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! 

Television

 Does anyone else want to go back to this?

I am thinking I'd be much happier with 3 VHF channels and a few UHF choices.

Having to get up from the couch to turn the channel wasn't that much of a chore,

and sometimes far easier than finding the remote...or finding batteries for the remote...or even getting the remote open to put in the batteries once they are located.

Oh, and don't get me started on how you navigate from the start screen to whatever you want to view...

....and for most of us, once the equipment was paid for, it was free!

None of this monthly fee stuff.

....and those fees? $40, $70, and more for a basic service that offers a gazillion viewing options;

10 on channels you recognize and might enjoy, 24 in different languages - great if you want to try to learn by immersion, 23 if you want to shop for things you didn't know you wanted, 75 more if you want to watch just about any sort of sport - including professional corn hole....

it's limitless! 

Then there are the add-on fees for movies, or sports you want to watch, or British TV, or Disney channels....yada, yada, yada...

Trying to figure out what TV plans are best for you, and what add-ons to get, and what services duplicate options provided by others is a science by itself. Wading through all of that really makes my head hurt. Frankly, I just don't understand it all. There are people who make a living by helping people determine which insurance plans are best for supplemental coverage for us old folks. Maybe someone should begin a service of going into homes and helping oldsters select the best TV plans for their budgets and viewing interests, and getting their TVs set up for viewing. Now, there's an idea!! I had a fleeting thought of approaching my son with this entrepreneurial idea...but he might be as lost as we are. He doesn't watch TV! He wouldn't be much help at all! 

We finally broke down and subscribed to Youtube TV last year so we could watch over the air shows....while spending a lot of money each month! Periodically we experience some sort of cosmic blip that tells YouTube that we live in Miami. Sure, we can watch Miami news and weather. But the news and weather there is a far cry from that in the Tampa area. The weekly line up of shows is different than what we normally watch in our area. Each time this cosmic blip happens it takes me at least an hour to climb through the AI branches before I convince something, somewhere that we actually do live here, and want to view shows in this area. It makes me so angry/helpless that I sometimes want to throw the remote at the TV.

It leaves me so frustrated....I just want my 25" TV, commanding space on the entire deep shelf of our cabinet, where I get out of my chair to turn it on and change the stations. Do you think it might work if I tap my heels together, scrunch my eyes shut and repeat:

"I want to go back, I want to go back, I want to go back?!"

Ah, wishful thinking and memories of simpler times!

All Dolled Up!

 I had a nice morning with some of my lady friends. We played Apples to Apples. It's enjoyable. It's good for a few laughs. It encourages conversation and getting to know each other a bit better, which is great for me as I am the new kid on the block.

The muffins and scones were yummy. I also had some fresh strawberries and a bowl of Kisses. 

After lunch I retreated to my sewing space. I am embroidering the names of fellow travelers on some of the journals. It probably takes more time to get the journal secured on the hoop than it does to embroider it. It will take me a few days to complete 21 of them.

I made templates for hand quilting my State challenge quilt. I'll take the quilt with me on our trip. I might have a lot of seat time where I can stitch the Baptist Fan design. 

After I washed the doll's clothes in Woolite the white pinafore and her slip were still very yellow. I found out that the Woolite will take out dirt, but not necessarily the yellow. It was suggested that I use OxyClean for that. I don't normally use that product and admit to standing in the aisle looking at all of the various OxyClean options! The instructions for that product said you might soak objects for up to 6 hours, and it took all of that to make the whites white again! 

The elastic in her panties is shot. They won't stay up! Don't you hate it when that happens?! 🤣 I've put them aside to redo the elastic. Until then she'll have to go commando! 😮

While I was perusing my email I found a link to "50's Forgotten Casseroles". What's uncanny is just last night I was thinking of the cheeseburger casserole I used to make for the kids using Bisquik. And ta da! Just like that...here are some of those old favorites...including a hamburger casserole! We are going to enjoy try the chicken-a-la-king casserole tonight. The jury is out on whether we will enjoy it or not. 

How Holy Hot Can it Get?

 Our temps approached 100 today. Our heat index soared to 115°! Yikes! I did wander out to pick up a few things at Walmart and at Hobby Lobby. We had some rain before I ventured out, and it poured after I came home. The temperature dropped a bit, but the humidity climbed.

Today I finally finished making the last of 21 journal covers for our upcoming trip. I'm giving each participant a journal. I'll also share, with them,  a few of the journals I've made on some of our previous trips. 

Melk, Austria, Sept 29, 2018

Chateau Frontenac Courtyard, July 11, 2022

April, 2023, Marianna, FL

May 29, 2025, Belfast, Ireland

I have really enjoyed journaling, and creating some watercolor sketches, scrapbooks and jotting down comments about our tours. It does take a lot of work on my part, but when I go back and look at my journals I am immediately taken back to that space and that time. My attempts at journaling truly enhance my memories. 

Today I finished making the last of 21 journals for our upcoming Route 66 trip. I received the first names of everyone on the tour today and hope to embroider their names on the journals. 

This morning I made some orange/cranberry scones for my "Apples to Apples" group meeting at our house tomorrow. Of course, I had to taste test them...they passed the test.

They are yummy!

Dinner was mayo chicken (chicken breast marinated in mayonnaise with herbs), corn on the cob and julienned zucchini.

Sleepy Sunday

 Today was another hot day. Neither of us cared to do anything outside. I did tiptoe out to water a few wilted plants, but otherwise, stayed inside. 

The Mister helped me by drilling holes in a few quarters so that I could complete the ALDI quarter fobs.

I made some small 'gift bags' for the quarter fobs, and embroidered a tea towel as a prize for the winner of our game on Tuesday.

I completed the quilting on my friend's quilt. It is ready to deliver to her when I see her in September. 

I stripped my "Delaware Doll"  to wash her aged, yellowed clothes. The Woolite that I purchased didn't do anything for the yellowed whites. I need to get some Oxyclean and see if that can attack the yellow.

I stitched and turned my Delaware quilt. I decided not to bind it as I most often do with my current quilts. My next step will be to hand quilt it. That will be a challenge for me!

Lastly, I made some banana/blueberry muffins for the ladies who will come visit on Tuesday. 

I did taste test one.... yummy! 

The Mister ran out to Home Depot for AC filters and then stopped at Publix. He brought home hotdogs. We haven't had them in a long while...and dinner of hotdogs, pasta salad and asparagus was yummy! 

We have AC Back

 Having the AC go out last night was not the end of the world. We did have some options. My sewing space used to be the garage. It has a mini split AC. We turned that down and put a fan in the door, pulling the cooler air into the main house. We also turned on our overhead fans in the LR and the BR. The final bonus, the Mister has a portable AC unit at the workshop. He went over last night and retrieved it, so we also have a cool bedroom, and can use a fan to blow that cool air into the rest of the house. It hasn't been too uncomfortable, but it is heating up.

Despite the fact that it was heating up rather quickly outside, I decided to attack a sitting area we have in the back yard. Leaves collected there, and were never cleaned up. We even had some weeds growing on top of the concrete in small amounts of dirt and mashed leaves. It really needed attention. 

The concrete pad has two 6" round wood poles embedded in it. 

Each pole has a large steel screw eye in it. 

We think it was a wash rack that the original owners used to wash their horses. 

I was going to hang some plants from the screw eyes....

then noticed that one of our industrious woodpeckers made several holes near the top of one pole. 

Maybe we will just leave them for the birds...for now! 

I raked up the leaves and started a fire. While I worked I listened to the end of Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi. It was a very good book and the Audible version was enjoyable.  If you read or listen to it, be sure to read/listen to the author's comments. They are insightful. This is the author's first book, and his explanation of how it came to be is interesting. I'm thankful his friends convinced him to have it published.

I had some palm fronds and Palm boot jacks I had collected before we had the trees trimmed. I burned those. The Mister brought some small oak branches he had cut a while back for me to dispose of as well. By 12:30 it was hot outside. I was hot. I was finished; with the job and with the heat. 

I retreated to the somewhat cooler house, took a shower and made/ate lunch; crab salad (using 'fake' crab). I lay down for a bit, watched a bit of a video on YouTube, read a few pages of The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife, by Anna Johnston. I adore this book! Set in a nursing home, it has moments that make me laugh so hard I get tears in my eyes, and moments that bring tears to my eyes for the emotions the book evokes. 

Later in the afternoon I worked on quilting my bff's quilt. This is the first time I've used block designs, instead of edge to edge quilting. I really like how it is looking, and look forward to trying some more block designs with variations of size and quilting designs on other quilts.

The AC service technician finally came by around 5 pm. He thought he knew exactly what the problem was, based on the pattern of emergency repairs he's had to make this week. Sadly, it was not our capacitor. It took him a bit of sleuthing, but he finally found that the condenser fan needed a new motor. It was installed and we have cool air circulating through the house. He is my hero...and he didn't even ride in on a white horse...it was a white truck! 

 Dinner was a shared rib eye, pasta salad and broccoli. 

And it went downhill from there.....

 Yes. It was that kinda day. I had a good morning. I managed to accomplish a few things, even a challenging task in my sewing space. After lunch I hopped in the car as I had an appointment with the:

My iPhone 13 mini's battery was no longer functioning well enough, and Apple care said it was time for a change. Many days my battery would run out of juice by noon. As I have Apple Care on the phone, there would be no charge. It was all going according to plan until the tech said to come back in 2-3 hours. What?! I had figured that with an appointment, the repair would be made on the spot. Not so. 

What's a girl to do? Hmmmm....Dillards is a few miles away. They should have a seasonal shoe sale going on now! And yes, they did. I picked up two pair of sandals...at 60% off. Oh, and there's a Chico's. I haven't been in a Chico's for ages...and look at those pretty tops in fall colors...perfect for our upcoming trip. And then...the rain poured, in response to a loud clap of thunder and lightning that obviously cut the sky open releasing a deluge. I sat in Chico's for a bit. Tapping my toes. Browsing at other outfits and collections...and finally decided the heck with it. I cut my shopping trip short...I'll just have to catch HomeGoods another day! My phone ought be finished anyway. I made a mad dash and joined the line of traffic traveling through huge puddles on the road, creeping along at 15 mph, peering ahead to try to see the vehicle in front of me. If I had my phone, I coulda taken pictures!

By the time I made it back to Best Buy the rain had let up a bit. I wandered inside and retrieved my phone. It was so strange to be without it for several hours. I felt out of touch. 

I arrived home to a delightful surprise. The Mister had pulled leftovers out of the fridge and was reheating them. He had quartered potatoes and had just finished air frying them...and dinner was ready to put on the plate. 

It all sounds rather positive, right? Not downhill at all, Right? Wrong. I noticed that it was feeling warm in the house. After a bit of checking this and that we determined the compressor is not working. We have no AC in the house. And of course....it's a weekend! 

Sew Together

 Every other Thursday we have the "Sew Together" group. Women bring machines and projects to our community center to enjoy a day of camaraderie, food and sewing. I love that we have access to the building, many tables and chairs. That was a major drawback to Babcock Ranch. We had nothing like this. 

It looks like everybody is busy .. and we are! We are sewing, and sharing ideas, and talking and laughing. 

Today began early. The Mister had to take the motorhome to a truck center to have the wheels balanced and have them aligned. I actually took the dogs on a short walk - it was relatively cool! Before 9 I was on my way to Inverness, FL - about 15miles from here - to drop off some insurance papers. It was time to renew, and no surprise, the price was higher than we cared for. The Mister made some calls, and a trip to a different insurance agency, and was able to save us money for the coming year. From there I dropped by a friend's house to play Mahjong. The Mahjong Tile Goddess was not kind to me. And then I joined the ladies for sewing. 

Last night the Mister called me outside to see a lubber grasshopper. These guys make my stomach crawl. These monsters grow to about 4" in length. They eat your vegetation and some gardeners suggest that you dispose of them - uh??? And just how should I do that? The fellow we found took a bath in some nice soapy water. 

picture from the Internet

Here is some information I discovered and posted a few years ago:

the red/orange color serves as a warning to predators that he is toxic. (He won't harm you, only things that want to eat him. He might hiss at you, and according to one source he may give off a foul-smelling foaming secretion that could be irritating.) 
this insect can not fly, like some grasshoppers. It crawls and hops. 
The lubbers eat broadleaf plants, but they usually do not present a huge problem to landscaping. They are not like the locust horror stories I remember reading as a kid!
The adult phase is the final of 5 or 6 stages (instars) of the insect's life. When they first hatch from eggs in the ground they are tiny, and black with yellow accents. They continue to be mostly black with yellow until they reach their final, colorful instar stage. The life cycle is 1 year.

The Mister went shopping. He came home with fresh scallops...yum. We'll have cauliflower & béchamel sauce and peas with pan seared scallops for dinner.