Archive for October, 2008

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Mission (Almost) Accomplished!

October 11, 2008
Pansies in our new flower bed around the lamp post. October 10, 2008.

Pansies in our new flower bed around the lamp post. October 10, 2008.

The picture above shows our new flower bed around our lamp post.  This is one of three flower beds in our front yard which I’ve rebuilt and reworked this year, and is the last I had to finish.  As you can see I’ve gotten pansies planted, so I’m almost finished.  I need to plant some daffodils and liles in this bed and then I’ll be done.

Since this  was one of the items on my ‘Honey-Do’ list while Betsy is in Georgia with her childhood girlfriends, I’m glad that I can check it off.  Now if I could only check off a few things on my ‘What-I-Want-To-Do’ list!!!

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The Things We Do

October 10, 2008

I’m sometimes amazed at the lengths we humans will go to in order to get what we want.  I put myself in the group of people who will go to extraordinary lengths to get something even though a simpler alternative is readily available.

A year or so ago Betsy and I decided we needed to eat more oat cereal as part of our cholesterol-fighting regimen.  We found a cereal we really like — Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crisp.  The nutritional label had all the right numbers and the flavor was very good.  We happily added it to our daily cereal mix.

But as time went on, we began to notice that Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crisp started disappearing from the shelves of the grocery stores here in Crossville.  There were two other varieties of Oatmeal Crisp available, but neither of them appealed to us.

A few months ago Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crisp completely disappeared in Crossville.  It simply is not available.  But we knew that according to the General Mills website it was still being made.  One day last spring, on our way home from Knoxville, we passed an Ingles store (there are no Ingles markets in Crossville) and decided to see if they carried Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crisp.  They did, and we stocked up.

Our supply ran out a couple of weeks ago.  Fortunately I had to take Mrs. P (our Prius) into Knoxville for service yesterday.  Guess where I stopped on the way home?  It was a little out of the way, but it was worth it.  Our cereal will be delicious in the morning.

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Rain!!!

October 9, 2008
Rain in our rain gague. October 8, 2008..

Rain in our rain gague. October 8, 2008..

The picture above is absolutely beautiful!

I’ll admit that it’s really not something spectacular — just a picture that I took Wednesday afternoon of the rain gauge on our deck.  After weeks of being bone dry, this picture actually shows water in the gauge.

It started to sprinkle late Tuesday afternoon and continued off and on until early Wednesday afternoon.  It never did rain real hard — at least while I was awake — but we ended up with about 1.8 inches of rain.  This is the first rain we’ve had in over six weeks.

We usually would have some runoff after getting that much rain in 24 hours, but I could see no signs at all of runoff around the house.  I guess that’s an advantage of having a slow rain.  Of course we need another 2 or 3 inches to get caught up for the year, but this rainfall sure was nice.

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A Visitor to Our Feeder

October 8, 2008
A red-bellied woodpecker enjoying our feeder. October 10, 2008.

A red-bellied woodpecker enjoying our feeder. October 10, 2008.

Since Betsy is down in Georgia with her childhood girlfriends, I have been given the responsibility of taking care of her birds.  My main responsibility is to put out the feeders each morning, bring them in each evening (we have too many critters to keep the open feeders out at night), and to keep the bird bath clean.

I’ll admit that none of those jobs is particularly onerous, but if the feeders aren’t out at first light, the birds get very impatient and very loud.  They make a most effective and annoying alarm clock.

But rewards often come along with increased responsibility.  Perhaps because I am responsible for the feeders this week I have been keeping a closer eye on them.  Yesterday morning I spotted the red-bellied woodpecker shown above in the feeder.  I spotted him as he was shooing away a cardinal — evidently the woodpecker didn’t want to share.  And evidently this woodpecker has a reputation because the cardinal kept it’s distance until the woodpecker left.

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Autumn Color Arrives in the Glade

October 7, 2008
Autumn color in Fairfield Glade. October 5, 2008.

Autumn color in Fairfield Glade. October 5, 2008.

As the picture above shows we are finally beginning to get some autumn color here in the Glade.  The tree is across the street from us and so far is the only one with vibrant color on our street.

As I’ve said several times, we are in the midst of a drought here in eastern Tennessee.  The leaves on most of the trees in our yard have just turned brown, but they are still hanging on.  The only things still falling from the trees are the acorns.

I drove past a couple of the lakes here in the Glade yesterday.  The lakes are below their usual level, but the trees around the lake are at least starting to show some color.  So there is at least some hope that we will have a little color here in the Glade.

But if I want to see some spectacular Tennessee autumn colors I guess I’ll have to look at some of our pre-drought pictures.

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There’s Nothing I Can Add

October 6, 2008
Dodgers fans celebrating the elimination of the Cubs from the playoffs. October 4, 2008.

Dodgers fans celebrating the elimination of the Cubs from the playoffs. October 4, 2008.

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When the Cat’s Away … I Get a Honey-Do List!

October 5, 2008

I’m sure you have all heard the saying “When the cat’s away the mice will play”.  Well, the cat’s away, but I’m not sure that I will be able to play.

Betsy is down at Tybee Island, Georgia, with her three childhood girlfriends from Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  The ‘Get-Away-Gang’, as they are known, starting taking annual getaways in 1992, the year they all turned 50.  They’re goiing to be at Tybee for a week.

I took Betsy down to Atlanta to meet up with Nita, Reida and Susan.  You would think when I got back home I could look forward to a week of leisurely reading, listening to music, and working on my stamps.

But oh, no, I get to look forward to a week of feeding the birds, cleaning the bird bath, planting pansies, and doing the grocery shopping.  There are a few more chores on the list, but so far I’ve been afraid to look.

I guess I’ll have to change that saying to “When the cat’s away I get a honey-do list!”

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It’s Beginning to Look Like Autumn

October 4, 2008
Betsy's Autumn Decorations. October, 2007.

Betsy's Decorations. October, 2007.

It’s starting to look like autumn at our house.  The leaves (and nuts) are starting to fall from the trees and the sky is a gorgeous blue.  We don’t have a great deal of color yet — I’m not sure how good the color will be this year because of our drought.  But either way we will soon be knee-deep in leaves.  Such fun!

And it’s even starting to feel like autumn — the nights are down-right cool (and the sleeping is great!).  We haven’t had a fire in the fireplace yet, but I suspect that it won’t be long before we have one.  There’s something special about a roaring fire on a crisp cold night!

An autumn tradition at our house is the decorations Betsy puts out — pumpkins and scarecrows.  The picture above was taken last year and this year’s decorations are very similar.  So please drop by — you’ll see Betsy’s scarecrows and pumpkins and perhaps even some smoke rising from the chimney.

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Hope Springs Eternal … And the Wait Has Been That Long!

October 3, 2008

You have no idea how frustrating it is to be a Chicago Cub fan.  I remember listening to the Cubs on radio while as a young boy in Northern Indiana.  When we got a television I watched the games.  Ernie Banks was my favorite player — he was wonderful even when the Cubs weren’t.  Each Spring started out with hope and optimism, but they all ended the same way — ‘Wait ’til next year!’.

Cub fans have waited for next year a long time — it’s been 100 years since they won a World Series.  I sure hope we won’t have to wait another 100 years.

During the regular season this year the Cubs were absolutely great — they were probably the best team in baseball.  So what happens in the post-season?  They blow the first game.  Can anyone remember the last time the Cubs won a post-season game?

As I write this the second post-season game hasn’t begun.  I’m almost afraid to tune in when the game starts.

Will the Cubs win this series?  Can they go all the way?  I don’t know — I certainly hope so.  But if not, ‘Wait ’til next year!’.

P.S.  Since I wrote this the Cubbies lost another game.   AAAUGHHHHHHH!

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Betsy’s Bluebirds

October 2, 2008
A male bluebird in our backyard. July, 2008.

A male bluebird in our backyard. July, 2008.

As I’ve mentioned several times, Betsy has become very interested in birds this year.  I gave Betsy binoculars and a couple of bird-watching books for her birthday two years ago, but at that time she was mostly interested in hummingbirds.

But this  year her interest has broadened to include just about every type of bird that we have here in the Glade.  We’ve gotten several new bird feeders and Betsy has learned a great deal about woodpeckers, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, robins, sparrows, wrens and flickers.  She’s tried to teach me, but I must confess that I am a slow learner.

I think Betsy really got interested in birds of all types when we discovered a bluebird family in a backyard bird house.  The adult bluebirds (especially the male) are beautiful and they didn’t seem to get spooked by our presence on the deck.  So we were able to watch as the adults raised their family.  We were sorry to see them leave and hope they will return next year.

To see our bluebird family click HERE.

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