You would think I never fed that bird! They seem to be doing fine now. I think I will wait until warmer weather to put the birds in the kitchen. It wasn't really that cold out there but I don't know what the problem was.

Today was a really beautiful day, I hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy it. Sarah Beth wanted to go barefooted. Silly Girl! She did go fishing in the pond when we got home. I fixed her and me a plate and took a seat and ate supper out by the pond. Oh, and she didn't catch any fish.

Thanks Mom for the box of can goods and thank you Lois for the good supper! Fried chicken, rice, corn, mashed potatoes and strawberries. Speaking of strawberries, I remember when we were young we didn't get strawberries very much and when we did it was a real treat. Having to feed 6 people ment that we didn't get very much, only one dipper each. I always wanted more. When I first got married it was so amazing to me that when I fixed strawberries, I could eat as much as I wanted and nobody cared. I still think about that every time I eat strawberries and I do eat strawberries now, as much as I want!

Sharon, you didn't know it but I was a little upset with you today, but I got over it real quick. I was at Mom's having a tuna sandwich and a cup of coffee and some nice conversation with Mom and Dad, then you called. I was thinking hey, I was talking to Mom, what's the big idea? You took her and now I can't talk to her! But...... I know you are so far away and I did get to have lunch with her at least. You had to use the phone and I was right there in the kitchen with her so you are forgiven. I didn't get to stay long, I had to get out to the shop and get to wrapping packages. But it was a good tuna sandwich.

The birds kinda scared me tonight. They were real quiet and the female was all fluffed and real sleepy looking. He was a little fluffed and was quiet too. Things just didn't seem right. They have been in the new cage in the kitchen for 2 days now and seemed to like it. I don't know what was bothering them. They are so sensitive to everything and it could have been so many different things. Anyway I moved them back into the old cage in the living room again and they seem somewhat better now. They are eating and I heard a little noise out of them. Still a little off but I hope they get over it.

I decided this week that it was time to start teaching Sarah Beth how to cook. Well...... that didn't go over real well. I said she could start with making spaghetti but she thought that was too hard and wanted something easier. Now what is easier then spaghetti? Nothing except maybe boiled eggs! She had to thaw the hamburger first and she didn't put it on a plate in the microwave so it made a mess. She didn't want to touch it to clean it up so that was a whine. She want to watch TV while frying the hamburger so it got a little brown, she didn't like that either. I toasted the garlic bread for her since she was being such a whine about it. We finally got it done and it was good. She had to whine again when she realized she had to clean up afterwards too. I reminded her about all the time that she came out and cleaned up my mess after I cooked her supper (ha, that would be none) so she finally got through that too. She will cook spaghetti now, once a week until that is old hat to her and then we will move on to meatloaf or something like that. Good thing we like spaghetti! I imagine we will have a few more whine sessions but Mom said I was the same way and I lived through it. Thanks Mom for insisting! I still whine about it but at least I know how to do what has to be done.

Worked on the cockatiel cage all morning, finally got it done. The birds seem to like it but she didn't like the process of being moved. I didn't know cockatiels could bite so hard! She actually drew blood this time. Trust me, they have quite a grip.
Terry went under the house again today, after another trip to the ardware store. He capped off the bad pipe and rerouted the water to the wash machine. I have my water back! But now I need to order another load of water before I can wash clothes.

Terry seems to be feeling better today but I don't know if he is better or just so doped up that you can't tell. At least he is not groaning every time he moves.

Lois, don't feel like the Lone Ranger, we (me and Sarah Beth) had a round this week too. She had to get mad and cry even. Imagine that, at almost 12 years old! She had to right a report on Helen Keller. She had to write a rough draft, correct it, then write a final draft. She didn't want to do it that way , she wanted to just write it one time then erase and correct any mistakes on that page but I insisted she follow the rules. She started the final draft and had to restart it about 3 times, getting more upset with each try, ending in tears. Her problem was (we finally figured out) that she didn't understand what 'Indent' ment. We finally got through it but by the time we did she hated everybody that had anything to do with making reports mandatory in school. I can remember hating to write reports too, and by high school I was a pro at sneaking by the assignments.

Terry went under the house today but things don't always work out like they are supposed to, especially in plumbing. He couldn't hook it up like it was and had to find another way but didn't have the right fittings, of course. After 2 trips to the hardware store and still not getting it done, he finally gave up and quit for the day. He was sick too, that's a bad time to be crawling under the house! He has a fever and feels like he has the flu. I'll tell you this, these guys are not easy to be around when they have to do the plumbing jobs! I felt sorry for him though, feeling as bad as he does. He said he will try again tomorrow if he feels better. When he gets sick like this, it usually hangs on for a week or more so I am not holding my breath.

I cleaned out the dog pen and rearranged it today. I took the squirrel pen out and am going to fix it up for a bird cage. The top half will be a bird cage. I am going to put a floor in the middle and cut the door in half so it will have a top cage and a bottom cage with separate doors. The top will be a nice big cage for the cockatiels and the bottom I can still use for when the dogs have puppies.

I raised the height of the pen fence in here so the dogs will quit jumping over it! I couldn't keep them in the pen and I was getting frustrated. No one has attempted to jump it tonight so ........ we'll see.

Thank God for dirty dishes;
They have a tale to tell.
While other folk go hungry,
We're eating very well.
With home and health and happiness,
We shouldn't want to fuss;
For by this stack of evidence,
God's very good to us.

Been having to wash dishes by hand these last few days. I found this on another's blog and it helped me when I see all those dirty dishes.

Haven't been able to talk Terry into going under the house yet with the spiders, mud, and who-knows-what to fix the broken pipe. I don't blame him, I wouldn't want that job either. Fridays are slow days for him and it should be reasonable warm today so we might get it fixed today. It is the pipe that runs from the pump to the wash machine, not an easy one to fix. Also, the hose that runs from the faucet to the washmachine sprays water when you open the faucet. That is what was getting water on the floor. Rug is still wet back there.

AAAAAHHHHHHHH....

The tempature is above freezing now and I just discovered a busted pipe in the laundry room! Water all over the floor and soaking the rug! I am going to bed, will worry about it later.

Thanks Lois, for the good supper! She brought Timmy to the shop for a sleepover and also brought some goodies from her freezer. We had fried chicken tenders, fried apples that she cut and froze herself, sweet corn that she worked so hard on, rolls and strawberries that she froze with love. All very good. Timmy and Sarah Beth are playing upstairs nicely, so far.

He was cold!

It's the leg of a pair of sweat pants with holes cut in the appropriate places. It works and I think he is a bit warmer now.

Waiting for their treat from the supper table. They split a roll but I heard some complaining that they didn't get enough. Tough, they have their own food.

I love it when I get a day off! Sarah Beth had company today (Chelsey) so we didn't go to the shop. I was home Saturday and cleaned house all day so today wasn't a real busy day. Oh, there were things I could of done but who wants to mess up a perfectly good day off with house cleaning? I surfed the internet a while until I couldn't think of any where else to surf to then decided Blade needed a hair cut. It was too cold in the back room so I spread an old sheet in the living room floor and proceded to shave the poor dog. I love it when he is cut short, so much nicer to pet and cleaner too. When his hair is long he always smells bad. That took about an hour and made a big mess but I am glad it is done.

Then I got out some pictures I had in a box and sorted and labled them and put them in the photo albums. I sure didn't take many pictures last year, the whole year only took up about 10 pages in the photo album. There have been times when one year took up the whole album. I guess I am getting lazy or something.

I had some things go off ebay today so I spent some time sorting and answering emails. I think today's total was $91.00. It still amazes me about the box of post cards Terry bought for $170.00 not even knowing what he was buying but 'Someone' must have been guiding him because so far I have sold about $550.00 out of that box and I am not done yet! $40.00 of this weekend's total were postcards. I could use a few more of those deals.

I think it is time to remove the bird eggs. Haven't heard from the baby bird in 3 days so it didn't make it. I am a little relieved, it would have been a bigger loss if it had actually hatched then died. Sarah Beth is itching to open the egg and look. I told her she wouldn't like what she saw but she is still curious. I know I don't want to see it.

Had a bird hit my window this morning, made a big smack. I went out to look on the ground and there was what looked like a small hawk. It was about 8 inches tall with a speckled breast. I went in to get my camera but it was gone when I got back. I am glad it wasn't hurt. Some are not so fortunate.

The dinner at church went fine. The only problem, the guest of honor couldn't bee there! We were honoring Irvin, a 70 some year old man but he was not feeling well and couldn't be there. We went ahead, as if he was there and taped it so he can watch it at home. Sarah Beth played a solo on the piano for him, I hope he likes it. She did it without her book. I don't know if it was from memory or by ear, I suspect it was just memorised but she did a great job. There was plenty of food there, they didn't miss what I didn't bring. They ate most of my cucumber onion salad so I guess it went over well. Terry tasted a bananna split cake and was impressed. Any body ever make one? I need the recipe. It has banannas, pinapple, pudding, cool whip and 'nilla wafers I think. I did hear them talking about the pound of powdered sugar in it!

Chelsey came home with Sarah Beth to spend the night so I haven't seen much of her this evening. I guess I will get a day at home tomorrow, it is no fun at the shop for Sarah Beth when she has friends over. It's nice for me but it worries Terry. It will be alright though, as long as the weather holds up he should get a decent paycheck this weekend.

Wasn't expecting this when we got up this morning!

Well, it wasn't quite that bad, but I was surprised. We had about an inch, but it was sticking to the roads pretty bad. By the way, I just found that picture on the internet. Glad I don't live there.

Terry talked me into going out with him this morning, we had to go get a space heater at the shop to try and keep this kitchen warm while it is less then 20° tonight. We needed some gas for the car and a trip to the grocery store. We made it out and back all right but it was a bit scary. They hadn't done anything to the roads yet and we passed one car on the way home, beside the road, theyweren'tt able to make it up the hill. Needless to say, I stayed home the rest of the day. Terry was out again this afternoon and said the main roads were clear now.

Last night we noticed a peeping sound coming from one of the cockatiel eggs. We got flashlight out and one egg is dark inside, I would assume that is the one with the baby bird in it. The other 2 are still clear inside so I guess they are not baby birds. Anyway, that was last night. Haven't heard any more from the egg since then. I can see where it started to break the shell but nothing has come out of it yet. After reading up about it on Google, the poor thing has so much going against it that I wouldn't be surprised if that is the last we hear from it. It needs moisture and it is really dry in here from the wood stove, Mom usually takes a bath and her wet feathers will give it moisture but this crazy bird won't get in the water that I give her. I keep telling Sarah Beth about how it probably won't hatch and not to get her hopes up but she just accuses me of being negative and not having enough faith. hmmmmmm, that is something to think about.

Well, I better go and get started finding something for the Sunday School lesson tomorrow. I need a story with a coloring page and a craft. Something that will keep 6-8 preschoolers busy for an hour. I was thinking they might call off church tomorrow but if the roads are clear, I guess not. We are supposed to have a dinner after church tomorrow too and I need to bring a dish. I bought cucumbers to make a cucumber onion salad but I don't want to put that together until in the morning. Terry thinks I ought to take something else too but I can't think what. Maybe there won't be a lot of people there tomorrow because of the weather so we won't need as much food. I try to leave the major 'cooking' to the 'good cooks' in the church. I can bring the soft drinks and chips.

I guess I don't get a day off this week, I didn't get enough work done yesterday so I have to work today too. I am just glad it is ME that is my boss and it is ME telling me I have to work today and not a BOSS, BOSS! That wouldn't go over as well. I had to pack and ship 12 green jadite cups and ship them to Toyko yesterday along with other packages so that took up half of my day. That trip to the post office cost me $110.00! The package to Toyko cost $64 by it's self but that is what she paid to have it shipped so I am not out any money.

Boy, wasn't that some wind last night! I sounds scary sometimes but I just figure that the house has stood for over 150 years on that same spot so I imagine it has encountered a few other windy nights and managed to stay upright so that thought gives me comfort along with the knowledge of Curly and Lefty standing by.

Sorry, I don't have any trip to the woods to report on, or a busy day collecting sap. Just another day in front of the computer, watching Animal Planet. If anything exciting does happen you will be the first to know about it.

Sarah Beth has spent the last 3 days doing her first book report. It hasn't been pleasant, she wants to do it her way but I keep telling her she has to do it by the instructions. She finally got her rough draft done and is typing it out on the computer now. Thank goodness for spell check!
I remember hating to do the book reports and in high school I even skipped that part. I want her to at least do one so she knows how it is done but I don't know if I will go through this very often. Dad said when he was in high school they let him skip the book reports as long as he just read a lot of extra books. The worked for him, will it work for us? We'll see.

You just have to try
this! If you are like me, you just can't resist.

Well, Lois I don't remember that incident. What I remember the most about that house is that that is where I had to eat Biostrath. Ewwwwww, that stuff was nasty! Mom seemed to think I was on the puny side when I was about 5 or 6 (I am sure I was)and decided this was what my skinny little puny body needed. One spoonfull of the yucky, black, syrupy stuff each day and I guess I was cured. At least I am still alive and there is no way you can call me puny now. Thanks Mom, you did a good job!

I remember in the summer time while you big girls were in school it was just me and Mom all day. I am sure she was glad when you all got back from school so she could have a break. I remember her teaching me to tie my shoes using her shoes. I can still see those old broken down worn out green shoes she was wearing. She also read stories to me and even now when I here her read it takes me back to when I was 6 or 7 and she read to me. My favorite memory is just me and her eating sliced tomatoes with salt and mayonnaise for lunch. Fresh picked of course, right out of the garden. Indescribably delicious! I don't know if it was the tomatoes that were so delicious or just the memory.

I have more nice memories from that house but I will share those later.

Yes, I handed her a dust rag and she dusted the living room, cleaned off the steps and polished the bathroom until it shined. That didn't take her very long, the bathroom is only 5'x7'! I straightened the laundry room and swept the floor then spent a couple hours in the kitchen.

The best news for today is that I got my car back! He finally got it fixed. It kinda flattened the pocket book but I guess that is to be expected.

Here are the pictures I took this morning of the crazy bird and silly cat.

I was right! At 5 minutes till noon she came wandering down the steps.

I have the dressing room and my bedroom cleaned, now to the living room, laundry room and kitchen.

Okay, it is 10:30 in the morning and I guess I had better get out of my robe and pajamas and get my day started. This is Friday, the day I usually stay home and clean house but I haven't gotten much cleaning done yet. The fire didn't burn real good last night so we got up to a cold house. I cooked Terry's oatmeal and toast and he ate it in here by the fire. I have been nursing the stove all morning trying to get it warm in here. Terry brought in more wood to the porch yesterday but it was wet so it is not burning like I like it to. I let Rocky (the bird) out to play a while while I drank my coffee and watched the morning news. The Olympics are starting tonight so that is about all the news they are talking about. I read my email and all my favorite blogs then started Google-ing cockatiels to try to learn more about these new family members. I would love to know more about what all the tweets, whistles, chips, twitters and screams mean. Can't seem to find anything out about that. He has stopped the screaming though, since he gets to come out and interact with us more now. I got some cute pictures of the bird and the cat, will share them with you later (when I get the house cleaned).

I told Sarah Beth she could sleep in this morning and she is taking advantage of that. I'll leave her alone I am sure it won't hurt to let her catch up. It may be noon before she shows her face though.

The fire is hot now and I am hungry so I will get out of these pajamas, comb my hair, get a bite to eat and start cleaning up. See you later.

Still no car! The mechanic can't seem to find an axel. There are a lot of cars like mine around but all are automatics and mine is a 5 speed. When the guy was trying to fix a small problem, he pounded on the axel and messed up the threads (Terry said). Now he can't seem to find axle. Bummer!

This crazy bird is trying to get the cat to pet his head now. The cat just happened to jump up on the back of the chair where the bird was and the bird jumped then realized the cat wasn't there to eat him so he stuck his head down and sauntered up to the cat for a good head scratch. Scared the poor cat and she ran off.

Found this interesting pattern of icicles the other day.

I thought I would answer your question about the birds here.

We had them together in a cage and they had a nest box hanging on the outside. She hardly ever went in it but he played in it all the time. She would lay an occasional egg but not in the box, always in the bottom of the cage and then it would get cracked or smashed. She started pulling feathers out of him and the back of his head was bare so I decided to seperate them so his feathers could grow back. I took the nest box off since it was not accomplishing anything and pushed their cages together so they could still be together. The next day she laid one egg in the bottom of the the cage and seemed taken with it so I left it in there. Over the next week she laid 2 more and has been sitting on them now for about 3 weeks. I talked to the pet shop guy in Jasper who used to raise cockatiels and he said the reason she never used the nest box is probably because it was too small. It is homemade and is not as big as the official one he had for sale. He said she was probably pulling his feathers to make a nest. I don't know if they will hatch and I kinda hope they don't. I am not looking forward to the work it takes to raise baby birds or the heartache you get when it doesn't work. The pet shop guy said she would regurgitate the seed and feed them herself but after about 2 weeks we should start handfeeding them to make them tame. The lady I got the birds from said that she has laid eggs before and they hatched but they never lived. Since I seperated them the male has become much friendlier, I guess he is looking to us for affection since she is not around. The cats get that look in their eye every once in a while but we try to watch them close. The dogs want to chase them when they are flying around but the dogs are in the pen mostly so that is not a problem

This is all the wildlife I can find around my house. Nothing as pretty as Sharon's bright red cardinal.

This is Ginger and her new clip job. It didn't turn out as nice as Tabby's.




The crazy bird is out of his cage now, most of the time if we are home. He is becoming braver and braver about where he goes and what he will investigate. He likes to sit on your head most of all but I don't like that, it hurts. He likes Sarah Beth best and will follow her from room to room. He is always begging for you to scratch his head and can be a pest about that. She, his mate, is setting on 3 eggs in the other pen but we are not expecting them to hatch. We may be suprised.

Here is Nemo at 3 months old. He is a sweet heart and we will miss him. Anybody going to Eastern Kentucky any time soon?

I just read Yvonne's blog about her daughter, read it to Terry too. He said that it was a sad story. I can tell he was moved by it. He agrees with me that if everyone would just lift a small prayer for Yvonne and her daughter, it couldn't hurt.

Here is Tabby, the before, and then after her new paint job. Just don't look real close. I really don't like doing it myself but it beats the $20.00 I would have to give up to get some one else to do it.

I didn't get my car back today, the mechanic broke something important while he was trying to fix it. Terry had to drive about 40 miles to a junk yard and pay another $50.00 to pick up another to replace it. I thought that since the mechanic broke it we shouldn't have to pay to get it fixed but I guess what I think don't count. He promised us to have the car ready by tomorrow though, so I guess we'll see.

Well maybe I can do a better job tonight.

This morning we decided we needed to go to Jasper but we are having a problem with the front end of the car and didn't want to drive it that far. There is no heat in the truck and it was 20° this morning so that was out of the question. Mom was home for the day and she graciously let us borrow her car. Thank you, Mom. Terry took our car to the garage to be fixed and we went on to Jasper. We got back around 2:30 and the car was not done yet so I went to the shop to do some work and Terry went to get a load of firewood. He met me down at Mom's and I gave her back her car and went home in the truck. By then it was about 40° so it wasn't so bad. They said my car wouldn't be done until tomorrow so I guess we will be riding to the shop with Terry in the morning. When we got home Sarah Beth said I could help Daddy unload and stack this load of firewood, she had some things she wanted to do. I said that would be alright, it's just that she had to do what I would have been doing if I had to help unload. I explained to her that I had to vacuum the livingroom floor, straighten up the kitchen and get supper started. Well that changed her mind, she decided she would rather help unload firewood. I did get the living room floor swept and we had spaghetti for supper but it wasn't good, I cooked a box of spaghetti that some one had given us that was low fat, low carb and cholesterol free. I fed mine to the dogs and ate potato chips for supper. That stuff was as nasty as it sounded!


Tabby came in with quite a few cockleburs stuck to her and I had to cut them out with the scissors so I just decide to cut all her hair off so wouldn't have to go through this all the time. Anyway she was getting to look real funny because I have cut so many out already. I stood her on the table in the back room and proceeded with the clippers. The other dogs didn't even recognize her at first. She looks so good now, she clips real easy and looks good when you are done. Sarah Beth has been wanting me to do Ginger for a while so I went ahead and clipped her short too. It was her first time and she didn't want to hold still but we got through it. Her hair is different and was harder to do, she looks like she was clipped by the amateur that that I am. She will do though, she isn't trying to win a fashion contest. It was getting on towards bedtime so I cruised through the house straightening up and putting things away, running Sarah Beth off the computer, feeding the cats, making sure the birds had food and water, locking the dogs in the pen and generally battening down the hatches for another cold night. Now every body is in bed and asleep but me and I am sitting here by the fire, loving the heat but I think I will join them now so good night all, and God bless.

Ummm, well, hmmm, ahhhhhhh..............You know.......and .......It's like.........ummmm. Well, like.....hmmm....


Maybe I can do better tomorrow night. I don't seem to be getting anything here.

My turn to post the snow pictures. What I like about it is that it didn't stick to the roads!

See the duck hiding?

Just found another good one Lois, Click here

Lois, I found this website that you would absolutely love! (Click here) It has the most beautiful victorian pictures. You can go there and look things over. I want to come to your house on Friday if possible and we can explore it together. Meanwhile, go ahead and check it out.

Most days I am at the shop all day even if I don't open the door. Usually I don't open up because it is way too cold out there and I am too lazy to start a fire in the stove or just that nobody comes and it is a waste of time and effort. Yesterday was one of those days. I didn't bother to open the doors but a lady stopped and came in the office door where I was working on the computer. She wanted to know if I would buy a 37¢ stamp from her. Her grandaughter was sick and she didn't have enough money to buy a Sprite for her. Of course I gave her some money, just 50¢, I didn't have any dollars with me. She was grateful and promised to come back when she got her check and buy some stuff. I didn't think any more about it. Later that day Lois came by in the truck and dropped some stuff off and while the door was open some one from out of town stopped and I they bought $50.00 worth of stuff! Wow, I was so glad that Lois stopped or I would not have been open for them to stop. When I told Terry about it last night he said, "Well, that was a pretty good return on the 50¢ you gave that morning." I hadn't thought about it that way but I guess it was. Way to go, Lord!