Random Musings

Because everyone keeps asking...Bobby's retirement is going quite well. Most days are like Saturdays...we sleep a little later than before, I do housework, we tend the animals, I do laundry, we take care of errands and business, some days we do yardwork, and some days we find/make time for fun stuff. And we have taken 2 trips to Alabama - one to check on Mom after her surgery and one to see my niece and nephew get baptized, and two short trips here in NC. That's all I really know to tell you. I've not started gourmet cooking (and don't plan to), though I did clean/ organize 2/3 of my work room the last two weeks. I never got around to establishing a writing schedule nor getting the wallpaper off the bathroom wall, but that's okay. I'm thinking August might be a good month for that. :) I will say that in four months, we've only had one week where we both wanted to consistently smack each other upside the head. Personally, I think one week out of sixte...

It's happened again. We have a broody hen. Not sure how this is all going to pan out, but last Saturday morning, I heeded advice I'd read online, managed to get to the nest while she was off drinking water, and marked the eggs she had under her with a sharpie. So yesterday when she absolutely refused to budge, I took the flat side of the hoe, pushed her fat self off the eggs (blocking her beak from my hand in the process), and grabbed every egg that wasn't marked. I guess it's because I'm a strange human, but it still baffles me that the girls (the hens) continue to lay eggs in the same nest where the Buff is sitting. We have a ton of nesting boxes in the hen house, and yet they all continue to use the same one. It's just crazy. So for the next 14 days (when those three eggs should hatch), I guess the hoe will continue to be friend and bear the pecking meant for my hands as I go for eggs. And I don't know what will happen once those eggs hatch. Last ...

One of the plus sides to living in a retired farming community is you get the beauty of open lands without the constant wait of driving behind tractors on the roads. The down side? Its days are numbered. As farmers retire/die out, families of today simply cannot afford to keep the property. There's a joke in NC's ag family that the only thing tobacco farms are growing today is subdivisions. Though our little community seems to be ammending that. Looks like we're growing schools. Friends who've been reading my blog know that my extended family sold the 50 acres adjoining our property to the county school system many years ago for an elementary and middle school. Due to politics and such, those schools have yet to be built, though they are now back on the "slate" for around 2020 provided funding goes through. What has taken us all by surprise though is a high school. Last night the county had a meeting with property owners nearby, and if this fall's bo...

We're back at that in-between stage in NC where the temps hover right around the temp on the AC thermostat, so we've had open windows and fans running the last few days. At night...I really like it. Day time, I can't tell a whole lot of difference. It's been a busy week.  Thursday was the Raleigh Sewing & Quilt Expo (more on that next week), and almost every day the last week has involved some type of design stuff for our church's upcoming Family Fun Fest. Just two more contacts and printing of posters, and hopefully all my pre-event work will be done until 2 weeks! Hooray!  And today, I've been cleaning some and finalizing a few things before we head to Benson for the Southern Gospel Singing Competition. Bobby hasn't been in several years and has always wanted to go, so we're headed that direction today.  Happy weekend! :)

I know the media is outraged over the investigation into reporters, and are also mentioning the whole IRS scandal of targeting tea-party activitists, but what bothers me on a personal level is their lack of reporting on how the sandal targeted religious groups. We have three North Carolina based religious organizations that have been severely audited and threatened by the IRS...because they paid for ads supporting Amendment One. Yes. You read that correctly. The Biblical Recorder, Samartian's Purse, and the Billy Graham Organization all three either publicly stated, purchased ads in the newspaper and on television last May when our state was hashing out the issue of gay marriage. Things got very ugly by both sides, though the media almost never reported the numerous accounts of vandalism on churches nor the death threats on pastors who dared to speak out. And now? There's been documented proof that organizations who have been true to their values since day one of forming are no...

Wow. It seems strange to blog about two storms so close together. Even though Tropical Storm Andrea brought us a lot of rain, it brought us very little wind. Today, in the space of ten minutes, wind gusts blew down trees, branches, the lid off our mailbox (but didn't harm the bird feeder), and sent the geese and goslings scrambling to the house while the chickens headed out toward the field. It was both scary and exciting to watch. Unlike the hurricanes we've had in the past, there wasn't a whole lot of noise with this quickly passing storm.  2/3 (of what was left) of the Bradford Pear came down. This time I think Bobby is in agreement we cut down the remainder.    Pine limbs down at the pond.   Not the best photo, but it does a goodjob of showing how fast the wind was blowing. The pecan tree on the left was almost blown double. Thankful this happened in June and not October when the nuts are beginning to ripen! It will be interesting to...

Yesterday afternoon, while cutting grass, I passed a very strange branch. I stopped to look at. It was very much shaped like a branch, but its coloring...that was the color of a black snake. But even though the head & neck was up in the air, I couldn't distinguish its head. And then I realized why. I rode the mower on up to the house, got Bobby, my camera, and the gun, and we slowly made our way back toward the pond. The head was no longer up in the air, but you can still get the very disgusting idea: It's in the process of eating a frog. You can't tell it so much here, but when it was up in the air, the frogs' back legs were sticking out, which made it look like a branch. Sadly, I missed the snake, and it made it back to the pond. I'm not sure I really saved the frog, though. It semi-hopped when Buster pawed at it, and I didn't see a front leg. I don't know if the snake pulled it off (Bobby says I probably shot the frog instead of the snake) or wha...

This last week we had our first tropical storm of the year. I shrugged it off. After all, it was passing through Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina before it got to us, and it wasn't that strong to begin with. Prepare? For a tropical storm? Oh, please. And so I got up on Friday morning and prepared for my busy day...a quilting class in North Raleigh, many errands, grocery shopping and cooking for a few extended family members. A good day! The sky was dark, we had slight wind gusts and a steady, decent rain, which we needed. Yes, we had the same thing the day before (a whopping 2 inches of rain in the gauge), but seeing as how dry my garden has been and clearly remembering the drought a few years ago when wells ran dangerously low, I welcome rain. I gladly donned my rainjacket to tend the chickens, run errands. I even wore flip-flops to my quilting class. Perhaps that was my downfall. I exited class to a torrential downpour. I needn't have worried about splashing my pant...

While searching for things to do in Manteo before we left, I found a link to a website for cruises. Bear in mind, I've always wanted to go on a deep-sea fishing cruise. Not a whole day one, but just half a day. But it's simply not realistic. Nevertheless, I clicked on the link to Captain John's to see what he offered and I saw this: 2 hr dolphin cruises. The prices was doable, so I called. I asked him if by chance his boat/dock was wheelchair acceptable. He not only told me yes, but told me his pontoon-styled boat had a cover over it so he could be out of the sun if he needed to (something only wheelchair-bound people realize the seriousness of!), AND there was a bathroom on board that was wheelchair accesible. I made reservations right away. When we arrived in town, we discovered that not only were dolphin cruises common, but that many of them were a cheaper than what I had signed us up for. But after arriving at the dock, I realized this boat was the only one I saw t...

The first night we were in Manteo, the lady at the hotel desk suggested we drive to the end of the island to a small community called Wanchese (which I later learned was the name of one of the Indian guides to the new colony). At the very end of the road was a restaurant that only served local food and was supposed to be very good. So we went.  It was an interesting drive. And it was clearly a wharf, with several boats attached and a place for unloading their wares. But the only possible place we saw for a restaurant was over the wharf - up two very tall flights of steps. We looked around for an elevator or sign, and nothing. I finally decided to go up and ask if there was another entrance, and I was very glad I did! The elevator door looked like a storage closet and was kept locked so children couldn't open it and get crushed or fall into the moving cables...which makes perfect safety sense. Locals all knew to call ahead and they'd be watching/waiting to come unlock the el...

One of the many things we've talked about doing the last 14 years has been going to Manteo, NC to see the Lost Colony. I've heard Bobby talk about it, I've read reviews, I've seen magazine articles about how amazingly awesome this outdoor drama is. We actually had a free weekend the end of May, so we went. I was more than a tad disgusted/disappointed when I called to get tickets. According to the receptionist, they do offer wheelchair seating but not companion seats (a folding chair that can be placed next to the wheelchair). I would only be allowed to sit behind him. And that irked me more than just a little bit. Yes, I understand handicap seating is limited and there needs to be ample space available for wheelchairs and scooters. I so totally get that. But can you imagine anyone else calling and being told " I'm sorry. Even though it's only two tickets, we are not allowed to place groups together. You'll both have to sit in different rows. But don...