This is for the birds!

 

Little Bird Little Bird

When I was in high school our English teachers took the class to NYC to experience some theater. It was a wonderful introduction to Broadway and off Broadway shows, city life, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Theater and the dark sides of city life. One of the shows we saw was "Man of La Mancha". It became one of my favorite musicals. I will still sometimes break out in one of the songs from the show....and know most of the words of each one! 

A few weeks ago our tiny little community theater put on Mary Poppins. I thought it was quite an ambitious show, and the cast and crew did a marvelous job. 

Feed the Birds

But, this post isn't about theater...it's about birds! This morning as I contemplated getting out of bed I heard an owl hooting in the woods nearby. At least I was pretty darn sure it was an owl...but if so, what kind? I downloaded the Merlin app (it's by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and identifies birds that it hears). My owl was a Great Horned Owl....and, according to the app, rare in this area at this time of year. 

Here are the birds that Merlin detected in 10 minutes, as the sun approached the horizon: 

We do feed the birds...and the squirrels...and the corgis who graze under the feeders 😟

Working on the Little Stinker

 Thursday was a sew day for a group of my friends. I found a project I began 3 or 4 years ago, or 5 or 6 years ago... to take with me. 

I decided that since it was just plain sewing, no fancy stitches needed, I'd take one of my featherweights.  I haven't used the white one in...well, I can't even remember when I last used it! The white one is named "Flower". That wasn't always her name! 

I pulled the machine off the shelf first thing in the morning and decided that she would probably like some oil. But when I opened the covers of the machine, I realized she needed a bit more than oil!

I grabbed my WD-40, oil and a bunch of Q-tips. The only thing I was missing was the grease that is used in the motor and in the gears. It's on order now! 

It is always gratifying to work on the machine and be able to hear a difference. When I was working on the head of the machine, I had the machine running as I sprayed in the WD-40. The sound changed dramatically, and I could almost feel that the motor didn't have to work as hard. After the WD-40 bath I oiled everything. Flower purred! 

Look What I Found!

We went to Ocala for a meeting and stopped at the Hobby Lobby store. I am going to be taking a beading class in a week and stopped to pick up the materials. As I perused the beading and jewelry items my eyes spied these:

I had to buy them... I had to buy every one they had (4 packs). it helped that they were 40% off! I wasn't sure what I'd do with them...but I would find something. When I came home I looked in a beading kit I bought recently, and it had crimp thingies. Aha....on the suggestion of my BFF, I can make bookmarks. Better yet, I can add the charms to the ribbons I put in the journals as place markers. I checked to see if the crimp thingie would work...that's why I have the lavender ribbon... I was testing it out.

I had to drop the Mister off to pick up his truck after it was serviced, so I ran by the local Hobby Lobby. They had four more packs of the charms. I was able to order three additional packs, which will let me put a charm on the ribbon of each journal. Hobby Lobby didn't have any of the crimp thingies in the right size and color, so I ordered some from Amazon. I can't wait for them to get her so I can embellish the journals! And of course, it will be nice to have something else to do, because, as you can imagine, I have practically nothing to do to get ready to leave for 3 months! 😂😂😂😂

Trip Planning

Sunday I became serious about planning our route from here to Kankakee, IL.  We will be meeting up with the Adventure Caravan travelers there, with our formal trip beginning on Sept 20. We will travel with the group from there to the Santa Monica pier...the official end of Route 66. 
 

So, this is my spreadsheet of our trip....and it has already changed! That's one of the things I find most challenging. I can't tell you how many times I block out a trip, locate campgrounds within a suitable mileage, make reservations.....and then discover that we need to tweak our plans...and I get to change or cancel some reservations and make new plans. It can be frustrating! 

Here it is Tuesday and we are still unsure if what I have set up is "set in stone". 

But, I moved on and have adopted a "Que Sera, Sera" attitude. 

Many years ago my parents had a large sailboat that they sailed on Lake Ontario. One of the other boats in the marina was named, "Que Sera". The dinghy had "Sera" painted on its transom. It always made me smile, and when I hear the phrase, I immediately think of the boat. Can't help it! 

Today I ran some errands and actually visited Walmart twice! I haven't been in Walmart in months. I do like going there for their veggies, which are usually the freshest in town. But, the parking lot is always crazy and it is always crowded inside. The Mister wanted to show me a small griddle that maybe we could carry on the motorhome instead of a grill. They didn't have the exact one we wanted at Walmart, but from what they had we could make a decision. He later found the grill at Ace Hardware, but they didn't have the connector  for using small propane tanks, so back I went to pick up the connector! 

I discovered that I enjoy cooking on a Blackstone griddle.  I like cooking everything at once...even hamburgers and steaks come out great. I have my formula for making slider sized, medium rare cheeseburgers with sautéed onions and/or mushrooms. Yum! That's what we had tonight! The Mister 'seasoned' the grill by heating small amounts of oil, wiping the grill down,  and repeating the oil treatment 2 more times. Then, I sautéed a bunch of onions in oil before cooking the rest of our dinner on it. 

I finished the last of 23 journals for our Rt 66 tour. I ran out of the Rt 66 fabric, so used embroidery on a simpler fabric. I actually like these last two better than the others! The leaders of the tour will get these:

We have had more rain. It is glorious! Our yard is loving it!

Aerosmith

Saturday evening we went to see an Aerosmith tribute band perform at a community center near us. Most of the Aerosmith songs are too "hard" for me, as in Hard Rock. But there are a few I enjoy. The band was very good, but much too loud.....and that's not just my advanced age complaining! I finally went outside and enjoyed the music from there. I could actually hear the singer's words more clearly outside than inside! I chatted with a few other folks out there...and they didn't even want to go back inside the building because of the overpowering sound. We left within the first hour. 

Pandora's Box Tribute Band

Steven Tyler

The Pandora's box Steven certainly had the look and the moves. The real Steven Tyler fractured his larynx in a concert in 2023 and no longer sings. 

We have had waves of thunderstorms throughout the day and evening. Just about every time either one of us stepped outside to accomplish some task or another...it would begin to rain. During the night, I was awakened several times hearing the rumble of thunder.  I am not complaining!! 

Saturday I fixed my $9.99 lamp! I bought the lamp a few years ago and really like it. At some point it was pulled to the floor and the fitting where the bulb connects was broken; the cleaning gal and the Mister both take credit for the damage! I ordered new pieces and installed them. I'm feeling accomplished! 

I have only two more journal covers to complete for the leaders of our caravan group. They are embroidered and are ready to be stitched. A job for tomorrow!

 

It's all in the Timing!

 Friday we had the plumber come by to repair a leaky outdoor hose bib. It has been a problem since we moved in,  but over time become even worse. The Mister was hesitant to attempt the repair himself, as the pipe is on the main line coming into our property. He feared that if he had a problem, we wouldn't have water at the house until we could get an emergency repair.

While the plumber was finishing the repair, a van with an official county seal cruised by, turned around, and came back. I walked out to greet him. He mentioned he was with the water authority (aka water police), and needed to read our meter, thus needed to know where our water meter was located. I told him he was in luck, good timing! The plumber had already unearthed and opened the box - making it easy to access and assuring that there were no wee beasties in the box. 

This also presented me with the opportunity to let the water folks know that our water usage may be higher than usual, as we had the leak (while pointing to the plumber at work) and reminding him that we had new sod, which gives us an excess water usage exemption for two months. Ahem, our two month exemption is over, but we have, on occasion, broken the *irrigation day "law" by irrigation a few extra evenings in the past few weeks. Maybe they'll chalk it up to the broken pipe - and heck, aren't we good citizens for showing our concern for our natural resources by having the pipe repaired?! (Who am I kidding? Their system is so sophisticated that they know when we are using the water, and just how much....but maybe, since our meter wasn't reporting, they won't have that specific data for more recent usage!)

*Citrus County is under a Modified Phase III "Extreme" Water Shortage Order through October 1, 2026, set by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Outdoor lawn irrigation is strictly limited to one designated day per week, with immediate citations and fines issued for non-compliance.

I gathered a few struggling orchids that had been hiding out in the garden. One wasn't even in a pot, the other had severely outgrown its container...which isn't really the sort of container orchids ought to live in. 

I pulled out my orchid bark and planted the two orchids in orchid pots,

where hopefully they will thrive in spite my general neglect! 

I had lunch with some of my lady friends.

I did a few odds and ends around the house....

and called it a day! 

Take me for a ride in your car.....

 VICKIE                                                                                                                            

KAITLYN

Take me for a ride in your car...

car?  

Did you say car?

I LOVE going for rides in the car!!!

I loved this song when PP&M used to sing it.

This is a fun rendition to listen to! 

The Lady who feeds us is getting our leashes....

Must you keep twirling?

She's getting the leashes,

She needs to see me, and know that I wants to go! 

Oh, goody, she's opening the door....

....and she just opened the door to the garage,

and the car....and she boosted me into the back seat! 

Whoo hoo!

Here we go! 

Bark, Bark,Bark! 

There's a person over there.

Where? Bark! If you are barking I better bark, too!

The lady who feeds us needs to be warned. 

Watch out! There's a truck! 

    Where? I don't see it!

I'm hopping to your side of the car!

No! This is my side. You are in my space!

Move! Lady, she's on my side of the car! 

Am not. There are no "sides"!

Wait...she's slowing down and parking!

We are here. We are somewhere!

Oh, goody! New places. New smells!

Wait! Stop! Go Back! 

Put me in the car, this place smells hurtful!

It was time for the girls to have their annual visit at the vets. They were actually very good.  They loved getting some loving from the gal at the reception desk....even if the place smelled "hurtful"! 

Kaitlyn went in the back first. She happily follows anyone, anywhere! 

Vickie stared at the door where Kaitlyn had disappeared.....

and looked to me, as if to say, "Aren't you going to go rescue her?!"

Who knows what happens to puppies in that back room! 

Kaitlyn returned safely, and then Vickie was led hauled off. 

While we waited, Kaitlyn gave me kisses to let me know everything would be OK!

Vickie was weighed, had blood drawn for a heart worm test, and was returned....

And then....

the doctor walked in!

Only Kaitlyn needed her annual inspection:

....and injection:

....and they were happily back in the car, ready to go home!

I made a detour to PetSmart on our way home, with the intent of letting them pick out a treat - Hah....who am I fooling?! They wanted everything edible...and even showed some interest in various stuffed animals. I selected two bones, and when we got home, they were quite OK with my choice! 

It was another hot, hot day with storms all around us. As the storms were roiling about, the wind picked up and it was tolerable outside. I picked a few buckets of weeds before a big whoosh brought a sheet of rain, and a peel of thunder, seemingly directly over my head. It was a quick torrent of rain, leaving almost as quickly as it came. 

Day was done!