Weblog 224

May 23, 2010~ 12:30 am
It's been another week of yard-watching. The wild flowers continue to bloom and roll up their colors around the old cinder block foundations of the house. I brought some inside and stuck them in a bud vase



because they cheer me. Some of the little buttercups have fallen off, but the BUDS have opened. (I thought for sure those things would be dead the next morning) but they've held on all week! That pleases me.

No movie this evening. We visited with my daughter and family, who have added a new member to their "five humans, two standard poodles, two hermit crabs, one fishtank full of stuff (including a comically acrobatic frog".) This one's a furry guy. One I'd normally run from...



and there he is! To quote Holly in her email earlier this week that accompanied that picture: "Meet Detective Mark Goob, my Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula".....LOL!!! Indeed! He's a shy thing, and no one's picked him up yet. He sits in his climate controlled terrarium- fuzzy and unbothered -moving oh so slowly, on occasion. I love his two beady black eyes and his shimmery hair. Holly said tarantulas are terribly susceptible to trauma if dropped while you're holding them.... their abdomens can actually rupture from a good smack against the floor. (So the 'Goob' is better off left alone under his light, hiding next to a piece of driftwood, spinning small webs that look like gossamer.) He didn't scare me a bit. He calms me watching him....a soft, curious wonder.

I DID clean my porch this week! (Wonder of wonders) -dragging a rusted, hand-push lawnmower and my old electric power mower (neither of which have been used in 5 years since the grasscutter's been doing it)--down to the basement. I threw out a ratty, potted silk plant that's been beside the back door for forever, then manhandled the back porch glider this way and that as I vacuumed the indoor/outdoor carpeting of its pine needle and paint-chipped second skin. I have my mother's old vacuum cleaner and it's a vintage HOOVER model that my father bought for her after she'd had some abdominal surgery half a lifetime ago. It's self-propelled. (It does, however weigh a TON. LOL!!- therefore the plus of having a self-propelled machine for someone who was not supposed to strain herself was sort of cancelled out by any lifting maneuvers needed to get the thing here and there.)

It's very 'retro chic'...for instance: the settings are 'self-adjusting, plush, and SHAG. (Yes...'shag'....for when a rake simply won't suffice.)

Here's a shot of 'Red Eyes/Red Feet' preening on the back fence



his coloring gorgeous! He's a handsome one, alright...and he KNOWS it. Despite their messiness, pigeons are dignified looking creatures walking around with such pomposity and size, you'd swear they were all judges. And I caught a blackcapped chickadee on the same fence.



I love these wee, round guys. There's a certain 'dressed up' sharp flair to their look: no matter they're no bigger than a minute, they have a classy 'weight' to them.

Roaming about, looking for feed, traversing the yard when all the food was on the tree stump



I spied Rocky, the smallish mourning dove who is my delight. (She's the one I watched transform herself from a meek, retiring 'lady' into a fire and vinegar defender-of-her-stash last week. LOL!) And here she is



just to the left of the stump, looking up at a grackle who's chomping on the cracked corn, with another one just behind him in the grass. Rocky's posture seems to say, "Oh....THERE it is!...and who's that interloper?"

Rest assured, each late afternoon and early evening, I am in very good company. OH! And on Friday night there was a black bear in Overbrook! On the street that runs along the top of the hillside beyond my back yard and just across the trolley tracks. Animal control was called in, and the thing climbed a tree. They shot it with a tranquilizing dart and it slowly came down again and made off into the woods. Lord. Now bears....whatever do they eat? (Besides people that is.) I'm sure my neighbor Margaret will be chiding me about putting peanuts and feed in the yard. Heavens. It's not a grizzly for heaven's sake. LOL!!!!

The recent discovery of that bear, however, explains the strange crow behavior in the treetops on the hill behind the house. On Thursday evening, while I sat at the back door sipping coffee- my 'Birds of Pennsylvania' book on my lap -there must have been twenty crows patrolling above, screaming like Apaches, hovering, swooping, carrying on like they were at the Super Bowl. I'll just bet those fellas spied the bear- long before people did.

They're nature's policemen, those crows. And very cautious. We'd be wise to heed them. I know they left me with a feeling of edginess, hearing and watching them carry on in a way I'd never seen before. One came down Saturday and calmly ate some peanuts, so I guess the firedrill is over. Perhaps the bear has moved on. Time will tell.




May 23, 2010~ 9:30 pm
Tonight was SENIOR PROM NIGHT at mum's assisted living. There was a red carpet and an 'Oscars' theme. They served cake, cookies and punch-- they had a DJ



and DANCING! It was sponsored by a local church's youth group, and those kids were so lively and sweet. They danced with the residents, even the ones in wheelchairs got a big smile, hands locked to hands and swayed and bopped to the music. Even MUM got up and GOT DOWN....LOL!!



With my two left feet and self-consciousness, I leaned over and said to mum she had the wrong daughter with her. My sister Kathy is a twinkle toes, and can't resist music when she hears it. Nevertheless, I did do the Macarena (while seated....lol) and the same with the Hokey Pokey. However...I could not contain myself when 'Shout' came on. I always make a big ass of myself when I hear that song, and tonight was no different. I LOVE IT!

The resident bird, Pretty Boy, kept his head bobbing to the music



and whistled and tweeted at all the ruckus. (The DJ at times could not be heard because the bird would not calm down.) "A fun time was had by all".....and they even crowned a king and queen



and they beamed at everyone. It sure was another delightful evening there. All the folks are truly sweet, and appreciate these special events-- everyone clapping and smiling and having a great evening together. This followed a particularly tasty supper in the main dining room that I shared as well: southern fried chicken, whipped potatoes and gravy, creamed corn and raspberry sherbert with peach slices for dessert. (Neither mum nor I had room for the after-prom refreshments. Too stuffed.)

This must have been a fun week. They also had an afternoon where ladies put on accessories in the activity room, and the activity director snapped their picture. The each got two copies. I spied mum's face down on top of her TV. I was SO EXCITED...it's my favorite picture of her, but she hates it. While I was exclaiming how wonderful it was, mum said, "I was ready to rip it up. I look mad or crazy on that!" No. No, mum. You look beautiful



- and happy....having a grand old time. "Catherine's was nice," she said. "She had on a dark blue felt hat and a blue silk scarf. Dignified." "Well mum," I said, "try as you might to be Greer Garson, you'll always come off Mae West," I told her.

She punched me in the arm. I juked.

And she'd KILL ME if she knew I posted this.
(Luckily, she's computer illiterate. LOL!!)





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