Birds of a Feather...

Last night was very warm and for the first time this season I slept with my windows open. I enjoy the warm breeze in the evening that comes to clear my house of negative energy replacing it with the energies of the earth around me. And the earth surrounding me is very peaceful indeed.

I awoke this morning to the sounds of birds chirping and they were so loud that they sounded like they were right outside my window. As it turns out, they were. There was one ordinary bird attempting to build a nest under the awning over my bedroom window.

I quietly watched him for several minutes being careful not to make any noise to scare him away. I watched as the twig he carefully laid down fell to the ground. Unperturbed by this, I watched as he flew down, picked it up and brought it back to the very shallow ledge upon which he was trying to start his nest.

I watched again as the twig fell back down to the ground. Still not bothered by this, I observed this determined winged friend fly back down and attempt to reset the twig in his new home. For several minutes I watched this bird. And for several minutes this bird attempted to set the same twig.

I decided to quietly go and get my camera so to capture the moment, but my movement scared the poor little thing away. I took a few pictures of his progress and will continue to do so if he decides to go back and finish.

As with anything else, I always try to find the parallels to things such as this in my own life both vanilla and lifestyle. The lesson learned from this determined feathered friend is to never give up...

Even if someone scares you away....

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day...Or Even a Few!

As profound as you think this journal entry might end up being, it really has all to do with my garden and yard.  As those of you who have been following my blog know, I moved into what I lovingly call "The Family House".  It's property that has been in the family since the house was built by my great-grandmother in 1938.  The back house, which I live in, was built some time in the '60s.  It's a great parcel located in a very old part of town just outside downtown.  I've lived here before and also in the front house as well, so I know this yard fairly well.

Over the years tenants have basically destroyed and/or degraded the land, breaking sprinkler heads, letting plants die, that sort of thing.  A long time ago there was a fish pond in the back that had fish in it when I was a kid.  One day that will be restored as well.  Needless to say that the yard needs some serious work, and my dad and I have been working tirelessly to bring it back into splendor.

I came home last week to find that Dad was having some trees felled.  One was right against the front house which was wreaking havoc on the sewage system which is older than the hills.  Tree roots get into things and well, it's just a pain and very expensive to replace, sooo... away it went.  He also had the peach tree cut down.  Most of the branches were dead and not producing anything anyway.  Dad had some second thoughts AFTER it was cut down, but that's okay.  The new trees going in will be a large improvement over the old ones.  And healthier, too!

I've been out to dig holes for the trees, and so far we've gotten the cherry tree planted.  For those who are thinking that I need TWO cherry trees in order to produce cherries, fear not, we got a self-pollinating tree which will produce cherries on its own. The other three trees are a peach, a Gala apple and a Honeycrisp apple.  I tasted a Honeycrisp apple the other day and wow! they taste like sweet tarts.  Yum!  Galas are excellent, too.

So, I was out digging the second hole, for possibly the Gala tree and I hit a huge rock.  The trouble with this yard, and all of the surrounding areas was that they were under the river hundreds of years ago, so there are hundreds of rocks around the yard. Some of them are HUGE and some of them are microscopic. Such examples of the larger rocks are the ones around the fish pond and bamboo. Other examples include the others that line the yard, but suffice it to say that not one single rock was brought in from an outside source. So, the rock that I hit while digging the hole for the tree is probably one of the medium sized ones that we use to line things with. Hopefully I can get it out of the hole.

I got tired of trying to dig the rock out, so I went on to other things.  Like staining the tea house.  Dad built it several years ago after the one that was there previously had degraded to the point of needing replacement. That's the way things go though.  The tea house has certainly seen better days, and it wobbly in some parts, but the nice coat of stain that I have been applying for the last few days is looking really nice.  It won't solve the wobble, but as long as people don't try to sit on the sides, then there's nothing to worry about.  It will look really nice, though.

In addition to trees and staining the tea house, I have set about planting seeds in the seed greenhouse starter kit. Most of the seeds have sprouted and I am looking forward to planting them in various parts of the yard.  This year's list of seeds includes pansies, orange and yellow marigolds, balloon flowers, strawberries, canteloupe, green onions, petunias and a few others that escapes my mind right about now.  They won't be ready to transplant for a few more weeks at least, but when I do, the yard will look a lot better.

My dad likes to cheat a little when it comes to some plants. He bought a flat of strawberries and rototilled a patch to plant them in.  I planted them and the strawberry patch looks good.  The strawberry seeds that I have planted will go elsewhere in the yard.  He also purchased three blackberry plants that I haven't gotten around to planting yet.  The area where they are going needs to be worked over and the plastic under the dirt needs to be moved. Anyway, that area is going to be known as the Berry Patch.  Definitely into berries, my dad.

I have designated an area to be designed as a more "romantic" spot. I have planted beautiful bulbs in a nice pattern.  They are not slated to pop up and bloom until the summer, so hopefully they do. I also have plans to put in a nice wrought iron bench and a lamp of some sort. It will be really pretty once it's done.

Oh, and let's not forget about the grapes.  I planted them a while ago and so far, nothing, but I have faith and they will do something soon.  I have been staining the tea house so that they will have a beautiful place to trellis.  Yeah.. that will be nice!

So, that is just some of the updates as to the goingson  regarding my garden of 2014.  More updates as more things pop up.  Hopefully the yard will get more beautiful as time goes on and all the hard work will pay off.

Weebles Wobble, but They Don't Fall Down!

It's taken a while to get this blog written, but I find myself with time this afternoon, so here goes.

Last week, Raven was here for her spring break.  We had a good time even though I had to work on Monday and Tuesday.  I took her to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman and although I only fell asleep twice, (Raven kept poking me) I thought it could have been better.  I remember the shorts from Rocky and Bullwinkle, and always smiled and laughed at them, but that's what I get for being a kid back then.  I didn't realize that Mr. Peabody thought he knew everything about everything. But whatever.  I'd wait until it came out on Netflix to see it again.

I gave her a choice of other things to do as funds were somewhat limited.  So, she chose to go roller skating.  Oh boy, I thought.  Now, those who might be reading this who know me know that I am a huge fan of Roller Derby and it is on my bucket list to be a Roller Girl.  I believe I have effectively reversed that desire and crossed it off the list. 

Raven and I went to the rink known as Roller Kingdom. (Really guys, you couldn't come up with something a bit more ... unique?)  When I was a kid, my dad took my siblings and I nearly ever Thursday for family night.  That was soooooo long ago.  I think the last time I was on skates was over 20 years ago, and I remember a few things.  And some of those things hasn't changed over time.  Back then, it was known as King's Skate Country.

1. The building interior is almost exactly the same!
    That's right.  There has been very little change to the interior of the place, as I remember it.  Even the floor is the same.  Actually, I thin it's gotten worse.  Hey guys, do us all a favor and replace the surface before we all fall down! Sheeesh!

2. They still play the same lame games!
    Yep, Red Light, Green Light.  Simon Says.  All the games are still the same.  Hey guys, you COULD try changing it up a little bit.  I'm sure that over the last twenty years or so there have been some new skating games invented.

3. The DJs are still as snarky as ever!
    Yep.  The DJs still cheat at pretty much every game and good luck trying to get a request in.  I guess that's what comes from being young and full of themselves.

4. The concession stand still carries ring pops!
    Among other things, the food is still the same as it was when it was King's Skate Country.  At least, from what I remember.  And it's still as expensive as ever.

5. The lighting is as it used to be.
    While there have probably been a few updates to the lighting over the rink, there is still that same star pattern of light bulbs above the center of the rink.  And kids still go to the center of the rink to pretend to be cool.

So, back to the skate night with Raven.  It had been so long since I had been on skates that I had a difficult time even getting across the carpet. I thought I was going to fall down and break an ankle!

Raven is on the left.

After about a half hour of watching Raven skate around the rink I decided I wasn't going to let her show me up.  I timidly went to one of the openings to the rink.  After waiting for an opening, I decided it was time to just get out there and do it.  Slowly, ever so slowly, I made my way into the skating traffic, and after once lap around, I got off the floor.  I guess I'm not as good of shape as I thought.  Okay, who am I kidding?  I'm in horrible shape, but at least I went out there.

Raven saw me skating and gave me a high five as she went around the rink again with a new girl friend.  I was happy that she was having fun.  Eventually, I found my skating legs once more and I believe I ended up going around the rink about nine times total in the span of about two hours.  Yeah, not very much, but I am sure I looked like a wobbly bird going so slowly like one who hasn't learned to fly yet.  Yikes, that's a scary thought.

Proof that I put them on!

By the time I finally got comfortable with skating again, Raven was tired and wanted to go home.  I don't blame her, and I didn't want to overdo it, either.  But, I am going back, tonight in fact, to skate some more.  It's a great workout and good for the legs and the core, especially the way I skate.

Perhaps being a roller girl isn't out of my reach yet after all!