Disappearing Cherries

Our two pie cherry trees are in need of pruning. They have become too tall for us to harvest all but a third of the cherries that they produced this year. The cherries that we could reach gave us 8 gallons of cherries to put in the freezer. The rest we had to leave for the wildlife to enjoy.

We had been wondering why we were finding small branches broken off of the trees each day. We could see the crows and Stellar jays eating in the trees and the robins eating the fruit that was on the ground.

We laughed at the crows and thought that they were eating so many and grew so heavy that they were breaking the branches, but we were wrong.

This is who was doing it. . .

Peek a Boo

rita

Color Coded

My Dear Daughter and I good-naturely tease one another about how obsessive / compulsive we can be. I don't understand why she laughs at some of the things I do when they make perfect sense to me. And vice versa.

During my last visit with her she showed me her freezer. I was totally amazed at the fact that the food items were placed in these wonderful colorful plastic bins according to COLOR!



Pink = HAM
Green = veggies
Black = hamburger
Purple = berries
Orange = salmon

I only wish my freezer was this organized!!

We each have our own set of weirdness. It's what makes life interesting.

rita

Leopard Kitty Hunts

Leopard Kitty has such a strong hunting instinct that anything that moves will stimulate his interest. Even something that out-weights him by a 100 times.

When the deer turned to look at him he stopped in his tracks.

It looked like it was a stand-off

But then Kitty took another tactic . . .

He laid down on the job!

The deer didn't mind

He just munched on the tomato plants

Nice beard, man

rita

Morning People vs Night People

I'm so weary of hearing morning people tell everyone around them how terrific it is to rise out of bed before the rest of the family and have their "alone time" with God.

They always speak of this time as being the holiest part of the day. They always say that if they miss this time that their entire day seems to go wrong.

Listening to them gives one the impression that if you are not joining them in this early morning vigil you are not truly a good Christian. That somehow your relationship with God is not as complete as theirs.

They are so bold as to say right to our faces that not rising early is missing a blessing that somehow cannot ever be gained at any other time of the day. That somehow the opportunity is lost as the brightness of the sun covers our part of the world.

I am here to take a stand for all of us night people.

The God of the Bible is on duty 24 / 7 and He is as wide awake as I am at 11:00 P.M.

I love talking with my Father after the noise of the day has subsided. When most people are in bed asleep.

The beauty of the night sky with its sparkling stars like diamonds easily brings me to His throne to converse with Him. While gazing at the moon and the light it reflects causes me to thankfulness for the universe He created.

Worship comes in waves as I think back on the day and see His perfect will in my imperfect activities.

While the day's failures and disappointments are fresh in my mind I can take them to Him asking for forgiveness which He pours out liberally.

In the quiet of the night I remember the people that I encountered throughout the day and ask His blessings on them.

I believe God deliberately created night people and I refuse to feel guilty that my best time with my Creator is at the end of the day instead of the beginning.

When I was raising children my favorite part of the day was after they all had been bathed and tucked into bed.

I like to think that my Heavenly Father feels the same way -- when I'm all cleaned and ready for bed -- He enjoys our interaction.

Yes, and if I shut up long enough to listen to the small quiet voice in my heart, I hear Him answer my concerns and He comforts my troubled soul.

As for the annoying early risers who insist on talking to ME after my eyes squint open -- that's a rant for another time.

rita

Birds on a Wire

DD has a tall blank wall between the living room and kitchen which she has been looking for something unique to fill the space. She found the web site Dali Decals recently and purchased this great silhouette of birds on a telephone wire.

The rub-on decal went on just as the instructions said it would . . .

She thanked me for helping her -- but as you can see, all I did was give encouragement and took pictures!

rita

Great Grandmother Jenny

Mom always spoke about her grandmother with fondness. Her grandparents spent many summers with her family and she remembered them as being an adventurous and fun-loving couple.

This photo of Great Grandmother taking a photo of fellow travelers makes me smile. I have a box full of photos that the two of them took on their trips across the Southwest and Northwest of the U.S. Most are unlabeled as this one is.

I don't know where this structure was or why anyone would want to drive to it and take a picture.

The man on the left is her hubby. I don't know who the other two couples were --assuming the photo taker is a husband of one of the women.

Can you just imagine what a pleasant outing it was for those six people jammed into that one car?

Please pass that jug around before we have to get in again for the ride home. Oh, it's just water?

rita

Dyslexic 101

Awhile back I talked about how my eyes will read reality but my brain twists it into something different for me. My ears do the same thing

Example:

What I heard: "Thank you for this bed of sin"





What was said: "Thank you for this medicine"





What I heard: "For help with your direct dial dysfunction"





What was said: "For help with your erectile dysfunction"





It's so entertaining to be me!
rita

Spoiled again

I like having the color of my shoes match my clothing. When I was young and single I had a selection of shoes that spanned the colors of the rainbow.


Then came the busy years of raising children and I was just thankful if I could find a left shoe and a right shoe that were a matching pair to wear when I left the house.

And now, in the leisure era of my life, I again have more pairs of shoes than I care to admit.




Thanks to DD, I was introduced to Zenni Optical where the prescription eye wear is so cheap that I got 3 pair for less than $85: Sunglasses, Reading glasses, and Distance glasses.




For distance I got these fun purple ones.




As the months went by I found myself lusting after more colors -- like shoes -- matching my clothing.


Yes, this was a WANT not a NEED but for only $20 a pair they are hard to resist.

So I now own these pretty blue glasses:



And these black striped ones.



I can't morally defend owning all these eyewear -- I just enjoy them.




Speaking of shoes -- aren't these clever ways to store them?



rita