Strange day

While out getting things done earlier life reached out and slapped us when we weren’t looking. Went for my post-op exam first and everything checked out and got the list of how many eyedrops how many times a day and things to avoid.

The wife had an appointment with the family doctor when things went FUBAR! Our family doc told me to drive her to the E.R. and not to waste anytime doing it. Turned out the wife had double pneumonia and is being admitted for at least a few days. I had to come home as I don’t make it a habit of dragging my medicines everywhere we go and have a little time to get this out before going back to the hospital.

The wife had been panting and puffing for a few weeks yet since she’s stubborn didn’t go the doctor until today. Don’t know if going earlier would have helped or not and it’s a moot point anyway. Of course I’m also stubborn so we get along. When this done I’ll head back to hospital until visiting hours end we’ll see how that works out.

Tomorrows post should be at the regular time as visiting hours don’t start until 9 am. Enjoy our Thursday as it’s half over anyway. Now for a quick cup of coffee before leaving again.

In a blur

Went in to the eye surgery place at 06:30, got checked in, IV placed, had surgery, then left the building at 09:30. And I’m still having problems seeing properly. We were forewarned that vision may clear on a different schedule than the first eye and they weren’t lying. But now if I hold my head at a certain angle and look through the old glasses at the right angle, I can almost see.

Hoping this problem clears up soon as I’m getting tired of tripping over the wifes cats and not being able to see the text on the monitor. So far the cats haven’t gotten mad, but I don’t want to push my luck. This eye problem also makes it almost impossible to proof read a post.

So if you’ll excuse this post being late, and possible errors in said post, we would appreciate it. In hindsight, it may have been better to get my dominant eye done last. The right eye gets a workout daily as it’s in the viewfinder when I shoot pictures, which is often.

We do have more pictures yet also the same problem. If we upload the pictures I can’t see which ones are stinkers and which are good. As soon as the eyes improve we’ll share them. Until then, Enjoy our Wednesday. Now for some more coffee.

Almost over

Go in for my final cataract surgery tomorrow and admit I didn’t know these places opened so early. Was told to be there a 06:30 and will be. Since there have been no issues with the first surgery we are wanting to get the issue addressed.

Hopefully these two operations will improve the pictures taken as I see a lot better with just one eye done. Also didn’t noticed how the cataracts dulled colors until the eye shield was off and I actually got a look outside. Would recommend this surgery for anyone having cataracts.

The leaves are changing colors slowly here on the east coast of Iowa, but they are changing. Went out this morning and thought I saw a cardinal in a tree so I zoomed in a got a great shot of a red leaf on the tree behind the old pine. Not wildlife but a part of nature anyway.

We find it hard to believe we’re almost into October already. Seems like just last week it was April and soon we’ll be raking leaves and getting the snow blower ready. So the year is almost over and then a new one will begin. Enjoy our Tuesday as we will. Now for some coffee.

Some weekend pics

This young critter was getting some sun while keeping an eye out for any predators who may be in the neighborhood. He also seemed confused as to where he buried his goodies this past summer and was getting the lay of the land.

The moon was out late and could be seen most of the morning. We missed the full moon, have no idea what this stage is called, yet like to look up and see the moon in the Heavens. It just feels right.

This bird was in the pine tree yesterday and he acted like he had about 40 cups of coffee. The bird was even hanging onto the tree upside down at one point. Good looking creature in our opinion.

And yesterday we saw something we’d never seen before, If you look in the center of the picture you will see some light blue and yellow streaks. Don’t know what it was but it was very interesting to watch. Just to be sure I took 4 pictures, and they all have the same coloring in the same spot.

Finally, another group of clouds we found interesting. Wish we had a wider lens but you play what you’ve been dealt. The sky went from shear streaks to little bubble like clouds giving the blue sky different hues over a short distance. Perhaps you had to be there.

Enjoy our Monday. Now for some more coffee.

Sunday snicker

The biggest swindler in the world dies and finds himself before the gates of Heaven and St. Peter, who says, “Come on in man!”

Confused, the swindler questions, “But I thought I would be going to Hell for all of the bad things I did.” St. Peter replies, “Oh, we don’t keep records here, it’s too much work!”

The swindler goes in, and is once again surprised to see tons of beautiful girls whipping themselves. He asks St. Peter, “Why are they doing that?”

St. Peter answers, “Ah, those are all of our virgins. They just found out we don’t keep records, too!”

More pictures

While out yesterday we got some pictures of different birds and even though most will be familiar we’ll share them. This house finch was almost at the top of the old pine tree all by his lonesome. It was different to see a splash of red up there instead of the duller looking European starlings.

You may recognize this one as a blue jay. The lighting was bad most of the day but we still got some pictures. Not the usual brightly colored ones yet they serve their purpose. This guy was two houses away in a volunteer tree and wasn’t interested enough to turn around.

Another familiar bird, with better lighting, was feasting on some poke weed and must have been hungry. This male cardinal feasted for about a half hour before flying off. Cardinals like the fruit of the poke weed and this is the time of year to see the birds in the weed.

It was turning out to be a productive day as far as getting some pictures of different birds. There were others in the pine tree but they were just too small and active to get a good shot. We are working on that and should figure it out about the time these small birds migrate south.

Finally, a huge bird who didn’t really get close but we managed to get lucky and capture a few frames. This hawk was about 300 yards south of us and the Lord only knows how far up when we got these shots. And even with their 6 foot wingspans we had to crop the pictures to get them big enough in the photos.

These magnificent birds take flying to another level. If you’ve ever watched them circle across the sky as they hunt for prey you may wonder if they even move. They seem to glide across the sky and make it look easy. We were actually thinking we may see some pelicans when we noticed the hawk.

Enjoy our Friday as we hope to. Now I need coffee.

Flying away

Heard a jet engine so looked to the sky to see the source. Soon, this plane flew over and gracefully crossed the sky. This plane went straight as an arrow and a little lower than others we’ve seen and we thought that was because it wasn’t as big as others we see.

That got us thinking a little and I realized that some military training never goes away. Before I even knew it happened I had known it was a smaller jet and once in sight a civilian passenger plane. Once that was processed we watched. While it wasn’t wide open, the plane was by no means slow either.

We watched until it became a tiny dot and then disappeared into the blue. It was fun to watch and hear this plane pass us by on its journey through time. And we pondered, was it a business flight? Someone going on vacation? The plane wasn’t talking so we don’t know.

Here on the east coast of Iowa planes flying over happen all the time. With the wildlife being quiet, this time was different. Some birds have already migrated and others waiting to do so must be in group planning sessions because they were nowhere to be seen, or heard. Or perhaps they chartered the plane?

Enjoy our Thursday as I enjoy some more coffee.

Bandits

We had a couple of thieves casing our place right in front of me! Kept an eye on them and just knew they were up to no good. They crept along a fence line as if that made them invisible and were slowly making their way toward the house.

We even have proof. This picture shows the pair trying to act like they’re just out for a Sunday stroll or something. But we weren’t born yesterday and decided to see how things played out.

One poked its head out of the scrub while the other tried to do an end run. Didn’t work. They are sly little critters though and some may even say cute. We kept our eyes open as we knew what they were up to.

One of the masked bandits even tried the sad puppy dog look. We didn’t fall for it but also didn’t move as we wanted to see if we guessed their destination. The sad, hungry look didn’t work as they both looked healthy to us.

Working in tandem they reached their destination. Doesn’t look so sad and hungry now does he? We laughed and let them have at the cat food. As long as they’re not waiting, along with the feral cats when we fill the bowls in morning, we’ll put up with them.

Enjoy our Wednesday as we’re halfway to the weekend. Now for some coffee.

A few more pictures

This picture was taken a few days ago but heard this morning that the Full Harvest Moon will be tonight. So if you have a clear view to the east you may want to have a look shortly after sunset as the moon will look big and have an orange tint.

Another feral cat that makes us grin. This cat looks almost like someone put a smaller head on a full size body and called it done. Not a bad looking critter, just interesting to watch. He was among several feral cats waiting for us to fill the bowls yesterday morning.

This girl promised to pose for us and did a splendid job. Not sure what caught her attention that allowed us to get this shot. She is another cat with different markings. And since you’ve probably seen enough cats here to last a while we’ll add a couple pictures.

Don’t remember what kind of bird this is but it caught our eye as he perched in the old pine tree. Believe this to be a young one, just not sure. These are smaller birds that are easy to see yet hard to get a shot of. Glad we got lucky and got this one.

We’ll close out with this one of a Mama cardinal sitting on a phone line. Her coloring was different than we are used to seeing or it could have been the lighting. Not sure which and we noticed she was missing a tail feather. Didn’t affect her flying in any way, just made her look like she wearing a tux.

Enjoy our Tuesday as we meet the new day. Now I need coffee.

Don’t know…

Much like the cat in the picture, I admit to being surprised. Never thought we’d live to see such a dramatic change in our great country. And anyone old enough to remember knows what we’re talking about. For those who don’t, we’ll try to explain.

One of the big differences is that nobody else cared about which party you voted for on election day. We were not calling the other political party Nazis, white supremacists’, or other names. It felt like we were a more polite society. Some would say polite is other word for giving in, but it is not. Common curtesy should make a comeback.

Things said back then, that wouldn’t get a raised eyebrow at the time, are now the cause of the surge in adult coloring books and safe spaces. People said what they thought even if it wasn’t what you wanted to hear. And nobody got offended or demanded money for nothing. If anyone did get offended, they got over it and life went on.

Now we’ve heard the government wants access to our bank account information. Being silly, government wants to know of any transactions over $600. Sadly, the only reason for this is to tax us more then we are now. A more simple solution to the deficit is that the government have a balanced budget every year and doesn’t spend more than they have.

We don’t know the solution nor where the country we grew up in went, but we do know we’d like it back.