Another time

Went out to feed and water the herd of feral cats this morning. Was told it was -2 degrees with a wind chill of -14 and believe that about right. So, while I was outside this morning, it just didn’t take me long to look at it. So cold out that one of the most skittish feral cats around didn’t run off when I opened the door.

Tomorrow we will once again cruise to get the errands done between groceries and the pharmacy, we shouldn’t be at it all day. We can hardly wait to spend more at the store for less in the trunk. It isn’t the stores fault but it is getting old fast. Now I can get my Chester’s Flaming Hot Fries, but can’t find any shoestring potatoes!

Heard the Democrats lost the chance to get their election change law passed yesterday. It is amusing to watch these actors get in front of a camera and say that democracy is lost since this didn’t pass. We don’t live in a democracy, so nothing is lost. How did these people get elected?

Enjoy our Thursday and keep warm. Now for some more coffee.

Good start

The feral cats are fed and watered, been out for a smoke break, and had some coffee this morning and that can only mean one thing. Time to share some pictures. So, without further ado, here they are.

Never saw the sky look as it did yesterday. Not sure what was going on, if anything, but it was something to see. And yes, at the time this was taken the sky was that blue.

Later in the day, while out for another smoke I spied this guy having lunch. Not having my camera I ran back into the house to grab it and thankfully, he was still there. He seemed to have enough food to last him a while and was enjoying it. The wind was blowing hard yet he just swayed with the gusts and kept on eating.

If you have a point and shoot type camera this is probably what your moon pictures look like. The moon is way too bright for any detail to come through. Nothing wrong with that and there are quite a few we actually like.

Finally, here’s a close up of the same Wolf full moon. This was shot in manual mode as it helps bring out details that we also like to see sometimes. We didn’t get any cat pictures because said cats must have been out doing cat things yesterday while I was out.

Enjoy our Wednesday as we will. Now for more coffee.

Good start

Saw the Wolf full moon last night, and this morning, spied a cardinal on the fence post, and watched a mediocre sunrise. Pretty good start to the day. Of course I also looked to the Heavens and thanked God for allowing me another day to enjoy.

As happens around here, today the high will be around 40 today and then the temps drop into the deep freeze for a while. We won’t get anywhere near record cold but we’ve noticed that when the weather guessers on TV talk of cold weather they usually talk ‘feels like’ temperature and not the actual temperature.

What we can’t figure out is are they trying to convince us that climate change is a priority that our government needs to throw copious amounts of money at to fix, or themselves? From personal experience, when the government says they have to spend money to fix something that isn’t broken, they usually end up breaking it and blame the break on someone else.

I did get a few pictures of the full moon and will share after they are uploaded, if they turn out ok. Finally, I’ve only had two cups of coffee this morning so there may be spelling or other errors in this post. That is intention for those who look for such things and take pride in pointing them out.

Enjoy our Tuesday as it looks to be good one here. Now I need more coffee.

A busy Sunday

The snowfall stopped but the clean up continues. Spent a few hours outside shoveling the white fluffy love from above and got most of what I wanted gone removed. A little after sunup today the rest will get done. As things happen, the wife said something when I finished that had me smacking my hard head.

I came in from the second round of shoveling, took off my gear, and the wife said ‘why didn’t get the snow blower out?’ Of course my first thought was that I had just bought a new snow shovel and wanted to break it in. Which basically meant I was being cheap again. But, I did need the exercise. And it was a brand new shovel.

The neighbors are down with the new variant of Covid so I did their walk also. Figured they would do the same for us and got it done. Would have done it sooner but assumed they felt good enough to do it. Next time I’ll pay attention.

With the wind the snow was drifted a little deep in some spots yet still manageable for this oldfart. When finished, a few cups of coffee got me right back on track and ready for an oldfart nap. After the nap we heated up the leftovers from the meal that will not be repeated. It wasn’t terrible, but if I added enough spices for me to like it the wife wouldn’t eat it.

So enjoy our Monday, this year also called Martin Luther King Day. Now for some more coffee.

Sunday sermon

A woman walks into a church and starts praying the Rosary. After a string of Hail Mary’s, she hears the voice of Jesus. “Agnes,” he said to the woman. “I am here. What is it you want to ask for?”

The woman ignores him and continues her rosary and her Hail Mary’s.

“Arise, for I have come to you,” Jesus stepped closer and opened his arms.

The woman continues to ignore him and pray her rosary.

“Agnes, I say to you, I am with you.”

Finally, Agnes looks up. “Be quiet! I’m talking to your mother!”

SSDD

When we got groceries yesterday we noticed that the total was about $40 higher than usual. No real surprise there as almost everything we buy had gone up in price. We were a little surprised that some of things we usually pick up were nowhere to be found. Hoping this doesn’t become a trend.

Also yesterday, the TV weather guessers must have had an off day. Predictions ran from 3 to 8 inches of the white fluffy love from above, yet when I went out earlier to check it looked closer to a little over an inch. With the wind blowing we believe some drifts may get as tall as the predictions and we’ll find out when we go out to shovel.

The wife was happy as she claimed to have found a recipe for beef stroganoff so we cooked it up last night. I had my doubts when looking at the ingredients but aren’t afraid to try something different. Whatever it was, it was not beef stroganoff. The diced tomatoes and tomato paste was the giveaway to me. It wasn’t bad but I don’t believe we’ll be having it again anytime soon.

Finally, the Mecum Kissimmee auction will be on Motor Trend TV start at 11 am here and I’m hoping to see the Hirohata Merc cross the auction block. Yesterday we saw a Shelby Cobra go for over a million and Corvette go for twice that. A custom Merc that has been around since the early 1950s should bring the big bucks.

Enjoy our Saturday. Now for some more coffee.

Troubles

Yeah, trouble just has a way of finding me and then the wife gives me ‘the look’. One of my many trips outside yesterday got me into that trouble and some people have no sense of humor. When I came back into the house I told the wife I got a picture of a bird I hadn’t seen before. She replied that I should look in my field guide to find what kind of bird it was. I got in trouble when I showed her the picture below.

Didn’t show her any more pictures after that one. Due to the cat in the evergreen where the cardinals have a nest the birds had to improvise. The male cardinal did not look like a happy camper as he watched the cat from his new perch.

The bird stayed up there for quite a while before flying off. At least he posed for a portrait.

Also saw this squirrel in the alley eating a slushy. He munched for a while even though we’d think that slush would be salty with all the traffic in the alley. Saw him this morning and it didn’t seem to bother him as he was hopping around.

Since the feral cat pictures have been rare, we thought we’d share a couple at the end of this post. This guy looks deep in thought as he posed in the winter sun. This one is a fairly new addition to the feed trough. Wish cats could talk to learn what he was thinking about.

This feral cat is a little easier to read. We think he’s saying ‘you’re in my way’ as I was between him and the food bowls when this was taken. And that’s the pictures for today. Not sure if I’ll take the camera along when I go out later or not.

Enjoy our Friday as we have some running to do in a couple of hours. Now for some coffee.

Another day…

We had some squad cars in the area when I went out for a smoke the night before last and yesterday we found out why. There were actually two calls, one for a disturbance 3 houses away and one for a domestic next door. And yesterday morning we went out for breakfast with Chris and Theresa and had a good time. The biscuits and gravy weren’t bad either. We also got some more pictures we’ll share.

This female cardinal was hopping in the bushes and kept moving every time a male cardinal got close. But she was photogenic, so we got a few shots to share.

This male cardinal was a fine looking creature also. He kept chasing the female and she kept moving away until she finally just flew off and we didn’t see her again. The male just looked confused, but had just the right amount of color on a winter day.

Caught this squirrel up away from the feral cats and getting some sun. Believe he’s in a young walnut tree that might even produce some walnuts this year. Time will tell and we think he’ll wait. We may share a few more later as we don’t have them all edited yet but are working on it.

Enjoy our Thursday as it means Friday is only a dream away. Now for some coffee.

A few pictures

Until today our alley looked like the top picture. It was a sheet of ice and fun watching some trying to get up the incline. The bottom picture is of ice still hanging off a plant from our little freezing rainstorm that came through. Everything is now ready for the snow we may get this weekend.

While out looking around I noticed this fine machine flying over that confused for a bit. It sounded like a little Cessna and not something that looked a lot bigger. I even saw a couple of these and got used to the sound.

This guy was up in the neighbors treehouse having a look around. Earlier he was out grabbing peanuts that we put out for the birds and don’t think he felt guilty about it. And yes, I was at a goofy angle to get the picture.

Finally, the moon came out so I got a shot while we talked. He was in fine form last night and said he felt good but was bit chilled. We talked of different things until it was time for me to go back inside and warm up myself. That’s the pictures, we’ll have more later.

Enjoy our Wednesday as we’re halfway through the week now, and I need more coffee.

Looking back

Got the feral cats fed and watered and noticed it didn’t take long to get cooled off out there. A beautiful looking day in spite of the wind chill which hovered just below zero. Even saw another new cat around, or at least one I don’t remember seeing before. But I digress.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about an old friend who I hadn’t heard from for a while and thought perhaps his wondering soul took off for more exotic parts of the world. Looked online and could get no information there so took a break. Then the wife found a piece written on a radio website that changed my thinking.

Turns out he died in 2019, on my birthday, and didn’t have an obituary done. Thought that odd for a former radio DJ who worked some of the biggest cities in California and elsewhere yet it felt true. When we knew him he was just a nice guy and good friend. If you are a long time reader of this blog, he used to comment here under the moniker “Ghost” and was always good for a laugh.

Since he was a cancer survivor I keep wondering if it came back or it was just his time to go. At any rate we’ll never know. We do know we’ll miss the talks and exchange of ideas that never went anywhere but sounded great. He is missed.

Enjoy our Tuesday and keep warm. Now for some coffee.