Never thought retirement would be like this

Such a nice picture Son. So peaceful. She sure is a cutie.
 

The Sistersville Ferry may be in trouble financially

KNIGHTS RADIO TO HOST ‘FIGHT FOR THE FERRY’ (March 11, 2015)

The highlight for me as a kid, on the trips to visit my grandmother in West Virginia, was crossing the Ohio River on the ferry between Fly, OH, and Sistersville, WV. This is the front and back of an old postcard showing the ferry. The date must have been no earlier than 1955, based on that first car. When I first started crossing I'm pretty sure the tugboat was larger, with a paddle wheel in the back.


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Here is a video of a recent crossing I found on the net. I can say for sure this boat is MUCH, MUCH faster (4.5 minutes!!?). I still remember the crunching sound when it would hit the other bank.:playful:


I can't find any information whether they ever collected enough money or not.:confused: I bet some of the folks there will hate to see it go.

fly.jpg :giggle:
 
:rain:
We've been having more rain---not real hard, but steady. Basement is seeping again. Vacuumed up 47 gallons today so far. I'm keeping track so as not to be accused of exaggeration. One more rain episode tonight, then it's supposed to pull out tomorrow morning, and none predicted for a week, but we've heard that before. Not a big deal, just a nuisance. We are lucky compared to what some are having. I've been pulling up molding from around the nook area of the kitchen. Not necessary to paint, but I'm procrastinating on that. The kitchen is cluttered with appliances pulled out from the walls. It's an obstacle course.

I'm terrible about picking paint colors. They never come out the way I expect. I'm thinking about light pastel green---not a yellow green, but not a blue green either. Maybe it's called moss or sage. Which brings to mind this clip from Mr. Blandings Build His Dream House (1948):

(click image for video)


I have white cabinets and appliances. This is the closest picture I could find to the color on the internet. My floor would be dark marbled green/gray tones.

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Nancy..I love that old Cary Grant movie ..and yes..matching paint. When we had the whole house done inside and out I was going nuts figuring out colors. I love greens though, and we did our bedroom in a light moss green. I experimented in the one spare room I use as an office and did this desert rose color that made me cringe at first..but after I put up new blinds and curtains it was so nice.

I'd like to repaint the kitchen/family room so I'll probably be browsing paint chips soon. :eek:mg1::eek:mg1:
 
Karen, I hate those little tiny paint chips. But just before I painted that bedroom, I matched the wall paint to a chip and saved it. So I'm hoping that will make it easier for the kitchen. Now they sell these little sample cans of paint so you can try it out, but they are so expensive. Last time I checked they were $7. What if it takes you 4 or 5 tries?
 
When I was living on my little 3 acre gentleman's farm I fought flooding constantly. I know we went through several sump pumps over the 11 years (always had a new one in reserve). Our acreage was located at what I called the drain plug of the valley. Everything fed into the drain ditch across the road from us. One winter they didn't stop the irrigation water early enough and the canals all froze leaving massive ice chunks. It rained heavily in late Jan the ice blocked the flow of runoff. Our house & acreage had 3 feet of standing water. Basement flooded several times until late spring (who thought putting one in that house was a good idea? Or, who thought building a house in the valley's lowest spot was smart?). I finally gave up, sold the house never telling the new buyers about the flooding. My bad but I had my back to the wall, escaped with no profit & never looked back. I think the new buyers thought they had low balled me & won.
 
I am partly to blame for this, SON. There has been so much rain this fall I never got to clean out the gutters. I have a vacuum contraption and it doesn't work very well if the leaves are wet. We also have a ground squirrel problem. They make tunnels which funnel water toward the house when it rains heavily. The neighborhood cat is too well fed to help much.:)

But this is nothing compared to what you have described with that house. Good you got rid of it before you got too much invested in it.
 
While reading a bird book this morning, I learned that the Tufted Titmouse was known to steal hair from sleeping dogs, cats and squirrels, to use to line their nests. While googling it, I found the "You Goat Girl" blog that you might enjoy reading.:)

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Juvenile Tufted Titmouse
 
So cute, Meanderer. I love birds. We feed hummingbirds and have for as long as I can remember. I especially love the fat little Chickadees. When it rains a lot, the rain gutter makes a tiny pool in the dirt. It's fun watching the fat little babies Bob around in there taking a bath.
 
Karen we've fed the hummingbirds too, for years. What I get a kick out of is they spend so much time chasing each other off from the feeder. If they'd just sit quietly and drink, they wouldn't need so much food anyway. But they won't listen to me.
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Meanderer said:
While reading a bird book this morning, I learned that the Tufted Titmouse was known to steal hair from sleeping dogs, cats and squirrels, to use to line their nests.
Click to expand...

Are you a bird watcher? There is a bird out at the farm that I've *never* seen, only heard. It makes this loud monotone Morse Code type song: dash, dash, dot, dash, all day long. Can drive you nuts after a few hours. I've searched bird calls on the net and can't identify it. You just reminded me.

Thanks for the link on the Goat Girl. I read it.
 
NancyNGA said:
Karen we've fed the hummingbirds too, for years. What I get a kick out of is they spend so much time chasing each other off from the feeder. If they'd just sit quietly and drink, they wouldn't need so much food anyway. But they won't listen to me.
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Yes! They will hover by the slider if the blinds are open..or if I sit on the patio they will hover at eye level. They inspect every bloom on my hanging plants there..I can see them out my kitchen window. They do fight over feeders too..amazing! I love that zzzzoom they make when they zoom by. I'm devoted to them :)
 
NancyNGA said:
Are you a bird watcher? There is a bird out at the farm that I've *never* seen, only heard. It makes this loud monotone Morse Code type song: dash, dash, dot, dash, all day long. Can drive you nuts after a few hours. I've searched bird calls on the net and can't identify it. You just reminded me.
Click to expand...

Nancy, in Morse code, that series spells the letter "Q"!;) I became a bird watcher, of sorts, when I received a good pair of binoculars as a gift from my workplace, on my 25th anniversary. At the time, we had more trees, including two giant catalpa trees. My Wife and I developed an interest, and enjoyed the many birds. The most colorful was the Scarlet Tanager, which was florescent orange with black wings. The largest was the Great Horned owl, as he passed through.

ScarletTanager.jpg


They say that a bird of bright plumage, has a weak song, and visa versa. The one exception, that became my favorite bird is the Northern Mocking Bird. When attracting a mate, they perform flying somersaults in the air, resembling pinwheels, as they display their striped wings. And of course they sing!

The big trees are gone now, but the mockingbirds still come around each year.

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Meanderer said:
Nancy, in Morse code, that series spells the letter "Q"!;) ....(clip)...my favorite bird is the Northern Mocking Bird.
Click to expand...

Meanderer, the bird I heard certainly wasn't a Quail. :) The mockingbird is my absolute favorite bird. When you have time here is a 7.5 minute continuous string of calls from one mockingbird. Amazing.

Mocking Bird Calling

We have at least one great horned owl in town. He would call out at about the same time every evening when I went walking this summer.

In Ohio we could hear screech owls at night in the woods way back behind our property. You must have them in PA, too. I've never heard one here in Georgia. Talk about spooky---it sounded like a woman screaming for help.:eewwk:

Eastern Screech Owl Call
 
"This song was written in 1855 & sold more than 20 million copies of sheet music. It was even used as a march in The Civil War. Dolly Parton sings like a bird throughout. Stuart Duncan is exceptional as always. "Listen to the Mockingbird" is from "Divided & United: The Songs of The Civil War" released in 2013. Enjoy"!

 
Love the song birds. Even though we only moved 100 miles south, we have different birds here. We of course still have bluejays and crows, but some more colorful birds too. I love cardinals, they always bring thoughts of my Dad. If I could only keep those dang squirrels out of my feeders!
 
Waterlilly, I used to put out sunflower seeds in the winter, primarily for cardinals. The squirrels were the biggest nuisance at first. Once I got the feeder squirrel proofed, the mourning doves moved in. They would get in the feeder and rake the seeds on the ground, then fly down and eat them. They would tell their friends and dozens would show up.
 
Came across this picture by accident. These are those prizes you used to get in capsules from gumball machines. I would beg for those whenever we went to the grocery store when I was a kid. Even now I'm jonesing for that little red knife. Some passions never die. Sigh...:)

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