A Fuddy-Duddy?

Today, a youngster in a department store told me that I was "a fuddy-duddy" because I didn't recognize the name of a singer. I just looked "fuddy-duddy" up, and its definition is: an old-fashioned, unimaginative, conservative, fussy person. Now, I might be awfully old-fashioned in some of my views, but I am a very liberal person, and there's no way I can be described as unimaginative. I admit that in some ways, I'm fussy; I like to make sure of any documentation regarding family trees and/or historical research. But, old-fashioned, just because I don't know the names of the latest teeny-bop and reality TV show "stars?" Give me a break! I readily admit that the shows I watch on TV are (1) the local news for the weather forecast, (2) Jeopardy!, (3) the last half of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and (4) NCIS. So that's 30 minutes of NBC, 30 minutes of ABC, 30 minutes of MSNBC, and 60 minutes of CBS. - Maybe I am a fuddy-duddy, because that accusation has gotten under my skin a bit. In any event, I like not having to know what who said to who when, etc all the time. I couldn't care less. That's why I don't have a cell phone, iPod, Blackberry, iPad, etc. I do not want to be connected to today's frenetic world.
I have already walked Tessa, played with Lilly and Lyra, and I searched for Dhisana, but never saw her. When I let my kits out this morning, I was surprised to have them run back inside, followed by a large dog muzzle that, luckily, the door didn't open to. It seems my neighbor has adopted a large dog, and ties it on a very long rope on his patio or to the aspen trees by the back fence. I now have to check and see if it's clear to turn my kits out. - But maybe Lovey will learn that it is not nice to be on the end of bullying....

Interesting Photos

Olive Ridley sea turtles arrive to spawn on the Pacific

coastal beach of Ostional National Wildlife Refuge in

Costa Rica. Caretakers are hoping for 800,000

females to lay their eggs here.

A time-lapse photo shows the interior of the

Salisbury Cathedral illuminated by trails of light

from candles carried by choristers during the annual

"Darkness to Light" Advent procession.

Near Banos in Ecuador, the volcano Tungurahua spews

molten rocks and large clouds of gas and ash.

Tungurahua means "Throat of Fire" in the local Quechua

language, and is one of eight active volcanoes in Ecuador.

Winds, Bookings, and Vote

The local Chinook winds began about 3 this morning, and are still blowing. They average about 35 miles per hour at all times, and have gusts up to 89 mph. I was out in that with the dogs for two and a half hours this morning - and you can be assured that I was wearing an ear scarf. My niece Sarah has a new dog, whose name is Woodsley. He looks as if he's part blue heeler - a very compact and energetic young man. I'd guess he's between one and two years old; and he's a "bolter." If he sees an open gate, an open door, or a hole in the fence, then he is flat-out gone. Jim and I spent quite a bit of time chasing him around the neighborhood this morning, and fixing holes in the fence that the Samoyeds and Irish Setters can't get through. The Sammies and the reds just sat back and watched as Jim and I ran all over looking for Woodsley, only to find, that each and every time, he had returned to the yard on his own. At least he knows where his temporary home is! - Sarah and Mike are away on an all-expenses-paid trip via his work place, and will pick Woodsley up on Monday evening.
Tomorrow and Sunday I'll be walking Tessa and playing with the three kitties that are her housemates (Lilly, Lyra, and Dhisana), and tomorrow afternoon I'll probably end up with Rosie and Remy. The Rs' parents are hoping to get away for the day.... I just took bookings for a client for one week each month through May, and another client has asked if I'd house sit for 6 to 8 weeks in June and July. Then there's the Rs' family summer vacation, too. I'm almost fully booked through next Christmas. And, of course, I am booked for Christmas and New Years' through January 5, 2014. I guess I'm doing something right. I need to take photos of all my clients for Christmas, and it was Nedi's 8th-month birthday on Wednesday. I need to get photos of him and Lovey wearing their collars and tags. - Have a great weekend!
Oh! And my granddaughter, Kennedy Grace Devine, is in the running to be a Gerber's baby. If you can find the time, please vote for this little cutie on the Gerber website, found at: http://www.gerber.com/photo/#/gallery There are literally thousands of entries, but you can narrow things down by entering the name Kennedy and the city of Brandywine - that'll get you to the photo and page to vote for my littlest grandchild! - Many, many thanks !!

Copley's Portrait of Paul Revere

Toys For Tots & "The Fort"

Lovey is walking all over the keyboard, but I hope to rectify any misspellings before I get this up and published... It was 55 here this afternoon - and I have to admit I fell asleep in the Snow back yard for a short time, with the sun shining down upon me, the breeze a bare murmur, and the four dogs sacked out in various postures of repose. Nedi and Lovey are having a ball running in and out - but I'm having to keep an eye on Lovey, as she has developed a liking for threatening an indoor cat in the next building. I keep telling her she needs to be nice. I got together my stuff to give to Toys for Tots today - I'll hand the big bag over to Larry, one of my usual bus drivers, so it can go in via the American Legion post. I donated a regulation-size Youth basketball (with a pump), a stuffed zebra that's about 30 inches long, a Bratz doll, and a talking construction truck. I hope that those items will make a few kids happy.
Today would have been Ray Walston's birthday. I loved him when I was a child in My Favorite Martian, and in later life as Judge Bone on Picket Fences. But I will always remember him best as Luther Billis from South Pacific. As a Navy brat, he became my favorite Sea Bee.
I just finished reading Bernard Cornwell's The Fort, which totally captivated me. I had, of course, known of Paul Revere from school and history. In doing some of my historical background research for my family tree, I had read of Revere's being court-martialed for cowardice in what was referred to as "the Penobscot Bay fiasco." Wow! This novel is fantastic! It explains why there was such a fiasco, and gives a very clear view of all of the characters' personalities. I have always enjoyed Mr. Cornwell's books, and once again, I doff my hat to him for writing such a cohesive tale. He did change a few things, and he admits that in the historical note at the end of the book, but it takes nothing away from the story. One of the main characters in the book is Brigadier-General Peleg Wadsworth, who likes and supports Colonel Revere in the beginning of the book, but whom Revere directly disobeys in the final chapter. Peleg Wadsworth was not impressed with Colonel Revere as a soldier or an artillery commander. Both were family men, and Peleg's daughter Zilpha was the mother of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote the poem making Paul Revere such a well-known patriot. ... It deserves a pondering.

Magpies

A magpie on the wing...

And an older bird, who's finishing moulting...

Magpies

I grew up pretty much on the east coast of the United States, and the only things I knew about magpies were that they were birds and they liked to collect shiny things. I grew up with Heckle and Jeckle, the magpies in Paul Terry's cartoons, but I knew they were cartoons and never expected to see a bird smoking a cigar; but I did think that magpies were black with yellow bills. When I first visited my sister in Boulder in the early 1970s, I was amazed to find that magpies were multi-colored and had wonderfully long tails. It was astonishing. Today, after walking Rosie and Remy, we settled into the Snow back yard, as usual. (The Rs' house remodeling is almost finished!) I sat down with my book in the sunshine, having thrown Rosie's bone and Boo's ball. There was no wind, it was still outside; I could hear chickadees and nuthatches "talking" in the trees. Then I heard a branch creak. I was so startled by the creaking branch, with absolutely no wind to move the boughs, that I tilted my head back to look up into the cottonwood tree overhead. There sat a magpie; and as I watched it, it again produced the sound of branches rubbing against each other. I had to laugh. Earlier in the week, I had thought I heard a woodpecker or flicker drumming a tree branch for its' food - but it was a magpie reproducing the drumming sound while sitting in a rose bush. They can create quite a wide variety of sounds, being a member of the corvid (crow and raven) family. We humans have a larynx at the top of our trachea as our "voice box." The vocal organ of birds, in contrast, is a unique bony structure called a syrinx, which lies at the lower end of the trachea, is surrounded by an air sac, and may be deep in the breast cavity. It is two separate structures, which is how birds can create such disparate tunes and/or noises at one time. The magpie chooses it's mate for life, and will generally return to the same nesting site each year. The female lays 4 to 7 eggs each year, of which only 3 or 4 hatch and live to adulthood. The magpie lives an average of 4 to 6 years in the wild.