Happy Friday

The party was a hit. The Food of course was divine and was Michael and Alexis. The weather was totally cooperative and the guests were wonderful. And FLATLY Speaking, the last minute Challenge to name The Visitor worked out well. It gave a chance for speeches to be launched to the masses from our upper deck. George is home and we all are very tired. If you read any further you will see how tired is TIRED! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is something unusual about these words! Assess Banana Dresser Grammar Potato Revive Uneven Voodoo In all of the listed words, if you take the first letter, place it at the end of the word, and then spell the word backwards, it will be the same word.

And the WINNER is>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

DEPRIZIO Thanks Ellen DEPRIZO Pictures at a later date!

Consideration in possible naming the Visitor

Any Suggestions?

The Visitor

On the pre eve of the BBBB BBQ we have a new visitor. Early yesterday when I had a chance to take a brief pause in the mowing and weed eating, I saw what could have been “Rocky”. Sadly Rocky left our home almost a year ago. It is not Rocky but does have similar colorations. Noisy thing… It has captured my Sweeties attention. In between sessions writing his Brief, he, my Sweetie looks for and FEEDS this new loud Visitor. There is plenty of food available outside for the others, but special foods will tempt most Visitors. I gave up a beloved can of Vienna Sausages for my Sweetie to Lure the Visitor. As the day progresses I might be able to capture on the camera a picture of The Visitor. Quite possibly eating from my Sweeties hand. As they say News and Pictures at Eleven. Updates when available!!!

SNAKE

June 23 first sighting Today on the back stoop, as I had just started to step out, @ 7:50am, I see a small black snakes head just under the outside threshold. It went back under since the noise startled it. I knew were there is one there are many. It was merely a question of time. No time to play hide and seek; weed eating needed finished as the Big BBQ is tomorrow and finally no rain. After dinner last evening I looked at the rain gauge in the garden 2.02 inches since Sunday. Most of the weed eating is finished and it is @ 1 pm, as well as some of the mowing. Time to do inside work until the heat and sun index is more comfortable. HA might even have time to eat lunch! When I eat I prefer quiet time to actually enjoy what I am stuffing food into my mouth. Drives other people NUTZ. ;0 Oh well! George is almost ready to be kenneled for the event…then raking and tending to the garden AFTER 4 pm. I do believe the weather will be perfect for the BBBB tomorrow eve. Thirty-three people to be down here on the Funny Farm…

All the family State Side

ya think it shows I am a proud Mom...and Mother -in-law? Two more pictures to add to my so far favorites...

Flatly SPEAKING…

The countdown has begun for the preparation for the B Bar Buddy Bash. I have just made a list of need to do stuff outside. By Monday I will have completed all the inside stuff. Tee HEE and I DID! Friday a call in approximate head count and food desires to Anne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Saturday and Sunday outside stuff…we managed to acquire lackey labor. Many Thanks to our youngest son that aided in the heavier stuff that I could not help my sweetie do… Do note we took some time to have a little fun. Tuesday a pedicure to my funky colors and pick up needed items. Call in final head and food count. Wednesday rest from the weekend’s aches and pains. Thursday totally get my panties in a wad that I might have forgotten something. Pick up desserts! 3pm begin getting stuff out and together for the party that will begin eating @ 6:00pm. Then totally enjoy!

SNIPPETS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I saw a sign the other day, no not from above, which said "MOWING AHEAD" I mused why not "MOWING BEHIND" Or "MOWING ASIDE" Logically the sign was totally inaccurate. While the State Road want motorists to be conscious of 'effort' going on, and as taxpaying citizens we are appreciative of that. As educators I ponder that it is obligatory to say what we mean and not to mislead the public. If that were the case would we not then be labeled politicians or journalists? The vehicle that does the mowing, has an attachment on the stern as well as the flank, therefore "MOWING AHEAD" is incongruous at best. That however poses another dilemma, would the sign then say "STERN MOWING with FLANK COVERED" OK its raining and I am being silly! Or am I?

Which brings this to mind...

By counting the seconds between the flash and the thunder and dividing by 5, an estimate of the distance to the strike (in miles) can be made. Lightning

It is over…the nest is dripping

...with the proper spray, the trellis dissembled…what we thought was a hornets nest was not. Yellow Jackets The term "hornet" is often used to refer to many of the wasps that build large papery nests. The most notable paper wasp is the baldfaced hornet, Dolichovespula maculata, and several species of yellow jackets (Vespula sp.), which are really wasps. In actuality the only true hornet found in the United States is the European hornet,Vespa crabro L. Yellow jackets are house fly-sized wasps with distinct yellow and black markings and a few hairs. They construct a similar type of paper nest; however, it will be tan in color, much smaller in size compared to the hornet nest, and is usually found in an underground cavity. Common locations for nests are in lawns, particularly in sandy exposed areas, as well as at the base of trees or shrubs. Occasionally, yellow jackets will nest in attics or walls voids of houses or storage buildings. Some good information here!

Little White FUZZY Butts

Early this a.m. my sweetie asked ‘how I felt.’ This of course was in reference to the yard work I pulled off yesterday. Of course I was early in my waking up mode and as I need time to awake just answered “With my Fingers”… Bless his heart he spared my aching back and loaded the trailer with the rest of the cuttings from yesterday venture. I chuckled silently to my self, as I recalled my Daddy saying this to my Mom. Then I started thinking about words…not that that is anything new. Like fuzzy butts, and raccoonie bahoonies which all leads to the topic de jour. Those topics for yet another story. Little White FUZZY Butts! Year ago when I was an adult leader in a local Cub Scout Day camp I first learned about what was called “Snow Fleas”, which are actually not what they actually are. Granted there are Snow fleas, but this time of year the bugs I saw last evening are WHITEFLIES! I caught several so I would make the correct identification. Idle time you say? Not really I was pausing after drenching a Hornets nest…not anxious to be involved in a STING Operation. The nest appears to be the size of a football. It is behind a trellis that I want to move. Close inspection is sketchy at this point. So today purchase more Hornet spray…and in the interim catch a little white Fuzzy Butts!

Two of my favorite pictures…so far

I love to dance!

It’s a Jungle Out there!

Three and ½ hours of arduous labor An additional strong-willed black snake thought it would take up residence in the garden by the bridge deck. Next step: relocation to the barn where the mice are bounteous as well as other ‘snakes in the grass!’ With most of the trimming accomplished I can take a shower and enjoy… But first Quiet reigns as the fluttering of birds jockey for breakfast! A humming bird swoops with his Errol Flynn antics amusing me while Public Radio music’s on. I shall have one more cup of Joe. Then off to the Grocery…

I later commented to him about this, and he said he had been running a tractor since he was 14. Still amazing… Obviously ideal to BLOG…right? The next exciting process that we are seeing into its next stage is this huge BRANCH…Ya take a look at the size of that puppy. This was trimmed off a huge White Oak about 3 years ago. The trimming was an effort to allow the tree to continue to live. BUT the best part is to come… When our kids were small they organized a group effort…and made a ladder out of scrap wood so they could climb on this limb and HA HA “Hang out” but mostly our eldest would get up their and read books. So, this branch is hopefully going to be sawed into 4 slabs. The next process is to have these made into tabletops for the kids. Something they can remember playing on becomes a piece of furniture with history. How neat that will be.

The Family Tree [‘s]

This is one of the Walnut trees & Neighbor Tree’s Yesterday we continued our efforts to save some of our trees. We have in the past as well, we fell most of the trees, we have someone timber some of the older trees that need to be culled from some areas. Some of course fall on their own due do many factors, age, size and Mother Nature. These logs are now going to a sawmill to be made into what is called BOARD FOOT! Next the normal drying process etc. One of the most exciting elements in this process, for me, was to watch the process of getting the logs from where we had stacked them onto the truck. I watched the amazing efforts of our friend and neighbor Bill, a wonderful friend and neighbor. The Sawyers were as well amazed of how well he could negotiate his tractor.

The longest Day of the Year

Early this Summer Solstice I finally saw the young Poult’s on the sunny edge of our meadow. From the Nook I had heard the chattering of the adults and as in years past knew soon we would be seeing the little ones. Summer Solstice 2006:Wednesday, June 21 - 5:26 am PDT 12:26 UT The sounds and sights of summer! Castor is on the edge of the Koi Pond lapping up some water…

143 years

Happy Birthday, West Virginia! June 20, 1863 to June 29, 2006

More wedding related pictures. Thanks Lisa!

But what the HAY!!!!

Young James putting up hay! AND the Raccoon Count is now 6 captured four to go!!!

It’s a ZOO out there!

Snake escapes reptile center in DC zoo!

Today is…

Happy Father’s Day There are nine cards to locate before you can open the gifts! And Two more raccoons Captured! Total to date FIVE!

Gotta love MOTHER EARTH

Today I got to be a GREASE Monkey!!! One of my Sweeties prized possessions is this good-looking Tractor. It may be old but it sure works. Tell ya what he looks might good sitting atop it. The Perfect Tractor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

House for wren ‘t’

The gardening this morning was accompanied by the cheerful flights and chirpings of the wrens. We had hope for the Bluebirds to be there instead but…we are pleased nonetheless! The third raccoon was caught, three down seven to go! Yippee Skippy!

The sweet smells of hay

19 bales of SPUN GOLD this year; last year they hayed later and had 25 Now the hay has been put into Windrows

None were caught last evening…but

WAR has been declared While it was great not having to cook, clean up dishes or mow for a few days, let’s face it Reality is here. We knew before we left for DC that the raccoons were making their midnight raids to the cat food dish. What we did not know was there were @ 10 that appeared last Wednesday, the 7th. Armed, or rather Have a heart in hand we have so far snared two of the group. Least some of you think we are being cruel, we use the Have a hart Traps. I chuckled while preparing the bait for my sweetie to use in the traps. Raccoons dearly love cat food to be sure but we use open-faced PB Sammys for the trap. I look at the PB jar and it is Lo Cal and the bread is also low cholesterol. How funny is that? Need more PB for sure…;) ‘cause I slather it on! Wednesday and Thursday I have been mowing and weed eating and gardening for at least 6 hours [per day] and I can report today I am 2/3 's finished... you think I am kidding? Yesterday was neat in that while I was riding my tiny lawn tractor Fred’s brother was haying our fields. Up close to the big barn we both stopped to chat a bit and saw one of the deer skittering through the freshly mown hay toward the creek. So neat! Today re staking the tomato plants that have outgrown the short stakes. Fertilize the garden and finish the mowing. While I imaging this sounds totally mundane to many but this is quality-thinking time and I really enjoy it. For instance, it gave me a change to watch the goslings with their family and the wee ones trying to make more than a peeping sound. The cutest was the four babies cuddling into their Mom’s wing as they sat to rest for a brief time. First one goes in under her wing then the rest follow, they wiggle about and soon the had of one pops through her feathers, then more heads…man that was so neat. Big plans for this weekend, Father’s Day and we are going to fell three trees …tee hee we are such cutups!

More Family and Friends

Update

Got the call and they have landed San Juan

Rehearsal dinner

my brother; a few more...;)