Among Friends

[possummink]

[Bird mama]

@possummink

I'm with you as far as wind in a storm goes.  When my trees start dancing in the wind, I start pacing.  I think it's worse for me once Spring/Summer comes because my silver maple, walnut and mulberry trees have leaves and the wind pulls on them, making them more vulnerable to damage.

In the winter, there is no resistance to the wind - no leaves.  

I remember the good cough syrup - it was prescribed when I would get bronchitis.  At night, you could take a dose, sleep through the night and in the morning, yak up a lung - but the lungs would clear out.

Now, I keep Delsym in my medicine chest - it's friendly to people with thyroid issues.  For the most part, when I am dealing with a cold it really does work 12 hours.

I don't know if it just didn't get cold enough here in Michigan to kill bacteria this past winter, or what.  At work, the sniffling and coughing started in November.  It's still going on and this is not allergies.  We cannot get everyone healthy at one time for even a week.  Many of the women I work with have small kids.

My eldest niece even commented a month ago, that she's accepted her life with never be normal again, lol.  She said she was so tired because if she wasn't sick, one of her small kids was sick.

[mousiegirl]

---

@Bird mama wrote:

@possummink

I'm with you as far as wind in a storm goes.  When my trees start dancing in the wind, I start pacing.  I think it's worse for me once Spring/Summer comes because my silver maple, walnut and mulberry trees have leaves and the wind pulls on them, making them more vulnerable to damage.

In the winter, there is no resistance to the wind - no leaves.  

I remember the good cough syrup - it was prescribed when I would get bronchitis.  At night, you could take a dose, sleep through the night and in the morning, yak up a lung - but the lungs would clear out.

Now, I keep Delsym in my medicine chest - it's friendly to people with thyroid issues.  For the most part, when I am dealing with a cold it really does work 12 hours.

I don't know if it just didn't get cold enough here in Michigan to kill bacteria this past winter, or what.  At work, the sniffling and coughing started in November.  It's still going on and this is not allergies.  We cannot get everyone healthy at one time for even a week.  Many of the women I work with have small kids.

My eldest niece even commented a month ago, that she's accepted her life with never be normal again, lol.  She said she was so tired because if she wasn't sick, one of her small kids was sick.

@Bird mama  Bronchitis, UGH!  I had it all through high school and into my early twenties.  I couldn't breathe lying down, had to inhale steam several times a day, couldn't participate in PE, no loss there, lol, and as you said, cough up a lung or too every day.  The constant hacking was the worst.

We had furious wind this week, and when that happens, I holler "hurricane!" lol, of course there are none of those here, but so windy I had to keep the pups in even though they have dug a nice long trench to sleep in on hot or windy days, under their cot, lol.

One year, I may have mentioned this before, we had such a storm that it felled two enormous pine trees which knocked the power lines to the ground, which took down another tree, so had live wires about.  We nearly froze as it took the power company a week to show up, didn't believe me when I said I had a newborn, which I did.  We slept in jackets with a ton of blankets, baby with us.

---

[Bird mama]

I worked hard in my yard today since I was squeezing 4 days of things I wanted to do into the 1 day of no rain, lol.  

After all the work was done, I headed over to Little Caesars to pick up a 'hot n ready' pizza.  I happen to notice something near the curb, yet in the street as I was nearing the entrance to the parking lot.  I knew it was some kind of mammal that had been struck but not repeatedly run over by a car.

What caught my eye was a really big, regal and rather magnificent looking bird.  I pulled off the road and got out of my car and walked back to where I'd seen the bird.

I recognized it as a turkey vulture (from pics).  I had never seen one before and it was beautiful.  It hit me, turkey vulture and a deceased animal.

I walked back to my car and got in and watched.  The street I had been on is kind of busy and the road narrows to one lane right where the poor groundhog got it.  The vulture wanted the groundhog and would get near it then pull back when cars got near it.  

I felt bad for the groundhog, really.  There was nothing more that I could do for it, however I could possibly prevent the vulture from being the next victim of a car. 

Okay, this might be disgusting - I took a long handled snow scraper and a plastic garbage bag that had been holding a spare blanket in the trunk and respectfully (without touching it directly - lol) lifted the groundhog off the street and put it on the grass.

The turkey vulture had flown up in a tree and was watching me the whole time.  When it was done I stopped and looked at the vulture and said, there, now come down here and eat.  Bird looked at me like I was crazy. 

[luvsbulldogs]

Hi everyone,

The sun was in and out most of the day yesterday and the temps. were in the low 60's.  DD had a BBQ and we went and had a nice time.  I could not eat anything but it was nice seeing everyone.  Today so far the sun is out and it is a little warmer but it is suppose to change later on in the day.  Showers are on the way.  We lost our grass over the last 2 years due to the drought so this year we had part of it hydro seeded.  DH always took care of it but this year is beyond his help.  WE have an irrigation system but do not want to drain the well now that we are out of the drought so we are using it sparingly.  Keeping our fingers crossed that we get our grass back. 

@Bird mama

It sounds like you have been very busy between work and outdoor work. 

That was so nice for you to be taken out to dinner.  We have turkey vultures here and as you said they are very pretty birds.  It was nice of you to help the one out. Your weather sounds like here.....up and down.  Often we get your weather as it comes across the country.  By reading your weather I sometimes can tell what we might be getting.  Enjoy the rest of your time off from work.  

@mousiegirl

What have you been up to in Ca.?  I would think that you are busy planting and gardening.  We potted our annuals yesterday and did go out and buy a few more.  Other than that we don't do much anymore especially with all the critters we have visiting us.  They eat pretty much everything so we are careful as to what we plant.

@Winifred

How are you feeling?  Any news on your procedure?  I hope that you are not over doing it.  Please try to rest each day.  Our neighbor is returning to NH from Cary, NC this week.   She send me pics and it sure is a pretty area.

@possummink

I too hope the doctors figure out what is going on with me.  DH is trying to plan a trip to Hawaii for our 50th anniversary and I keep telling him it is nice but the way I am right now I really cannot go.  As you know with your daughter it comes on out of nowhere and can last for months.  I have to be very careful what I eat.  I do find that stress plays a large roll in how I feel also. Sorry that your daughters job is so stressful for her.  I hope all went well with your granddaughters car.  Not what you daughter needed on her time off from work.  I hope that she feels better soon. 

We have black fly here and they are out in full force along with the mosquitoes.  When I use to garden years back I would have to wear a bug net to do my gardening and also spray with deet which is not good for you.  DH still uses it but I do not.

I too love lightening bugs and they do remind me of my childhood as you mentioned.  So far no sign of them here.  We still here the peepers in the pond at night.  I love all the sounds of nature.

Have a great rest of the long weekend everyone!

[mousiegirl]

@luvsbulldogs  What is a peeper?

I am so sorry you suffer so due to the condition you have, and to go to a bar-b-q and not be able to eat anything, so sad.  I hope finally doctors can decide what is wrong and get you better quickly.

Yes, I am gardening, almost daily.  the weather was so windy and cool this week, so didn't do much outside, and worked inside instead, always too much to do inside and none of it is fun, except cooking. .

I have all vege seeds in except for cucumber, and I will plant another batch of the flat green Italian beans this week.  I plan on freezing them as they are my favorite green bean.  due to the weather been so erratic, I thought the pepper seeds I planted over three weeks ago were not going to sprout, but this week I see little green seedlings appearing.  Once they are large enough, I will plant each one in a separate pot.  I also plan to freeze these to use until next season.

This year, I planted tomatillos and plan to make salsa verde and freeze it in batches to serve over tacos, especially fish tacos, etc.  And of course, I process and freeze basis for soups, sauces, and pesto, so I had better clean out my freezer.

I bought a Purple Beauty last year, deep purple/black on the outside, green on the inside, not sweet or spicy, and not as strong as a green bell pepper.  I sliced it and fried it with onion slices for steak tacos all summer.  this year, I bought seeds, so can grow and freeze this pepper also.  I think I will plant more pepper seeds as soon as the weather stays consistently hot and then they will sprout quickly.

The darned deer keep coming back and munching on my newly planted hydrangeas on the front walk, so much now keep the gate closed, tired of chasing them off.

Daylilies are blooming every day, so look forward to that every morning.  As soon as they bloom, I place them in their pots where I will plant them.  Some are blooming not true to the picture   Maybe I messed up the tags, so after they all bloom, if this isn't the case, I will be contacting the seller.

[luvsbulldogs]

@mousiegirl

Peepers are small chorus frogs that come out in the Spring.

Here is some reading info on them. 

http://faq.gardenweb.com/discussions/2766292/what-on-earth-are-spring-peepers-anyway

They are usually the first sounds of spring that we hear after a long and cold winter.  As the weather gets warmer here we then hear tree frogs that often hang around the house in the shrub and flower beds.  They make a very unusual sound. 

I am pretty much getting use to going to parties and BBQ's and not being able to eat anything.  Usually I bring something for everyone and then something for me but yesterday all I brought was a pasta salad for everyone.  I am trying a new diet that the last Gastro doctor gave me so it is pretty much trial and error right now. 

It sounds like you are doing great with your gardening.  Italian green beans were my favorite beans when I could eat vegetables.  You garden sound great.  When I use to garden we had a huge veggie garden and I too would freeze a lot for the winter months.  It was a lot of work but well worth it in my opinion.  The purple beauty sounds interesting. 

Sorry to hear that the deer are still dining on your property.  They sure can be pests when it comes to eating.  They scare easily so perhaps you can come up with something to scare them off.  At this property we only plant bulbs and plants that critters do not eat.  It limits us but at least we get to see some flowers in the spring and summer months.

Happy gardening mousie!!! 

[Bird mama]

Hello all, I just returned home from seeing the latest Pirates of the Carribean movie - Dead Men Tell No Tales.  I like the franchise and have missed only one of them - the one that was released prior to this one.  It's the kind of movie best seen on a big screen.

Our weather was so crazy this spring - I didn't get my beloved May Bells (aka Lily of the Valley).

I think the birds in the birdhouse hanging off the garage fledged.  Around Mother's Day I heard 2 distinct chirps.  I saw faces earlier in the week and there is little activity short of Ma and Dad sparrow going into the house to tidy up.  This goes along with the usual timeline - babies around Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc.

I haven't noticed any fledglings on the patio, however it has been hectic and maybe I'm just missing them.  At least I haven't come across any deceased fledglings so I guess it's a good sign overall.

[Bird mama]

Saw something interesting this morning.  I fed the birds/squirrels first thing this morning and of course the male and female duck arrived on schedule. These are the same ducks that sat in my yard and watched me cut my grass until I got about 2 rows from them yesterday afternoon.

Low and behold, here comes Patches - the pregnant squirrel with the hair issues.  Apparently she thinks all 4 large pavers at the base of the pine tree are for her alone or perhaps the squirrel population only.

The female duck was eating, the male was more or less keeping watch when Patches pulled some Bruce Lee kung-fu move on the male duck.  She looked like a flying squirrel for a minute there.

What was funny was the female duck kept her head down and continued to eat while her mate was getting attacked by the squirrel.  Squirrel did it twice.

I opened the storm door and said, somewhat softly - that's enough.  You are crabby and getting more pregnant by the day - there is food for you, on the patio too, now cut it out.

[Bird mama]

Good Morning, I'm sitting in my home office, QVC is on in the background, my birds are singing, the window is cracked open and I am drinking my first cup of coffee.

As I was looking around the web for Memorial Day images, I found myself thinking about the men and women who serve in the military to protect my easy and sometimes lazy way of life.

I'm a loyal person - I have and will fight for family.  When I say fight, I mean in it in the literal sense of the word. although thank God, that hasn't been much of an issue as I age, lol.  

I will defend an animal from a predator and when I am able will help an animal fight for it's life.

I found myself wondering, could I fight for an ideal?  Could I have ever enlisted to protect my country, a way of life, something so large as freedom?

I don't know; and this humbles me when I think of all of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this ideal, this thing bigger than themselves.