Lucy:

 Lucy just turned 8 years old (54 in human years). She has been with us since she was just under one years old. She had been arrested by the Alamosa, CO police for raiding a herd of sheep. The police gave the shelter three days to get her out of the area. We adopted her with one day to go and she has been a wonderful family member for 7  years. 

We don't believe she was alone on the raid and that someone; probably the sheep owner, shot at her because when she hears a gun shot she immediately goes into hiding under the bed. We hear occasional gun shots near us so she get a lot of practice hiding under the bed. She is such a very good family member and so loving and a good companion to our overall family, plus she keeps the two boys under control.

She has an auto immune disease and has had an anal fistula so her medical life has had its problems but she is so loving and sweet and we have her medical issues under control. She is such a valuable family member we prayshe will be with us many more years. 

Basil noodles-Carol

Many years ago my sister gifted us with an AeroGarden. This spring I planted several herbs in it, then transferred them to a window box on our deck. They have all thrived. I love basil so today have tried my hand at basil noodles. I had to adjust the recipe that I found on the internet but I think that they are going to taste as good as they look. The basil olive oil is from a local olive oil company!

Dogs Are Family:

 Having been involved in animal rescue in the past I get daily posts about dogs needing to be fostered or adopted. I wish that I could adopt more but at our senior age and our small house it is just not feasible to have more than the three we currently have. They are our family and I often see posts where dogs are starved, mistreated. abused or worse. It is clear to me that some people just should not have pets of any kind as they lack the ability to care for them and they consider them possessions instead of family members. 

I used to investigate prospective adopters and that was revealing to say the least. One well dressed woman at first looked like a good adopter but further investigation revealed she fronted for a dog fighting ring. Another adopter wanted another dog to replace the first one adopted. Her teenage son was playing ball with the dog and the dog jumped for the ball and he hit the dog in the head with the bat and killed it. He wanted another dog. He didn't get it from our rescue!  

Or the guy who adopted one of our dogs against my strong objection and immediately took it to a mountain trail and taking it for a hike without a lead and it ran off and was not heard from again. Their was zero bonding time and he blamed the dog. What I learned is not  to judge an adopter by what they say or their appearance. Some people are not good caretakers and should not have the responsibility for a dog. I could go on ad infinitum about cases like this as these are just a few examples. DOGS ARE FAMILY and if you can't treat them as such - please do not adopt. However it seems that those who shouldn't have a dog are the ones most vocal in obtaining one.

Chuckle For The Day:

 

Ghost Towns:

 

During our time spent in Colorado we visited various places but this ghost town, named Bonanza, was especially attractive. I thought this abandoned homestead was especially pretty. The town also had a cemetery that had graves dating back to the civil war. Many grave markers were made of wood and had decomposed to the point they couldn't be read. Some of the old buildings in town were taken over by summer residents. 

The road to Bonanza was not maintained in the winter so I didn't see any full time residents but there could have been one or two. It was clearly a mining town as a creek showed signs of pollution from  mining. Some of the old abandoned mining towns were interesting to visit. One I went to had been taken over by the EPA as a super fund clean up. Walking along a creek it was sad to see the water was clear but there wasn't any life at all in the creek. 

Colorado ghost towns are interesting and I could imagine how they must have been in their hay day. The roads to some can only be reached by hiking or a very durable 4 wheel drive. If ever in Colorado a visit to ghost towns is a worthwhile adventure. 

Hummingbirds:

In Colorado we had a flock of hummingbirds but here we have at most three. In Colorado we had two kinds - broadtail and Rufus. Here we have ruby throated. Big difference between the two locations. 

The Danger Of Packrats.

 Also known as wood rats. They have those big ears and look cute, but looks can be deceiving. We had to deal with them on a regular basis when we lived in the S. Colorado mountains. They liked to build their nests under decks that were tight or in the engine compartment of your vehicle. You would go out in the morning and take a deep breath of what used to be fresh wholesome air and choke on the smell of packrats. 

They had a tendency to urinate as they moved about and it smelled awful. You would then be on the hunt for the nest and when found you needed to remove and break it up. Then get out the live traps and bait it with peanut butter.  If you were fortunate you would catch one and take it far away and let it go and hope it didn't beat you back home. 

As to the vehicles, you would need to prop your hood open as they did not like to nest in closed spaces. We found that out the hard way as one morning I forgot to raise the hood only to find out a nest was built in the engine compartment with our vacuum hoses as part of its nest. Some had their wiring harness as part of a nest and that is costly to repair. 

We found a neighbor who actually weaponized packrats. He had a lot of junk under his deck which attracted large amounts of packrats. He would live trap them and during the dark hours of night release them at peoples homes that he didn't like. I would then trap them and paint their tails and release them at his house during the day time. He considered it a game that only he enjoyed. 

Packrats are cute but they smell and can be destructive. Fortunately they love peanut butter so they are fairly easy to trap. 

Friday, August 7, 2026

Turn your sound on if it isn't!!

 

Wildfires:

 This is what it looks like after a wildfire  passes through. With wildfires burning all over the country this is what people see after the fire. 

Eggplant:

A neighbor gave us a small eggplant and it has grown up and produced two eggplants.  First I have ever grown. We had to research how to prepare it. It was actually tasty sauteed and fried. Still haven't figured out if we leave the purple skin on or take it off. We left it on and it was good that way. 

Monday Chuckle For Men:

 

Antlion-Socialism/Communism

 

The antlion is a most interesting insect. As you can see from the photo above the larvae are not handsome or pretty in any respect but they are consistent in the way they behave.  They survive by trapping their victims in sandy soil where the gravity and loose soil slip down the side. They dig a cone by digging around backwards forming a conical gravity trap where unsuspecting prey slips to the bottom where the antlion is waiting.  

Regretfully we have human people who have the same characteristics as the antlion. They are consistent in their behavior; they smile and articulate well but they are predators and trick unsuspecting prey. Gullible people are persuaded by their glib talk, their promise of free things and promises that the future will be happy and that they may live trouble free lives and everything they may need will be provided. 

What people fail to realize is that there is a price to pay and by the time they figure it out they find that they have lost their freedom. To get it back they will be subjects or fight to get it back. I once had the police chief of a large city I was working in come to speak to some of my contemporaries. He said something I have remembered all these years later. He said that people don't have their freedoms taken away from them; they give them up.

Talk to people who have fled socialism/communism and they will tell you why they fled it - then maybe you will gain some understanding why it is a trap that has been tried other places and failed leaving people far worse off. My suggestion is that you not fall victim to this claptrap that is being made to look so good for mankind. Exercise your rights and vote for what our country has stood for the last 250 years and how your present freedoms have won. Vote with your head not your feelings. 

Friday Funny:

 

Rheumatoid Arthritis:

 Several year ago before I retired our company insured a lady and her home. Her maid had fallen in her home and broken her arm and I ended up with the medical claim. I liked Elizabeth from the first time I called on her. Her maid had been with her for more years than they could count due to the crippling arthritis that plagued  Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth had hands that actually looked worse than those in the photo above. Normally a claim like this would be handled by mail but I made it a point to go by to pick up the medical bills to see Elisabeth as I learned she did not have many visitors. She had a daughter who lived across town but she never came to see Elizabeth. 

The final bills came just around Christmas and I went by to pay them. Elizabeth ask her maid to get me some of the Christmas cookies they made and a glass of milk. She then invited me to come into her parlor and have a seat. Elizabeth had a baby grand piano in her parlor and she sat down at the piano and with those crippled fingers played me a medley of Christmas carol's. 

She played them without a I flaw and it had to be painful to play carol after carol with those fingers which she struggled to control. I sat there for about 20 minutes listening to her play flawlessly some of the best Christmas music I had ever hear.  Elizabeth gave me a gift that has lasted me a lifetime and I don't think I have ever had a more precious or wonderful gift.

Bicycle Races:

 

Watching the Tour de France bicycle race and it reminds me of the USA Pro Challenge that was in Colorado many years ago. We were camping at Arkansas River Camp Ground and the race went right by the campground. Several of us took our lawn chairs out to the road and watched the riders go by. I had never paid any attention to bicycle racing before but it was actually quite exciting to witness. I enjoyed watching it.

When we were camping this campground owned by Jeff and Margo Huff was the best spot to spend a couple weeks. We made friends there that we are still in touch with today. It was one of the very best places in Colorado to spend time and have fun. Jeff and Margo were the best of hosts and they even put on a music night which was quite professional. I miss those good times. Buena Vista, Colorado is a super great place to spend time. 

Not How To Spend Friday Night:

We have in my opinion a deer problem in our community. We have  a herd of at least 17 deer and they have become a nuisance because people feed them and thus they hang around their free food source.  It wouldn't be so bad if they would stay where they are fed but they wander all over the neighborhood including our property which is roughly in the center of the community. 

I have researched if it is illegal to feed them in N. Carolina and it is legal to feed them. One neighbor lost his entire crop of okra to them along with other vegetables he was growing. Carol planted some bushes along our fence and they like to eat them. But that is not the worse. Our fur family members can't stand them and they have no real fear of our dogs either. Last night one came up and looked in the kitchen window and of course our dogs went crazy over their brazen taunt. 

When they moved off Carol let the dogs out into the back yard but one lingered and Rex went wild and when the deer moved off to the front of the house he immediately ran on the deck, jumped the fence that keeps them off the front of our deck, ran down the deck and climbed the hand rail/wire fence barrier and launched himself over the rail before we could get to him. 

He went airborne off the end of the deck to fall about 15/16 feet to the gravel driveway. Suffice to say that he hurt himself and we were in emergency care until just before midnight. He had no broken bones but did suffer a rather nasty cut on his left rear leg. He had numerous Xrays and we still don't know if any of his heartworms broke off and got to his bloodstream. 

Today he is on pain meds and limping around but nothing else seems to be surfacing. So 4 hours in a small room while they were treating and checking him out and $900.00 later plus little sleep last night, the whole family is suffering for his impetuous act of running the deer off.  

It had to be a pretty bad impact for an 82 pound German Shepherd dog to hit the ground from that height.  

This is the end he jumped off. He jumped from the top rail and the deer are in the photo.

Lyme Disease:

 

It has been several years ago since I got this tick bite on my arm but I remember with clarity the incident. I will not know for sure but my knees and ankles are pretty crippled up. I remember that the doctors did not want to call it Lyme Disease and did all kinds of tiptoeing around using that diagnosis. I finally went to one doctor that said it was probably Lyme and prescribed a strong antibiotic.  By then it had been well over a week since I got the bite. 

I had gone from the urgent care to Walgreens Rx just across the road to fill the Rx and as I was waiting for the prescription to be filled the other customers started a conversation about why they were there. When I told why I was there a man said his neighbor had Lyme and it progressed so badly that she could no longer walk to the end of her driveway to get her mail. 

I am not sure why doctors were reluctant to call it what it actually was but they said Colorado did not have Lyme Disease. It could have been the same as when we had a grey wolf come up and look in our house from the back door. There was no doubt that it was a wolf and others had seen it also. When I reported it to the game warden for our area he said that Colorado did not have any wolves. 

I later found out that if grey wolves were in our state that the state would have to adopt a very expensive program to monitor and control them, so they denied they were in our state. It may have been the same for Lyme Disease. This seems to be normal conduct for some government agencies - denial, denial. 

One thing I did learn besides our government lying to us is: when prescribed a strong antibiotic that I need to take a probiotic along with it as the antibiotic kills the healthy gut bacteria and you easily end up constipated.  

Thinking back my leg joints started to go bad shortly after the diagnosis of Lyme Disease. As soon as you see that bullseye mark, seek treatment

HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning)

 

Our HVAC system stopped working during the latest heat wave that lasted for several days. It was stifling in the house and our ceiling fans and table top fans couldn't help much. We called the service people and they said a new compressor was needed and it came with a one year warrantee and was only guaranteed tor one year. 

They said due to the age of our system we really needed a new system. We checked the probable age of systems and found they only lasted 20-25 years. Ours was within that time frame so we bit the bullet as they say and opted for a new system. It was put in yesterday and took almost the entire day to take the old system out and install the new system that comes with a 10 year warranty.  

The new system is more energy efficient and and it does feel more comfortable. It is made by a well known HVAC company so it should be fine for the rest of our lives and longer. Our real problem while the old unit was out was the humidity and this one has removed much of the humidity and will keep it down to a tolerable level. 

Our HAVC people are well established and should we need service in the future we know they will be there to carry out that service. We could have had a new unit installed cheaper by hiring a repairman but they seem to come and go and we want someone to be there if we need them in the future. The ones who do it as individuals also don't return your calls or come back when needed so we feel we made the right decision. 

Eye To Eye With A Hammerhead Shark:

  

Seeing the advertisements for shark week reminded me of the time I lived in Cape Coral, FL and I was fishing snook under a bridge. To catch the snook I would wade out into the river and cast my lure under the bridge at night. This was a popular way to fish snook at that time. There were pilings out there and we knew we couldn't go any farther than those pilings or it would be too deep. There was generally several of us lined up but that night I was alone.

The lights on the bridge left a line in the water and the snook would bite just as my lure came out of the dark into that light line. There were some old pilings there and I was up to my neck in the water casting with my arms above my head. I felt a bump a couple times and figured it was tarpon rubbing up against me. A 6" Rebel silver minnow was the bait of choice.

Then this huge head came up to bump me in the chest and it was this huge hammerhead shark up close not 12" from my face. It then just turned aside and swam off and I got out of the water quick but not frantic. I could not have reached my arms wide enough to touch each of its eyes, it was huge but fortunately not hungry. . My fishing was over for that night besides I needed to change my shorts. I never went back to fish there again after that.

First two tomato''s: