Too cute

The baby rabbits are not much larger than the quail.

Spring is wonderful, for many reasons.

Hairy woodpecker

I just love this time of year, as all the birds have returned after a long winter. They are staking out their territories, singing for mates, and setting up home. This is the first time I have had a Hairy woodpecker visit the suet feeder, although I have often seen the little Downy woodpecker.
I went back and took a look at the differences between the two woodpeckers, and I may have been mistaken, I think this may be a downy woodpecker as it seems to have shorter bill.

I got my exercise today.

Today I enjoyed the company of folks in the Meet Feet group, as we walked Mistletoe loop and Zaggy's loop in Putney Woods.

We are so lucky here on the island to have so many wonderful trails we can hike.

We walked close on two hours and as my pedometer was not working as it should, I am not really sure how much distance we covered, but I am guessing about 4 miles. I know I was tired when I arrived back at the parking area.

Spring is here

Friday Humor

A cowboy appeared before Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.
“Have you ever done anything of particular merit?” Saint Peter asked.

“Well, I can think on one thing,” the cowboy offered.

“On a trip to the Black Hills, out in South Dakota, I came upon a gang of bikers who were threatening a young woman. I directed them to leave her alone, but they wouldn’t listen. So, I approached the largest and most tattooed biker and smacked him in the face…. Kicked his bike over, ripped out his nose ring, and threw it on the ground. I yelled, “now, back off or I’ll kick the s--- out of all of you!”

Saint Peter was impressed, “when did this happen?”

“Couple of minutes ago.”

Thanks Gail

Saturday stroll

It wasn't exactly a stroll. The walking group started out from the parking area of a church and immediately started down a fairly steep road to the beach.

As we walked along a narrow concrete walkway, a cormorant with outstretched wings was drying off after it's dip.

Along the first part of the beach front, we walked behind the houses, where we were able to look into the yards of the homes. This little patch of different colored heathers made a striking display.

The walkway then took us along the front of the houses which looked as though they were some of the first to be built here. The name on the front of the building is "Drift Inn"

I think that is a wisteria growing on the arbor of this quaint little beach house, and can imagine how lovely it will look when in flower.

This beach house has seen better days.

I sure would like to have some driftwood like this for my yard, but it would take some heavy equipment to get logs this size on our property.

After our nice leisurely stroll along the beach front, we were then faced with this steep road to traverse. It is a lot steeper than the photo depicts.

Looking back down to where we started up the incline, which is just below the house.
I am only about a quarter of the way up the road before it leveled out and we could catch our breath. After reaching the top we started out on another road which had some nice inclines to give us a workout.

We walked through some lovely wooded areas and this tree covered in ferns caught my eye.

The gardener in me could visualize a fern covered tree like this one, in my garden.
Even though there was a light rain for most of our walk we all enjoyed our time together and look forward to meeting again.
According to my new pedometer, I walked 3.457 miles, burned 281.6 calories, and took 10432 steps. That is if I calibrated the pedometer correctly.

BLAH

It has been one of those kind of weeks. It must be this dreary weather which has me feeling out of sorts, although the sun has been out a couple of days, there has been a very crisp wind which was way too cold to allow me play outside in my garden.
I know I should get up off my tush and exercise, I am not inclined. I know I should get out and walk every day, I am not inclined, I can't seem to get motivated to do much of anything.
I also find it depressing, and my feelings are bruised, that there are people I have known for years, all of a sudden seem to not want to stay in contact with me. I have emailed them and get no reply, I have invited them to be my friends on face book so I know they are still around. If I have done something to offend them I sure would like to know what it is, so I could set things straight.
Blogging has fallen off as there is nothing going on worth talking about. I go to work, come home do my chores, cook meals, then start the whole process over again the next day. Sheesh! I am in a funk.

"Bun" says

I wonder if we can train our bunny to open letters

"Ya gotta be kidding"

Bunny letter opener

The Great Blue Heron

Here on Whidbey Island we have the privilege of seeing this magnificent bird on the shore, or in flocks in fields.

For weeks I have been trying to capture some good photos of the birds, but they were always way off in the distance, as in this first photo taken several weeks ago.

Today was a different story. The birds, about fifteen of them, had gathered in the field they like to frequent, much closer to the road. This time I was able to get better pictures.

Aren't they fabulous?

This one decided to perch on the fence post, and keep an eye on me as I photographed his buddies in the field.

A wonderful hike

Saturday was sunny, the temperature around 51 degrees, a perfect day for a hike on the trails at Greenbank.

The group, nine of us plus two dogs, walked mostly through a wooded at area for close on two hours. To reach the trail through the trees, we had to hike a short distance on a trail through the fields. The trail was damp underfoot, and in some places very muddy, but we all were wearing sturdy shoes so a little wet mud did not bother us at all.

The ferns were about three feet tall, and I sure would like to have some like these growing under the trees around our house.

We passed through this lightly wooded area and on up the trail entering into a very dense and much darker wooded area. The tranquility under the canopy of trees as we walked the trail was very soothing.

It is hard to tell from the photo, but this part of the trail has a fairly steep incline and I found I was almost breathless by the time I reached the top. I was about halfway up looking back down, when I took this photo.

Little Samantha, a senior doggy of 13 years, walked the trail with us. The other dog, a black Labrador was called Duke

When we arrived back at the car park, someone asked if anyone would like to go to the restaurant for pie and coffee. Ohh! YES I would love pie and coffee, wait a minute, pie is out of the question, so I will have to settle for the coffee, all this conversation was going on in my head. I did go with the group into the restaurant and I drank my coffee while the others ate pie with theirs. Way to go Keewee, what will power you have!

It is easier than I thought it would be

The sunrise was so beautiful this morning, heralding a lovely day ahead.

Tomorrow it will be one full week of my diet and exercise program. So far I have pretty much stayed on track and have lost 1lb which is enough for one week.
I am still playing around with menus, and every evening I plan ahead for the next days meals and snacks. At the end of the day, if I like the food I have chosen and feel full and satisfied, I print out a copy so I can repeat the menu in the future.I am not one to eat the same foods day after day, as it becomes very boring and will eventually lead me to look for something new, and usually I eat some thing which is convenient and not on my plan. I then get upset and scold myself for falling off the wagon.
Today, I am joining a group for a two hour hike. Saturdays will be a good for me as I do not work on the weekends, work does get in the way of play *chuckle*
I will let you know tomorrow how the hike goes.

It is time, actually it is way past time.

Over the last five years my lifestyle changed and so did my weight and fitness level. At first I did not pay too much attention, but now I know I have to get back in shape, and lose about 10lbs. I will give it my best shot. I know I am not a young thing any longer, and it will not be easy, but I have to at least try.
The biggest challenge is the exercise I hate to exercise.

The Internet is a grand thing when you are looking for tools to help in your endeavors. I came across MyFitnessPal, which for me, is going to work the best. I can enter all the foods I eat for each day, including all the nutritional stats, log all exercise I do, track my weight lost every week, and have the support of others in the program, and it is all FREE.
A feature I really like, is that I went in and planned menus for a whole week, then printed them out, so every day I know exactly what I will have for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Having the menus planned and printed, also tells me what foods I need to purchase.
I started my new lifestyle changes yesterday and liked all the food I had chosen for the day, and, I actually got on my stair climber and put in a "little" time which was not as easy as I remember it had been in the past. This tells me I am really out of shape.
So, wish me luck, and stop by now and again to check my progress.

The stories they could tell

Are you like me? and wonder about the people who used to live in these old empty homes, and imagine what stories the old house and barn could tell if they could talk.

Even though the old house is run down and neglected, I still find it to be rather charming and interesting.

I see this old building a few times a week as I drive to work, and noticed after the last big wind storm we had, that the already falling in roof had fallen further. Another good storm and the building may be just a pile of old wood, lying in a heap on the ground.

Nothin' cuter than

This morning as I was driving to work, I noticed a mother sheep with two lambs close to the fence near the road. I always take my camera and have been wanting to photograph these cuties, for the last couple of weeks, but they have been way off in the distance. When I noticed them today, I made a quick U-turn, parked my car and walked across the road to capture the scene.

I am thinking these are twins, even though one is black and the other white, as this mother and her youngsters, were the only ones near the fence. All the other sheep and their lambs were quite a long way of in the distance, and I am sure lambs stick close to Mom.

I wanted to reach out and pet them

They sure are the sweetest little lambs.

It will get done - eventually

This is what our living room looks like right now.

As I was taking all the Christmas decorations off the tree, I decided it was time to re-organize the way I had previously had them stored, and to go downstairs and drag all the other boxes of Christmas "stuff" up to the living room to see what I have.
Oh my! I didn't remember having so much, and there is also Mr C's family Christmas "stuff" from years gone by to go through.
So far, the boxes on the right of the coffee table have been filled, and labeled, and have ' themed' decorations in each box, angels, glass icicles, animals, etc. which will help me locate what I am looking for without any fuss, which had been the case in the past.
I still have to pack more very fragile glass decorations Mr C's mom collected. I found more of these in a box during one of my forays into the storage room downstairs, and even though the decorations are very fragile and beautiful, and I am hesitant about using them, I don't want to toss them away as they hold special memories for Mr C. and who knows, they may be valuable some day.
There are still boxes (on the left) filled with wrapping paper, tissue, table cloths, etc. to be gone through and placed in new clean boxes, labeled and placed back downstairs. Of course, before carting all those boxes downstairs, I have to rearrange the storage room. I am sure you all know about one project leading to another.
All this is taking time, as I still work, so I try to do a little each day in between shifts, or in the evenings, if I am not too tired from working all day.

Nasty, creepy critters

I am talking about rats. We had an infestation of these loathsome creatures take up residence in our attic and they somehow found their way into the house. Yuk!
So far we have trapped FIVE rats, and am happy to say that the traps have been empty for the past two weeks. Perhaps we have caught all of the little varmints,.

Yesterday, I set up this nice bird feeding station Santa brought me, and am now waiting for the first bird to discover it and spread the word.I waited this long in setting out bird food as I did not want to encourage the rats to stick around. I have my fingers crossed that we have trapped all of them, only time will tell.

Red - Eye Chili

On New Years day I wanted to relax and watch TV, so I threw all the ingredients for this chili in the slow cooker and left it until done. The recipe comes from Sandra Lee's semi - homemade slow cooker recipe book. I did have to make a couple of substitutions due to not having everything the recipe calls for.

2 pounds pork shoulder cut into bite-sized pieces. I used pork steaks which worked just as well.
2 cans (15oz each) kidney beans, drained. All I had in the pantry was black beans, so used them and they tasted just fine
2 cans (14oz each) diced tomatoes with green chilies, drained.
1 cup frozen chopped onions, I used fresh.
2 packets (1.25 oz) mild chili seasoning.
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules.
2 tablespoons light brown sugar.
1. season the pork with salt and pepper, and place in 4-quart cooker.
2. Add remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.
3. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours.

The coffee gave the chili a rich taste, and I added the dollop of sour cream on top for extra flavor.
A nice big piece of cornbread rounded out the meal.

Happy New Year

The morning after I hope you are not feeling as bad as he looks.

So, go celebrate, be careful, have a designated driver, or take a taxi.

Thank you to all my readers, family, friends, blogger friends, and all you folk who just stop by to take a look. You are all appreciated.

I wish for you all, an outstanding New Year

Christmas as I remember it.

I would like to share my childhood memories, of our family Christmas in New Zealand, perfectly told in this song.

Link to tune




It's a real New Zealand Christmas - there's no fire, no snow, no sleigh!

Everything has come to a grinding halt and at last it's Christmas Day

We're wearing shorts and jandals, singing songs of Christmas cheer

Mum's organised the family lunch and dad'll be drinking Kiwi beer!


It's just your typical, traditional Kiwi Christmas Day

We're celebrating Christmas in the good old Kiwi way

With fresh-picked peas and new potatoes and mint sauce for the lamb

And Grandma's made the Xmas pud and she's glazed the Xmas ham!

The cards are on the mantlepiece, the tinsel is on the tree,
The rellies have brought all their presents and the Queen's face is on TV
Mum's made her own pavlova with kiwifruit on the top
And there's hokey-pokey icecream, and the Chardon's all set to pop!

It's just your typical, traditional Kiwi Christmas Day
Us kids are driving our parents daft - we've been sent outside to play
Dad's cracking another Steinie and Mum's at the kitchen sink
And Grandad's fallen asleep in his chair cos he's had too much to drink!

The temperature is nearing 30 - everyone is feeling the heat
And after lunch, we all crash out cos we had such a lot to eat!
It's great to celebrate Xmas in our special NZ way
So here's a toast to your family: Have a wonderful Xmas Day!

It's just your typical, traditional Kiwi Xmas Day
You can forget the reindeer, ice and snow, and Santa on his sleigh!
It's fun to sit in the blazing sun, enjoying a Kiwi beer
And here's a toast to you and yours: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!

86-year Old Lady's Letter to Bank

I'm not sure if this is true, but it is entertaining.

Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.


Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank. My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways.
I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.

From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.

Be aware that it is an offense under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modeled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Let me level the playing field even further.
When you call me, press buttons as follows:

IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH

#1. To make an appointment to see me

#2. To query a missing payment.

#3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.

#4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping

#5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.

#6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home

#7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is required. Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized Contact mentioned earlier.

#8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.


#9. To make a general complaint or inquiry. The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.

#10. This is a second reminder to press* for English.. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement. May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?



Your Humble Client

Email from brother

Hi sis.... it was lovely to have you visit, hope you don't pick up too many bad habits. The weather turned real sour after you left but warming up now. There's a package in transit to you, about a week from now, hopefully intact..

Ohh goody, I love packages from home, although I have a sneaking suspicion I know what could be in this one. When visiting New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, I had shown Graeme and John, my brothers, some lovely native bird garden art I had bought, and also pointed out a rather large Kiwi bird piece, which was too large to put in my suitcase. They both agreed that it would make a fine Christmas gift. I said that it would be way to expensive to send, I get the "no worries' comment from them. I love my brothers.

The very best brothers a girl could wish for.

UPDATE: The Package arrived see HERE

Winter is here

Last evening MrC. and I enjoyed dinner at our friend's home. As we left to return home at
11:30 pm, the rain which had fallen earlier in the evening had frozen on the car. As I had had a few drinks I handed the car keys to Mr C. and said"you drive" he did not have drinks. The drive down the somewhat steep driveway was icy as was the country road out to the main highway. When we reached the main road we discovered the rain had changed to snow, and about a half an inch covered the ground. As I said on Keewee's Garden " I officially hang up my gardening gloves"

My visit to New Zealand

Sam is a three year old Bichon Frise who's job is to visit his Friends at Amaryllis House, a home for sufferers of Huntington's Disease, in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Sam and his Mum belong to a group called Canine Friends Pet therapy.

You are asking how do I know this sweet little dog. I met him as he visited Amaryllis house when I was staying there with my daughter Tina. Yes, my darling daughter is a Huntington's sufferer. The main purpose of my visit to New Zealand was to celebrate Tina's 40th birthday and I was delighted to see the looks on the faces of the residents when Sam gave them a smooch.
Quote from Sam's story in the Canine Friends Pet therapy news letter: These people are mostly pretty sick but love touching my very soft fur and they also like a good kiss. I know officially I shouldn't kiss them, but they sometimes get tears in their eyes when I smooch them, so I think that means it's OK. Some patients cannot speak much but they manage "goodbye Sam' when I go and that is nice for Mum and me.

To read more on Sam's story, click on the link above, then on news letters in the left side bar. Sam's story is Winter 09, page four. You will also see Tina and Sam, and her friend Ally who were featured in the story

I had heard of canine therapy but never seen it in action before. I was so taken by the looks on the faces of the residents as the touched Sam (the people who were able touch him) and the ones who could not, expressed their emotions with their eyes. I can tell you I had tears in my eyes as I observed their reaction to Sam's gentle way.

Thank you Sam and your Mum for bringing so my joy to the residents of Amaryllis house, I know my Tina loves to hold you when you visit, as she is an animal lover, having worked at at an animal shelter years ago when she was well.