A Little of This and a Little of That

Today was a busy day but not one of huge progress on anything in particular.

Probably the biggest good news is B & G's grass seed is already sprouting! Planted Sunday evening and sprouted by Thursday. Could it be the constant 85% humidity or the rain?

I moved more large rocks and transplanted more miniature hostas. I moved the stepping stone and shoveled more of the little stones that were exposed by last night's rain storm. Nothing monumental but it is much easier to move some rocks every day instead of all the rocks in one or two days.

On a sad note.....Mr. Peacock had been missing for two days which is highly unusual for him. R feared the worst and his fears were confirmed today. R found him dead in the ditch across from our neighbors. Apparently he had been hit by a vehicle while crossing the street to grasshopper hunt in the field. Over the years he has been scolded many times for crossing the street but when the lure of a grasshopper meal calls he becomes single minded in his desire for a grasshopper nosh.

Several years ago, R caught Mr. Peacock on several occasions attempting to cross the road. R would yell at him and shoo him into the back yard. R left in his truck to run errands and upon his return saw Mr. Peacock's head pop up out of the weeds in the field across the street. Seems Mr. Peacock recognized the sound of his truck and knowing that he was not suppose to be in the field, he then made a mad dash across the street, across the yard, and hopped up on the fence and assumed a position that said....."what? I've been here all afternoon." And they say birds are dumb.

RIP

Mr Peacock

"R, do you need some help?"

Today was another beautiful day, unusually warm for a St. Paddy's Day. I can remember many a St. Patrick's Day having ice storms and at the very least snow on the ground. Today was in the high 60's, as was yesterday.

Our plan is to get all the outside yard work taken care of at the Torrey Road house before moving on to 'The Gear'. The weather in March is typically unpredictable and I would rather not start an outside project only to have it snow or rain right in the middle of it.

So we have been enjoying the weather by raking and raking and raking. We filled 10 trash cans and 9 paper yard waste bags full of leaves and twigs. I would estimate another three full days and the Torrey Road house will be ready to fertilize the lawn and then it is on to 'The Gear'.

Today's project was not one of those big projects but required several trips to get the right tools. Last fall during a wind storm, one of our Purple Robe Locust trees split and we lost a major limb. In an attempt to keep it from dying, R drilled a hole through the split part and using a threaded rod, large washers, and a couple of nuts (not tree nuts but nuts as in nuts and bolts) was able to pull the loose part and the trunk back together.

But not before he received some supervision from Mr. Peacock."R....do you need some help?? I saw something like this on HGTV while I was sitting on the fence looking in the window at the TV."

"R...I don't remember it taking this long. It was a 30 minute show and well.....this is taking like 3 hours."
"I give up.....he won't listen or let me use the tools."

"Listen....I'm not just a pretty face.....I know things.....I watch TV, I greet the mailman, and I let you and the whole neighborhood know when the loud UPS and garbage trucks are in the area."
"Oh look at him....R thinks he's something in that blue shirt."
"Nobody does blue better than me. I mean look at me.....I'm purdy."

Right after I stopped taking photos cars started stopping and we nearly had an accident in front of the house. I love it when a car drives by and then you hear it quickly stop and turn around only to drive by real slow. Some even completely stop causing the oncoming cars to quickly hit the brakes.

Mr. Peacock is extremely nosy. Not much goes on without him knowing it. Sometimes he just lays down and watches. The other day he was on the deck with his tail feathers down. R let the two kitties out for their morning walk around the bird feeder and they promptly walked right on his tail feathers.

If you are wondering how he keeps those feathers straight up in the air, here is a photo of Mr. Peacock's infrastructure.It's not every day that you get to see the back end of a peacock.

Chilling

It's official, I'm sick of winter. I've had enough of shoveling, driving in horrendous conditions, and the constant bone chilling wind.

It's not fit for man nor beast...I mean peacock.

This is how Weenie and Mr. Peacock spend their afternoons. Weenie chilling in her bed, complete with leopard print blanket and Mr. Peacock....just chilling. Sometimes they will be nose to nose...I mean nose to beak. If you ask either one of my cats, "Where's Mr. Peacock?" They will look out onto the deck and then look at you with that look that says, "he's out there in the cold....stupid bird."

Beenie on the other hand can't be bothered with such things as a big stupid bluish purple bird. She's too busy napping on her blanket. She's prefers the 1930's chair complete with faux sage mohair.

Beenie says, "I'm not moving until someone finds my other colored contact lens. Until then I will keep my eyes closed." Beenie was a feral cat that my husband brought home. The vet advised him to have her put down because "she won't ever be any good." She's a sweet kitty.

All I know is Beenie, Weenie, Mr. Peacock, and I are all ready for spring.

* I should clarify why Mr. Peacock is out in the cold. Peacocks will not go into a building. They prefer to shelter themselves from the wind but in a place where they can get away from a predator. Our biggest concern is foxes. Mr. Peacock roosts high up in the trees during the summer. In the fall, winter, and spring he usually sits under the overhang by the kitchen window or under the deck by the windows of the lower level. We leave the light on (like Motel 6) to hopefully keep the predators away. His estimated age is at least 10 yrs probably closer to 14 according to people who know pea fowl. They estimate age by the length of their tail feathers. He appeared about 5 years ago and he's been happily making his rounds everyday since then.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!

Happy birthday Mom!!! She's a New Year's Eve baby. How old did you say you were?????

Twenty nine??????

We spent New Year's Eve at the Red Wings game. R wasn't feeling well and the Wings all played like they had just ate a 6 course meal. It was very unlike them to play so poorly but then they can't win them all. The score was 2-0 with the second goal being an open net goal in the closing seconds. It's also very unlike R to catch a cold. Since he wasn't feeling well and the forecast was for heavy snow we passed on going to Greektown to get a deep dish pizza at

PizzaPapalis. Home of the original Chicago style deep dish pizza and authentic Philly Cheese steak. Their menu says they use cheese from Wisconsin and tomatoes from Italy. Who knew a pizzeria could be so international.

The snow was lightly falling when we went to bed. The next morning we awoke to 8-10 inches. I woke R up so he could go outside and shovel a place for Mr. Peacock. Mr. Peacock was not happy at all. His usual spot under the kitchen window was snow free because of the overhang but it was a fairly warm 31 degrees and he had his rounds to make. He normally doesn't squawk this time of year but he was honking and squawking up at storm until R went outside and fed him a can of tuna cat food and his favorite Hi Ho crackers. He ate while R shoveled off the deck and deck railing.
Isn't he gorgeous??? He knows it too. He's a great pet. Knows his name, answers to my husband's whistle, and is the best burglar alarm you could have. He absolutely cannot tolerate the trash collectors and let's them know that they and their noisy truck better make it quick and move along. For good measure he squawks at them when they drive back by on the other side of the road. Our neighbors have a nursery (trees and plants) and in the spring and summer have shipments delivered by semi trucks. Mr. Peacock in an attempt to protect our neighbors from intrusion, braced the truck in the driveway and would not let him enter. He really needs a lady friend as he was spotted following a flock of wild turkeys only to be seen a few moments later returning rather dejected. If you know of any lady peahens, drop me a line. Mr. Peacock likes long walks, eating grasshoppers, sitting on the fence watching cars drive by, and Hi Ho crackers. His dislikes are anything noisy and people he is unfamiliar with.

Here is a photo of Mr. Peacock (also answers to Big Boy) in all his summer splendor. His tail feathers are actually longer than the photo depicts. It was a windy day and his feathers were blown forward a bit.
Since R was feeling poorly and comfort food is always nice after you have been shoveling for an hour plus....I made chicken noodle soup with dumplings. When I made the dumplings I used buttermilk instead of milk and added my usual smidgen of dill weed but for a twist I added some finely shredded cheddar cheese into the batter. It was delicious and worked out perfect using up the remaining carrots and buttermilk. The fridge is now back to it's pre holiday condition....empty!!!!
On "The Gear" front.......not much happened. During the holidays we didn't have two days free in a row, so starting any kind of project was out of the question.

Happy New Year and here's to a great '08!