No Vacancy

We finally got back to walking yesterday morning. Got in 3 miles in an hour and a half. And that was with a lot of stops to enjoy the birds, turtles, bunnies and quail. For the first time in a long time we saw bunnies, but I couldn't get the phone out of my pocket in time to get their picture. Our first stop was at the Boardwalk pond. No more room on this rock for more turtles. A nice sunny morning they were enjoying. 

The little guy was on a rock of his own. 

The water was high - usually this rock is out of the water. Liked the reflections in the water. 

We are starting to see the big fish again, for a while we didn't see any. 

Oh! He company on his rock. 

Looking at the snowy mountains. They are supposed to get a couple more feet of snow the end of this week, and we should get some rain. 

Taken from the bridge we walk to. The strip isn't very far from here as a bird flies.

No pelicans in the river, but one did fly over, of course missed a picture of him. Two cormorants airing their pits. 

Just as we were leaving the park we saw this guy. Usually nothing is in this area. Then some idiot came up the path with two dogs, not on leashes. The bird took off. Dogs are not allowed in most of the park. These two were small enough to be coyote snacks. 

Watched a quilting show on TV and they were using up scrap material making little baskets. Looked like fun and I do have lots of scraps. The first one I made. Made a few mistakes on it, but only I know where. No I have no idea what to use them for or what to do with them when they are done. Not real big, about 4" by 4".

They have a lining in them. And a little pocket on the front. 

Also got one of my diamond paintings done, framed and hung up. Bill made the frame out of maple burl years ago. Used to have a different photograph in it. But works for this just fine. (they are hard to get good pictures of. It is prettier than it looks here.)

I've actually been cooking lately. Made roasted vegetables - potatoes, mushrooms, carrots, red peppers and zucchini. Turned out GOOD. Also cooked some chicken breasts coated in Caesar dressing and sour cream then topped with crushed Caesar croutons and parmesan cheese. I cooked them in the air fryer and they turned out perfect. Then yesterday I made Waldorf Salad. Haven't had it in years but had all the ingredients so why not. YUM. 

Bill's eyelid is still drooping down. It can take up to six weeks for all swelling to go down, so we are still hoping it will be good. Son sent his ladies, he owns cleaning company, over today to clean. I don't turn that down. And that's it from here. 

A Happy Saint Patrick's Month to All

 Got all my Saint Patrick's Day stuff out. Celebrate the whole month, why not. My pillow covers. 

I've had the placemats and napkins and other stuff on table for a long time. 

Also this hanging decoration. When I put this up it made me really miss my embroidery machine. I probably could get the embroidery mechanism fixed $$$ - but I no longer have the program with all the patterns. It was on an old laptop (think Vista!) that quit working. And it will not load on my Windows 8 or 11 laptops. Oh well. 

I got a text on my phone saying Verizon was offering me a $40 decrease on my monthly bill. It had a link to click...Well...nope not clicking the link though it really looked like Verizon. So I called their customer service number and much to my surprise it was real. So thanks to customer service, very nice lady, we now get $40 a month off for the next year. For being loyal customers. Works for me.  

I like to put up stained glass sun catchers in my kitchen window to go with the season. I only had two for Saint Patrick's Day so I needed two more. Went on line and found a couple of patterns. The paper pattern I downloaded is on the left. The glass I cut out is on the right. Picking out and cutting the glass is the first step.

This is the second pattern - on the left. On the right is the roughly cut glass, it is under the paper pattern I made from the original pattern. 

Next step is grinding the glass pieces so they fit the original pattern, then each piece has to have copper foil put around all the pieces. 

Then they get soldered together. That is the hardest part for me because of my shaking hands. But managed to get it done. Just have to add the hangers and polish them. 

I haven't been sewing lately. I have my three Easter throw pillow covers already done and waiting until next month.

Bill is still having a hard time with his eyelid. Sometimes it is up and he can see fine. Other times it is half closed and he is looking through his eyelashes which tends to make him dizzy. Other times the lid is completely closed. He says he does not want to have any thing else done to it.  I did read it takes 5 to 6 weeks to completely heal. We are hoping by then the swelling will be gone and it will stay up. 

Yesterday he made a BIG batch of spaghetti sauce. Just some of the stuff he used to make it. 

Chopping  everything up. That suncatcher in window is one I've had for years. 

All kinds of things chopped. We were waiting for a WalMart delivery to get a few more things he needed.

Like I said a BIG batch. Smelled so yummy cooking. I package it in freezer zip lot bags. So we have it when we want it. As an aside - the pan on the right was my mothers, she had it as long as I can remember. The pan on the left is what is left of a set of  "waterless cookware" My first husband was a salesman for them. Um...66 years ago. 

Our weather has been weird' either way above normal or way below. In a below normal stage for a few days. Even got some rain and more snow on the mountains. And along with that came big winds. Sure hope those dead pine trees have deep roots and hang in there until they get cut down. Haven't even been walking. I miss it, but don't like to go alone. And this time of year it isn't very pretty in the Wetlands. Everything is brown. 

A couple more pictures of Sphere. 

For the most part we are not going any where so an exciting day for us is when the pest control guys come and then the cleaning ladies show up both on the same day. (Bless our son.) Pretty bad huh.

My new sun catchers up. The one on the right and the second on on the left. I haven't done any stained glass for a long time, forgot how rewarding it feels to do something I can use. 

We still haven't heard from management about how we made out with the 4-sided inspection the end of last month. Usually hear the next week. Don't know if that is good or bad. And that's it for now. Hopefully next time I write I'll have something interesting to share.

Just one walk in weeks.

I did manage to get in one three mile walk this Monday. I was sure ready to sit down when I got home. The lady I walked with is a FAST walker. She's out of town for the rest of the week, so not walking - more fun to go with someone. 

Most of the birds we used to see weren't around. Don't know if it was the wrong time of day or if they are headed towards their northern homes. This one was hiding in the reeds. 

Last time we walked a couple of weeks ago this river was dry, now it is full and rushing again. It had been damned of upstream so work could be done on the banks. Oops guess that is my finger. 

This this picture doesn't show the true colors, but the area along the trail was almost snow white. It is salt that has leeched up from the dirt. 

It has been two weeks since Bill's second eyelid surgery and he is still having problems.Sometimes the lid is up completely and other times almost completely closed. There is some swelling still so we are hoping when that goes away it will be fine. Information says it takes four to six weeks to heal. He does not want to go back to doctor. So I guess we just wait. Today his eyelid is completely down...

Another picture of Sphere. That would be something to see. 

Well the management did the four sided inspection on our home last week. Still haven't got a letter from them. Maybe they forgot to send it but don't want to call and ask about it. They always find something wrong.