going to find an alien

We're babysitting our little chatty, energetic, inquisitive, independent, loving, active, curious, funny, smart, book-loving, perpetual motion almost 3 year old grandson and loving every minute of it. Every time I sit down to take a breath, the little guy says, "Didi, wet's do Awien Yoga!" (let's do Alien Yoga) I can't say no, so for the 689th time, Owen and I are off to find an alien. 

5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1...BLAST OFF!

(Regular posts will return maybe Wednesday, Thursday for sure. xoxo)

the friday feed: chili

Last week after our return from Florida, the refrigerator was bare. Prior to the trip, I had gotten rid of any foods that would spoil. Nothing worse than opening your fridge and getting a whiff of rotten something or seeing mold growing on food.

While in Florida we stayed at two friends' homes. The first half of the trip was delightful. We walked, played games, talked about family, reminisced our college days, and relaxed in the sunshine. The second half of the vacation was a total reversal. The couple bickered pretty much the whole time. We loved being in the Florida sunshine and staying in their beautiful home, but at the end of the visit we had to make sure to get to the airport early to return the car and avoid long lines at check in and security. 

From a contentious visit to a contentious week in politics - local to state to national to world - my brain was about to explode. Todd requested one of his favorite comfort foods, chili. Making the list, shopping at a neighborhood grocery store, browning the meat and chopping the veggies, letting the chili simmer all afternoon, and just being in my kitchen, really helped me to find my calm.

cold shoulder actions

chili for a chilly day

cooking to chill out

Everyone knows what a bowl of chili with crackers crunched in it looks like so to bring a smile for whatever ails you, this was my big rescue dog, Ted, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2021. He was big in every aspect of his life and the sweetest dog ever. When dinner was on the table, Ted was always right there, laser-focused and patiently waiting for a scrap. He didn't go for the food but just let us know that a nibble would be greatly appreciated.

celebrating march

Over the years with driving around town, I have found two houses that decorate the outside of their homes every single month. These people are into equal opportunity decorating for holidays or for the season. Me, I'm a minimalist. I buy pumpkins for the fall season and we string a few lights for Christmas but that's the extent of holiday decorating. During the spring and summer months, gardens are my way of dressing up the home's exterior. 

These people have fun doing what they do and I enjoy and appreciate their efforts.

Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Easter rolled into one!

 

wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

Whenever I fly, I always try to get a window seat. I love to look out the window at the clouds and the changing landforms. I'm not claustrophobic but window views take away the fact that I'm jammed in a tin can with lots of other people.

The views below are of Cincinnati, Ohio and the Ohio River which forms the border between Ohio and Kentucky. Six bridges connect the two river of cities Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky. Going from top to bottom:

• Daniel Carter Beard Bridge, aka The Big Mac Bridge
• Louisville & Nashville RR Bridge, aka The Purple People Bridge. Hard to tell, but the bridge is purple
• Taylor-Southgate Bridge 
• John R Roebling Suspension Bridge, This bridge was the prototype for the Brooklyn Bridge
• Clay Wade Bailey Bridge
• Brent Spence Bridge

The Ohio River is busy. Regular barge traffic carries carries of oil, steel, and other industrial goods produced in the region. 

License plates with catchy messages catch my eye. This one in the airport parking lot is fun. I wonder where this great escape took its car's owners?

More signs that spring is on its way...Daffodils at the daffodil house are poking out of the ground. Tens of thousands of bright yellow daffodils will brighten the hillsides of this gorgeous home. Yes, a future post is in the making. We have had some beautiful sunsets and sunrises. I love that the sunsets are getting later and later and the sunrises are earlier. The days are getting longer.

I've been spending a lot of time at my kitchen window watching the birds come to my bird feeder. A red bellied woodpecker, blue birds, and many others frequent this feeding spot. I need to find a bird identification app because lots of feathered friend have come to feast!

On Monday, a New York Times article reported on the Legacy on Ice, a skating event held in honor of the skaters who died in the crash over the Potomac River. It was held at the Capitol One Arena in Washington D.C. and proceeds from this performance go to the families of those who died. The skating community is a close knit one and everyone who skated did it out of love and to help themselves and others heal. The skaters cried during their routines and I cried while reading the article. What a tragedy,

Lastly, on Monday my son announced in the family chat that he got Wordle on the first try! What a way to start the week. He will end the week with an even bigger accomplishment, the birth of his daughter. Todd and I are heading to Cleveland today so the soon-to-be-parents of two can have their last date night night before the baby is born.

oh. my. gosh!

While running errands, I passed by an elementary school and couldn't help but notice a bright green Tesla Cybertruck in the line to pick up kids. My phone wasn't available. It was buried at the bottom of my very cute purse. (I love this purse but it's a real pain to find anything quickly and I'm always digging through it). 

Anyway, that photo op came and went.

A couple hours later, I took a back way home to avoid traffic, turned a corner, and there it was - that lime green Cybertruck, barely fitting in the driveway. My phone wasn't buried at the bottom of my cute purse, no traffic, so of course photo time!

These boxy (ugly) vehicles come in a in raw stainless steel finish and on the road have quite the presence. But lime green? Ew. I've heard that the stainless steel is low quality and the vehicles are already having issues with corrosion. A lot of owners are wrapping them to protect them. 

What do you think about calling it the Cucumber Cruiser?

mondays mulling: burrowing owls

One of the highlights (at least for me) of our Florida vacation was taking morning walks and spotting the Burrowing Owl nests. For the last half of our holiday we were in Cape Coral which is home to the largest population of Burrowing Owls. Charming and tiny, these tiny owls reside in underground burrows.

The Burrowing Owl is one of the smallest owl species in the world and it is unique among all the owl species for living underground. They are often observed sitting in front of their burrows or on nearby perches at any time. 

This burrow is right by a 4-lane road and a parking lot for a public park , lots of traffic, so it gets a sign to alert all the human and motorized traffic about the owl's underground nest. The burrow is just to the right of the wire and the PVC pipes mark the boundary for curious humans to KEEP OUT.

 

I used the zoom function on my phone camera to get a pic of this sweet face but he sure gave me what for. I've never had an owl tell me to "Get off my lawn!"

"You want another photo? This is my best side."

On another morning stroll, we walked past an empty lot where a house recently been torn down and a burrowing owl saw an opportunity to build a nest. To move an owl's nest is costly but to destroy a Burrowing Owl's nest holds a high fine. These owls are a protected species.

As we continued our walk, I asked my friend what he thought the construction workers would do when they saw the owls. He told me that there's a hefty fine for disturbing/destroying an owl's nest but sometimes the construction companies will absorb the fine to build an expensive home. For many reasons, that really bothered me. The next day I googled how to protect a Burrowing Owl's nest in Cape Coral, it directed me to the Friends of Cape Coral Wildlife, and off went an email to the FCCW with photos and a property address telling them about the burrow. The little guy vs. the big guy. Nature vs. man. I hope someone will give a hoot.

ochopee, florida post office

In Wednesday's post, I mentioned our day trip to the Ochopee Post Office. This tiny Post Office located in the vast Everglades is the smallest in the United States. The building, 8 feet 4 inches deep and about 7 feet wide, used to be a shed to store tools and tomatoes. Now it’s a full-fledged post office with room for only a single clerk. It has 40 P.O. boxes and sends a carrier out six days a week on a 170-mile route to serve 300 patrons who dwell mostly in the middle of nowhere. During winter, this place is a tourist attraction. People line up at the window for postcards bearing the coveted Ochopee 34141 ZIP code. When Todd and I visited, we were the only ones there, we bought a few post cards, and just chatted away with the clerk. He told us that occasionally alligators will sunbathe in the parking lot and since there is no post office lobby, visitors need to wait to get out of their cars. A post office in the Everglades..."Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Add alligators to Ochopee's mission.

Whenever we are away from the house for more than a couple days, I use the USPS Mail Hold Service to pause our mail delivery. Back in the day, I remember going to the post office, filling out a card, and handing it to the clerk for a mail hold. Nowadays, holding mail is done online in a matter of a minute or two. This past mail hold lasted for a couple weeks. When we got home from Florida, the postman had placed our mostly two weeks of junk mail on the front porch and it was there waiting for us. There were a couple relevant things but the ads, flyers, solicitations, credit card apps, and whatever else either went right to the recycle bin or through the shredder. Getting mail used to be fun. Now it's an exercise in sorting. I walk to the mail box through the garage, come back, stop at the recycle bin and most days nothing makes it into the house. In a few days, a keeper piece of mail will arrive. I bought an Ochopee post card and sent it to my house!