Snow Covered Abodes

We got about 15" of snow with our last snow storm, which today, a couple weeks later, is completely gone!  As always things are awesome following a snow storm, here are some of the "houses" in our yard covered by snow - 

Merry Christmas 2020

Wish family and friends a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here are some of our Christmas decorations, which as always look fantastic!

Blast From The Past

WOW, seems like forever ago!  Where has the time gone?!

Time To Make The Donuts

Who remembers Fred the Baker from Dunkin' Donuts?

This right here is a collectible!

Premiered in 1984 - Time To Make The Donuts

Shag This!

Good news is that we've getting 4 to 5 eggs a day for the past couple of weeks.  Delicious and as fresh as can be, YUM!

However, one of the Buff Orpington ladies does not use the next boxes for her egg laying, nope!  She prefers to lay her egg on the run floor and typically in the farthest corner from the door, see the red circle where.  She was being kind on the day I took the pic below, as I only had to crawl halfway through the run to shag her egg that day.

I've pulled her aside and spoken to her but she's a stubborn one...

The Epitome of Laziness

A public service message for all you lazy POS!

Blast From The Past

Who remembers these two pet stores?!

Sadly, they're long gone now.

Inconsiderate Neighbors

Seems the leash law we have here in Franklin doesn't apply to every and all dog owners, apparently there are exceptions, UGH!

Ever since our rear abutting neighbor clear cut most of the trees in his backyard this past spring, there's no longer any buffer or obstacles to prevent these dogs from wandering over.

The good news is they don't or haven't bothered with the chickens...yet, however, the come over and pee and crap all over the lawn back there.  The black lab takes craps that look like cow patties, YES that BIG, and her pee burns the lawn almost instantly.  Cleaning neighbors dog crap from my lawn pisses me off, even more so when I need to clean it out of my lawn tractor tires.

I just don't get it!  I just don't get how people can be so ignorant! How they could care less of others, so long as they get what they want.

Here is one example of a half dozen of these burn spots -

I strung two old rolls of 5' tall wire fencing along the back property line, maybe 50' long.  Threw in a couple metal fence posts to keep vertical and it seems to deter them from ambling over easily.  Hoping this will suffice for now.  I need to give some thought to a more permanent solution come spring.

Santa's (grumpy) Helper

Merry Frick'n Christmas y'all!

On The Road Again (NOT)!

While sitting in my car the other day I noticed the Zippity care care sticker affixed to my windshield, first photo below.  I had the oil changed in my Jetta back on 01-21-2020 by Zippity while I was at the office working.

Our company went full work-at-home on 03-12-2020, where I've been working since.  In that time, I've driven to the office for the day on 3 separate occasions, otherwise my driving is down to almost nil - doctors appointments, errands and visiting a couple friends, otherwise no driving.

Doing the math I've driven only ~4700 miles since my oil changed back in January.  Normally, had I been making my commute to the office at 120 miles per days.  Multiply this by 3-days a week and we're at 360 miles per week.  Now multiply this by 4-weeks a month and we're at 1,440 miles per month.  Finally, multiply this by 9 month and we're at 12,960 miles.  Of course these are estimates and only for commuting to the office.

All in all this equates to less time on the road, much less wear and tear on my vehicle and more quality time at home.

Current mileage as of last week -

F.W.Woolworth Five and Dime

Here's a throwback bag from a place and time long ago. A time I miss and time I would very much see make a come back, as these times we're in now need something to bring it back into alignment and reality...

Atta-Boy!

Received a nice delivery surprise the other day, delicious pretzels!

We have a new team lead in our group and she's making an effort to change the old, stiff culture.  Although, we're often recognized for our efforts, it's seldom that we receive such gifts.

This was a yummy change of pace!

Doing More Cleaning & Purging!

Since we were up in the attic pulling down Christmas decoration, we decided to bring down "other" items as well - numerous boxes.  

Sorted through the non-Christmas items; saved what needed saving, tossed what needed tossing and selling (sold) what needed selling.  The bellow pictures are two examples.  Both items have been up in our attic for well over 15 years now, taking up space and not being used or enjoyed.

 

100+ circa 1980s cassette tapes -

75+ old soda bottles circa 40s, 50s and 60s -

Interesting to go through them and all but in the end they had to go. 

Gone!

Christmas Decorating

We decorated the house, both inside and out, for the holidays.

Although, we no longer have any shrubs to string lights on, we made the best of it and decorated our Dogwood tree instead.

Also, have an LED light that's constantly changing colors and designs.

All in all pretty cool!

Sea Horses From A Time Gone By

Another very usual and unique item, or two, from my childhood!

A pair of seahorses that we had when kids, little kids.  They're each about 3/4" in size, tiny.

They've been perfectly stored in this tiny plastic case for some 50+ years.

HAHA, who needs Lewis Leaky for such a cool find...

Pocket Pig - For A Rainy Day

I came across these vintage items when going through some boxes of old stuff of mine - Pocket Pig Coin Saver, all the way from Charleston Federal Savings and Loan Association, Charleston, West Virginia.

Seems these were given to me by my Great grandmother on my dads side, so quite old.  All nine dollars worth with most of the dimes dated mid to late 60s.

I don't know if banks still offer these or similar today but a neat way to encourage kids to save.

Spit and Shine!

Spent a little time refurbing the shine on this sterling silver platter.

I don't recall where this came from but I pulled it from a box I brought down from the attic.

Picked up some sterling silver polish and with the help of an old toothbrush and some elbow grease, WAALAA!

Before - 

After -

It's kinda hard to tell in the pictures but the after is 100% cleaner and shinier! Still needs more work but I'm happy with the results so far.

I Shredded It, Of Course!

I've been doing a bit of shredding the last several weeks, UGH!  We pulled down from the attic our old, real old like late 90's, bank statements, paychecks, mortgages, etc. and began the process of shredding them. I filled, and I mean filled, (3) leaf bags full of the shredding's!

What a chore, as we have a rinky-dink shredder, not made for such heavy use.  I does a great job but would shut itself off when it got too hot, which meant I had to find something else to do while it cooled down. 

In the end, and now that it's behind be, it's all good.  Very happy to have all that paperwork shredded and off to be recycled.

Covid Explained

 

Vacancy?!

This Blue Jay was checking out this sparrow nest the other afternoon.  Sorry pal but you're too big, move along.

Just Hanging

I don't have any bird feeders hanging in the yard this season.  However, the Blue Birds are still here and bee-bopping all over.  They're seldom is one or two, typically there are a half dozen or so.  They're still hanging out and checking out the bird houses. Hoping for their return and nesting again come spring.

They're fun to watch and photogenic, at times.

 

Tight As A Drum!

I just finished installing the below Frost King insulation shrink kit on our family room bay window, PHEW!

Simply enough but yet I find myself putting the install off thinking it's a bigger process than it actually is.

My work at home area is just to the left of this window and the fact that our family room has cathedral ceilings, it's gets a tad nippy in this room.  Covering this window really makes a BIG difference in keeping this room warmer.

Of course our cat, Oliver, is none to pleased with this latest development, as he can now no longer jump up and keep an eye on things.  Hence the dangling "reminders' taped to the plastic...

Prepping the area; washing the inside windows, wiping down the sill, etc. -

Complete!  Added a thick layer of old curtain, folded nicely, atop the sill for added insulation -

Bring it on Mother Nature, we're prepared!

Thoughts To Ponder

I came across this profound statement from my dad today -

Circa 2000

Here is a picture of our house as it was listed back in 2000

Here she is today in 2020 - 

The 20-years has gone by in a flash and so much has changed.