it seems my little town here in the central valley is right on the migratory flight line between north and south. the canadian geese have finally headed down south - now that the hurricane on the mexico penninsula is over, the flying will not be quite so bumpy - and fast on their little geese heels came the starlings. we had the scouts arrive here about two weeks ago...and last night...the first wave of the little darlings appeared enmasse. now, don't get me wrong, i love birds. we have some of the dumbest doves i have ever seen in this town. we actually rescue them all the time - lots of nests in our arbor at home - and we finally convinced them that nesting in the feeders in the trees was not such a good idea - especially when it was time for birdie flight school and most especially when there are at least five kitties watching and praying for that event, but i digress (as usual).
so, back to the starlings. driving home last night after an errand stop, it's just dusk. i get to the corner of floyd & oakdale. everything is good until i look up at the utility wires and there they are!!!!
this is a farming valley - we have a canel system for water that is amazing - we also use that water movement thru the canels to produce our electricity - because of that - there are lots of utility poles and lots of utility wires. at this particular street corner there are utility wires 4 deep on the poles. 4 deep utility wires means 4 deep starlings and thousands of them. so many infact that they buckle the wires under all the weight and the utility wires get a sad case of the droops.
moral of this story...never drive thru 2 million starlings with your moon roof open. i will leave the rest to your very active imaginations :) it could have gotten far uglier than it actually was!!!
have a very great weekend. bruce tells me this is our last very hot day - i'm hoping he's right - am looking for cooler days - we're all just a little tired of the heat by now. had a conversation with jean lea at attic last week - she thinks we all get just a little bit wonky this time of year - our brains have been fried and our bodies are telling us that it should be getting cooler and we continue to hope for just a little bit cooler days. i think this year modesto & mesa, arizona kind of stayed in tandem with the temps...
off to do update and try and clear off some more rubble - my life's work it seems!!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Friday, September 4, 2009
full moon and purple things in texas
it's a full harvest moon here tonight - just beyond big and huge...so beautiful but it is definitely making the "tidal" patterns in people's brains just a little bit weird today - whew - really quite something and yet - isn't it always just too weird on the friday before a long weekend? i think the answer to that is yes. i think the magic moon is going to be about the same tonight for all of us above the earth's belt - and i can hardly wait until it gets dark.
still hot - not so humid today thank heavens - which will make it a little bit easier this weekend but they have already started shaking those almond trees and the dirt and dust in the air is going to get worse before it gets any better.
a friend in texas sent me a gorgeous picture of thistles that she took this afternoon - thought i would share - all i can take pictures of is dusty and dirty leaves at the moment - everything is covered in a disgusting brown yuck!!! we actually have "things" growing on the tiles of our roof at home - that's how much dirt flies thru the air at harvest...we won't go into what grows in the gutters...or the need to hose them out because you can grow corn in them if you don't clean them.
have to get the chimney sweep out to clean the fireplace - it's always easier before it gets cold - and then we are prepared at a moment's notice to light a fire if the mood strikes.
thanks to ginny for these beautiful purple things...
still hot - not so humid today thank heavens - which will make it a little bit easier this weekend but they have already started shaking those almond trees and the dirt and dust in the air is going to get worse before it gets any better.
a friend in texas sent me a gorgeous picture of thistles that she took this afternoon - thought i would share - all i can take pictures of is dusty and dirty leaves at the moment - everything is covered in a disgusting brown yuck!!! we actually have "things" growing on the tiles of our roof at home - that's how much dirt flies thru the air at harvest...we won't go into what grows in the gutters...or the need to hose them out because you can grow corn in them if you don't clean them.
have to get the chimney sweep out to clean the fireplace - it's always easier before it gets cold - and then we are prepared at a moment's notice to light a fire if the mood strikes.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
and just because
they can - the geese are back - all of them - munching in the field last night. silly geese - i guess they decided against heading south with the hurricane in cabo making flying kind of bad at the moment!!
am working on a wonderful knitted noro blanket with kureyon wool. my problem is that it's a "big" row - and it takes a bit to get across and last night i was so tired that my eyes started to cross - didn't have to rip - but could have gotten ugly. am taking one of these to europe next year in the spring - won't have to pack a coat...or so i'm hoping. 4 balls down - 8 to go...and then a second one with more muted colors.
have a ton of stitching to get done too - am doing something for a designer that just is taking me way longer than i suspected...but it's very beautiful and i hope she will be patient with me - and it's beautiful pink on brown linen - very chic!!
twitter is just amazing - it really is...annie is going to help me with my new phone so i can get the tweets there - but it is quite amazing. mr. bear has my old phone (blackberry) and is having fun learning how to ride that beastie. daisy buchanan and the boys keep sending him text messages - he can actually get to them and read them...but has informed me he needs a "poker" to send anything back because his fingers are just too big for the keypad.
i think some "real" glasses might help the cause too - but i believe that is like barking in hurricane force winds - nobody can hear me :)
enjoy your day - in early (6:25 again) but i plan on moving at least three mountains today.
am working on a wonderful knitted noro blanket with kureyon wool. my problem is that it's a "big" row - and it takes a bit to get across and last night i was so tired that my eyes started to cross - didn't have to rip - but could have gotten ugly. am taking one of these to europe next year in the spring - won't have to pack a coat...or so i'm hoping. 4 balls down - 8 to go...and then a second one with more muted colors.
have a ton of stitching to get done too - am doing something for a designer that just is taking me way longer than i suspected...but it's very beautiful and i hope she will be patient with me - and it's beautiful pink on brown linen - very chic!!
twitter is just amazing - it really is...annie is going to help me with my new phone so i can get the tweets there - but it is quite amazing. mr. bear has my old phone (blackberry) and is having fun learning how to ride that beastie. daisy buchanan and the boys keep sending him text messages - he can actually get to them and read them...but has informed me he needs a "poker" to send anything back because his fingers are just too big for the keypad.
i think some "real" glasses might help the cause too - but i believe that is like barking in hurricane force winds - nobody can hear me :)
enjoy your day - in early (6:25 again) but i plan on moving at least three mountains today.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
ain't it just amazing
how people re-invent themselves into some other kind of creature - just amazes me all the time and makes me wonder how long the charade can possibly last - isn't it hard to pretend to be something you're not? don't you forget "which" person you are on any particular day? just questions - don't expect answers to them but it truly can be confusing...
fires are really bad here - the valley is just a giant smoke bowl - a humid and stinking smoke bowl - the hurricane off of cabo is creating the overcast and the fires burning in yosemite, southern california and east of sacramento are just creating smoke filled skies - and this is just the beginning of the fire season here on the west coast and i think fires terrify me more than anything - just because they are so terribly final. have ridden out a number of earthquakes when we lived in the bay area - did the s.f. earthquake 40 floors up and swayed 15 feet each side of center but fires - they just terrify me beyond all else.
have added a few more favorite spots on the right side of this blog - and will continue to add more. long day - am punching thru 12 hours so far down here - but we are incredibly busy and the lists just grow continually longer and more complex. think i'll head home - see the doggers, pet the kitties and settle in for the evening...with the air on - it's over 100 out there right now.
have a good evening!
fires are really bad here - the valley is just a giant smoke bowl - a humid and stinking smoke bowl - the hurricane off of cabo is creating the overcast and the fires burning in yosemite, southern california and east of sacramento are just creating smoke filled skies - and this is just the beginning of the fire season here on the west coast and i think fires terrify me more than anything - just because they are so terribly final. have ridden out a number of earthquakes when we lived in the bay area - did the s.f. earthquake 40 floors up and swayed 15 feet each side of center but fires - they just terrify me beyond all else.
have added a few more favorite spots on the right side of this blog - and will continue to add more. long day - am punching thru 12 hours so far down here - but we are incredibly busy and the lists just grow continually longer and more complex. think i'll head home - see the doggers, pet the kitties and settle in for the evening...with the air on - it's over 100 out there right now.
have a good evening!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
and you all thought i was kidding...
but...i actually did some changing on the blog...and i think i'm going to change it just a little so it isn't just an extension of the shop - but in fact more of an extension of me - whatever that means.
this blogging is really quite interesting actually. who would have ever thought - and here - we have all spent thousands of dollars learning how to use web sites and now we have this wonderful invention called blogging - truly an amazing invention.
i have to tell you - this has been just the weirdest damn week i have ever spent. had a wonderful weekend in sacramento actually taking a class instead of hosting one...great class, great teacher, great weekend. learned quite a bit and make a few stops at a quilt shop, a beading shop (two of those actually) and a great knit shop up in rocklin, ca. and of course, i had to purchase a few things...it just wouldn't have been the same... got home late sunday evening, hit the bricks running on monday and for the life of me - i just don't know what has happened to people and being civilized and thoughtful or at least having the tinest bit of courtesy and consideration for the other person. has this economy turned us all into demanding, crabby, abusive individuals - am beginning to think so and if nothing else - i am the eternal pollyana most of the time but whew - i do believe my pollyana type behavior is really being tested!!! will elaborate on this a little bit later - after i have tamed my fingers and my brain down so that i can write something other than @#$%#@$^&^# across the page in describing certain behaviors.
nicky and daisy doggers have had the doggie flu - daisy got it monday night - she stayed with her dadda all day tuesday and basically slept it off - but news reports everywhere around here about dogger flu and to be very, very careful...apparently it's killing some of the less strong and older dogs. mine are all under the age of two years...and the oldest, mr. gatsby has not contacted it - but it seems to be spaced about a week apart. totally listless, turning head away from snacks and treats and throwing up (no food - just throwing up). it seems to last about 36 hours - and all they want is water and sleep - much like us - can't even get them to lick vanilla ice cream - just not interested. so watch out for your creatures - they need their mamas and daddas right now protect them.
i'm going to be doodling around with the rest of the blog - there are some beautiful ones out there - and i just need to fidget and fiddle and see what i can put where...but a few more days at 6:30 a.m. in the shop and i should be sort of caught up...but we are redoing us and redoing our interests and outlets first, making some changes in how we do business and what is of utmost importance and i have many things to put away and get physically straightened out here before i can start addressing the world according to blogs and how that all tangles with our lives and how we run them.
so...that being said - i'm going to post this and then go and play around with the settings...i'm terrified that if i play "settings" while this remains unposted that it will just disappear into a poof of green smoke never to be seen again (see - i still really am a baby at this stuff)...so...critical mass - here we come - maybe i can make the background a different color..."poof"
this blogging is really quite interesting actually. who would have ever thought - and here - we have all spent thousands of dollars learning how to use web sites and now we have this wonderful invention called blogging - truly an amazing invention.
i have to tell you - this has been just the weirdest damn week i have ever spent. had a wonderful weekend in sacramento actually taking a class instead of hosting one...great class, great teacher, great weekend. learned quite a bit and make a few stops at a quilt shop, a beading shop (two of those actually) and a great knit shop up in rocklin, ca. and of course, i had to purchase a few things...it just wouldn't have been the same... got home late sunday evening, hit the bricks running on monday and for the life of me - i just don't know what has happened to people and being civilized and thoughtful or at least having the tinest bit of courtesy and consideration for the other person. has this economy turned us all into demanding, crabby, abusive individuals - am beginning to think so and if nothing else - i am the eternal pollyana most of the time but whew - i do believe my pollyana type behavior is really being tested!!! will elaborate on this a little bit later - after i have tamed my fingers and my brain down so that i can write something other than @#$%#@$^&^# across the page in describing certain behaviors.
nicky and daisy doggers have had the doggie flu - daisy got it monday night - she stayed with her dadda all day tuesday and basically slept it off - but news reports everywhere around here about dogger flu and to be very, very careful...apparently it's killing some of the less strong and older dogs. mine are all under the age of two years...and the oldest, mr. gatsby has not contacted it - but it seems to be spaced about a week apart. totally listless, turning head away from snacks and treats and throwing up (no food - just throwing up). it seems to last about 36 hours - and all they want is water and sleep - much like us - can't even get them to lick vanilla ice cream - just not interested. so watch out for your creatures - they need their mamas and daddas right now protect them.
i'm going to be doodling around with the rest of the blog - there are some beautiful ones out there - and i just need to fidget and fiddle and see what i can put where...but a few more days at 6:30 a.m. in the shop and i should be sort of caught up...but we are redoing us and redoing our interests and outlets first, making some changes in how we do business and what is of utmost importance and i have many things to put away and get physically straightened out here before i can start addressing the world according to blogs and how that all tangles with our lives and how we run them.
so...that being said - i'm going to post this and then go and play around with the settings...i'm terrified that if i play "settings" while this remains unposted that it will just disappear into a poof of green smoke never to be seen again (see - i still really am a baby at this stuff)...so...critical mass - here we come - maybe i can make the background a different color..."poof"
Friday, January 9, 2009
2009 has started - were we just not talking about this a few months ago - it can't possible be 2009 already - but alas, it is and so we must forge ahead. i have been attempting to make lists - it's kind of a joke actually...
i have been lost since the beginning of december when i lost my razor cell phone and had to replace it with something totally foreign to me - that has been an incredibly steep learning curve for me...and in an attempt to force myself to use the things that come with the phone...i did not purchase a dayrunner refill for my desk calendar...i'm trying...but whew...
my house is a destruction zone, the back of this shop is a destruction zone...for that matter, the world is a destruction zone...and it's not going to get any better before it gets a whole bunch worse - chaos at it's very finest.
daisy is now almost 21 weeks - she had her big girl rabies shot on tuesday and has her spay surgery scheduled for the monday before we leave for market in february. mr. nickolas turned one year yesterday - his papa bought him roasted chicken for his birthday dinner and nicky totally enjoyed his celebration supper as did the other two doggers and the kitties too!
we are working on something really cute for next october - not so much a "stitched" piece but a box full of "stuff" - i'm working on the proto-types right now that will be going with me to market in nashville.
we are also knee deep in sheet metal, bolts of fabric, cans of stain, mod podge and pva glue - and the world is going to come to a grinding halt here when boxes start arriving - because we are taking that stuff to market with us too.
annie's granddaughter angelina is growing like a weed as well...a healthy little girl who is almost 3 months old come the 11th of this month. annie has also been keeping her vet in college tuitions - her golden retreiver raider went around a corner too fast somewhere in the backyard and ripped his side open...they have sutured it twice now - and put in drains again...and he is recovering but still draining and now has a wardrobe of sweatshirts that he wears so he can't scratch the wound and rip the 2nd set of stitches out.
as you can probably tell it's been a three ringed circus around here and it's just the very beginning of the year.
i took a break from the world over the holidays - this christmas despressed me something fierce...very sad to watch very sad people and december was a tough month as it was a year anniversary of our losing our first puppy mr. shoo...but the good side was it was a year anniversary of us getting our gatsby...so the month was bittersweet.
my mom will be celebrating her 84th birthday at the end of this month on the same day as chinese new years starts...so we will be doing some celebrating with her and then the next sunday is superbowl and then daisy has her surgery on the monday and thursday we leave for nashville.
so...because the update has been done and because i have actually blogged a bit...and because i am trying to set myself a schedule so i keep up with this...i'm heading off to do some PVA gluing and some planning and some stuffing of a little green wool pin cushion and some more planning...and then maybe i'll attack the pile of sheet metal - but that one is some scary stuff because it's literally like razor blades on the edges - i've cut myself 3 times already - just prepping the pieces for what i need to do with them.
maybe the ups man will bring me something wonderful...and i have to go order boxes from the post office and find my list of things that i need to do and add to that... the surprising thing is that i actually know where those lists are and i can see the top of my desk - can success be too far behind?
good playoff games tomorrow and sunday - and we are now finished with college ball after last night's game and the 651 "bowl" games that have been on over the last two weeks...can baseball be far behind.
but first we need to do basketball and march madness - i'll show you "mad" :)
i have been lost since the beginning of december when i lost my razor cell phone and had to replace it with something totally foreign to me - that has been an incredibly steep learning curve for me...and in an attempt to force myself to use the things that come with the phone...i did not purchase a dayrunner refill for my desk calendar...i'm trying...but whew...
my house is a destruction zone, the back of this shop is a destruction zone...for that matter, the world is a destruction zone...and it's not going to get any better before it gets a whole bunch worse - chaos at it's very finest.
daisy is now almost 21 weeks - she had her big girl rabies shot on tuesday and has her spay surgery scheduled for the monday before we leave for market in february. mr. nickolas turned one year yesterday - his papa bought him roasted chicken for his birthday dinner and nicky totally enjoyed his celebration supper as did the other two doggers and the kitties too!
we are working on something really cute for next october - not so much a "stitched" piece but a box full of "stuff" - i'm working on the proto-types right now that will be going with me to market in nashville.
we are also knee deep in sheet metal, bolts of fabric, cans of stain, mod podge and pva glue - and the world is going to come to a grinding halt here when boxes start arriving - because we are taking that stuff to market with us too.
annie's granddaughter angelina is growing like a weed as well...a healthy little girl who is almost 3 months old come the 11th of this month. annie has also been keeping her vet in college tuitions - her golden retreiver raider went around a corner too fast somewhere in the backyard and ripped his side open...they have sutured it twice now - and put in drains again...and he is recovering but still draining and now has a wardrobe of sweatshirts that he wears so he can't scratch the wound and rip the 2nd set of stitches out.
as you can probably tell it's been a three ringed circus around here and it's just the very beginning of the year.
i took a break from the world over the holidays - this christmas despressed me something fierce...very sad to watch very sad people and december was a tough month as it was a year anniversary of our losing our first puppy mr. shoo...but the good side was it was a year anniversary of us getting our gatsby...so the month was bittersweet.
my mom will be celebrating her 84th birthday at the end of this month on the same day as chinese new years starts...so we will be doing some celebrating with her and then the next sunday is superbowl and then daisy has her surgery on the monday and thursday we leave for nashville.
so...because the update has been done and because i have actually blogged a bit...and because i am trying to set myself a schedule so i keep up with this...i'm heading off to do some PVA gluing and some planning and some stuffing of a little green wool pin cushion and some more planning...and then maybe i'll attack the pile of sheet metal - but that one is some scary stuff because it's literally like razor blades on the edges - i've cut myself 3 times already - just prepping the pieces for what i need to do with them.
maybe the ups man will bring me something wonderful...and i have to go order boxes from the post office and find my list of things that i need to do and add to that... the surprising thing is that i actually know where those lists are and i can see the top of my desk - can success be too far behind?
good playoff games tomorrow and sunday - and we are now finished with college ball after last night's game and the 651 "bowl" games that have been on over the last two weeks...can baseball be far behind.
but first we need to do basketball and march madness - i'll show you "mad" :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
