here is one from last month that was in the pasture with the horses. Wish I could tell you how far away it was but can't. They are such a big bird!

 The red tulip is new this year. Put the bulbs in the ground last fall. The variegated ones are the ones that were here 11 years ago. Have more bulbs but don't know what to do with them now. All the jonquils are finished for the year. No pictures of them. I pruned everything way way way back last year as I was tired of the ragged look it all had. Too big and too .........too. So I knew there would be no blooms on several things like forsythia and lilacs etc. The quince didn't mind at all. They even liked the trim! The fruit trees are looking fair so far. Blooms every where and some fruit already set on the plums. Too soon to tell on the others. Still have some dang blight! It happened quickly with the odd weather we always have. One minute it was too nasty to spray and the next the blooms were open too far!
  Had a fun day a week or so back. Met my sister in town and we went got a sandwich after running a few errands and went to the park for lunch. A beautiful day and very nice visit. Hope to repeat soon.

My pit bull helping George clean his ears. Sheba would have made a great mother if I would have let her have pups. George really likes the dogs. You all have a diamond day!
 

2015! Sounds weird to me.

  How about you? It still seems futuristic not in the present. Where are the flying cars of the Jetsons? lol And Rosie the robotic maid? She's supposed to be making my breakfast! Oh, well. I like the present just fine the way it is in so many respects. Not so much in others. We could certainly do with a less violence in the world. Among many other things.

  Life is good. It's freezing outside this a.m. actually 2.1* with a 10 mph wind. Was almost this bad yesterday but we all did fine. Used 3 layers of clothes to feed the animals and fill water tanks and stayed warm. My feet were chilly but not bad. Today I will add a third pair of sox and boots instead of tennis shoes.
 

 The eagles have been back for several weeks so I guess they are a little early compared to last winter. There are about 8 of them this year. They are hunting a larger area of the neighborhood too. Not just across the road but up the road both directions and in our pastures. One of them almost spooked the horses yesterday swooping so low over their heads at the hay ring. It still excites me to be able walk out my door and see an eagle. It is such a gift. I think some folks in the county take them for granted we see so many because of the lake. 

We had a few weeks of worry over Buck but he seemingly has recovered nicely from his stroke. He still has trouble with his vision but has adjusted to it. He no longer "sidetracks" or limps. Hoping he keeps it up and has no more trouble this winter. I know his time is short but I'm selfish and want him to stay as long as possible. 

  I have already received at least 6 seed catalogs and have many dreams for a garden this year. I really don't think they will happen but I can always dream. lol I will, at the very least, grow a few tomatoes like always. I have to move the strawberry patch this year. We are removing the garden fence and taking that area into the yard. May move the grapes later on. The plan is to extend the fence around the orchard and put the garden in there. We'll see. 

  Have a diamond day! 

  

End of year

  We had a real nice Thanksgiving with turkey and all the trimmings right here with the two of us. And had a real nice Christmas here too. Tim wanted to stay home instead of going to Jeff's so I was all for that. Christmas eve we took a drive to look at the lights. I was surprised there were not as many around town as I expected but still saw some real nice ones. We did go see the local "Griswold" lights out the other side of Ridgely. Never have saw so many lights on one place!!! Got a call from our son that morning and then T got a call from him on Christmas morning.

   On a sad note....our time with Buck is coming to an end. We are not sure when but will be soon. He's had a stroke. Lost vision in one eye but has adjusted to that just fine. Has seemingly lost use of one leg to a point so not getting around very well. He's over 35 years old and has only been with us for 5-6 years he has given so much. I will not see him suffer or be in pain. He went through enough before coming to us.

Here's the old guy sometime last year. Such a sweet soul. 

  Sam is now 6 months old and full of piss and vinegar. Sometimes I'm not sure he will survive til grown. haha I will be glad when he stops chewing on everything. 

  I made oatmeal cookies, vanilla wafers and peanut brittle the past couple of weeks. Not too bad. Normally T doesn't take dessert in his lunch but I figured what the heck. Maybe a couple more batches of cookies and another couple of pies and I will be done with my extra baking for the year. Our health can't take too much of that. Or should I say our weight? 

  Momma has been gone almost 7 years now and I still miss her every day. You all have a diamond day! 

Almost Thanksgiving

  Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we still don't know if T works or not. Chickens still make manure no matter what day it is! lol The houses they haul from are having trouble figuring out how to change the one week day that they don't "run". No matter ....we will still be so very grateful on Thursday whatever the outcome. May even have a turkey. I took one out of the freezer on Monday morning and put it in the fridge. Maybe I'll take it out and put on counter today.
  The weather has not been bad at all. In the 30's and 40's with a little sunshine thrown in! Loving that sunshine!
  Yesterday I looked out the kitchen window to see the cat and a chicken both staring at a vole. Not sure which one had caught it, probably the cat as it was moving verrrrry slowly and had the chicken caught it she would have been running with it. What a hoot! They sat there staring at it and each other for at least 10 minutes. I did not watch to see who was going to take the prize. I have seen the chickens steal from the cats before but they are older now and might not let that happen any more.
  That is my life. Not much goes on around here but it takes very little to amuse some people as the saying goes. I enjoy the fact that our assortment of animals get along so well.
  A couple of friends came down from up north and spent a few hours visiting. They are both busy but have found the time to work on some knitting/crocheting projects for the little ones in North Dakota that another friend started. They both are making different sized mittens and hats, I believe.
With luck we'll make a good showing when the deadline rolls around. Helping the kids stay warm is  a good cause.
  Sometimes it's hard to find a way to help other folks when things are tight but can be done. Eggs are running low so don't have extras to take to the food bank right now but it will pick up soon. My hens do fairly well laying right through most winters. They have 6 new babies they are watching over right now. Six babies and most days at least 3 mamas. lol They are slowly learning. That's what I get for being so picky about the color of my eggs. Bred to lay not hatch.

 

  The girls that laid these are getting old...

  I didn't put the turkey out and guess it is a good thing. T called and they will get tomorrow off after all. Still don't know at this point if we're going to Spfd or not. Nothing new. lol We will know in the morning when it's time to leave. I got an apple pie in the oven and a pumpkin in the wings and rolls rising....no matter what it will be a good day. You all have a diamond day!

Trouble posting

  I spent two days writing that last post and then had trouble getting it to "publish". It got the first half of it.
  I did say that I was glad that it was finally fall.....well.....we skipped fall and dove right into winter this week. Last weekend it was 80*. Monday the cold front came through, like in the rest of the country, and it dropped and blew and blew. When I came home from getting groceries the wind was blowing 44 mph sustained and gusting to over 50 mph ! The double gate for the back yard blew over. The two wooden posts that held up one side of it snapped in half and that was it. lol The dogs did not appreciate the afternoon staying in the house. It was too windy to stand out there with them for this old lady. lol Then my dryer quit heating the dame day. Dang it! We will try to get it fixed this weekend. Here's hoping. I do feel bad for T as it is opening day of deer season come Sat a.m..

 This is our new sassafras bench. The ice storm of a few years ago did a lot of damage to the tops of 4 of  them and this year was the year they finally gave it up. 

 These are our guineas we got in the spring from cousin Kate. They are very entertaining. 

  Another week has gone by. Wasn't too bad - had a tiny bit of snow for a day. Got the dryer fixed and it works so much better than it did before! So nice. Been a fairly good week for these old bones. 

  I do not envy my sister this past week. They have been in the deer woods and it was down to single digits one night and teens several others. More power to them as the saying goes. She says this is her last year to go. Next year the guys can go alone and do their own cooking. lol 

  I think T's plan is to go to their family deer camp tomorrow and just spend the day hanging out and visiting. Not taking a gun or getting a license. That will be nice for him as we haven't seen them much this year. Haven't seen our son much at all this year either. Maybe next year. 

  Not sure if T will be working on Thanksgiving day or not. Guess we will find out next week. If not the plan is to go to Spfd and spend a few hours with his family. 

Some days are diamonds and some days are stones. You all have a diamond day!