Birds and Coyotes

This has been a week to watch wildlife from my home.  On Wednesday I watched the birds at the suet feeder right in front of the porch.  It seemed that the smaller birds had the morning shift and larger ones later.  The morning began with the little Downy Woodpeckers coming for breakfast, Mr. and Mrs Downy, then the larger Hairy Woodpecker, only the male.  They took a short break and let the Nuthatches and Chickadees come in to feed for a few minutes.   Around 2 p.m. our very pretty Red-Bellied Woodpecker came in.  He is gorgeous with his very bright scarlet-orange cap on.  The Red-Bellied was a particular delight as he came in the yard last spring along with the Ladder-Back Woodpecker and the Red Headed Woodpecker. 

But back to the suet feeder, later still the Pileated Woodpecker delight me with his visit.  Generally they stay in the yard for 15 minutes or so, going from tree to tree giving me quite a show.  They also come frequently, but not every day.  Last but not least, I saw two Bald Eagles way, way in the back of the pastures next to the pine trees.  Two of them circling  then going into the Pines.  They are probably some 1000-1500 feet from the house, maybe more.

Well, if that wasn't enough excitement what do I see today????  A coyote, walking down the road at 11:45, heading east, I could hardly believe my eyes, right down the road, not in the snowbanks.  I went out on the porch and yelled.  Here puppy, he barely looked over his shoulder and kept on towards his mission.

Half hour later my husband comes in the house, all excited and said as he came from the garage walking to the back door, 20 feet, that same coyote came out from under the back porch and slithered around the foundation and around the house.  We watched it walk down the road, heading west this time.  We called a neighbor, who loves to shoot things and told him.  He could not get off the phone quick enough to go looking.

After talking with several neighbors, and the owner of the farm across the road, it was concluded that the coyote is very ill.  With it's scraggelly coat, hubby said it has the "mange"  A fatal condition, very painful for the animal.  The coyote was more than likely shunned from the pack and is on it's own.  So it is around the suet feeders and eating the chicken gizzards I threw out for the crows the other day.

Well that was just too much excitement for me and a big worry.  Our cats, dogs and the starving cats from down on the farm are in danger of catching the mange.  I hope Ed has his gun ready to put the poor suffering animal down.

Oh yes.....the purpose of this blog.....

Well I put the red clay to soak and is doing well, I am working on designing stamps to imprint tiles and whatever, while the clay is getting ready to be kneaded.

Had a full day

Hubby's trip downstate today was long and exhausting for him.  He went into the doctors office with his dad and stepmother for the test and counsultation.  I don't have all the details and wouldn't post it here anyway.

My day was mostly cleaning and a huge cooking project for meals.  Meals for ourselves and dad and Peggy.

Pumpkin pie, goulash, that awful recipe that Hubby loves so much and I hate, skillet hash and potatoes, egg salad for sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.  Peggy was very thankful for pie, hash, and egg salad.  I am trying to cook some meals without too much carbs in them.  I will make lasagne tomorrow, there is lots of meat and cheese in that plus some noodles.  I hope it will be legal for her diet.  Meatloaf is on the menu also, and cole slaw.

I am very tired tonight.....I did put some redware clay into water to soak, it did well, so I drained off some water and put more dried clay that I had rolled into a slab, into the bucket.  Bit by bit, I will get some little handbuilt project going here.  I walked around the basement some, looking at the mostly covered up pottery studio just to see the awful lot of mess, dust and gobs of cat hair all around.  It's a major, huge! cleanup that needs doing.

Guess I will go hit the hay, it's too late.

Getting Closer

Today I will make one tiny effort to do something in clay.  Last night I thought, "Why does my effort have to be gargantuan project.  Why not take one lump of clay, soak in water and ready it to build something?  Why worry about cleaning the pottery studio to perfection so I can start the rest of my life.  @%!?, (read my past two blogs and there is too much cussing going on around here!  So I will use other words)

Why can't I just make a little handbuilt something or other, go into pottery gradually, since the building project is on hold now for Al.

Besides, I have to make a small lunch sized meal for Dad and Peggy when they get home tonight, and Lagagne for tomorrow.  With Peg's diabetes I have to watch the carbs and sugar.  Course that would not hurt Al and myself either.

Whenever I have wanted to start "the rest of my life"  there has always been this huge hunk of disorganization in front of the project.  So I dutifully targeted that mess before starting any project.  Now?  not so much.  I life the idea of soaking a lump of clay to get started on, whatever.  I will probably bring a small project up here and work in my office, with all the dry clay dust that is such a no-no in any living space.  But here goes.

Good Luck Honeybunches.......You'll need it!

Delays

You know how you get all primed up for things to change?  You talk to yourself, weigh pros and cons, come up with plans, designs, get a good nights sleep and think, good, in the morning I will begin working for me and what I want to do.

I tried that last fall after coming home from the east to visit my kids and two grandsons.  BAM, sick, more sickness and then more sickness.  Day after day goes by, nothing getting done towards my own goals.

Is anything ever going to change?  Yes, when I say to hell with all the interruptions.  I am at that point now.

Then a family crisis comes next and you can't just go off and discover yourself.  I have been reading my magazines, that interest me and the so to speak trade magazines,can't wait to get started.  Then I think, remind myself.  The studio is full of crap, full of sawdust from the building project Al is working on and a ton of other household jobs to do.  I can never get started doing what I want to do, cause of the damn housework and the preparing meals.  I cook from scratch, everything needs to be chopped, cleaned, skined, trimmed, whatever! then I cook.  I just don't know how to cook other wise.  If I get convience foods, I can really screw those things up.  Don't know why?  It's cooking, isn't it?  But setting timers for frozen something, something else frozen, that requires different time, and temps, hell, before I know it, that is ruined.

So I go to bed early and think perhaps a full nights sleep will set me straight.
4:00 a.m. comes along and a potty break, go back to bed and stare at the shadows dancing on the walls.  tick tick tick.  So almost 6:00 a.m. and say to heck with it go back to bed cause tomorrow I will be dozing at the desk.

I'll try again tonight.