Guess Who Is A Regular Visitor

You may remember we had a surprise visitor earlier this Spring Hubby vigilantly sat on a stakeout to discover who was eating the bird food during the night. The squirrels were quite bold, but we were pretty sure that they are not nocturnal.

I gotta tell you, I have a {healthy} fear of raccoons.  I know they look cute in the Lone Ranger mask but I'm pretty sure that they can bite the sh*t out of someone.

Hubby and I were curious if Ranger {yeah, we named him} would come back. We hoped not....but we also sort of hoped so. We wanted to get some pics of this guy.  Do you remember how seriously he took the challenge to outsmart Pesky Squirrel?  Well, Ranger has proven to be a different sort of challenge.  After the undeniable proof that we had a raccoon stealing our songbird's food, we felt a duty to bring in the feeders each night.  We hypothesized that after finding no food for several nights Ranger would move on.

Taking in the feeders is sort of tricky for timing.  The birds are still out singing and coming to the feeder until dusk is over. We don't want to discourage them from eating, so we wait for them to become quiet before bringing in the feeders.  The thing about that is that it is often already dark and sometimes we forget.  But for at least a week, the feeder remained full overnight, so we thought, yep, Ranger moved on to another food source.

On Friday night, Jacob {poodle} and I were sitting on the couch watching TV when both Jacob and I heard a sort of clatter outside.  It's Spring, so we knew it wasn't Santa. I said to hubby:  "Hubby did you hear that?  It sounded close...like in the yard or something".  So hubby went to the window, turned on the floodlight, and Ranger was on top of the feeder.  He stopped, looked at hubby and evaluated if we were coming outside. He decided we weren't, so he went right back to eating.

Hubby wanted to get a "good" pic of this wild animal in our yard. But of course, his camera was not in the kitchen (where we can seem Ranger from the window). Hubs went about getting his camera and when he came back to photograph Ranger was climbing down from the feeder and left.  Hubs couldn't believe he missed the shot.

When I came home from work the next day, I noticed a tripod and camera set up at the kitchen window.  I didn't say anything. I knew that Hubs was going to ensure he was "ready" for the next raccoon encounter.

I LOVE MOTHER'S DAY

The little cherub to the left is how I joined the Mother's Day Club. {This photo is the day we were leaving the hospital.} This was just the beginning of the motherhood adventure.  This little, little person has grown up to be a lovely young woman. And, yes, as her mother, I deserve ALL the credit. {Thank you...thank you very much.}

Of course, mother's day is not just about me.  It is a day where I can reflect on the Mothers I have been blessed with.

I am Margaret's firstborn.  This makes me the "good one".

I'm Not a Morning Person

Notice anything different in this pic? Other than the really poor quality photo {iPhone camera}. My lip is purple and swollen. Yeah, it's undeniable. I have a fat lip.

Here is what happened. This morning, before my alarm went off, I woke up to my dog wheezing.  {This cute dog here}  Anyway, Jacob was wheezing and coughing and sounded like a cat dealing with a hairball.  Hairballs, wheezing and coughing never ends well.



My auto-response was "Oh,*@!* NO!"  I was not about to have to deal with the results of doggie hairball in my bedroom.  If a hairball is going to occur, it needs to occur in the bathroom. {Everyone knows that.}

So, I jumped out of bed, grabbed the dog and proceeded to run to the bathroom.

Did I tell you that I was wearing socks? Yes, sleepy me running into bathroom {dog in hand} and when my socked feet hit the vinyl floor my body was on a forward trajectory as I was also falling to the ground. Basically, once I fell, my body was still moving forward like a torpedo!  The only thing that stopped this human missile from sliding was ...the bathroom cabinet. Yes, my head crashed into the cabinet. I hit my head (and still have a headache) and bit my lip.

Hubby was awakened by the sound of my fall. Here is what he heard:  "Bum...bum bum. Head
hitting hard surface".  "Ow".

Poor dog was traumatized, though NOT hurt.  His wheezing was scared out of him and he insisted that he was completely fine.

Lessons?  Wake Hubby any time dog coughs during the night.  I am not qualified to handle this.

April

This photo was taken by my husband on what may have been the prettiest tree day this year. April is quickly coming to a close.

A Weekend at Home

These wonderful roses came from our yard!  The Hubs and I are thrilled.  Thrilled, I tell you! Aren't they lovely? The Hubs and I picked out some really great bright colorful roses to be planted in our rose garden. On another day I'll share a pic of the actual rose garden.  --For now, think "White House" Rose Garden.