July 15, 2016 Baby Wrens, Rose Hips & Naps

Lots of huge rose hips on
the bushes already.

Wednesday 7/13. I got started on cutting large branch wood in the cradle today.  I sliced up three cradle loads.  It takes much longer to retrieve the cut wood and reload the cradle than it does to slice it.   I loaded the tractor bucket and JB moved it all to the wood shed in 2-12 loads.  Then I stacked it.  About half of it was large enough to go on the wood stack, about 1/3 was kindling, and the rest will have to be split into smaller pieces.

Later I used my clippers to snip some of the smaller branches and stack them, but by then my biceps were screaming.  Going Down There tomorrow is perfect timing to give them a day off.

Clouds broke free of the mountains early in the morning and drifted to the easy one by one.  Our high for the day was 74, and by dinner time the sky was clear again.  A very comfortable day.

There are a lot of huge rose hips on many of the bushes already.  I wonder if that means we will have another long, snowy winter.  It probably just means that there are a lot of huge rose hips on the bushes already.

After dinner, while sitting on the porch, we finally go to watch a baby wren take its first flight.  So cute!  It was almost as big as its parents, only rounder and with very short tail feathers.  There was a second baby in the bird house that would only stick its head out, but absolutely refused all urging from its parents to do more than that.

I started a new book yesterday, one of several that JB's Mom sent over for us.  It is Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.  Quite different and very good.

We have been watching rom-coms in the evening lately, and this evening we watched Footloose.  Haven't seen that in years and really enjoyed it.

Thursday 7/14. It was 52 and clear this morning.  I got my chores done and was on my way Down There by 9:00 am, not looking forward to the hot temps in the forecast.

I stopped in to talk to our State Farm agent about their claims department's decision not to pay for Miss Kitty.  The gears being stripped is not covered as it was our "mis-use" that caused it.  They actually took it all the way to the the home office in Bloomington to try to find something that was covered, but to no avail.  Well, that really sucks, but whatcha gonna do?

I got all my errands run and grocery shopping done, but not before the heat arrived.  Pretty sure it was in the high 80's.  I wasn't able to find the right hydraulic hose for the splitter, but JB will look on the other side of the mountains while he is there next week.  Meanwhile, I am going to see if duct tape will help.

The wren family is still at their nest.  It seems that the one baby is still refusing to come out of the bird house!

Our high for today was 77 but with a lovely breeze.  That breeze grew into quite a treetop wind gusting to 15 mph by sundown.  When we spoke with Larry on the radio, he said it had just suddenly stopped at their place.  No such luck Up Here.

Now I think I will write about naps.  Those wonderful respites that we didn't want to take when we were little, but now we look forward to.  I seem to go in spurts, as my energy level fluctuates.  JB actually takes more than I do, especially recently with his knee issues.  I have taken a few long ones in the past week or so that I don't think I wrote about.  Sometimes I just need to lie down for 15 minutes or so, and am completely rejuvenated.  Other times I need a good hour or more.  Then I will go for weeks without even thinking about one.

But the whole issue is being able to take a nap whenever we want to.  To lie down in the middle of the day on the bed or couch and sleep or just rest.  One of the perks of being retired.

Friday 7/15. It is 50 with clear skies this morning.  The treetop wind blew all night and is still at it.  Lots to do today with JB leaving tomorrow morning for the west side.

Thought for the day: How lovely it is to do nothing, and rest afterwards.