A Second Look--December 31, 2014

Crows

I took a break from the holiday celebrations and did a Second Look yesterday. And what did I see? Crows. Crows are abundant this time of year coming in flocks to see what tasty things they can get out of the ground.

I didn't really think much about crows until a few years ago when I heard how smart they are. Some consider them to be the smartest of all birds (including parrots). They are the only birds that can pick a person out of a crowd. Also, they use and make tools equivalent to the abilities of chimps. One group learned to drop nuts off an overpass and let cars run over them to crack them open. The crows then waited for a break in traffic and retrieved them. The stories go on and on. And now my own personal example.

Ward and I were on vacation in Yellowstone National Park and had stopped by the main lodge in hopes of seeing Old Faithful. Also stopping in the parking lot was a large group of motorcyclists who were traveling across the US. We watched from our car as the crows waited for the cyclists to get off their cycles and go inside. As soon as they left, the crows descended onto the bags that were strapped to the back, opened the zippers, and looked inside. Sometimes they found something to eat and sometimes they didn't. Let me go back. Yes, they unzipped the bags. And it wasn't random. They seemed to know just the right angle to pull for the zipper to open easily.  To tell you the truth, I was more excited to see this than I was to see Old Faithful. (Although that was pretty impressive too.) I wish I had time to watch the crows in my yard these days to see what tricks they are up to. But that will have to wait for another time.

Here are a few of the crows I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Notice the little feathers around the crow's bill.

Notice the white patches on the wing of this crow. This occurs in about one in every hundred crows.

If you look closely, you will see white patches on the right wing of the bird in flight. I don't know if it is the same bird as above or not.

More Reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvus_%28genus%29

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/id

Merry Christmas

 

 ^"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill towards men.^"

"...And that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown." 

 "A Charlie Brown Christmas" 

A Second Look--December 24, 2014

It's Christmas Eve, so a Second Look today was done from some of my Christmas decorations. Below you see a few ornaments on my tree that have a nature theme. 

Also, may these holidays be a safe, calm, and good time for you and your families whatever big or small celebrations or quiet time alone you have planned. I will be spending the next two weeks traveling, visiting, and hosting various holiday activities. I may or may not be checking in here before the new year. 

Wishing everyone Happy Holidays!

Note: I'm having a problem with Blogger this morning and there is a BIG space between the first and second pictures. Keep scrolling to see them all.

 

Queen Anne's Lace bloom pressed in epoxy

 

Turtles made from sea shells

This apple really is low hanging fruit. We hang several of these on the lowest branches of the tree for the cats to play with. You can see this one has a split in it from being played with.

This sheep was made by a friend with powder puffs and cinnamon sticks.

 


 

"Broken" Scales

Holidays are famous for both good eating and subsequent weight gain which often happens to Ward and sometimes to me. However, we don't usually realize our increased girth until January. So when Ward and I both weighed ourselves last week and found uncomfortably large increases, we were a little disturbed.

Ward weighed himself first and jokingly said that something must be wrong with the scales because he had gained several pounds. I then weighed myself and seriously agreed something must be wrong with them because I saw an upward change--not a huge jump, but bigger than I was used to seeing. In the meantime, Theodore was home and weighed himself. He also noticed a larger gain than he expected, so that confirmed there was a problem.

We decided that the scales probably needed a new battery and we would be close to our old weight as soon as we installed it. However, the new battery made no difference. Then we decided that they must need to be rebalanced because they had been moved around while the floor was being cleaned. So I set off to find the instructions for the scales to see about rebalancing them. However I couldn't find the instructions for our current scales, but I did find some for the ones we owned before these. (Note to self: the files really need to be cleaned.) So what to do? Maybe Ward or I could get a new set of scales for Christmas because these were obviously broken.

In the meantime, Theo, who was not part of any of this discussion, said he didn't want any of the brownies we had that evening. He didn't say why but when pressed, he said that he had gained a few pounds and that he'd was going to cut back a bit. Well, that was an interesting way to look at things.

We have also cut back this week and “surprisingly” the scales don't seem to be broken anymore. They still weigh more than we'd like but they're on a downward trend. Cause and effect seem to be alive and well.

This whole episode made me feel pretty silly. I'd like to believe that I am a logical, rational thinker, but I guess not this time. It must be too many Christmas cookies have affected my thinking. :)

P.S. Ward here. I still think it's broken.

Thankful Sunday--December 21, 2014

I am thankful for spilled juice.

Yesterday as Ward was putting some juice in the refrigerator, it slipped and splattered all over the floor and the inside of the refrigerator. After the initial expletives, we used this opportunity to do some cleaning that we always mean to get to but rarely do. We pulled the fridge out and not only cleaned up juice but all the dust bunnies that were living on the floor and on the back of the fridge. Next we cleaned the inside under the drawers and the back of the shelves. In the end we had a clean fridge and most of the juice left. Not a bad outcome at all and for that I am thankful.

Christmas Presents

Waiting and Wondering

My mother would have had numbers on these.

When I was a kid, my mother was a master at keeping our Christmas presents secret. One of the first rules of hers was that after Thanksgiving, we were not allowed in her bedroom. Next if we found out what any present was before Christmas morning, she told us that it would be given to the Salvation Army. This alone was enough to keep me from looking too much. Every year at Christmas time, we had to pick out one of our current toys to give to them, so I understood who they were. I was willing to give up one toy, I wasn't willing to give up the new toys that were coming.When we got a little older, our presents were labeled with numbers instead of names. Every year the numbers were different and seemed to have no rhyme or reason as to who got what number, but she told us she had a system.

However of all of these present rules, the one I remember the most was that we were not allowed downstairs on Christmas morning until my aunt and uncle arrived. It wasn't like they got there in the middle of the day, but it seemed like forever to me. However, my mother had a way of making the waiting bearable. When we went to bed the night before, we took the toaster, a loaf of bread, and a stick of butter with us. As a child I thought this was very special and was fascinated with the fact that we used the window sill as a refrigerator for the butter. The next morning while we were waiting, we had toast for breakfast. Then finally we would be called downstairs to see what Santa and others had left for us.

While I didn't always understand all of the present rules while I was growing up, I realize that they were one of the things that made Christmas special for me. My mother understood that anticipation is sometimes the best part of something.

Now lets move on a little bit. I realize that one reason that my mother's gift practices worked was because she had four fairly rule abiding children. However I know that sometimes curiosity gets the best of kids and they can't help themselves. For example, a friend was telling me about her children when they were younger. She wasn't sure where to hide their Christmas presents to she put them in the back of her large van with a blanket over them. The gifts couldn't be seen, couldn't be reached from any of the seats, and the kids were never in the van by themselves. So she thought they were safe. However one day, the two older kids lifted up their younger brother and pushed him through the vent window into the van. He then unlocked the doors so they could all get in and see the gifts that were coming. They never let on that they knew anything even on Christmas morning. It was only recently as adults that they told their mother what they had done.

I'm gonna have to ask Wally and Theo if they ever did anything like that because it was only recently that I learned they climbed out on the roof when they were supposedly taking a nap.Who knows? Maybe they were looking for Santa.:)

Do you do anything special to keep gifts secret? Have you ever secretly found your gifts ahead of time?

A Second Look--December 17, 2014

A Second Look Eye Spy

Can you find? 

• A Red-tailed Hawk
• Red Bellied Woodpecker
• Tufted Titmouse
• Crows
• Goldfinch
• Female Cardinal

Thankful Sunday--December 13, 2014

I am thankful for Christmas puzzles.

During the hustle and bustle of this Christmas season, it's nice to take time out for some quiet activities. That's what we did yesterday with Miss Landers when we worked on a Christmas puzzle at her house. For the quiet puzzle fun and the good conversation we had, I am thankful.

A Second Look--December 10, 2014

I had it all planned. After work, I was going to take a Second Look around the yard no matter how cold it was. But then we had freezing rain all day and no matter how much I had planned to investigate the back 40, I didn't want to do it in freezing rain. So, I'm going to let you take a Second Look at my zoo visit in October. During that visit, we got a behind-the-scenes tour of the great ape house that I described previously. However, we did see a few other things that day. Here are some of them.

It took the turtle in the water a lot of effort before it finally made it up onto the rock to join the others.

These lions are a lot bigger than our cats, but don't look a whole lot different when they are sleeping.

Luke, the only male in the lion pride at the zoo.

??

Asian elephant

The National Zoo is famous for its pandas so there's always a line waiting to see them. We decided to wait in line this day since we had never seen them before.

It was worth the wait to see one of the rarest animals in the world.

Christmas transitions

One of several pieces of stationary that I used this year.

One of the first things I do at the beginning of each December is to write our Christmas letter. That's what I did last week and as I started to finish it by signing, “June, Ward, Wally, and Theo,” I paused and wondered if it were time to take the kids' names off and just sign it from Ward and me. Wally and Theo are out on their own now and it would really be more appropriate for them to send their own letters and cards. This thought made me a little sad. So I struggled with my emotions that wanted things to be the way they used to be, but realized that they weren't.

So what did I do? Well, I let it percolate for a couple of days and decided that I wasn't fully ready to acknowledge our empty nest this Christmas. I signed the letter, “June, Ward, and the two boys who are out of the house, Wally and Theodore.” We'll see if I can get away with that next year.

Thankful Sunday--December 7, 2014

I am thankful for 

DIY stores.

Ward and I are working on a Christmas present that will cost about half of what it would if we weren't doing the work ourselves. I am thankful that there are stores where we can get our supplies to do this. I am also thankful that they have generous coupons.

Help me understand

Recently, a friend of Miss Landers, Jack, passed away and she helped his wife with a luncheon after the funeral. Among other things, she decorated 10 round tables with centerpieces depicting things that were part of Jack's life. One table had toy car mustangs and a map representing a hobby of his, another had books from a famous author that he was friends with, and yet another had a group of Beanie Babies showing that he was an animal lover. The other tables were decorated in a similar way and really gave a good idea of who Jack was. It was a total surprise to his wife and she was quite moved by it. Miss Landers bought some of the things she used to decorate with and borrowed other things from friends and family.

Now here's the part you have to help me understand. People started leaving with parts of the centerpieces. Not just one person, but many. Miss Landers was able to stop a couple of people from taking things that she had borrowed, but they had no explanation when they gave them back to her. They just gave them back.

What do you think was going on? There was no announcement to help yourself or suggestion that there would be a drawing for them. They weren't in a basket by the door suggesting that they were “party favors” for the grieving crowd. Was this a custom that I don't know about? Or was this just a crowd mentality where one person took something and everyone else followed? Or was this just tacky behavior that was totally inappropriate especially in the setting it was in? Help me understand.

Upload/Download?

Okay, I admit it. I am confused by the terms upload and download. I know I should understand them, but I don't. I know upload and download deal with computer data transfer, but I'm never quite sure which direction is which. I usually just use both words to cover myself such as, “I'm going to upload these pictures, or download them, or whatever.” I am confused and I think it's finally time to get myself straight.

I asked one of many experts around me, Wally, to help. He said that they were such basic terms that he hadn't thought about explaining them before. But he tried anyway using the floor and a high shelf to help me visualize. I listened to his explanation and thought, “So simple. So very simple.” I thought I had it and wrote down the definitions with examples.

But then Ward read what I had written and he told me that I was still confused. So I didn't have it. He says it's better to think of it as a client/server relationship. And then he proceeded to tell me things about restaurants and UPS stores to help me understand. When I tried to repeat back to him to make sure I understood, he said I made sense, but I was wrong.

So I thought about both Wally and Ward's examples for a while and I think I finally have it. Let's only use two devices in my explanation: my personal computer and the Internet. We will call the computer the initiating device or the client and the Internet the server. If the computer asks for data and gets it from the Internet that would be downloading data. Or if the computer sends data to the Internet like a picture to Facebook or Blogger that would be uploading. In other words, if data is coming to the computer/client/initiator then the data is being downloaded. If data is being sent away from the computer/client/initiator, then it is being uploaded.

Now it starts to get confusing when you add peripherals like your camera or phone. I think throwing these into the mix has been the complicating factor for me all along. Depending on the device, the computer or the device could be doing the asking for the data transfer so there could be either uploading or downloading going on. And if the data goes back and forth from peripheral to peripheral, I understand that sometimes there is no name for that—neither uploading or downloading.

So there you have it. Downloading and uploading. So simple. So very simple.  Or not.

A Second Look--December 3, 2014

I've gone into hibernation mode for the winter and these Second Looks are getting shorter and shorter. The weather has been all over the place this week, but today was cold, rainy, and sleety. Meaning hibernation started as soon as I got home from work. Nevertheless here a couple of things I saw this week during a Second Look.

We traveled for Thanksgiving, but timed our travel just right. The snow and ice was cleared from the roads before we got to the snowy areas. (Picture out car window.)

Do you see all four deer in this picture?

The white-breasted nuthatches have recently returned to the feeder.

We've had a lot of noisy crows around.

A Second Look--November 26, 2014

We're preparing for the first snow today and depending on where you live, they are calling for a couple of inches to a foot. However before this, we were treated to a lovely weekend in the 60's when we took the opportunity to do some yard work. However, it was less successful than I had anticipated because the ground was still frozen hard. All I hope for in this fluctuating weather is that it is safe to travel early Thanksgiving day when we are taking a seven hour trip for a family filled holiday.

Here's what I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Despite the cold weather, the volunteer petunia has not totally died yet.

 

However, the cold weather has rendered these hosta leaves translucent.

 

All that are left of the balloon flowers are their seed pods.

Even though they are wilted, the mums are still adding a bit of color to the landscape.

 This woolly worm was frozen hard. I assume that this is just part of its winter hibernation.

Spending habits

My first savings bank

I've been thinking recently about the way we spend our money, and how and why we have developed the style we have. This is a huge topic involving at least a hundred years and multiple generations. However, I'm going to try to summarize it in this blog post.

Ward and I both came from parents who had difficult lives growing up. Tragic circumstances as well as effects from the Great Depression often left them wondering where their next meal was coming from and where they would sleep that night. However, through the foresight of their parents, they learned that education and hard work were the way out. How did this translate into how they raised their kids? I'll give you a glimpse through my eyes.

The result of my mother not always knowing where her next meal was coming from was to make sure that food was never an issue. When I was growing up, we always had plenty to eat. We grew most of our food and got our meat from hunting, but there was never any concern about whether there was enough money for baking a cake or making a pizza. My mother had ideas about good nutrition that sometimes limited what we ate, but we were never deprived in any way.

My mother, the 1st one in her family to graduate high school.

Also, self sufficiency and education were top values. Early on, I heard that you should always be able to take care of yourself. You might get married someday, but you should have enough education for a job that can support your family. You never know what might happen. My mother was the fortunate one in her family to get an education and she saw how much better she fared than her siblings. Thus while we worked very hard at home, an extra job outside was not a priority until after our studies were done. And my parents made sure that each of their four kids had a college education. My father worked overtime and my mother worked two jobs to make sure this happened. Because like having enough food, education was a priority.

How did this translate into the way that Ward and I managed our lives? Because we had a good education, we had a decent jobs. However, we followed in our parents footsteps and we were careful with the way we spent our money. We never bought a house that we couldn't afford on one salary. Before I quit my job to be home with the kids, we put all of our new spending habits into practice to make sure that it was what we wanted to do. I knew the savings of our groceries down to the penny. I volunteered in a thrift shop and most of our clothes and toys came from there. We knew every free activity in the area. Ward and I enjoyed game nights and meals with our friends. Our every day frugal habits allowed us to contribute to college and retirement funds and take trips back to see the relatives. It also allowed us to eat out occasionally or go to a special museum or to buy furniture for our house.

Then we made another move to be closer to our relatives which is where we live now. We moved into an area that had a much higher cost of living. Our new house was ½ the size for twice the money from what we left. Groceries cost more, gas cost more, clothing cost more. We were uncomfortable in the beginning, but it was worth it to be closer to relatives. However, we soon adjusted to our new finances. We were still able to grow the college and retirement funds and pay off our house early.

Now we're sitting in a pretty good spot. We have enough money coming in and good benefits to go with that. (However in this expensive area, we're below the median income). Our kids are almost educated (one down, and one almost down) with no student debt. We are in our fifties and thinking seriously about early retirement. We don't have enough money that we can abandon our frugal ways, but we do have enough money to not fret. Life is good. We know that we have been lucky with only minor set backs along the way (especially compared to our grandparents), but Ward often reminds me that we have also been smart with the way we've lived. And that slow and steady wins the race.

All of grandparents are gone now, but I think they were happy that the cycle of poverty was broken, and I know our parents are happy that we learned from their lessons.

Thankful Sunday--November 23, 2014

We are thankful for new gloves.

Ward cleaned the gutters and put up some of our Christmas lights this weekend. He got new gloves for the job and is very thankful that his hands stayed drier and warmer than they ever have before. And of course, I am very thankful that Ward does this job for us.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl and Jo at Simply being Mum encourage us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. Occasionally, if our eating is going okay, I'll talk about some other food topic.

This Week's Food Waste

Mystery Meat

I've been trying to use up things in the freezer, so I decided it was time to get out a piece of meat that's been in there for a while. Oddly, it wasn't labeled but I thought when it thawed, we'd figure that part out. I told my carnivorous husband that he had a piece of meat to cook for supper and I'd have something else. When he got ready to cook it, he said it was a chicken leg that he didn't like the looks of and didn't want to eat it. Well, we certainly don't want to eat bad meat here, so out it went. However, as I was handling it again, I figured out that it was the innards of a chicken. and it would have been just fine to make a broth with even though we don't like to eat organs. That is if we'd only figured that out before it had spent much too long on the counter.  :( Now, I don't know how it ended up in the freezer without a label, but I'm going to claim that someone else did that. Because you know, that I never make mistakes or at least that's what I tell my family. :)

This Week's True Food Confessions

 

Imagine that you're also seeing meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken salad,  and pizza

It's week three in our renewed efforts to have more control over meals and all is well--meaning I don't feel guilty when I think about what we've been eating.  This week I had a plan, (wait, yes, I did say that I had a plan!) and after a week of good home cooked meals, we're going to have a nice supper of leftovers tonight. 

Until next time...


 

A Second Look--November 18, 2014

Brrrrrrr...

The cold is finally here. After teasing for a week or so, there is no doubt--it is cold.  It's been very windy and in the 20's F today, so when I went outside to do my Second Look, I only made it part way around the house. Then I decided that it was time to go inside. However, Ward says that weather like this is refreshing, so if he ever gets home from work before it's dark, maybe I'll send him out to see what he can see. In the meantime, I did get a few pictures.

Here's what I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

The view out of my kitchen window. Doesn't it look cold?

I'm going to have to do something about the ice in the bird bath if I want them to be able to use it.

The cold-hardy mums haven't quite disappeared, but they are looking a little scraggly.

The buck visited again this week, but this time he was alone.

The red-bellied woodpecker visited today for the first time since spring.

The downy woodpeckers have also been enjoying the suet.

A Special Trip to the Zoo--Part 2

The O-line lets the orangutans travel from one house to the other.

Last week, I told you about a special trip we had to the National Zoo. During this trip, we got a behind the scenes tour of the great ape house (orangutans and gorillas). Here a few more details of that tour.


The tour took place in the back of the exhibit. We were seeing the same things that we had seen as regular visitors to the zoo--just from a different perspective. We were seeing the back instead of the front. Speaking of the front of the exhibit, there are several layers of glass there that make things virtually sound proof for the animals. So the bad jokes and gorilla sounds the public are making aren't actually heard by the gorillas and orangutans.  The back of the exhibit is covered by a strong mesh.

We learned during our tour that first and foremost is the safety and well being of the animals. Thus there was a line that we could not cross that kept us an arm's length away from the apes. Also, we had to wear masks so that we could not pass on any colds or other illness we might have. The keepers also have to wear these when they are sick.

Lucy, 41, the oldest orangutan there.

The animals were very happy to see Eddie and us, and as described in the last post, some of them started to show off. Also, they started to push pieces of bamboo out of their enclosures. Eddie said they were tidying up for him. He said that one of the enrichment activities they do is to have them clean up their houses. This included getting rid of clutter. They love to do it because there's usually a tasty treat waiting for them at the end. I wish my kids, or me, for that matter, could be motivated so easily to clean up.

And speaking of tasty treats, they do get some (usually fruit), but their diet is very carefully controlled. Gorillas are herbivores and get a variety of vegetables and fruits every day. They had already been fed that morning and the only thing left was kale. They're just like us. They go for the "good" stuff first and leave the "good-for-you" stuff for last. Also, the day before, Eddie had cooked them some beans with stronger spices in them. The animals also enjoy some spicy food occasionally.  In addition, the keepers use spices sometimes as enrichment for the animals. For example, they may spread some cinnamon around the exhibit just because the apes enjoy the smell.

We also saw how they were training one of the gorillas to be a mother. They wanted to breed her, but wanted to make sure that she was up to the task because she hadn't been raised by her mother. She was improving because she no longer ripped the head off of the doll they were using. However, she still had a ways to go. :)

As you can tell by the way I'm going on and on, I was very excited by this trip. Actually, I could continue to go on and on but I think that's enough for now. Let's just end it with, life is good for both these apes and for me because I got a chance to meet them.

Pictures courtesy of the National Zoo.

Thankful Sunday--November 15, 2014

I am thankful for simple but well made things.

This is one of the first pieces of woodworking that Ward's brother did. (He has since gone on to become a master woodworker.) First it resided with their grandmother for decades and when she died, it came to live with us. After putting it to good use for many years, it is time for it to move on to live with my son. And the beat goes on... (Everyone knows that Sonny and Cher song, right?)