cranky ...

Yesterday, I gave away a couple chairs. The folks who were picking them up were 45 minutes late, and the phone numbers they gave me didn't work.

So, I had hauled one chair outside my condo door, and the second downstairs onto the front porch, where I was sitting and waiting for them. (I don't let strangers into my house - just doesn't seem safe. I give away a lot of stuff on freecycle, and always just take it down into the lobby for the people who are picking it up.)

No show. No working phone number.

I waited a half hour, and hauled everything back upstairs.

15 minutes later (45 minutes after they had committed to arrive), they rang the doorbell.

I felt, and unfortunately acted, really cranky. Still feeling that weird combination of irritated and guilty-for-being-irritated.

To top it off ... no email this morning thanking me, or apologizing for being late.

robins, day 9

starting to get awfully crowded in that nest.

Progress of work on the old saddle

This is a picture of where we started. I had already vacuumed off the worst of the dirt and cobwebs, but it's still terribly dusty, with bird droppings.



Here it is after two cleanings and some work on getting the rust and corrosion off the metal parts. The irons are on their way to my dad, who said he had a machine at work that would clean the rust off them for me. (Notice my favorite tv show - Monk - playing in the background while I worked). :)




This is where we are today. Last night I gave it one final cleaning and then rubbed in some Equips Saddle Food. A friend (thanks Denise!) recommended both the Equips and using the straps to start training the flaps to lay flat, instead of bending up.



I'll post one final picture when it's done, and the stirrup irons are on again. I've ordered a brass saddle rack to hang it on. (It's sitting on my quilt rack right now!)

Some history of the saddle that I found interesting: my Grandmother's brother Bert was in Germany during WWII, and brought this saddle back with him. As far as I can tell, it hasn't been used much - either before or after its journey across the Atlantic!

As I was cleaning it, I discovered some stamping on the cantle that confirmed (along with some research I did online) that it had been a Nazi cavelry saddle. But I figure 60+ years languishing away in the barn has purged it of its sordid past, and I can enjoy the beauty of it and its family connections. :) (I tweaked the color and contrast on the stamp picture to make it show up better - the color of the leather is a bit "off" in that picture because of that.)

robins, day 7

robins, day 5

Big difference between day 4 and day 5! Eyes and beaks are open, and they look more like birds than deformed earthworms. :)

the sad story of the Dremel

I moved into my condo five years ago. At that time, there were many home improvement projects facing me, and one of the tools I thought might be helpful was a Dremel.

So I bought one. Paid a good bit for it, too.

And it's never been out of its case.

This disuse wasn't due to a lack of NEED for the Dremel - on the contrary, there were many projects for which it would have been ideal.

"So," you may ask, "why haven't you used it?"

"Because I read the instructions when I bought it, silly," would be my answer.

You see, if I were to sum up the first few pages of the instructions, it would look something like this:

If you use this tool, it will blind, maim or kill you.

So, you see, I've never touched it. Instead, when I go into my basement storage room, I throw side-long glances at its case, in fear that it will jump down off the shelf and try to bludgeon me when my back is turned.

But ... remember that old saddle I posted about? Well, it has some metal rings and fittings that are just crying out for a Dremel.

No, no. I haven't USED the Dremel.

But I did successfully bring it up from the basement. That's SOMETHING, isn't it?

robins, day 4

There are a few more feathers starting to appear, but their eyes haven't opened yet.

robins, day 3

Robins, day 2

Had a nice time after work today. I found a township park right by where I work. I took my kayak out on the park's lake, and had such a nice paddle before I came home. Hope to do that more often!

Robins ... still ugly. :)

these things do get me thinking

I can see that these quotes are going to prove to be a real source of blog fodder!

Today's: "I have lost friends, some by death, others through sheer inability to cross the street." - Virginia Woolf

Isn't that the truth. The loss of someone by death is horrible, but it's final and definite. You know what happened.

Then there are friendships that just fade into the sunset. For whatever reason, communication proves too difficult to maintain. I find myself often fighting tooth & nail to prevent the loss of friendships that are drifting away in that manner. But it seems that if it's going to happen, it's going to happen, and maybe it's just better to not fight the process!

some childhood memories

This saddle was in my grandparents' barn, and I remember dusting it off when I was a kid, thinking it was so neat. My grandmother's brother Bert brought it back from World War II.

They've been dealing with the things in the house after my grandpa's death, and I was blessed to receive the saddle yesterday. I'm looking forward to cleaning it up, and getting the leather soft and oiled again. I thought I'd display it in my living room.

Gotta give my neighbors something to wonder about ... I'm sure they're discussing when I'm going to show up with the horse to go with it. :)

newly hatched robins

The chicks hatched some time between last night 5:00 and today at 11:00.

Like the last batch ... they're painfully ugly. :)

Love it!

From the ihasahotdog site:

excellent quote today

I have a google-widget that gives me a new quote every day.

I loved today's:

Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is again made clean. - Dag Hammarskjold

things I wish I knew

A blog I read periodically had a post today on things the author wished she knew. It got me thinking along those lines. (surprisingly my list often paralleled hers - we're about the same age, so that may be why.)

It broke down into two categories for me ... things I wished I knew that, in theory, I could learn, and things I wished I knew for which I have no natural aptitude, and very little ability to learn.

The hopeless list first ...

Things I wish I knew for which I have no aptitude:

* Music. I've taken lessons in piano and voice. I've had college classes. I've read. I just don't "get it". There's some fundamental "music section" missing in my brain. I enjoy it, but I know there's a level that other people "get" that I just don't. It's like a color-blind person looking at a garden. They appreciate it, but there's a knowledge of something missing.

* Art. Can't draw. Can't paint. no talent here whatsoever.

Things I don't now, could conceivably learn and would like to know:

* ballroom dancing (how to do it) and ballet (how to appreciate it)

* classic literature - for an English major, there is a great deal I haven't read

* investing - I'm hopeless, but dislike money stuff, so I avoid learning it

* history - I know a great many events, but not the big picture, or dates, and how things interact

* geography - if I don't know someone who's lived there or traveled there, I probably don't know where it is

How about you? Any on your list?

while we wait for the robins

Please visit this amazing site that shows a hummingbird nest as the babies hatch & grow.

fireworks ...

OK kids,

We've established it. You light it. It goes "boom."

I can understand finding it interesting ... once.

But do we need to KEEP lighting them? They are all going to do exactly the same thing.

Really. I promise.

what American car companies just don't get ...

I want to buy American.

I want a hybrid.

I do NOT want an SUV.

Do they make one single car that fits these qualifications?

Nope.

It makes no sense to me to buy an enormous vehicle when I'm usually the only one in it and rarely haul anything heavier than a gallon of milk.

quote of the year

The only difference between Detroit and Third World nations in terms of corruption is that there are no goats in the streets in Detroit.
- Sam Riddle

Yep.

no longer an empty-nester

The robin laid eggs again this weekend. I think only 3 are new. She laid 3 in her first batch, and there were only 2 chicks, so one of the four is one that didn't hatch last time.

I hope, once they hatch, to take a picture every day, so we can watch them grow.