As Our Life Goes On

There are always a lot of noises and bumps in the night around our old 50s house. Some are caused by expansion and contraction of the wood. This afternoon while seated at my computer putting listings on Ebay I heard a loud thump which seemed to come from the breezeway or garage area. There was no need to investigate as there were no furthur noises. The source of the loud noise was found when I took a break to walk around outside. There laying motionless on the breezeway was this robin who tried to take a shortcut through the breezeway. A large smear on the rear breezeway door window showed where the poor bird hit. The young bird may have very bad eyesight because my windows are seldom so clean that you could think they are not there. It also could have been attacking the reflection that it saw. The robin was quite limp and  lifeless so it has been placed near the wooded area out back so that it can sustain the life of another animal. There has been a group of these young still spotted

This American Dagger Moth caterpillar seemed to be spinning some silk for a cocoon as it crawled across the storm window on the breezeway recently. It did not stay there as the door constantly opens and closes. The hairs on this brightly colored caterpillar can cause skin irritation so it is wise not to pick them up.

The flowers that have recently bloomed in the small flower garden in the back yard are very attractive to bees and other insects. Watching the bees going in and out of the late bloomers makes me think of Summer's end and the beginning of Fall. The intolerable heat has returned and it is uncomfortable to be outside again. Fall is one of my favorite times of year.

Just Restin' A rest was needed today after getting up early for the flea market and painting on our shed for a few hours. We are either getting old or we work too hard. Not sure which.

Last time I painted the bathroom the color looked more like a pee yellow than antique white. I tolerated that color for about a year because other things were taking up my time and they needed attention more than the bathroom needed a color change. Now the walls are many colors. Dark green and white paint were sponged onto the walls. This would not be something that everyone would like but I like it and that is all that matters.

We found that the pool ladder that my brother in law had picked off the side of the road is about the sturdiest painting ladder that we have ever had. Today we were able to get the first coat of paint on the shed behind the house. It took much more paint that we thought as there were many bare spots in the aged wood and the cove molding takes much more paint than a flat surface. Mr. Fixit did the painting under the overhang as I painted the sides.  We were happy that the day was cool and dry as it made the work much more comfortable than it might have been.  It will need another coat.

Silver Sneakers Silver Sneakers is a health insurance sponsored exercise program for seniors. It offers free gym memberships and free exercise classes. The qualified instructors give you exercises that are selected and approved by the insurance companies for seniors. There are some requirements that must be met but it is completely free if you have the right type of gap health insurance or group insurance. You can learn more about this program and see if you qualify by going to  http://www.silversneakers.com/ . Call your health insurance company if in doubt. There are hundreds of gym facilities that you can use all around the country. If you are on vacation you can guest at any of the Silver Sneaker selected gyms. If you are not into class instruction you still have free gym membership. Many of these gyms have pools, saunas and other special amenities. The oldest person in my classes is 92. He gives me the incentive to keep going and keep moving. One of the ladies in my classes gi

Dusting sometimes seems useless. The big bird above is one example of what should not be in our home. It collects so many spider webs and lots of dust. Look between those metal parts of this ugly welded metal sculpture and you will see what I mean. The bird was recently moved to the basement because it got very annoying to even look at it. In fact this move inspired me to do more cleaning and painting and in time the conditions in this house might be almost tolerable. It is OK to have some dust here and there and I have always thought that maybe it has helped to boost our immunity. That is my really DUMB excuse for not being too clean.

This squirrel never moves. He just sits there and holds that big rock down. We'll have to admit that we really don't like cement yard ornaments at all. When my brother-in-law put this one that he found at a garage sale in our garden a few years ago it was politely accepted. We were thinking it could be pitched in the trash when he wasn't looking. Little did we know he would look around for the dang thing every time he visited. We don't often see my brother-in-law now that he lives in Florida but we have become reluctant to get rid of the little chipped squirrel with the worn paint so it just gets moved from place to place. The real squirrels pay no attention to their silent cement brother and he really does not bother a thing.

Our old 1974 International Harvester Travelall looks very much like the new Ford Flex wagons.  When we see a Flex it is difficult for us not to make a comparison. Perhaps they used the old International wagons as a guide when they made the retro styled vehicles. 

So what good are benches if we don't take the time to sit there?

We had to chase a local dog away from this tiny fawn one Spring day a couple of years ago. It was safely tucked under one of our trees in the front yard while the doe was taking time to forage for food.   A few years ago we would have never expected to see any deer either in the yard or crossing the road. This has changed drastically and we have observed herds of up to 21 individual deer cutting through our property. Needed conservation practices have been instituted in our area to help contain the fast growing population of white-tailed deer. You can read more about the white-tailed deer in Ohio by clicking on the link below. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/whitetaildeer/tabid/6791/Default.aspx

My Car at the Auction Site Mr Fix It Working on a Different Vehicle When we first spotted the car in the auction ads we thought it would be the right one for us. It was owned by another little old lady who did not drive it too much. There were under 25,000 miles on it. The auction was at a very large estate across the street from historic Stan Hywet Hall in Akron. The day of the auction was sunny but it was somewhat cold and there was lots of moisture on the ground from recent rainfall. Brrrrrr! We had to shiver until almost Noon before the car was auctioned. Another auction goer also wanted this prize so we had to bid it to the limit that we had decided on before the auction began. New brake lines, gas lines and new gas tank had to be installed by my husband who is referred to as Mr. Fixit in the picture. It still has only an AM radio but we can live with that. It looks and drives like a new car. We just love our old cars and own none that were made after 1981.

The hot humid weather has made it very difficult to finish the outdoor work that has been started. The two sheds above have been waiting quite a while to be painted. The scraping is almost finished. It will be fairly fast work to paint these little buildings once the weather moderates a bit so that we can tolerate being out there long enough to do what needs to be done. Both of these vintage sheds were moved here from this area along with 5 other unique old sheds. We have a friend that loves to move things. He is always willing to help when we need it but there are now more than enough of these little structures to be kept up and painted.

Natures Treats I like to walk around the yard a few times a day. An old stump behind the barn had these pretty natural arrangements for my enjoyment yesterday. The star moss is growing through the fungus in the first picture. Fungus is formed around the upright sticks in the second picture.

We have seen fewer honeybees in our yard this year than ever before. It seems as if different types of bees, such as the one shown in the above picture, have taken over the job of pollination since the honeybee colony collapse disorder began. Our small 3 acres is maintained with no chemicals but the large allotment across the street requires that the lawns be weed free. We like to think of our multi-plant yard as park-like. It is safer for people, pets, animals and insects. You can read more about this serious bee problem and what you can do to help the ecological problems that it causes by clicking on the link below to go to the nrdc site. http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/animals/bees.asp?gclid=CJ-hnN6pvKMCFeoD5QodkwulcA

Even though Fall is arriving soon it seems as if Spring just finished. The unending heat and humidity has made this Ohio Summer quite uncomfortable and it has been difficult to finish those outside projects. We sure are looking forward to the first covered dish party with our friends. We must have really enjoyed most of what was on the menu during this covered dish.