Super "Kleen(ex)"

Did you know that putting Kleenex in a washing machine can cause the tissues to break down and leave residue or small pieces on your clothes?!

Of course then, when transferring the cloths from the washer to the dryer, inevitably Kleenex pieces fall to the floor undetected at that time, only to keep turning up scattered about days later.

It's REALLY best to check all pockets BEFORE washing to avoid this issue.

Live and learn, alas...

Bag It!

I'm trying a different approach this spring to discourage and run off the dreaded house sparrows...

Instead of stuffing the hole with a plastic bag, as I've done in the past, I opted to cover the entire bird house with the plastic bag.  This allows me to tie the bag nice and snug. Stuffing the bag in the hole works too but the sparrows pull and tug on it trying to get in and often times pulled it out but NO more with this approach.  Also, they don't seem to know what it is or like the bag and therefore they're no longer perching on the roof and hanging around.  This seems to have chased them off, HORRAY!

The sparrow claiming these two bird houses as their own end up chasing off the Bluebirds.  Yes, now no birds can take up residence in them today but I will remove the bags in a couple weeks and monitor to see who comes poking around.  Fingers crossed it'll be the Bluebirds.  The Bluebird is one of my favorite birds, hands down - there is NO comparison.  Sparrows on the other hand, well I despise them and would prefer they NOT be here at all and the last thing I want is them nesting in these boxes and raising more.

Follow me for more "Backyard Tips and Tricks"

Reuse and Repurpose.

I've finally found a functional use for the cat scratching\seating post\tree...

I'm now able to bring the plants up that I've been storing in the basement all winter. With the cat gone I no longer have to worry about him eating the plants...and vomiting them back up, YUK!

Now that spring has arrived I removed the insulation plastic I installed over the bay window back in the fall.  Seems like a pretty good spot to move my Philodendron plant to.  However, since it's SO big and the lower leaves SO full and heavy, I moved the car post over to keep the limbs up. Remove the temptation for Trixie to take a bite or two, as these plants are not dog or cat friendly.

Of course this is only temporary, as the cat tree is a going bye-bye very soon!

Now I can enjoy this plant all the time!

Turtle Save No.2

Another Painted Turtle save again today!

I was in the postal LLV, driving to my first stop, when I spotted this lady sitting in the road, YIKES!

I quickly banged a U-turn, blocked the road, hopped out of the truck and snatched her up - she was a tiny turtle.  I pulled into an area near a big pond, snapped the below pic, then took her to the water and let her free - after a stern talking to about safety and roadways. 

Jumped back in the LLV and drove onto my first stop.

A good way to start my day!

"Donut" Spare Tire

Testing out my spare tire...

I've owned the vehicle since October of 2019 and yesterday was the first time I pulled the spare out.  It's the first time in forever that I've changed a tire AND I got to do it in the rain too boot. 

Changing the tire was easy-peasy and I would have been all set and on my way but for one important detail that was missing - AIR!

I will "spare" you the details of how I came to have a flat but suffice to say my vehicle is NOT a postal vehicle!

🚗 Public Service Announcement 🚗

!! Please check your spare tire on a regular basis and make sure it's properly inflated !!

No Vacancy!

Honestly, I've lost track but believe for the last 5 years or so I've had American Robins make a nest under my back deck and raise a brood.  It's fun to have them there and watch them come and go and raise the young but it's also in a place where I come and go all the time, which scares off the adults and has in the past caused the young to leave the nest too early, as they get spooked too.

Last year they built their nest atop the ladder that is stored under there.  This is where that darn "Murphy" comes in. You see, like last year, once they build their nest, lay eggs and get settled I'm gonna need my ladder, UGH!  Last year I had to wait until the young left the nest before being able to use the ladder, which isn't cool.

So, this spring I've been removing their nest constructions every day or two.  I'm doing this so they'll get the point and move on to a different location, however, they are persistent, OMG!  They're working their feathered butts off and actually make quite a lot of progress with each attempt.  I feel bad but I want to break the cycle...

They can visit but NO lodging!

Mov'in On Up

It's with mixed emotions, and yes much to my surprise too, that Oliver is in the process of being "re-homed" 😢

The good news (for Oliver) is that he's going to live with Emilie.  So, although, yes, a new physical home, he's staying in the family. The bad news (for Oliver) is that there are already 3 other cats living at his new home.

He's never been around other cats, which might explain the first pic below, where he just looks miserable.

Here he is a couple days later looking better and a bit more relaxed.  Although, he's still being kept separated from the other cats.

To be honest, I thought I'd be more relieved and happier but that's not turning out to be the case, ALAS

Yes, I am ECSTATIC that I no longer have to clean hairballs and vomited cat food!  AND that I NO LONGER have a litter box to clean!  AND that I NO longer have cat hair from one end of the house to the other!

But I do miss him.  I'm pretty sure Trixie does too.  She seems a bit confused, and perhaps my imagination but seems she looks for him at times.  Tough timing too now that I am back to work and out of the house for most of the day, Trixie is now home all alone.

He had his routine and each night he could come find me just after dinner to check in and get a head rub.  Same in the mornings, both Trixie and Oliver would be there to greet me and encourage me to hurry up and get their breakfast served.

So, yeah, I kinda miss him.

This View Made My Day!

I took these pictures at a house on the mail route I did the other day.  I had to walk a large package up to the front door and was blown away by the incredible view they have - up high over looking a lake, with a pair of swans too boot!  Understand that these pics do NOT do the view justice as seeing it in person.

Guessing the homeowner saw me deliver the package and came out to fetch it as I was taking these pics, HAHA.  I told him I was in awe of his view and had to take a couple pics.  He told me to take as many as I liked and come whenever I'd like...HMMM 🤔

Who knew Norfolk, MA had such stunning lake side views.

SO Many Colors!

My flowering trees are in full bloom, as are SO many others in the area, and they all look terrific!

Peach tree -

Bartlett pears -

Weeping cherry -

Although, not a tree rather a shrub, my Azalea -

My pink Dogwood -

Everything is coming alive with the warmer weather we've been having! Perennials are popping through the soil, trees are budding and things are greening up.

Spilling Over

So true and sometimes it's difficult to see when emotions are high.

We all have our own struggles and demons, which sometimes get the better of us.

Tru Dat!

Honestly, this is true about ALL news media!

Don't believe everything you read.  Be better than "them", do your own homework!

💩

Hyacinths - Bulbous Herbs

Not to be outdone by the tardy tulip, my hyacinths have arrived too!

I planted these bulbs, guessing, some 15+ years ago and they pop same time each and every year and both look and smell wonderful.

The Late Tulip or Tardy Tulip

My Tulipa tarda have started blooming and they look great!

Sadly, these flowers don't last too long but I appreciate that they keep making their appearance every spring and always look forward to their arrival!

A Lovely Lady

I came across this female painted turtle this afternoon on my walk.

She was pulled into her shell just before the sidewalk.  Perhaps, weighing her option and odds at crossing busy Lincoln street?!

I'm happy I came upon her when I did, as I picked her up, introduced myself and explained crossing the road is a bad idea.  Then I crossed with her and gently tossed her into the wetland water.  Hoping that's where she was headed and that she opts to stay put!

Her colors and markings are very cool!  Interestingly, in the above picture, she has a leach stuck to her under her chin.  I marked it with a red arrow.  Wish I noticed it when I picked her up, as I would have removed it from her.

 

Well, it is that time of the year when sadly many a critters life comes to an end while trying to cross the street.

Be alert people!

Spring Garden Prep Ritual

It's that time of year, garden prep time, aka a good workout and full body soreness...

As I do every spring, I turned (tilled) my large vegetable garden yesterday afternoon!  I spread some compost before started and turn it and the winter rye, that had taken off, all into the soil.

There were oodles of sunflower seedling that had started to grow from last years crop, that I transplanted along the top edge of the garden, about (25) of them.

Now we wait a little bit longer until it's safe here in New England to get veggies in the ground.

Super Float

This pool float or snow tub is nestled snuggly in a patch of thorns and brush down at the school.  It's been there for a couple months now, guessing it blew there from one of the neighboring homes, in one of the super windy days we had, which we seemed to have many.

Makes sense right?!  There's always debris scattered around after some of those windy days, so not much of a surprise.

However, what is a surprise is that the float is STILL full of air.  The irony here is that I've had pool floats filled with air and tied nicely to my pool fence, only to find a couple airless; popped; kaput!  Somehow, even tethered securely the darn things popped but not this float, GRRR!

It's that darn "Murphy" again...

Even Then It's Hard To Let Go...

New Fir Bed

Today was a beautiful spring day with temps in the mid 60s. It just so happened to be my day of too, so I took advantage and got outside in the yard, after my walk.

However, I started my day at Lowe's first thing, where I picked up some new lumber to replace an old rotted raised bed, see finished product below -

This is my Tennessee thorn less black raspberry bed.

Once the new bed was in place, I added some fresh compost, which I also added to a couple of my other raised beds too.

I'm getting ready for planting season!

Same But Different

So, I'm changing it up this spring\summer to see if I can get better results and opted to go with a different 4-step lawn fertilizer product, Jonathan Green.

For years now I've always bought Scott's 4-step. Although it's worked fine for the most part, I was always a tad disappointed in the end results, which certainly could have been my fault when I applied each step.

Anyway, we'll see if this products does any better.  It was a tad cheaper, guessing because you're not paying for the "Scott's" name.

I picked up the 15,000 square foot bags last Tuesday morning, then went home and applied step-1 to my entire lawn.  Step-1 is a fertilizer that is also to prevent crabgrass from germinating, as well as it kills existing crabgrass too.  Hoping I applied it at the correct time and hoping the snow and rainy days we've had will help soak this product into the soil so it can start working.

I'll apply step-2 when the dandelions, clover and other weeds start actively growing.

Fingers crossed.

Snowy Garlic

I took this pic yesterday morning before heading off to work.

Again, snow on April 12th, UGH, but it shows how well my garlic is doing despite the crazy ups and downs in temps we've been having. All (33) cloves I planted in the fall have survived and doing well!

Lazy Or Don't Care?!

So, to my surprise, many people do NOT empty their mailboxes daily and some seem to go weeks!  Then there are those that appear to pull out the first class mail only, e.g. bills, letters, etc. but leave behind the third class crap and the weekly market circulars.

I get that folks are busy and I'm sure many people take care of their important bills and such online, so they're not expecting mail but c'mon!

A day like today for example, snowy, rainy and cold around 38-42, does a number on postal carriers.  My right hand, the hand used to reach out of the LLV and open mailboxes was numb and raw an hour into my 5 hours of delivering mail.  Therefore, when you get to mailboxes like the examples below, it makes it difficult to get the new mail in with out cramming it and\or having it fall to the ground, UGH!

Also, here in New England, the snowplows do a number on the mailboxes!  Many banged up pretty good, on wobbly posts and the boxes just hanging on or being held in place with some "MacGyver'd" (TV series from the early 80's) solution with duct tape and bungie cords, etc. 

Many of these too are hard to open. Hard to close and all have done a number on my fingers and nails, OUCH!

Patiently waiting for the warmer weather to arrive...

Food For Thought

April Fools On The 11th?!?!

Hey, what gives?!

It's April 11, why am I waking up this morning to this?!

Boy-O-Boy, Mother Nature sure is pissed...

Thankfully this won't last the day, as temps are expected to rise to mid-40's, which is still WTF at this time of year.

I'm heading out to work shortly and fully expect it to be a chilly day; morning at least, and a cold drive in the ole postal LLV truck.

Perforations My Arse!

I'm not gonna ask if it's me, as I'm well aware that it's me!

Who gets annoyed and frustrated and has the same issues with the perforation on tissue boxes when attempting to open a new box, see above?!  This happens to me every single time, GRRR

Call it OCD or whatever you'd like but this drives me bonkers.  You can't leave the box looking like that, with the unsightly brown cardboard showing and in the way, Lovey please!

Naturally, since the perforations fail to begin with, removing the brown cardboard is not as simple as you'd like to think, no.  It comes off in bits and pieces and inevitably small pieces of brown cardboard remains.

It's not easy being me sometimes.

I've got a good mind to write the company a stern letter...

Flying Solo Saturday!

Yesterday was my first solo day of delivering mail and packages to the route I've been being mentored on!  My mentor is off on vacation, so the preparing, organizing, loading and delivering the mail and packages was all my responsibility, UGH!

Saturdays are usually one of the lighter deliver days but NOT yesterday, f'rickn Murphy!

I had 179 packages alone, not including regular mail and fliers. I got a late start and didn't head out till a bit after 11AM.  Thankfully, a couple other carriers found me on my route several hours later and took some of my packages, which helped immensely.  I completed the route and made it back to the PO just before 5PM but truth be told had some issues but I overcame them.  A long day but somewhat satisfying.  Oh, it was a raw day too, rainy and cold...

Here is the route 8 work area, bare, where we sort each piece of mail to be delivered -

Here is the same work area, partially filled -

Here are the trays that sit to my left (the driver side in a 'normal' vehicle) that I pull from to deliver, including the smaller packages.  There were MORE flats AND packages in the back of the truck.

This is my 'on the road' work area -

The other carriers in the PO keep telling me "it gets easier" and "it gets better".  I'm trying to stay positive and hoping they're right.

Onward and upwards...

Just Puttering About

Being busy with my new job, I've slacked on getting out for my regular daily walks.  However, yesterday afternoon I did just that and it felt good.

Since it was a warm day, and I was all sweaty from the walk, I decided to putter around the yard for an hour or so.  I grabbed the ole shovel and turned the dirt in my two raised bed, see below.  I tilled the winter rye I planted in the fall, weeds that had started to pop and lingering fall leaves.  All under ground now to decay and add nutrients to the soil ahead of planting season.

As you can see my garlic is coming along nicely too -

 

I'm already mulling what veggies to plant this season and where.  I can hardly wait!