Something is Fishy

The latest government study is now saying that women should only start getting mammograms at 50 years old and then only every other year.
This study comes out right before the government is getting ready to take over health care… coincidence? I don’t think so!

Checking In

10 days and counting… still full of snot,coughing, and sneezing but trying to live the day-to-day with heavy amounts of decongestants and neti pot rinses. (Couldn’t find the hose adapter Warren… maybe you could make me one?!) lol
I kindly ‘gave’ my germs to Mr.C. but after only three days he is already throwing it. (Must be the beer)

Sorry I missed your call Sister Laura-belle… thanks for worrying about me!

Got rained out of work today. Mr. C took the day off too and we went to Costco, The Big Cheap Store, and The Trough! A good day.. although Mr. C made out way better than me at all three places.
SOOOOOO not fair!

I’m still struggling with the loss of Paddy every day, but it’s not as hard to look at her pictures and I’m able to remember her without falling apart…. most of the time.
Last weekend I went to the “Call Of the Wild’ rehabilitators conference in Waynesboro Virginia with my friend Stacey. It was very interesting and I managed to tell Paddy’s story to a couple of wildlife vets (without breaking down)… they both agreed that it was a totally unforeseeable tragedy. I did put my name on the updated list of rehabilitators with the notation that I can take orphaned beavers. I’m not sure that was the best decision… but then again, if not ME… than WHO? I guess I need to risk my heart in order to have the pure JOY that Paddy brought to our lives. As long as I have the wonderful support system of Mr.C, my family and cherished friends to support me I’m able to say that I’ll do it all again. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I love you.

Wedding Arrangements

I’ve been busy working on some flower arrangements for my friend and former employer’s son’s wedding.
We worked together on all of the table arrangements last week. (we used branches and artificials) and I forgot to get pics.
Last night and this morning were the fresh arrangements for the buffet tables and the bar. I think they turned out pretty cool.

For the two buffet tables…

And for the bar…

I had nothing to do with the cake, but it is so pretty I needed to take a picture even though it was still in the box….

Updates and stuff

Wally and Stella are HOME!!! That is what the Crazy Dog People decided to name Dog-Ducks 1 & 2.
They went all out and built them a beautiful enclosure and even a house with cedar shake shingles! They moved in yesterday afternoon and they are very happy there…

They seemed to enjoy being a part of this pack…

but then who wouldn’t be!

Fall is starting to show her colors here on The Hill, this tree in Neighbor Mike’s pasture always seems to be the first to change…

(Hey, I just noticed there is a deer in that picture!)

The Cut-leaf Sumac turns a firery red but the leaves fall off very quickly afterwards…

We ummmm forgot to bring in the feeders the other night and mama bear and babies showed up again…

A Cautionary Tale

A lesson learned a couple of days ago…
This is why one should never make BLT’s while wearing flip-flops.

Apparently, spattering bacon grease doesn’t cool much in the distance between the stove top and the floor.

Garden Perfection

No, I haven’t achieved it, but every morning I pass this garden and admire it so I thought I’d share.
(That old Belgian-Italian man will be green with envy!)

Perseverance PAYS!

So yesterday when I checked on our diligent Barn Swallows the nest looked like this…

And this morning…

Welcome to the world little bits!

Momma glared at me from a perch above my head…

Heart-Aches and Updates

It hasn’t been great around The Hill lately. First our friend and neighbor passed away.
Then I found out that Rudy the Red-Tail Hawk had to be euthanized. He had been struggling lately, losing the strength in his legs again so he fell down alot and broke alot of his feathers. He was also losing weight. We just were never sure what was wrong with him. The vet suspected nerve damage but she couldn’t figure out why he would seem to start getting better and then relapse. I forgot to ask her if she was going to do a necropsy. It would be nice to find out what his problem was.
Anyway, I take comfort in the fact that for the past year and a half he was kept safe and very well fed.
Rest in peace now sweet Rudy, go fly strongly over that rainbow bridge and land on strong sure legs on the other side.

And next… yesterday I came home from work to find one of The Twins laying dead in the backyard… my first thought was that it was a cat attack, but no, she had been shot with a pellet gun.
It makes me so mad! I brought them here thinking they would be safe! What makes it even worse is that a previously good relationship with a neighbor is going to be very strained unless an apology is forthcoming. It wasn’t hard to piece together what happened and I’m hoping said neighbor will fess up.
So, may you too rest in peace my little friend…

Tux has some type of eye infection going on and the ointment the vet gave me isn’t doing a thing. He looks pitiful.

*SIGH*

Enough of heart-aches, let’s have some updates…

The persevering barn swallows are diligently keeping their eggs warm and guarding the nest.

Paddy is doing great and we’ve taken to having a stroll around The Hill each evening. She stays right on my left heel like a well trained dog. She still loves Mr.C. too…

We had a new visitor at the pond the other day…

I’m sure that the fish and frogs were happy when he left and hope that he doesn’t come back!

Mr. C left this morning to go fishing with that same group of guys he went with last time. This time they are going out for tuna and mahi… hope to get the freezer stocked back up!

So that’s life on The Hill this past week or so…

Perseverance

There have been a pair of Barn Swallows at Chesley that have been trying to build a nest above the pool door all spring. For obvious reasons, the people who use said door do NOT want a nest built there! So all spring I have used a piece of bamboo to continuously knock the nest off of the wall. I believe other people would also use the same piece of bamboo to knock it down too. No eggs had been laid, and we were all hoping they would give up on that spot and move somewhere else to build… but no. they just moved from one corner to the other corner…

Keep in mind that this has been going on for WEEKS!
It had to get knocked down so often that we left the bamboo propped next to the door…

Well, it finally worked! They gave up on building above the door!!!
We WON!!!!

Ummmmmmm, well kinda…

Yep, that’s right, they decided to just build right on top of the dang bamboo instead!!!


Now THAT my friends, is perseverance!
We gave up, guess we won’t use that door for awhile.
I checked the nest the day after I took these pics and there was another egg added for a total of 5.

This and That

We had a heckofa thunderstorm last night and it’s still wet and misty this morning. I’ll go shopping for plants for Chesley in a little while, but I’ll take a few minutes to update y’all on what’s been going on.

Neighbor Mike welcomed a new horse to the pasture the other day. She isn’t really his horse, he is keeping her in exchange for riding privileges. Her name is Dixie, which is also Mike’s black lab’s name, so we’ve taken to calling her Dixie Too. She’s a pretty thoroughbred mare about 20 years old…

Miracle and Delilah seem to be accepting her fairly well.

Paddy gave the unripe plums fallen from the Crazy Dog people’s tree a try and declared them worthy…

The babies are filling up the wildlife center…
ever seen a baby buzzard???…

There are a couple of baby barred owls…

The usual raccoons…

And plenty of other little bundles of cuteness.
Life is busy busy busy, the weeds have the upper hand right now and I’ve got to get out there and regain control!

Paddy’s Field Trip

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. We got up in the morning and went to Quantico Marine base to pick up Mr.C’s Dad’s W.W.II uniform that he requested he be buried in. He’s not on his death bed, but that Mr.C… he’s organized and likes to have everything ready when it needs to be ready. The Marine Shop on the base did a wonderful job cleaning it up and repairing it. Mr. C. is making sure that when W.C. goes to heaven he’ll be lookin like one hellava Marine officer! Ooorah!

Anyway, when we got home we packed Paddy up and took her down to the stream in the woods behind our house. Oh my gosh did she ever have fun! She dug in the mud and she plowed through leaves. She chewed on tree roots and dove under water whenever she found a deep spot.


I started to put a few sticks across the stream and she immediately began helping build the dam by bringing me twigs, rocks, and leaves. She may have a little touch of A.D.D. though as she was easily distracted from the job at hand. It was amazing to see how instinct just kicks right in. I sure hated to pack her up and make her stop playing but the wind started kicking up again and the temperature dropped like a rock. We’ll definitely take her out for some more outings though. We all had a blast!

The end.

Whew! and other misc. stuff

There are some wicked winds blowing today! Ripped our old satellite dish right out of the roof and it was hanging by the wire banging the side of the house! I had to call Mr.C. home from work to help me before it crashed through our office window.  I grabbed it and held on while he got the extension pruners and cut the wires.

They started really whipping last night and we lost power right in the middle of American Idol… oh dear! When we finally got our internet back late this morning I saw who the final 36 are. I can NOT believe that the girl with the crazed hyena laugh and the headband-drama-boy made it through. Not to mention that Norman not his real name guy.  What a disappointment. O’well, I’m sure (I hope) they’ll be weeded out quickly.

Worst part is that I was DVRing Lost and if you miss a minute of that show you’re in trouble with trying to keep the plot straight. Guess we’ll have to watch it on line.

The health department came and gave Kubota the all clear and he isn’t under quarantine anymore. Since he never leaves the house it’s kind of a mute point.

Doing the Happy Dance

FINALLY!!!!!!

God has blessed us with a much prayed for, bee-u-tee-ful, long, slow, soaking rain!

The remanants of tropical storm Fay are passing over us slowly, which is exactly what has been needed for the past couple of months. I’m just sure I can hear the gardens laughing

I can’t work outside at Chesley today so I’m off on a plant shopping trip to look for flowers to replace what the x@#%*X deer have eaten in the gardens out there! The boss’s daughter’s wedding is out there in three weeks so I’ve got to come up with a miracle here.

And since I’ll be in the area I’ll just have to make a quick run through the ‘Big Cheap Store’… should be a good day!