So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 3b)

...went to Weeki Wachee Springs to see the mermaid show. You enter the park through a visitors' center. On the other side, there are pathways to an animal exhibit, a short boat ride and the Mermaid Theatre. We took the boat ride first.

Upon returning, we grabbed seats at the theatre to catch the show.

The show the performed was based on Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid. You know the story:

The pretty little mermaid...

...saves a drowning sailor...

 ...and wishes for a pair of legs so she can join the handsome sailor on land.

She makes a deal with the Sea Witch.

 The hag steals her voice but the mermaid (in this case) throws the Sea Witch into a deep abyss, regains her voice and...

... the young lovers live happily ever after.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 3a)

...visited my cousins Janet and Linda in Weeki Wachee. This was the first time I had seen them in many years. My sister and I used to spend many a Saturday at their house in Pequannock, NJ while Dad did yard work. Janet's husband, Dave, taught industrial arts (shop) in Sparta and Jan was a nurse. When they retired, they followed Jan's mom, my Aunt Grace, to just north of Tampa. Linda's husband, an electrical lineman, got a job in the same area about the same time. The Faber clan visited them all when we traveled to Disney World around 1990. I haven't seen them since. Terry visited a few years ago when she had one of her sewing conventions in Orlando.

While we would enjoy the company of Janet, Linda, Dave, Becky (one of Janet's daughters) and their four dogs and two cats, Terry and I would use thier house as a base to visit Weeki Wachee Springs and the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park just up the road.

More about those places later.

So. We went on a road trip and... (Part 2)

...visited St. Augustine, Florida.

Our first stop in St. Augustine was to the newest visitors' center on the main drag where we learned they ran an Old Town Trolley that toured the --well--Old Town. We paid for a three day ticket and hopped the free shuttle over to the trolley depot near the Old Jail. There we were "incarcerated" for a brief while as a trustee showed us the ropes. But we got paroled.

Terry with the Big Man. The "trustee" can be seen lounging on the porch in the rear.

Me with the Big Man.

Terry was taken by this old sewing machine in the sheriff's living quarters.

Then we boarded the trolley for a 1-1/2 hour tour of the city. The plan was to use our tour to pick the places we would visit on day two. Lord! There are a lot of places to see!

Old Town Trolley picks up and drops off at some 25 different locations. But these guys are out of luck.

This is the oldest city in the US having been established back in 1565 by Pedro Menéndez but visited as early as 1513 when Ponce de Leon came in search of the Fountain of Youth and gold for the Spanish treasury.

A partial reconstruction of the earliest palisades made with palm logs.

Restored city gates.

View of The Castillo de San Marcos (estb. 1672)

 In the late 1800s St. Augustine became THE place to winter for some of the wealthiest people in the US. The primary promoter of this destination was one Henry Morrison Flagler who was then perhaps the second richest man in the US behind his good friend John D. Rockefeller. It was Flagler's vision to cater to the rich and famous of the day and he hired world renowned architects to build some luxury hotels for that purpose. Today those hotels are the core of Flagler College, established in 1968.

Statue of Flagler at the entrance to the college.

Ponce de Leon Hotel is now the core of the college.

More of the Ponce de Leon's magnificent architecture.

There's more to see and do in St. Augustine, of course. Besides the trolley, you can take a horse drawn carriage tour or a boat tour of the bay if you'd prefer.

Carriages await fares.

You could rub shoulders and have your picture taken with many famous people at Potter's Wax Museum--"Where great minds mingle."

You could visit the first permanent home of Ripley's artifacts. (It's in one of the many former hotels that attempted to compete with Flagler's. There are a few that tried but failed because Flagler was both an astute businessman and a right old bastard. He controlled the railroad that came into town and the warehouses in Jacksonville that were to supply those rival hotels.)

You could stroll the pedestrian mall in the old town section where you can walk among some of the older buildings like the Oldest (remaining) Wooden Schoolhouse in the US while shopping for a snack or souvenir.

There's the old Spanish muster site with it's walls encrusted with seashells on the outside like an early day razor wire fence for those attempting to invade.

 Or search for eternal youth as Ponce de Leon did. (Beware, it's pricey to even look! If old Ponce had been a better business man, he could have made a fortune by marketing the waters from the spring here.)

Or, like we did on day two, you can visit the new St. Augustine Distillery and the Winery for a free tour and tasting at each. The former specializes in potables made from sugarcane, vodka, gin and rum. Their bourbon had not yet aged enough to be released to the public. Darn it! (We did purchase some vodka and rum, however.)

We drove north of the city both nights to eat at some very fine restaurants and Terry even walked down to the beach to dip her toes into the Atlantic. (She said it was chilly.)

Having left much unexplored (for a future visit?), we headed out toward Weeki Wachee just north of Tampa-St. Pete to visit some folks from my side of the family.

But that will have to wait for Part Three.

So. We went on a road trip and....

..had a great time.

As previously mentioned, Terry and I drove to South Carolina, Florida and North Carolina to visit relatives. We also stopped at various locals to do some sight-seeing. After finally looking at and editing some of th epictures I took--and procrastinating my butt off--I'm going to take a few days to post the tale of what we did along with some photos so be patient.

We left on a Sunday morning in the rain and headed south on Route 15 and then I-81. Being Sunday, the traffic was light and we made great time. Just to be on the cautious side, however, we stopped for the night in southern Virginia.

Monday we hopped on I-77 and swung through North Carolina and eventually on to Columbia, South Carolina and stopped at the home of our first set of kin--on Terry's side. Jim (Terry's cousin) and his wife, Pat, were waiting for us and greeted us warmly.

While unpacking the Tundra I noticed some severe, uneven wear on the front tires of the Tundra and knew immediately that the vibrations I had been feeling in the steering wheel meant I had an alignment problem. Well, Jim and Pat both happen to drive Toyotas so after we drove over to Fort Jackson cemetery to visit the grave of Terry's cousin Lorraine, we drove over to the Toyota dealership to make an appointment. (Lorraine died from recurring cancer a couple of years ago. She fought bravely but after an all too brief period where it seemed to go into remission, the Big C returned and took her from us.) The dealership said they could take me Tuesday morning at 7:45. Jim also made an appointment for an oil change at the same time so we were good to go!

Tuesday it was confirmed that I needed an alignment by the personal concierge assigned to my case. (Did I mention that this was a HUGE dealership? They had a drive-in check in garage with six or seven people to greet customers, take the vital information and do a look-see of what your problem was.) I ordered a complete set of Cooper tires for the Tundra as they had a buy-three-get-one-free deal going on. I wold also get the fluids in the transmission and transfer case changed. As it would take a couple of hours I agreed to wait in their luxurious waiting area.

Jim's oil change took about an hour and he went home while I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Noon came and I was told the tires were on their way from across town. One o'clock came and my assigned concierge was full of apologies. Like me he was beginning to think they had to tap the trees for the rubber. He went to talk with the service manager and came back saying they would give me a 20% discount on my bill because things were taking so long. I was properly appreciative but told him it sounded better than being put on the time clock. Anyway, I finally got my tires and left the dealership around 2:30 in the afternoon. We all went out to dinner in celebration of Terry's birthday  and then we sat around watching NCIS that evening.

Wednesday, May 3rd, we did a little touring around town and visited a farmers market. Pat cooked a wonderful meal had then we had a visit from Terry's god daughter, Michelle, and her family. (Michelle is Lorraine's daughter making her a second cousin(?).) Michelle's oldest is graduating high school this year. My how time flies!

Thursday, Terry and I drove over to Sumter to visit with Michelle's sister-in-law, Sarah, and her son, Jacob. (Husband Richard was away at work in Charleston. He builds sets for the entertainment industry--movies, TV and the like.) We got there a tad early and had to wait for Sarah and Jacob to get back from an errand. Well, Sarah made a big mistake when she got home as she handed Jacob the car keys and got out of the car. The two-and-a-half year-old Jacob pushed the wrong button and locked himself in the car and wouldn't/couldn't unlock the doors for his Mom. Sarah searched for the extra keys, but Richard must have had them. Next thing we know Sarah has two cop patrol cars in her drive, each having an officer with the right tools but not the expertise to jimmy the door open. A third, unmarked car arrived with someone who had the proper knowledge and the door finally got opened and Jacob was free!

The rest of the visit was somewhat anticlimactic but very enjoyable. Jacob is a hoot! And a whiz with a tablet. He and I played a couple of apps on his and he was pretty good at fitting words into their proper slot as I read sentences to him. When I tried to change to a different screen he immediately knew which icon to touch to get back to the one he wanted. Bright little bugger! So how come he wouldn't/couldn't unlock the door? Later in the afternoon, we had a visit from Terry's cousin-in-law/Lorraine's widower, Joe. He's battling cancer now, too and looks a bit wore out but says he's doing okay.

Me and Jacob

Friday morning Pat and Jim teamed up to make some wonderful omelettes for breakfast and then Terry and I hit the road for St. Augustine, Florida.

Thus ended Stage One of our travels. More to come!

Trip Planning.

I've been busy planning a lot of trips for this summer and fall. These in addition to Terry's two conventions/seminars for SAGA and EGA--both of which take place in the Virginia this year; in Hampton Roads, VA and Alexandria, VA respectively.

First, Terry and I will be traveling south next week to visit relatives in North and South Carolina as well as Weeki Wachee, FL. We'll also do a quick sightseeing tour of St. Augustine, FL; a stop over in Charleston, SC; and drive both the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive on the way home. We''ll be staying with family members much of the time. Yes, they know that already!

The second will be a three to four day trip to the Cape May area--before Memorial Day and the usual Jersey Shore (never "the beach!") madness revs up.

Third is a brief trip out to Long Grove, IL (north of Chicago) to visit with Rick, Sandy, and Chelsea as they will be in to visit Sandy's parents for a week.

Fourth (for me) will be a trip to Clova, Quebec in mid June to do some fishing for pike and walleye with Joe at a remote cabin off Goin Reservoir. (Reserved and eagerly awaited!)

Our fifth trip will be a longish one in July as we plan to trailer to Acadia National Park, ME; the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick; then back to Gorham, NH; and Alexandria Bay, NY. Three weeks on the road. Reservations have been made for those places we'll be staying more than one night but the one night stops still have to be booked or we'll take our chances calling ahead as we travel.

Nothing is planned for August, but we may have the trailer out to visit some of the fine state parks here in Pennsylvania. There will also be time for rebuilding several of the garden beds where dry rot has taken out the landscape timbers I used, oh, nine (!) years ago.

Sixth on the list will be a solo affair with Terry heading to Hampton Roads, VA in the second half of September for her SAGA Convention.

Seventh--and as yet unplanned completely will be a solo excursion for me to Portland, OR and Anaheim, CA to visit with the kids. That should take the first three weeks in October. I might fit in a day birding at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge at the north end of the Great Salt Lake. Maybe even stop in American Canyon, CA and visit with family there. I could even get down to San Diego to visit friends Ellie and Wayne. Who knows?

The eighth and final will be another solo trip for Terry the final week in October into November to Alexandria, VA for her EGA Seminar.

I love the act of planning these trips. Pouring over the maps and trying to figure out what we would like to do and where we will stay. Mapquest is a help but so is the Good Sam Club trip planner. the only thing they lack, as far as I can tell, is a function that lets me tell them I want to go from point A to point B but want to travel just 300 miles (with the trailer) or 750 miles (by vehicle) a day, where's my stops?

My kids and wife will tell you I will plot a course in minute detail (Eisenhower's crew planning D-Day had nothing on me!) but will toss those plans after the first day or two on the road. Unless, that is, we have to make reservations at some of the more popular spots. Even then, there are always new roads to explore, shortcuts to take, and all manner of unexpected sights to see along the way.

Then it'll be time to rest a bit, do some hunting, entertain for Thanksgiving and hibernate.

Waging War!

Saw the first carpenter bee (wood bee) of the season bouncing off the windows of the deck and searching for a likely spot to bore a hole--just as they have done ever since we've been here. So, instead of pulling out the Spectracide Wasp & Hornet spray as I've done in the past, I put out the two traps I built. Mounted one on each side of the front deck in the hopes that I'll catch the darn bees before they start excavating tunnels in the soffet--again.

I found the spray to be a killer IF I could hit the bee but that's the problem.

1. The bees are difficult to hit on the wing. 
2. The spray does NOT reach out to 25-feet as advertised when you aim upwards. (And then some of the mist falls back on me!)
3. The spray is not effective n a windy day--and we get lots of those!
4. I am not on "guard duty" full time.

The boxes are there 24/7, will not cover me with a poisonous mist and generally are more eco-friendly. 

They are nothing more than a couple of plywood boxes with a couple of smallish holes drilled slanting upward on each side and a larger hole on the bottom to which a Mason jar is attached. I simply lashed them to the extending ends of the logs rather than do any drilling/nailing into the house.

The idea is the bees enter the small holes, get confused and exit through the larger hole into the jar where they die. A friend in Tennessee a number of folks online seem to have success with them so we'll put them to the test here at the Aerie.

I may also add some faux hornets nests made from paper bags stuffed with plastic bags/Styrofoam to the underside of the covered porch and deck to scare the bees away.

I'm a b-a-d Boy.

Forgive me Father for I have sinned.

It's been over two weeks since I last posted. It's not that I've been terribly busy or anything, I just have been spending my time reading Facebook and, well, you know how that works. "I'll just take a quick glance..." and five hours goes by.

Since my last post, we have had the heaviest snowfall of the season: about 4 inches fell on Saturday April 9th. That was followed by a weekend of 75+ degree weather on April 15-18.

One bird walk was freezing (April 2), one was snowed out (April 9) and one was fantastic (April 16).

Terry and I have been planning our Spring and Summer travels:

• First up is a trip down to Weeki Wachee, Florida with stops along the way to visit relatives in North and South Carolina. We'll also do some sightseeing at St. Augustine as well as drive the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive on the way home.
• Second will be a quick trip to Cape May, NJ sometime in late May.
• Third will be another quick trip. This one to the west to visit Rick, Sandy and Chelsea when the come to visit Sandy's parents north of Chicago.
• Then I will be going north to fish in Northern Quebec with Joe M.
• Finally, and this is the big one, Terry and I will take the travel trailer on the road to visit the coast of Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia before returning via Alexandria Bay (NY) and the Thousand Islands. I've been spending some time planning this one--and need to get on the phone to start making reservations. 

All if that will get us home by the end of July. But we'll still be getting around the state to some of the great state parks in the north, west and southwest corner of the Pennsylvania.

Terry will, of course, be doing some traveling of her own come fall. This time, however, she'll be a bit closer to home as both the SAGA and EGA conventions are in the east this year.

I'm A Lumberjack and I'm Okay...well pretty good...and lucky.

I put any construction/building plans on hold for a few days and did some destruction instead. Actually, I cut down some trees. I've been meaning to do so for a while and the winds finally died down enough that I felt I had a fair chance to drop these trees where I wanted.

So much for my "fair chance" as everything seemed to go foul on me from the start. 

Tuesday:
A white birch that had partially snapped about 8 feet off the ground (it was still attached) had it's crown hung up on a small maple. Even when I cut the stump of the birch, it refused to let go. No amount of cutting, or pulling on the hanging remnant of the birch could persuade it to let go. I had no choice but to cut down the maple as well. I ran ropes from the maple to a large oak and from the birch to a pine forming a 90 degree restraint that I hoped would prevent the trees from falling on the wood pile or worse the house. The did protect the house, but the tops of both three landed on the wood pile. Luckily they did no damage as it was just the uppermost twigs that landed on the stack of wood. The two together didn't yield more than a weeks worth of firewood, but it's good firewood. Birch lights easily and burns nicely, and the maple produces lots of heat. (I might even make a birdhouse or two from the birch or peel some of the bark to apply to the sides of a birdhouse.)

Wednesday:
I had my eye on a couple of locust trees that shade the garden a a few white ash trees that need to come down before they get attacked by borers. None threaten the house, but I wanted them out any way.

The first locust I attacked, was a short distance downhill from the main garden bed. (That will be a future project as the landscape timers on it and the onion/strawberry/herb garden are rapidly decaying after nine years.) I hoped to drop it next to the garden, but it had a mind of it's own and landed on the chicken wire fence instead. Some minor damage there, but nothing too serious. I had thought to save some of the straighter sections of the locust for either fence posts or something else, but decided to chuck that idea and proceeded to cut it into fireplace lengths. It will burn...eventually. Takes a hot fire (see birch and maple above) to get it going but once it starts burning, it gives off plenty of heat. Got a pretty big brush pile from the smaller limbs and branches that will serve as home for some lucky critters.It's even got armor protection from the thorns the smaller locust branches bear. (I've got a few scratches from them and the wild rose bushes growing in that area to prove how formidable that protection will be against a cat or fox.

I went on to look at a second, larger locust that obscures the view to the west and sheds copious amounts of seeds in the direction of the garden, bit had second thoughts when I realized how large the trunk was. Actually I should say "trunks" as the thing divides into three about 3 feet off the ground. I couldn't decide 1) where to cut it first or 2) which direction(s) it would go. It can wait.

On to the first white ash. Slight bend to the trunk, branches pretty evenly distributed...should be easy to make it go where I want it to go. HA! I wanted it to fall south across the trail and made my notch on that side almost half way through the trunk. BUT, as I started making my felling cut, and got about a third of the way to the center, the damn tree sat down on my chainsaw! IT wanted to fall north!

I scratched my head and walked back to the garage to get the second chainsaw. (There was no room for wedges.) If it wanted to fall north, then, by golly, I was going to let it. I carefully cut out the back of the notch and the tree fell with about 1/4 inch of wood between the two saw blades. I should say MOST of the tree fell. One large section above a split I hadn't noticed got hung up...on the large locust I had though about taking down.

By cutting off three foot sections one at a time, I was finally able to get the hung up portion of the ash to come to earth. I then spent the better portion of the afternoon cutting the trunk and larger branches into fireplace lengths and stacking it at the edge of the trail. There's enough wood there to get us through a month of cold weather once it's split and dried. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any sap rising in the ash yet. At least nothing was showing up at the cut end of the trunk as it would with either birch or maple. (Ash burns really, really good. almost as good as maple.) Got a sizable brush pile from that slash too.

So there you have it. The best laid plans oft go astray.
And it's going to take my aching body a day or two to recuperate.

Back to the Drawing Board

So much for the gate being the answer to the bear incursions on the deck.

Last night I heard some rattling of the gate around 11:30 PM and came down to see if it had held them out. No, all four were on the deck checking out the tray feeder (empty) and the places where the stick feeders hang (empty). I flipped on the deck lights and watched as all four (Mom and her three cubs--very large cubs) went over the gate using the corner post like a pole dancer on Friday night. 

They ARE determined!  After several unsuccessful forays on the deck, you'd think they'd figure out it's NOT a food source any more. But, as Terry told me, it's on their rounds and therefore must be checked.

*sigh*

Another Project Finished (Almost)

I spent the last two days building and installing a cedar gate to the deck. As I've mentioned before, we have bears. And they like sunflower seeds. A lot! It's cute to see them come up on the deck--when they are alone and/or tiny little cubs, but when they are nearly full grown and still hanging together. This year we have a sow and her three cubs returning. Last year the cubs were about as big as Chester our oversized cat. This year they are as big as St. Bernards and growing yet they are still hanging around with Mom as she explores all possible food sources including any birdseed that may still be on my deck. They were here Wednesday night sometime after the rain and left muddy footprints on the deck including a pair that stopped right in front of the sliding door for a bit. Someone was probably scoping out one or more of the cats who were looking outside. That's when I decided to do something I've been thinking about for some time: build a gate.

I went to Lowe's Friday morning and got some 1x4 and 1x2 cedar and spent the day cutting and assembling the gate. Saturday morning I went down and got the hardware to hang and latch the thing. Then I put the thing in place.

The 1x2s are on 4 inch centers leaving just 2-1/2 inches between them. That's enough room for the squirrels but not nearly enough for even the tiniest bear cub. The top is 33-34 inches above the deck floor. Add another 7 or 8 inches for the final step and we're talking about 40 inches from the outside. It's held closed with a very sturdy gate latch and the hinges are quite sturdy, too. Oh, I'm sure a 250+ pound bear putting its shoulder to this can do some damage--IF it wants to. I just hope that the bears are not that desperate for food.

As for the "Almost" in the title of this post, I'll be putting a layer of stain on this as well as the top of the rails when I can be sure the night time temperatures won't be below 40 degrees. (Last night it dropped down to 24.)

******

I had cause to go into the shed this afternoon and discovered that there have been some very busy mice in there. They chewed--and ruined--two plastic gas cans. One was nearly full of non-ethanol gas and the other was a third full of 32:1 mix for one of the chainsaws. I was able to salvage the fuel, but the cans will be going in the trash on clean-up day. They have also completely shredded a cardboard box in the back. I hope they haven't been at the fuel lines for the mower, chipper or weed wacker.

I need to attract some more outdoor cats--the four or five we see from time to time aren't doing their job--or a weasel.

Just Livin' the Life of Riley! (Please don't tell him.)

In lieu of either discussing politics (This is the best either party has to offer? To me Senator Cruz is the only one who is sane, intelligent and steadfast in his beliefs and not bought and paid for by some outside interest. Democrats: Really? A septuagenarian socialist and a person who lies with every breath she takes?) and/or terrorism (Why can't the folks in the White House--or their friends in the main stream media--call it what it is?), let me stick with something a bit closer to home: Life at the Aerie:

******

Not so busy this week...so far.

As chief cook, Terry got off easy over the weekend. As I mentioned, there was plenty of opportunities to get out and eat for a good cause Saturday and Sunday. (And that was after she had her weekly Lenten Luncheon on Thursday and Simple Supper at Holy Child on Friday evening (basically soup and bread).)

Saturday morning we had pancakes at Miller's Maple Products. We also bought a couple of pints of syrup, some delicious pecan and maple syrup sauce, some "maple salt" (maple sugar, salt and pepper--use it sparingly on meat dishes), and some buttermilk pancake mix.

Saturday evening we had a chicken and biscuit dinner at the Mainesburg United Methodist Church. Where we got to see our former postmistress and schmooze with the young minister. (It's sort of odd that both this church and the United Methodist Church in Wellsboro both got new, young (I'd say 26-28 years of age) ministers over the summer. The one in Mainesbirg is Tim Parker while the one in Wellsboro is Rich Hanlon. Mr. Hanlon is an avid birder and has been participating in the Tiadaghton Audubon Society meetings and walks. I've also run into him a couple of times while out birding. Both are very nice, friendly guys.)

Sunday morning the Mansfield Fire Company had their monthly breakfast: eggs; bacon; pancakes; french toast; biscuits and gravy; muffins; juice; and coffee. And the Boy Scouts bus the tables. What's not to like!

******

So far the rest of the week has been pretty normal.

I spent Monday in the workshop knocking together a couple of wood bee traps to hand on the deck come warmer weather. Damn bees like burrowing into the logs and timbers. I've been using the long range wasp spray but the little buggers flit about like hummingbirds and a devilishly difficult to hit on the wing. Besides, I can't sit out on the porch all summer like Clint Eastwood with a shotgun yelling, "You bees get off my house!"

Tuesday I cut out the parts for two simple, basic birdhouses and put one of them together. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all these houses, but at least I'm getting rid of some of the wood scrap from when we built the Aerie back in '06 AND I'm get more confident in my use of the power tools I've been neglecting. Pretty soon I'll be back to some more serious projects.

After reading online about massive migrations of birds, I thought Wednesday would be a good day to go see. I did and found that if there was a big migration, they weren't landing here. Hills Creek and the Muck were pretty empty. Only a Pied-billed Grebe (FOTY) on the lake made the day worthwhile.

Terry's been doing her usual: stitching, cooking, go to Curves. Surprisingly she hasn't had any club meetings this week. Could be because it's the week leading up to Easter or it could just be a fluke. She does have church services, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Oh yeah, and Saturday she takes our Easter dinner to get blessed.

******

Shadow does not like getting pills. But she has become resigned to the fact. She's been sleeping on a loveseat in the basement and doesn't attempt to run away when I go get her at medicine time. Which, BTW, is twice a day. Not that she opens her mouth voluntarily. No, I still have to pry her jaws open while Terry uses the pill "gun" to get the pill as far back in her throat as possible.

Her appetite seems to have improved as well. We've been experimenting with various foods and found a few that are free of fish and dairy that she has scarfed down. She comes bouncing up the steps every couple of hours for her "special" kibble, too.

As for the scabs...they seem to be drying up and flaking off. I haven't seen any open sores for several days.

AND she has stopped vomiting both her stomach contents and hairballs.

******

Less than two weeks to Opening Day of Major League Baseball!
Let's Go Mets!

This Week At the Aerie

SO....

Busy week with lots of doctor visits

Monday morning I went to the Guthrie Clinic in Mansfield as soon as they opened. While the doctor was at the hospital doing rounds, I did get to see the nurse practitioner who diagnosed my aching neck as an irritated nerve caused by muscular spasms. She prescribed Naproxen (500mg tablets) twice a day for the pain and Flexoril (10mg) once a day before bed for the muscle spasms. I started taking them that night and WOW! What a difference!

Tuesday I was pain free and I've remained that way all week. Of course, they have also allowed me to sleep very, very soundly.

******

I went birding a couple of times this week and added a new species or two each time. Despite the super spring weather, we're still waiting the big rush of migrants here in the Northern Tier of PA. We've had a few waterfowl show up but not the huge numbers we've seen in the past. If the warm weather holds, the next week or two should see a rush of species heading north for breeding purposes.

Redhead pair on Tioga Lake

Common Mergansers (2 males & 1 female) on Tioga Lake

Green-winged Teal at The Muck (Wellsboro)

Ring-necked Duck at The Muck

Pair of Mallards at The Muck

Pair of Wood Duck on an old beaver pond near Hills Creek SP

Even with a 600, lens, the birds always seem to be just t-h-a-t much too far away for a good shot.

******

Terry's turn for a steroid shot to her spine (L2, L3) occurred Friday morning. She has a couple of bulging discs (along with some stenosis) that have been creating pain in her hips and thighs. The pain management doctor thought cortisone injections might help alleviate the problem. We'll know in a day or two how that's working.

******
Small Town America

The township secretary called on Thursday to give us a heads up. They were sending out a crew to work on a culvert on our street and the road would be closed from around 8 AM until 1 PM. She (the secretary) knew we normally go down to get the mail and do some shopping on a daily basis so she wanted to let us know to plan on taking the long way around.

Well, because of Terry hospital procedure we were gone long before they came to shut the road down, but when we returned, we took her advice and drove the long way around only to discover that the culvert they were working on was the one running across the road right at the end of our driveway. We couldn't get in.

We parked in our top most driveway (we have three parcels of land and three driveways but only one--the blocked one--leads to the house) and walked down the hill.

Long story short, two of the work crew were also township supervisors. They had noticed we had a small drain pipe running across our driveway (not on town right of way) that was insufficient (6" cheap pipe), partially compressed and in need of replacement. They wanted to know if they could replace it with an 8 inch pipe, stone the driveway for me and generally do what I wanted to do for two years--for the price of the pipe. I said, "Go for it!" They then told me to pull my truck down and into the house and not to worry, they would be done before I had to take Shadow to the vets at 2:15. They did the work and were done by the promised time. I expect I'll get a bill in the mail, 'cause they didn't even come up to the door.

******

About Shadow...she's become something of a problem child. Not that she's fighting or anything like that, she's just moody, off her feed, vomiting, and full of scabs. Some of the vomiting is hairballs from licking the scabby areas, but some of it is from food.

She, too, went to see the doctor this week. (Her visit will end up being the most costly out of pocket. No insurance.) Shadow lost five (5) pounds since last April when she was 14+ pounds. She tipped the scales today at a svelte 9.4 pounds. That's not good.

The vet thinks she may have irritable bowel syndrome, or a food allergy. She prescribed some steroids (for the existing skin condition, another drug for the irritable bowel, and some B12 (because poor digestion leads to a lack of B12 intake). She also suggested we change her diet. No seafood, beef, egg, milk, cheese, wheat. Just poultry, rice and oats. She had some moist food (at $2.50 a can!) and some dry food (also very expensive) to get Shadow started on a healthy diet.

I was given a pill "gun" to get the medicine into the back of Shadow's throat and was shown how to give B12 injections. Shadow will probably need those B12 shots once a month for life. When all this stuff gets put into motion and runs for a couple of months, I think I'll just go get a veterinary license and treat cats.

******

This weekend is the Maple Weekend in Potter and Tioga counties. There will be demonstrations of tapping and boiling at the sugar house at Hills Creek State Park and a number of sugar houses will be opening their doors to the public for tours and samplings. Terry and I will be going out early because one of the places is offering all you can eat pancakes for $7.

Then later in the evening, the Mainesburg Methodist Church has a chicken and biscuit dinner. And Sunday morning the Mansfield Fire Company has it's monthly breakfast.

*Sigh*

Diet is what you eat.

There is some snow in the forecast for Sunday into Monday, but nearly all of it will be to the south and east of here. We may get a dusting. With any luck, these will be the last flakes we see this "winter." The forecast also calls for 70 degrees next Friday.

Sunday on the Road

For the second consecutive night I woke up in terrible pain. My jaw and now my neck and left shoulder. Obviously this is not a muscle problem and must be nerve related. I'll be going to the clinic bright and early Monday morning even if, as it is currently doing, the pain eases up.

******

Terry left Louisville, KY early this morning hoping to get home around 5 PM. I got a phone call around 8:30 AM and she reported she was stuck somewhere on I-71. There had been a traffic accident involving a fatality and everything was at a stand still. The trucker next to her was her source of information. He also told her that, based upon his personal experience, they might be there for a few hours. She has water, grapes and energy bars. What she lacks is a toilet. I told her to look for a motorhome/travel trailer but she says there's nothing but truckers. I then reminded her that some of those sleeper cabs may have a toilet, too. She said she'd pass.

******

After Terry's call, I decided to get outside myself and do some more birding. I went back north to the Tioga-Hammond Lakes overlook, then to the Ive's Run Campground (both the lakes and the campground are Corps of Engineers projects created after the floods caused by Hurricane Agnes back in 1972) and finally drove the Rail Road Grade Trail but stopping at the food plots about half way.

Saw a couple of new birds for the year and listed more than I saw. (I've seen Rock Pigeons, Starlings and Grackles as I drive around, but never listed them on eBird until today. I mean, the roof of a barn or the spillage of a grain mill are not your prime birding spots. Well, at least they aren't mine.)

Here's the list(s) from today's foray: Again, first-of-the-year birds are denoted with an *.

Hammond-Tioga Lakes Overlook, Tioga, Pennsylvania, US
Mar 13, 2016 9:30 AM - 10:10 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments:     I started counting from the spillway of the Tioga Lake dam and right on up to and including the overlook of the weir between Hammond and Tioga Lakes.
16 species

Canada Goose
Redhead *
Common Merganser
Bald Eagle
Ring-billed Gull *
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) *
Mourning Dove
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
European Starling *
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle *

Ive's Run-Hammond Lake, Tioga, Pennsylvania, US
Mar 13, 2016 10:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments:     Drove from the first boat launch to the second through the day-use areas between.
15 species

Canada Goose
Bald Eagle
Ring-billed Gull
Mourning Dove
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
American Robin
European Starling
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle

Rail Road Grade Trail, Tioga, Pennsylvania, US
Mar 13, 2016 10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Comments:     Drove the trail from east (Hammond Lake) to west. Stopped at the state gameland's food plots for a time and it was there I saw most of the birds.
14 species

Canada Goose
Common Merganser
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker *
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird


This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

The addition of these "new" birds brings me up to 41 species in Tioga County this year. I was hoping for more today since the wind shifted from the south to coming out of the north and that should have produced something of a fall out. Didn't happen here. The lakes were pretty much devoid of ducks . (Except for Tioga Lake which had quite a few Common Mergansers and Redheads.)

I ran into Gary and Ken, two of my birding buddies and they reported the same thing. The lakes are empty when they really shouldn't be. 

Oh well, there's always tomorrow...or the day after.