Rambling Woolysheep

Updates and Latest bird sightings

2012-01-20T16:44:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted here in a while. Not much is happening lately. Just trying to pay down the debts and keep us afloat and fed. Today I got the leaky hose bib in the backyard slowed down. It is a slow drip instead of a steady trickle now. Saturday, I got the running toilet in the green bathroom fixed, and look to replace the flush valve in the pink bathroom tomorrow. Maybe we will soon have the water bill under control.

I had a pretty stout case of the flutters in my chest when I walked Davy in to class today. I was so out of breath my friend, Susan wanted me to call Jeff. I didn't happen to have my cell phone on me. ( It's just as well I didn't have it; Jeff is working in the field again and today he is working along the center line of Interstate Highway 30. I don't want to bother him when he is working a dangerous job like that). It's been that way all day. I get up to do something and I am out of breath before you know it. I got winded drying dishes today. I think this is related to the cold that has been going through the house though. The boys were out sick with sinus crap and feeling yucky and I think I may have taken a bit of it. Yesterday I was a total slug. I got nothing done. Just slept and tried to keep an eye on the boys while they were up.

Also Davy had another seizure on the bus on January 12th. He was rather out of it when they got here but once he got to sit and rest he recovered well and is all back to normal. I got some leads to some GP doctors that take medicaid so I am going to make some calls and see where I can get him in.

Also I want to put out a pray request for my friend M.T. She is fighting brain and lung cancer and just heard from her insurance that she has reached her prescription cap. She also just found out the cancer medication she is on costs (gird your loins for this one) $10,700 per bottle. (Ten Thousand Seven Hundred Dollars) They are trying to work out what to do next. Please say a prayer that a good answer that heals her presents itself soon and in time.

On a lighter note, I did get to go to the park with Ryan this morning. I wanted to see the ducks that have flown into our park. Some new wild ducks have found the pond down at Foster Park. Upon consulting my "Birds of Texas" by Keith Arnold and Gregory Kennedy, I believe these to be Northern Shovelers. I got some pictures.

Flock of Northern Shovelers and some turtles


Northern Shoveler male

Northern Shoveler males

Northern Shovelers males and females and what I believe to be a male Lesser Scaup or perhaps a Redhead at the center of the photo

Northern Shoveler male

ducks resting in the sunshine

Northern Shovelers, males far left and right, females center

Northern Shoveler pair


View of the whole flock

The change of seasons has also brought new birds to the bird feeders. So far in addition to the usual House Sparrows we have also been seeing a few wrens. I not 100% sure but I think they are Carolina Wrens. I haven't gotten any pictures of them yet.

I did get a few (not to great) photos of the Cedar Waxwings that showed up one morning.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwings

Here you can see why the pictures aren't the greatest. I was having to shoot through the screen door.

Cedar Waxwing coming in for a landing

So that's it for a while. Not much to talk about but I do love to watch the birds.

Peace.

Thank Goodness I Still Have My Old Ones

2011-11-21T10:13:00.000-06:00

New Hat

2011-11-20T11:51:00.000-06:00

I saw this hat on another site and just had to have one. I made most of it last night and finished it up this morning during the CBS Sunday Morning show.

I had stuffed my ponytail up into the hat and it decided to fall to one side of the hat and started pulling it off.

I do have to say it does look a little like I have a mushroom perched on my head. Perhaps I should have used the larger hook to make it.

November 17, 2011

2011-11-17T10:59:00.000-06:00

Just a little update. Dottie and the kids came over and we made and canned cranberry sauce. This was our first attempt at canning and it looks like we succeeded.


12 sealed 4 ounce jars of homemade cranberry sauce.

Dottie and I are splitting this batch half and half but, I do believe I will be making more soon to give as gifts. I just need to find more of the little jars. I so want to get a pressure canner so that I can can up my homemade chicken broth and turkey broth. They are so much better than the stuff you get at the store. I also figure that since Jeff and I like our veggies like Brussels sprouts and broccoli super, super well done then I could can up those and not have to take up freezer space with them. It won't matter if the processing makes them mushy because we like them that way. That's something to research.

Also our newest chicken has started laying. She's an easter egger and lays olive green eggs. I had been using up the last of the chick feed (it's medicated with antibiotics) so I will have to wait a few days before we can eat her eggs. I sooooooo need to upgrade my chicken house and pen and get more hens. That will have to wait until we are debt free and can save up for it. That---God willing and the creek don't rise---should be in the spring of 2014. Of course the chicken house comes after we take care of the new fridge, new washer and dryer and new cooktop we need and repairs to the patio roof amongst other things. At least the washer is actually working but to get the new dryer, we need a washer that doesn't take up the 220v outlet that our current half working combo unit uses.

Well that's it for now. I have to get to work on the laundry.

Peace

2011-11-10T16:06:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks have been a plodding journey through a landscape of malaise. I don't know as I would call it a depression. I am not sad or blue about anything; just blah. A mushy hillock of the "I don't really give a figgy about any of this" 'es. Nothing is piquing my interest these days. I feel like I am stuck in the mud and don't know how to get out. Like the quicksand was thick enough I won't fall over and only about nipple high (of course that measurement is trending closer to the ground than it once was.) I am just out of it. I'm just not getting things done. The laundry is piling up. The dishes are unwashed. The sleeping bags from Sammy's campout Halloween weekend are still all over the floor in the front room. I am barely getting dinner on the table these days. I just can't get myself revved up and organized. Sleep isn't refreshing and I ache all over. All I really want to do is eat chocolate, drink milk and nap....and I haven't even gotten that done!

Bleh!

Thank Goodness, These Old Ones are Saggy!

2011-11-10T10:34:00.001-06:00

2011-10-23T21:16:00.000-05:00

Just a note to have this written down somewhere. Davy had a seizure on the schoolbus on Thursday afternoon. The bus attendant came up to the door and asked for help getting Davy off the bus. He had come to but was still very loopy and wobbly on his feet. I had him sit on the steps while I called for an ambulance and the bus drove off. I have no recollection of him ever having a seizure before so I wanted to get him to the hospital to get checked out and I didn't know if he might have another one on the way there so I thought the ambulance was the best idea.

The boys and I followed in the van and Jeff met us at the hospital. They let us go right on back since Davy is special needs. We got there a little after 4:30 pm. They got an IV port put in him, blood drawn and a chest Xray taken right away and then we waited. I noticed around 6:30 Davy was really coming back to his usual self. Around 10pm they finally got us in for a CT scan and all tests came back OK so we were discharged around 11:30pm with instructions to stop the antibiotics he was on for an infected ingrown toenail. He had a few bumps and bruises and a bitten tongue. It looks like tomorrow we will be headed into the clinic thought because his tongue looks infected and it hurts him a lot.

I have to say the folks at JPS (John Peter Smith Hospital) ER were all really nice and professional. You hear such bad things about going into a metropolitan county ER, but so far JPS has dispelled those stories through the good service at both their ER and their urgent care outpatient clinic these past few days.

Aww Shucks!

2011-10-18T12:32:00.000-05:00

This guy is a genius

Hawks, Falcons, and a trip to the Wildlife Rehabilitator

2011-10-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

Well this weekend we had a stay at home weekend due to the break down of the car. Good news is we got it back yesterday. The problem was a bad battery so the cost wasn't too outrageous.

Monday evening I saw a small "hawk" appear on our fence. I had Ryan get me my camera and proceeded to try and take some pictures. They were coming out crap since the light was low and my hands are shaky.


What is that? Bird? Dog? I can't tell crap from this picture.

Then the bird jumped down off the fence and glided into the bushes at the back of the yard. It spotted the chickens in the pen and charged (on the ground ) at the pen and bounced off the chicken wire. Next he hopped on the plastic loveseat. It then hopped on top of the pen and tried going at them from that angle but just ended up flailing around on the wire top. He hopped up on the old box I keep my chicken pen maintenance tools in. I crept up to the pen really slowly. He just stood there and let me. I made it all the way up to the pen and thought "Maybe I can steady the camera on the pen and still get a good shot."

He just stood there and let me take pictures. And stood there and stood there.

Now at this point I guess I had been there long enough without going beserk that he decided I was potential lunch. He hopped from the box to the top of the chicken house. He then jumped down and soundly grabbed at my upper arm. He didn't hurt me but he did get caught on my sleeve. I bent down to rest him on the ground and loosed him from my shirt. He was free but still did not fly away. I started to leave but he followed/chased me back to the house;where, my son upon seeing the thing following me, locked the bird (AND ME) out of the house.

This thing is actively trying to get in the house.

The bird was resolute on staying on that patio. Eventually I made it back into the house but the bird just stayed on that patio and watched us; until it decided to put its head under it's wing and go to sleep. We then made the decision to call someone if he wasn't gone by morning.

The next morning (Tuesday) there was no bird on our patio but I did find him just over the neighbors fence asleep. Later I came out to check the laundry I had on the line and found him in our yard again. He was sitting on a little statue. Once again he wasn't flying away from me. My gut was saying that this isn't good. I called a wildlife rehabilitator that I found on the Texas Parks and Wildlife page. Long story short...the bird made it safely to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator recommended by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

I had guessed that the bird was a Cooper's Hawk but she said it was a merlin. I still think I am right though.

This is a picture of a Merlin from Cornell University's Orinthology Lab.

Note the eyes are black not orangish red.

And this is a picture of a Cooper's Hawk from the same Lab.

Distinctly reddish irises.

Another possiblity is a Sharp Shined Hawk but I think that the tail was rounder like the Cooper's Hawk and his feet were much more substantial.


Sharp Shinned Hawk

You can see in the pictures that the bird from my yard definitely does not match the Merlin. Also the bird from my yard does not have the white eyebrow of the Sharp Shinned Hawk.

Whatever he is, he's beautiful. I hope he is ok and he can be released back into the wild. I'm just a little bummed that he won't be around to look at though.

October is Becoming a Horror Show

2011-10-10T15:35:00.000-05:00


Happy Halloween Appliances...bwa ha ha!

At least for mechanical objects.....like our car, and now our refrigerator. Both died in the last 4 days. Add to that the dryer that came apart last fall, got put back together and then came apart again and is now sitting idle and there seems to be a vortex of mechanical death swirling around our house.

At least we did have to good fortune to keep the refrigerator from the house on Merida Street. It was extra storage for milk and such but now it is the the star of the show. Thank God for small miracles.

The car on the other hand is scaring the pants off of me. There is no backup for that and after the heatwave knocking out our savings and the health insurance for the kids cutting the income we have just about bupkiss to pay for the repairs.

If you need me I will most likely be cowering in the closet with some cookies and amaretto left over from Guardian of the Tor 2010.......crap I'm out of cookies.

It's Adventure Time!

2011-10-06T11:13:00.001-05:00

Socks!

2011-09-19T09:44:00.000-05:00

I've finally finished my first pair of knitted socks. I did them with plain ol' Red Heart yarn and size '0' needles. The Red Heart yarn makes them very thick. They make nice around the house booties.

7 Paydays 'til Christmas

2011-09-17T10:13:00.007-05:00

(voice inside my head as I punch away on the calculator.) 8 paydays until the property taxes are due; 8 paydays before the January house insurance is due. If I put away x-amount of dollars each payday I will be sure to make these payments but might not have anything for Christmas. How many paydays until Christmas....7. Can I squeeze out another $30 a payday? Maybe $20? I don't know.

This summer has been a doozy. Between starting the boys health insurance, and the sudden jump in the electric bill we have used ALL our "discretionary" savings. The savings account and the emergency fund are at 0. The tax and insurance account is not where I would like it at this time of year but if I keep setting aside the amount I adjusted to after starting the boys health insurance we should make those bills.

This payday we just used up the last of the cash on hand to pay for Sammy to get to the doctor for an ear infection. I still have to figure up where I am going to get the money to pay the copay to have his x-ray on his neck done. He's been complaining of neck pain and popping his neck multiple times a day for a while now. I have a little something from Mom that was supposed to get me to see someone about the weird flutters in my chest but it's not enough to cover that so it may go to check out Sammy's neck....or get him glasses...he's squinting now too.

I still have Ryan's and Davy's school pictures coming up. Davy graduates this year so that means a yearbook and a cap and gown later. There are Boy/Cub Scout dues and campouts coming up. I just don't know where it is all going to come from. We could save $164 bucks a month if we cut out the TV service and mow our own lawn but I haven't been able to convince the hubby to make those cuts. We could probably cut around $50 of spending if I could resist the drive-thru windows.....I haven't been able to convince myself(or more accurately my stomach combined with my squirrel brain that forgets to eat before I hit the road) that this cut is mandatory; though God knows, I do try.

I try to tell myself that I just need to hang on until we can get Davy graduated and off to a group home or state school. That should open me up for a decent job that doesn't require lifting. (Lifting ain't gonna happen. I had to take 4 Excedrin just to be able to sit here and type and I'm still in pain.) I am not sure what I will do with Ryan and Sam outside of school hours but there are a few more options for them than for Davy. I may be able to find a responsible care option for them I can afford. If there is even a job market by the time I can get Davy out of the nest.

My husband still has a job and it's getting scary. I just heard from my ex that he just lost his job. He's not sure what's going to become of his new family. Ya'll say a prayer for them. While your at it, drop God a line for my friend S.S. She is facing a medical issue. She wants to keep the details private but doesn't mind me asking friends to say a prayer. God knows what she needs, so just praying for her need to be met should be just fine.

"And to the rest of you, thanks for watching. On behalf of myself and Harold and the whole gang up here at Possum Lodge... keep your stick on the ice. Remember, I'm pulling for ya. We're all in this together!" --Red Green

Working out a new crochet pattern

2011-09-12T13:38:00.000-05:00

A long time ago I found a pattern for a 8 petaled daisy/sunflower that looked good. It was a charity pattern and one would get to download the pattern if you agreed to make a square for her blankets that she gave away to those in need. I managed one square with her pattern and sent it to her. I found the pattern to be odd to work and I also wanted to do whatever I want with what I make; I sat down and figured out how to make the same picture a VERY different way. I made three of those that I used as hotpads/coasters and went about working on other patterns. Yesterday I went to find the link for the original charity pattern. The author isn't offering it for download anymore. Luckily I still had my printed copy of hers but I had never made a written copy of my own pattern; until last night and today. I sat down and revisited my daisy flower square. The first one came out all wavy so I knew I had to jigger with it some more.

1st four rounds front of work

back of work


changing colors

The original pattern had you working each row twice, once with each color, using chain stitches to make space to crochet the other color. With mine I join the two colors and alternate between them using a stitch I may have just invented, but probably didn't. I have never seen it before, but it seems to common sense for it to be new. You start, lets say a double stitch; you work the stitch with color A up until the last two loops on the hook. The last pull through you use color B. If you know a name for this please let me know. Until then I will refer to it as a "color switch" stitch. The whole time you alternate between colors you hold the unused color just behind the tops of the stitches you are working in. This allows you to hide the unused color under your stitches until it is time to switch. It does tangle up your yarn so you have to stop and untangle it.

Today I sat down a second time and figured out how to get it laying flatter. This is the finished square.

There is still a little wave to it, but I have seen that on most squares where you work from a predominantly round pattern into a square. I think it will be flat enough to make a afghan with. I still have to get the pattern all deciphered from my hen scratch and all typed up purdy.

Out of Order

2011-08-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

My regular computer is out of commission until further notice so I will be going offline for a while. Hope to be back up and running soon.

Picture from Texas Parks and Wildlife

2011-08-09T10:16:00.000-05:00

I follow Texas Parks and Wildlife's Facebook page. They posted these pictures this morning. Photos by Earl Nottingham. I had to share them here so my family not on Facebook could see them. It isn't really as bad as the TV news makes it out to be.....It's worse. They should be showing this stuff to everyone but they aren't.

Beached fish, victims of the drought, at Lake O.C. Fisher at San Angelo State Park.

Brazos river runs dry in Knox County, Texas during the summer drought of 2011.

The carcass of a cow that became mired in the mud in a dry stock tank in Knox County, Texas during the summer drought.

Lake O.C. Fisher at San Angelo State Park dried up, leaving these fish behind

This last one should scare the hell out of you. It looks like something out of the Book of Revelations.

Blood-red water during drought at Lake O.C. Fisher at San Angelo State Park. The water color is caused by bacteria.

John Oliver Spreads the "Good News" ;)

2011-08-09T09:32:00.000-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

The Forecloser

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog

The Daily Show on Facebook

CRAP! YOU MEAN IT'S OUR FAULT! (well duh)

2011-08-08T08:34:00.000-05:00

From the Washington Post, August 6, 2011

"The next time someone tells you that this predicament is all the fault of a) Wall Street b) President Obama c) the Republicans or d) China, respond with this number: 138 percent. That is the ratio of U.S. household debt to disposable income as of 2007. There’s no way to restore robust consumer spending until that ratio returns to a more sustainable level; it’s now down to 110 percent, which is still far above historical averages. No matter what politicians or foreign countries may do, ordinary Americans still have their work cut out for them."

VBS Sunday 2011

2011-08-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

This past week was Vacation Bible School week at our church. This was the first Sunday we have been to church in months. Gotta say that I am glad I went and was wowed by the presentation in the Sanctuary. The VBS team really does it up big. This years program was "Pandamania'. It isn't the best photo in the world but you can make out the big pagoda style building up on the dais. The kids made the origami cranes 'flying' over the congregation. The cranes were made for each 'God sighting' (moments when they see God actively in their lives) that the kids made throughout the week. Sammy submitted seeing a rolly polly in the backyard as his 'God sighting'.

I have got to say the the music was a bit loud for my tastes but the kids did a great job and certainly were making a "joyful noise unto the Lord".

Texas Drought 2011 8/3/2011

2011-08-03T20:52:00.000-05:00

In the garage

In the church parking lot

My Crochet Projects

2011-08-03T20:50:00.000-05:00

I have been following a beautiful blog called "Crochet with Raymond". It is written by a lady in New Zealand. She produces some truly lovely things and I love visiting here page to see what pretty new thing she has made. Inspired, I decided to put up a post of some of the things I've made. The majority of them were made between 2006 and 2008.

I had made an afghan for both Ryan and Sammy so I started one for Davy. After completing it I keep finding it wadded up and stuffed under the bed so now I just use it in the front room on the sofa in there. I brought it too the living room to photograph it.

I played around with the concepts and figured out how to make granny squares with more than one color in a row without cutting yarn and reattaching it for the next row.


I did this one the night I heard the news of the Virgina Tech Shootings

Aggie colors for Jeff.

I had started the large grey shawl when I worked at Dunaway Associates. I would eat lunch at my desk and crochet. I had found this fantastic yarn at Jenning Street Yarn and bought 3 skeins but quickly ran out. They couldn't find anymore. I searched the internet for months and finally found a shop in Minnesota (I think. It could have been Wisconsin. It's been long enough I don't remember.) I think I bought 11 skeins. I got to finish it on our family vacation/honeymoon trip to Maine. It's like snuggling up in that trip on a chilly day. The rainbow block scarf I knitted for Ryan, the multi color strippety one is mine. The squares with the flowers I started with a pattern I found online but i found I hated the pattern so I used it as a guide to improvise my own way of making it. I never really knew where to go with it so they have become hot pads for my dining room table.

This last one is the oldest project I have and is my current crochet project. It is one square of 120 I need to make the tablecloth I have been working on since the 1990's.

I have also made scarves for my nephew and two of my nieces, and am working on knitting once for my niece Emily(who just took 3rd place in her local library's reading contest! Way to go Em!) I am not showing that scarf off until it is done. It will probably be later this year. I am a slow worker these days.

Temp 114F 8/2/2011

2011-08-03T09:43:00.001-05:00

5:39 PM 8/2/2001

Texas Drought 2011

2011-08-02T10:11:00.002-05:00

As most of you have heard on the news we are experiencing quite a drought and heat wave here in Texas.

Right now it is 7:58 am CDT and the temperature is 86℉. The worst part of the summer thus far is the throbbing pain in my butt from how bad the electric bill is reaming me a new one. June was $387 and July was $397. The rest of the year it's under $200 but the summer gets ya bad.

We are trying different ideas when it comes to keeping the house cool. We've tried "pre-cooling" where you get the house really cold(socks and a sweater cold) in the early morning and then turn the ac off during the worst of the heat and just let the house gradually warm up until bedtime and crank it down again. That worked ok when the temps were in high 90℉s but over 100℉ the house heats up too fast, especially now that it has been hot for so long. The ground is hot too so there is nowhere for the slab to dissipate the heat. Right now we are just rolling with it the best we can.

I have had to adjust how I do the laundry. About a week back I had washed a second or third load of laundry and went out and hung it. It was after 12pm. When I got in my heart was all fluttery and i couldn't catch my breath. I felt like I had just run a mile. I had to swab myself down with cold washclothes and had to lay down. The heat is doing that to me alot. It happened in WalMart two different times in the last couple of days. ((( Or, it just occurred to me now as I sit here and type, maybe I am coincidentally just starting to have hot flashes at the same time as a heat wave.))) Anyhooooooo, now I wash a few loads over the course of the day and hang them out the next morning before the heat rises too much.

I took some pictures of the duck pond down at the park near our house. This first one is from before the drought when the pond was at it's normal level. (((well I didn't take this one. Its a screen capture from Google Maps)))

This next one is the thermometer in the car.

The temperature at 5:36PM CDT 8/1/2011

And the effects of the drought and extreme heat.....(be sure to scroll down to the pecan)

At least the water being this far down has provided the city with the opportunity to clean out the pond. This was as bad as the pond that still has water in it.

The city has been providing supplemental water for the ducks.

This photo is an indication of what has been happening with Texas farms and gardens all over.

That little green thing is a pecan. That should still be on the tree and about 3 times that size at this point in the year. These little shriveled pecans were scattered all over the ground. I pray to God that the food grid holds out and can compensate because backyard gardens aren't likely to feed you this year.

I find myself confronting a conundrum. Here we are in a drought but if I don't water my lawn I might crack my foundation. Before moving into this house I wouldn't have worried about watering a lawn. I would have let the lawn burn up and been thankful for the lack of mowing. This house has a concrete slab foundation. If you don't water the ground around the house the ground shifts and heaves and you can end up ruining the house. I turned off the sprinkler system for a while but soon noticed big cracks out in the lawn, so now it is back on twice a week for 10 minutes per station. I am just not sure how to address the situation.

Google Earth Loves Me

2011-08-02T08:56:00.000-05:00

Dude, I may be paranoid but I think I am being followed. I've gotten caught on Google Earth twice now. One is me and Sammy at our old house and the other is my car at the park.

At the park

At our old house

Jeff Update 7-20-2011

2011-07-21T07:55:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone for all of their thoughts and prayers for Jeff these last few weeks.

I also wanted to let everyone know that we went back to the doctor for another x-ray and the doctor said that it looked good and if the radiologist saw anything to be concerned with we would hear from them. So far we haven't gotten a call back from them, so it looks like no news is good news.

He's been cigarette free for 24 days. He says the hardest part so far has been not having the physical something to do with his hands. The nicotine gum takes care of the craving but doesn't replace the ritual like aspects of the act of smoking. He's still doing great at it though. He jokingly complains a little at times; mostly to get a reaction from me, I think. (Like yesterday after getting the good news from the doc, he looks straight at me and goes "WHEW!!! I need a cigarette!" to get the requisite " NO ! " out of me.) All in all he makes it look easy. I'm very proud of him...and very happy that the xrays looked good.