posted by Shelley
The babies are growing — amazing how much the little guys change in just a few short days…
When I walked around the corner of the house to check them out, the momma jerked around and looked at me. She then jumped into the back of the bush and hid, leaving her children unprotected. As a mother, she pretty much sucks out loud.
posted by Shelley
Someday, when they least expect it, the cat will be gone.
Finally Saturday. The painters were here yesterday, and today the paint is still on the house. Now you might think that would be something one would expect — but not around here! That’s a major accomplishment! A great start to a wonderful day. It’s sunny outside and already pretty darned hot; I have a book that is calling out to be read by the pool; and there’s only a couple errands I have to run today. I looooooove weekends!
posted by Shelley & Perry
If you have never played Mad Gab, it’s a game that we would highly recommend. In this game, teams have a limited amount of time to read words from a card, sound them out and turn ‘the clue’ into a phrase or name. While Perry thinks that listening to others reading the clues makes them sound mentally unstable at times — when he’s reading a clue, he reminds me of a computer generating a sentence phonetically (like when I use a speech to text program and Shelley Erwin comes back as Shelley Are One).
On the left is a Mad Gab clue that we repeat often and snicker, because it always reminds us of the time we played with Ben and Amber. Ben & Amber were partners — Amber was reading the clue and Ben was coaching her towards the answer. Utterly disgusted, Ben yelled at her things like, “Say it like you’re Jamaican!” and “You’re not listening to me!” with poor Amber reading it the same way over and over, only getting louder and louder each time. She never did figure it out. See if you can.
posted by Shelley
It has been so long since I’ve had a really good day, I almost forgot what it was like. So lemme give you a short run down:
To start my day, my school bus passed reinspection. I felt awesome! My painters, (the ones that can’t seem to get it right), didn’t show up today. Now you might think that would be a bad thing, but no! They weren’t here — but at the same time, they didn’t screw anything up either. A second big yay! The house got cleaned; the yard got mowed …even though my mower threw a belt off (almost causing the day to take a down-turn), Carl came over and mowed it for me. Woo woo!
And then — we found a nest of baby birds (I think they’re some type of finch) that served to remind us about all that rebirth stuff. Perry and I grabbed our cameras…
…and made a dash for the bush where the nest was resting. The best shot of the bunch is one that Perry took. My excuse is that my lens was too long and I couldn’t get back far enough. Believe it or don’t — I’ve had a good day and really don’t care. 😉
Posted by Perry
Yesterday, Shelley and I went to pay my family in Rising Sun a visit. I hadn’t seen them in a long time and it was good to talk to them and catch up on all the happenings there.
All are well and looked good – considering what they’re dealing with at the moment.
It started a while back with the discovery of mold in their house. The landlord was notified and failed to clean up the mess so they started house hunting. I have a large family, so finding a home to accommodate them all is difficult to say the least, however, they finally found a home large enough for all of them in the same town. While they were preparing the new home (some painting and wallpapering as it had been empty for some time) the sewer line where they live backed up. It turns out that the line is 3″ instead of the standard 4″ line for sewer AND it runs at an uphill angle.
Needless to say – the sewer now backs up into the yard which is a serious concern when you have little ones who want to go out to play. After more non-action from their present landlord, the health department was notified as was the city. The building is to be condemned after they move out until all repairs are made.
The new landlord was informed of this and has rushed preparations on the new home (he was laying carpet that night at 10PM and would work until it was done) and once that job is done, they can start moving in.
Other than that, things are fine at the homestead. My nieces and nephews hugged us and were generally excited to see us. The amazing moment of the night came when one of my youngest nieces, Elizabeth (who is being tested for autism), literally climbed onto Shelley’s lap. Now that may not seem much to you, but Elizabeth normally plays by herself and doesn’t gravitate towards anyone. Let me tell you – she made a beeline for Shelley!
It was a great visit, and with the big move coming either today or tomorrow – things will be settled and normalcy will come back to them rather quickly. My sister, Tammy, has said that she and her two boys might come up here for a couple of days visit!
I’ll keep you posted on the move and the possible visit!