Today we are being attacked by pileated wood peckers. They are from 12 to 15 inches from top to toe... very impressive birds.
I was sitting eating breakfast and peering out at the bird feeders outside the window, when all of a sudden the large bird began attacking the window in front of me.
He flew from the feeder to the window. Grasped the edge and looked in at me and pecked at the glass. Flew back to the feeder, back at the window. Back to the feeder, swooped twice at the window above the sink. Then to the apple tree, and at the window out in the hall.
There is at least one pair. Swoop, swoop, swoop... then at the roof... Pecking at the window, at the birdfeeder and fat container, then swooping back.
We feed several different kinds of woodpeckers: red breasted, (which do not have a red breast!) different types of downy woodpeckers, and now - pileated attackers.
It does not take much to entertain us, and this attack is fascinating.
I hope it doesn't progress to the end that a cabin on Moses Lake suffered. Wood peckers attacked and destroyed the whole side of their wooden house. Oofta. Perhaps we will be saved because we have siding which is not wooden.
Swoop, swoop!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Flight Day
Night before: Pack, dress, get completely ready...
Fall asleep in the recliner. George in the bed.
Wake up at 4:20 a.m. and head for the airport. Get standby tickets, go through security: shoes, cape, vest, suitcase, tote through security machine roller deal, I go through with no problem. Redress and head for the gate. Find the gate, get on the flight, get seated with carryaboards in the bins above our heads and the tote in front of the seat in front of us.
6 a.m. take off time.
Motors rev up, security video on tvs, all of sudden a scratchy grinding LOUD noise behind us, and electricity goes off. darkness. After a bit the lights go back on, the front motors begin again, and then: same loud horrible noise.
Captain tells us he won't be flying this plane anywhere today, and we are told to deplane (is that a word?) So off we get.
Because of the glut of passengers waiting to be rerouted to their destinations, we call John and he picks us up to come back to his place and try again later. I go to bed for a 3 hour nap!!!
At four we go through security again, we get on the plane, no further problems. Wahoo.
Back to Fargo at 10 p. m., drive home by midnight. Hit the sack.
One of the best parts of the trip was that John is only 5 minutes drive from Reagan Airport. Also, because I had been kind to the poor woman doing the re-routing, she remembered us and gave us tickets on first class! We got a fruit plate with cheese. Yummy.
A big adventure. We loved our trip.
Take care.
Fall asleep in the recliner. George in the bed.
Wake up at 4:20 a.m. and head for the airport. Get standby tickets, go through security: shoes, cape, vest, suitcase, tote through security machine roller deal, I go through with no problem. Redress and head for the gate. Find the gate, get on the flight, get seated with carryaboards in the bins above our heads and the tote in front of the seat in front of us.
6 a.m. take off time.
Motors rev up, security video on tvs, all of sudden a scratchy grinding LOUD noise behind us, and electricity goes off. darkness. After a bit the lights go back on, the front motors begin again, and then: same loud horrible noise.
Captain tells us he won't be flying this plane anywhere today, and we are told to deplane (is that a word?) So off we get.
Because of the glut of passengers waiting to be rerouted to their destinations, we call John and he picks us up to come back to his place and try again later. I go to bed for a 3 hour nap!!!
At four we go through security again, we get on the plane, no further problems. Wahoo.
Back to Fargo at 10 p. m., drive home by midnight. Hit the sack.
One of the best parts of the trip was that John is only 5 minutes drive from Reagan Airport. Also, because I had been kind to the poor woman doing the re-routing, she remembered us and gave us tickets on first class! We got a fruit plate with cheese. Yummy.
A big adventure. We loved our trip.
Take care.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Home again, Home again, hippety hop
Of course, we had a marvelous time in Alexandria, VA! Our trip out went without a hitch. George walked Matthew to school each day, and I played a tickle robot with him. I make a superlative robot as some of you know. Grandpa Joe was there, too, so we had a great time.
Saturday we celebrated Beth's birthday. The 7th. That's the date, not her age! We had some debate over her age. But we finally settled on the right year.
What with a visit to the Torpedo Factory Art Center I had a lollapaloosa of a time.. We got home on Saturday night at midnight. There is a whole long tail of that flight which I will tell you next blog. Always fun to go, and great to get back home.
Take care.
Saturday we celebrated Beth's birthday. The 7th. That's the date, not her age! We had some debate over her age. But we finally settled on the right year.
What with a visit to the Torpedo Factory Art Center I had a lollapaloosa of a time.. We got home on Saturday night at midnight. There is a whole long tail of that flight which I will tell you next blog. Always fun to go, and great to get back home.
Take care.
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Hi Ho
Hey, cuties! I will be in Alexandria VA for a couple of weeks instead of Alexandria MN. How about that! I look forward to trying to take a trip on the buses and the metro now that I supposedly know how to use them. Wahoo.
Hope our trip goes smooth (smoothly?). We are planning on getting in to Reagan Air Port tonight, which is just five minutes from John and Beth's house. The big deal, of course, is getting to hug Matt, and then pretend to scare him. We have a good time!
We had book club yesterday. Read a good book: Waiting for White Horses by Nathan Jorgenson. We are meeting for lunch, now, and as usual had super tasty food. Then a great discussion about this book which is set near Walker, Minnesota. We found it compelling reading.
Now we are gearing up for the big discussion of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand In December. Hopefully our poor weary eyes will manage to make it to the end of this small print LARGE book. I am getting interested in it, now, and even managing to read the small print without the magnifying deal.
Take care.
Hope our trip goes smooth (smoothly?). We are planning on getting in to Reagan Air Port tonight, which is just five minutes from John and Beth's house. The big deal, of course, is getting to hug Matt, and then pretend to scare him. We have a good time!
We had book club yesterday. Read a good book: Waiting for White Horses by Nathan Jorgenson. We are meeting for lunch, now, and as usual had super tasty food. Then a great discussion about this book which is set near Walker, Minnesota. We found it compelling reading.
Now we are gearing up for the big discussion of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand In December. Hopefully our poor weary eyes will manage to make it to the end of this small print LARGE book. I am getting interested in it, now, and even managing to read the small print without the magnifying deal.
Take care.
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