PICTURES!!! Trip with friends

 Husband and I went out a day or so ago, and I managed to get some pics, which I could actually upload!

I couldn't find my bird book, but I think this is the Common Loon.  There were a few of these about, and I think I saw about 5 bald eagles, and geese like crazy.  Big bird watching day!  I was lucky to get this shot, my camera doesn't do well with 'action' shots... 

Where we stopped for lunch, we had a bouquet near our table.  

Wild iris are blooming around here quite a bit. 

A goose couple that were not wild about our pacing them with the boat.

So they left.  I wish the water hadn't been lit so, I think you would have seen them better.

Our friends brought their pet, she wasn't sure about us until after lunch, 

she was given parts of our sandwiches, we were very much in her good graces after!

(And Happy Mother's Day, Mom!)

There's busy...

And then there is busy.

I realized today, getting ready again, that I have went somewhere every day this week.  There was the usual 'stuff', but I was on the go, and I am going to be on the go until Wednesday, by most of my calculations...

Ya know, I think I am going to be really sick on Wednesday, if anyone calls for me to do something...

However, I did do something nice yesterday, Husband and I went boating, and I will see if I can get some pictures up.  I hope the ones of flying birds came out, they were so majestic when I tried to get the photo!

Messing about in boats...reverb 29

This morning the weather folk said, rain, bad day.  I walked, it was fairly nice, a little overcast. 

Had to convince the llamas we were 'friendlies', they usually don't walk UP the hill when we go DOWN.  I think the cougar has spooked them a bit more that I would like to admit.  Lorenzo is getting real skittish about body checks, I touch his hip area, and he makes to spit at me.  This part is no big deal, but then he tries to stomp.  Lorenzo has a fat, furry butt, so I have to stand fairly close.  This makes my foot in rather hazardous territory! 

But we are all doing okay so far, (I had to up Llama's feed a little, she just doesn't put on weight like she used to.  What is it about getting older and getting skinnier?)  But they are doing well.  So is Rudee, except he is getting the grumpy treatment from me, as he is finding llama beans to roll in, and smells like, well... Llama beans.  Not the worst smell, but I still don't want to pet him and smell of manure. 

Husband saw the weather, and said, well, since we can't go out if it's raining, I will go work on the boat. 

(Since we can't go out? Hmmm.)  So, he started working on the electronics.  I washed a load of clothes.  Started a second load.  Boy, it's looking nice outside.  Started cleaning the table.  It really is brightening up... Wonder if Husband will change his mind...

Door opens. "Are you doing anything this afternoon?" 

"No. Why?"

"I think I want to go out and test run  the boat."

Why was I totally not surprised one bit?  Does the fact that I already had a lunch pack put together and my knitting bag sitting ready give you a hint? 

We went out, and it was warm!  I was truly expecting it to be very cold, but I didn't wear a heavy jacket, just my sweatshirt and gloves (well, the life jacket, too), and didn't get a bit cold.  We didn't go very fast, though.  The water level was waaaay down (read:  lots of deadhead stumps and rocks), and there was lots of wash in the water, leaves and sticks and bark.  In fact, there was a lot of debris stuck in the jet intake when we got out. (Intake guards are a very good thing, Martha!)

Mud.  Lots and lots, and orange sticky gooball mud.  My shoes were coated, and so guess what little thing I have to do... (AND they are my 'good' shoes, adding insult to injury.  Couldn't find my others, and I wasn't wearing my gumboots out. Meh.)

So, it's supposed to go back to January temperatures soon, so I guess enjoy the little flings of late spring while we can, yes?  (And get my laundry done quickly!)

***

Prompt: Ordinary joy. Our most profound joy is often experienced during ordinary moments. What was one of your most joyful ordinary moments this year?

Ordinary, as in not exceptional.  Walking, and observing the weather and the area.  Seeing the plants go from scraggly ice covered branches, to fat little bud covered things, to light green starts, then the fullness of oak leaves, to head back into the quiet of winter.

Watching Rudee (and Tux, till he stopped) running up the hill, and the amusing way they would claim the top.  (And seeing who would shed the most when they were in the right amount of light. Sadly, sometimes I was the winner... eeep.)

Finding out that I can go walking and not hurt after.  Or that I can walk to stop my hurting. 

Seeing birds.  Seeing some sort of lizard run by.  Rocks that are thrust up from winter's cold.  Mud, that isn't just brown.  I have found red, brown, yellow, sort of off green, and even a whitish blue! 

And finding out just how much crap dirt you can carry in on one pair of boots... : (

Guess that doesn't count on joyful.  But the fact I have a real good vacuum to clean it up does! :)

Confusion, witchery, reverb 28

Okay, I seem to have created a complete round of confusion.  Oregon now mandates that all people who control (i.e. drive) a boat over 10 hp, (think bigger than a trolling motor), has to have what amounts to a boating version of a Driver's license.  I have heard it called a Boater's Card several times, and used it without realizing that might not be familiar to most... Oops.  And yes, it varies by state.  Some states you can hop in and go, some you have to have proof of training of some sort (like what I just did).  Hope that clears things up.  (And possibly inspires more poetry!)  ;)

As for confusion, last week, my Monday "class" was held on Tuesday, and my 'work' day here at the substation was switched to Friday, from Wednesday.  Let Chaos reign! 

Oh, and I am beginning to wonder if I need a new cat. 

Not for the reason you think, though Buzz keeps looking all over for Tux, and has been surprisingly friendly, for her.  Cuddles are out, but she will accept a lot more petting than usual. 

But anyway, I need a new cat, because I have been for about the 4th or 5th time in the last year and some, been called a witch.  I am beginning to think that I am real glad I am not in the Middle Ages.

This latest call out was at my spinning class. 

There was a new gal there, and somehow we got on the topic of how the plys were spun, and she noticed I was spinning counterclockwise, (just how I did this ply, not set out to do intentionally), and not one, but two gals said, Oh, you are a witch!  (There is a superstition that yarn spun "backwards" is witch work.)  We then started talking about superstitions, and I knew all of them. (Which was saying something, the new gal was a Society of Creative Anachronism member, they usually research things like that to absolute death.  But I have an inside straight, I had a grandmother that was Irish, and superstitious as all get out.) 

Then one of them mentioned the superstition about putting your needle into your work when you set it aside as bad luck, she knew, but didn't know why.  I told her that it was sort of like voodoo, that you are 'stabbing' the receiver of your work with the needle.  She looked at me, and then smiled. "I didn't even know that one, maybe you are a witch."

Perhaps I should grow parsley, as was recommended...  Hey, I have several hats already.  We have frogs for toes, and newts for eyes nearby.  But I should get a more cooperative cat, first.

Just call me Minerva McGonagall!  (I wish!)

***

Prompt: Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.

Getting somewhere on my book would be a plus.  I have dinked around on it enough, I really need to get writing.  How will I feel?  Like I accomplished it, I guess.  Happy?  Happy works.  I will feel like I have gotten all the mental post-it notes I have in my head on real paper. 

10 things I can do.  Write chapter 1 though 10.  Heh.

Ok, for real...
1. Set aside time to write.
2. Don't put it off, or find something else to do when I have a set time.
3. Less innernets, more writing. (Much easier said than done. Innernets are wunnerful time suckers...)
4. Don't keep so much in my head, write it down.
5. Talk to the deputies, and my 'bosses', they are the people that would be able to answer my questions!
6. Keep talking about it, so people know if I am doing anything.
7.  Uh.  Is it to early to look at getting an agent?
8. Er.  Write?  More?
9. Now this is becoming unfair.  Lose more weight, so I can go on my ride along, so I can have a more realistic experience on what goes on with "my" folks.
10. Gah... One more thing?  Oh, I don't know, park my butt and write something!  Isn't that the most important thing? 


Ta da!  Ok, that was yesterday's, here is the prompt for today...
Prompt: Defining moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.

Working on making my life better.  It certainly hasn't been a "moment", though it might be a series of them, like sand through an hourglass.  One dot of sand isn't much, but you get enough of those little dots, and you have... Well, you have a pile of sand, duh.

I am not entirely sure where I was going with that, but you get the idea.


I don't even really know when I made the decision, but I decided to start walking.  That lead to making a (somewhat better) effort to eat more wisely.  I started trying to DO things I wanted to do, not just pine away about them.  I worked on using no as a complete sentence.  Dropping (some) things that bug me, and learning what puts a "fire in my belly", as one of Husband's friends says.

So, how has it been?  Has it worked?  Yes, I would say so.  My walking is making me a bit thinner.  (Other people have said so, and I am finally starting to see it myself, in the mirror.  Took long enough...) 

The eating, good days and not so good.  But I am learning what my 'triggers' are, (don't buy chocolate chips.  They do not stay in the house. Period.), and whatever I want, take about HALF that amount.  It's little stuff, should be obvious, but I am learning, or more accurately, re-learning it. 

Finding out that I can plan something, and make it work, is highly satisfying.  Especially when I wasn't entirely sure I knew what the (ahem) I was doing, in a few cases.  That can be as simple as finding an address in an unfamiliar town, to setting up a new group for a 'guild' I run at faire, to planning and executing a trip to a certain concert...  

And learning that just because I'd been in a group for x years, doesn't mean I have to still be in the group.  (In a few cases, they still haven't figured it out yet.  I have, however!)  Others, it was more of, can we do this differently? MUST it be the way it has been?  These changes are making my time less others, and more mine again.  And now I can use it to find my writing voice, or to help with things I find more "me", or heck, sit on my tush and eat bon-bons! (That last is a family joke, no, I won't go and get bon-bons.)

So, there ya go.  Navel gazing in a nutshell.  (Which seems like it would be really uncomfortable, don't you think?)

Row, row, row, your boat... reverb 28

Well, I made Husband a happy boater.  I now have my Oregon Boating Card. 

Uh, will have my card, after I mail the certificate in.  If you have to take a boating course, please be aware, they say the test (this one) is about 3 hours. 

COWPOOP!  (Upgrade to proper swearing if you wish.)

I read quickly, the combined time for reading and testing the material over 2 days was closer to EIGHT HOURS!  But, I was able to get through it, slowly, agonizingly slowly, and passed with a pretty high grade, so I guess it works out.  But, gee holy cow crap, it was a bear to do!  I have had a MUCH easier time with FEMA classes, and those are meant to be intense! 

So.  I went out and enjoyed our sunshine, (although it's tempered with the concern that there is NO snow up in the mountains nearby, so I am hoping that we won't be paying for it this summer...  And I am yelling at the stupid tulips to go back to bed, it's January, why are they up three inches???), and asked Husband about renting a Havaheart trap.  He said one of his friends has one, and will check on borrowing it.  We then discussed a very rural, uninhabited area that we could put Mr. Raccoon, so he will hopefully not become someone else's problem. 

So, I am writing this short blog, and I think I am going to try and uncross my eyes for a bit...

***

Prompt: Achieve. What’s the thing you most want to achieve next year? How do you imagine you’ll feel when you get it? Free? Happy? Complete? Blissful? Write that feeling down. Then, brainstorm 10 things you can do, or 10 new thoughts you can think, in order to experience that feeling today.

Ok, folks, I am not doing this one tonight.  I am sorry, but as you read above, I have been working on passing a test online, and quite frankly, my dear...

Well, you know. 

I will try and hit it tomorrow.

Almost Wordless Wednesday...

The one fairly good shot from the boat when we went out.  It was pretty, even if I was turning blue...

(And I lost .2 of a pound...)

Top 'O The Mornin' To Ye!

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Cat and my new photo pal Buc the Cat, who you can see loves Blarney... (Like I don't...) Why is his name Buc? Aye, Begosh and Begorrah, it's short for Butt Ugly Cat! He is willing to adorn my blog, so expect to see his smiling face occasionally. Doesn't he remind you of a keystone cop with that hat?

(And if you noticed it, yes I changed the blog format, I though this one was a bit clearer, and more in tune with my theme. What ever that is...)

Husband and I went for a quick trip on the water yesterday. He was upset with a rattle the boat was making, and fixed it with a wood shim. And because the sun was shining, and it was a terrific day And because he just wanted to check that there was no more rattle, we went out...



There are several of these little waterfalls, I missed getting them when we went out in the winter, they were covered in icicles. The spring weather makes them just burst from the rocks. We found several of them on our "just checking the rattle" trip, took several similar pictures, but the camera started to die. Darn batteries... You just get the hang of taking pictures without dumping yourself overboard, and then they give up the ghost... But there was one more I will add,

The mountains were out yesterday!

Slow day in the Country.

So slow, in fact, I haven't written anything, and half the day is gone! I went to eat at a Chinese restaurant that I like, and the fortune cookie said, "Work on ideas that are creative and can bring fine results." Sound like a push to do blogging! Or my newest knit hat. I will have a picture later, it's green with yellow and Burgundy red. Since it's to be donated to Dulaan, I decided it's going to be called "Mongolian Rastafarian". Sounds like a rock group. Eh, I think it will be pretty.

Rabbitch had, and I think Ryan, as well, this "meme" on their websites, I liked it, decided it was good, so took a "tag, you're it" for my item today.

Without further ado: Six weird things about me (God is that limiting...)

In no particular order....

1. When I am checking my email, and want to leave MS Office, I have to go back to the inbox. I don't know why, I know that you can be anywhere, in any file, but I don't. I go back to the inbox. I think it's because I was taught that when I first learned on someone else's computer, and he was... Anal-retentive to where I think he pooped once a year... Ahem. Anyway, that's what he taught me to do, and I am almost compulsive about it. Doesn't bother me when others quit in a different folder, however. Go Figure.

2. I have trained my chickens to move to a 'backup beep'. You know, when a truck backs up, it drones on with 'beeep, beeep, beeep'? I do that when I open the gate to the chicken yard, and they all move back, knowing the gate is moving. I didn't realize quite how well I'd taught them, until yesterday. We had a delivery of rock, and I was outside. The truck backed up, and dutifully, all the chickens moved back from the gate, then looked highly confused when the gate didn't open. (I don't have any idea how to take a picture of this, or it might be put on You Tube... Ah, the joys of being a computer dork...)

3. I hate trying to spell weird, and one, and a few other words. I end up spelling 'wired' more often than not, and I continually try to put "won" for "one". That's why I am pretty adept at spell checking (with my eyeballs, I don't always trust Unca Billy's dictionary.)

4. When I knit with two needles, I tend to put one against my chest or arm, and knit with the other. I didn't know this was unusual until I went to a knitting class to get some help, and one of the other students commented on it. LOUDLY. I couldn't figure out what she kept yipping about, asking "what ARE you doing? What ARE you doing?"

I answered, completely confused at this point, "uh, knitting?"

Whereupon she said, "NO, you are STABBING yourself!"

I actually looked around, to see where I had something sticking out of my person, she was that hyped up about it... Turns out, I knit sort of my own way a bit, but this kind of knitting is more common in Eastern European countries. I just do it because I learned on long needles, and needed a bit more control of same. So, I guess by common American standards, I do knit unusually. Eh. Still gets the hats out.

5. I like to give tips to waitresses and waiters directly. I have twice left money on the table, and had it taken before the waitress got back. (Once by a FAMILY member, sheesh!) So, I figure if I give the money directly, she has it, and I don't have to worry about her (or him) being stiffed monetarily. And they seem pleased, so, it's good.

6. I like 'guy' stuff. I like Three Stooges, working on cars, (or at least helping), I love steaks, I think makeup and nail paint is fru-fru, and don't use it much. And don't get me started about "chick flicks". But I like 'girl' stuff, too. I have a largeish collection of stuffed animals, I love flowers, and I do occasionally like to dress up with (LOW) heels, and a dress, perfume and the like. I guess I have androgynous interests.

So, there you have it, Cat's offical foray into "memes". I will have to find some more so I have more blogging content. Or, just start putting up some of my pictures.
Like this one, of a porta potty in the middle of the lake we were boating on. I guess, when ya gotta go...

Boating, smoke, Shrek's Butt... And lost keys.

Went out boating with Husband, he likes to see tinker with and then test his "toy", a jet for the boat. (115 with 80 out, for anyone that cares... No, I really don't know what that means. I know that's what he said, ask me about car engines, or yarn. That, at least, I know something about...)
Anyway, from Corvallis to Harrisburg and back. Leisurely, and then it happened.

Field burning, right up from where we were. Uh, oh. We continued on our trip, and fortune favored us until we were almost returned before the smoke actually hit us. My nose was happy about this. Meanwhile, on the trip back, we saw these floats in the water. I was curious, and Russ obliged, moving the boat close to the floats. Hmmm. Veggie floats. We ended up getting three big crookneck squash from the river, and the chickens have had a treat the last couple days.

Why someone would throw good (if HUGE) squash in the river, I don't know, but it was interesting.

Oh, and then when we got home that evening...

Yep, they started burning near us, too. The sun looked like a blood orange. My nose, too. Well, possibly more like Rudolph at Christmas, but anyway... Allergies stink.

Oh, I am getting near the last of them, but when you do LOTS of apples, you start to get silly. I got silly, I present to you...

Shrek's Butt! Yes, apples, apples, apples. Now, when I start making PANTS for them, that's when I will worry...

I think I may have grown up a bit. I normally panic when I lose something. I mean I snarl, tear the house apart, scream, cry, snarl again, tear the house apart, tear the car apart, dump my purse, cry... You get the idea.

I misplaced some trailer keys. Husband said we should look for them. I started where I thought I'd left them. He looked where I normally put them. No panic, yet, but didn't find them. He suggested, purse. Dumped purse on table, nope. But no panic. He suggested under the dresser where I thought I'd set them. One LARGE wolf spider, which I speedily moved AWAY from, but after Husband removed that monsterous, overlarge, fanged, drooling, slavering,... Uh, got rid of the spider, I finished looking, nope, no keys. And one less spider. So. Hmm. So, we decided to split up, Husband would look in the car, I would look in the house. And, still, NO panic. So I decided that the bag I had sitting didn't need to be there, it was with things going in the trailer. I picked up the bag, TA DA!!! One set of keys! I bellowed out the door, "FOUND 'EM! GOT 'EM! " Poor husband got an earful, I bellowed with out looking, and he'd just walked up to the door. BUT, we had the keys, I have no acid in my throat, and, well, I think it just worked a mite better this way. Now if I can manage to do it again, we might have something here!

Oh, and I put my keys where they belong, too.