Dig, dig, dig. . .

Well, I got the car dug out.  Yeah.  Now, it has a dead battery.  LOL.  I expected that, hadn't started it in two weeks and with negative numbers showing on the thermometer it didn't stand a chance.  Gonna have to get the charger off the fence and get her up.  A couple more storms and it'll spend the rest of the winter where it is.

The next door neighbor that moved to the valley apparently showed up last night and tried to drive all the way to the house.  It hadn't been cleared all winter and there had been some pretty good storms.  The berm at the front of her driveway settled snow three feet high.  Now, any idiot would have known that a Dodge van ain't gonna make it.  She got over the berm which was hard packed and onto the soft stuff and just sank.

She lived here for 10 years, I just looked at her and asked what she was thinking.  Well, she had her new boy friend with her.  Seemed like a nice guy, but I don't think snow is his thing.  She wanted me to pull her out.  Nope, can't do it.  I wasn't being a bitch, just no way I was going to put my vehicle at risk.  She borrowed two shovels and finally dug it out.  I gave her the phone number of a guy that could get in, but even he said it would take most of the day and the Bob-cat, no way the PU with plow could do it.  She decided to leave the car at the road.  Smart move!

The Stellar's Jays and Norther Flickers have been stopping buy for a quick meal.  They had a little battle between them the other day.  Looked like the Flicker had won, then the Jay went and got his buddy and the Flicker decided it wasn't worth it.  LOL.

When I was shoveling the berm at the end of the driveway the other day, I wasn't paying attention and one of the dogs snuck out.  I mean, I noticed he was there, it just didn't register that he was outside the gate.  He stayed near, then some idiot woman in her car decides to stop rather than just drive by.  All three dogs get excited and go to see if it's some one they know.  If Jack hadn't already been out, I could have stopped it.  So, this idiot woman opens her car door and lets the dogs in her car and baby talks to them about what sweet dogs they are.  This is two terriers and a Labrador.  Are you F'ing crazy Lady!!!

I was beyond pissed!!  "Oh, I love dogs."  Lady, just keep driving, honk at them, run over the dumb ass animals,  but don't stop and let them in your car!  Now they're going to try to get in every car they see.  "oh, I love dogs."  She really did keep saying that.  Geez, REALLY, call some ones dogs and encourage them into your car when the owner is right there trying to stop them.  "oh, I love dogs"  REALLY?????  Yeah, I really wanted to kill that woman.

So, today, open gate and if the dogs got with in 10 feet of the open gate they got scolded.  Didn't take long for them to go back to, "oh, yeah, we don't go through gate."

Competition and Stale Crackers

A few years ago we had two grocery stores in town, they were competitors.  Then, one of them decided to sell and for a while we thought we were going to get a Safeway, but in the end, the company that owned the store at the other end of town bought it.  So, now we have two stores, both owned by the same people -  so, NO competition.  In fact two weeks ago, Ray's had run out of some stuff, so they sent their guy up to Shop and Save to raid their shelves to refill their own.  He didn't even have to take note of what he got, just loaded it up in a basket, threw it in his car and off he went.  Okay, so much for competitors.

When this all happened a couple years ago, the locals were pretty upset as we knew that with no competition the prices would be high and the quality low.  They promised that they would run them as though they were truly competitors, not to worry.  Yeah right.

For the third time this year I bought an item with out checking the expiration date.  The first was some Rye Crisps, I don't think I'll ever be able to eat Rye Crisps ever again.  I assure you, stale RC are really awful.  Then a month ago I ended up with some Turkey Bacon that had an expiration date of 2009.  Really??? 2009???

So, today, I'm returning a box of Premium Saltines that was expired.  As I'm standing in line, another woman that I know said that she had run into the same thing several times and was making sure that she was hyper vigilant looking at dates.

We both indicated aloud that if items were available at the local BiMart or Corner Store, we bought there as we had always found their stocks to be fresh.  Now, the assistant manager is listening to this.  So, I get up there, he gives me my money and says "I guess I'll have to have the Nabisco guy check the stock."  He wasn't particularly upset, just have the guy check the stock.

He asked if I wanted to exchange them or get my money back.  I said that I'd already replaced them at BiMart and I'd take my money thank you very much.

Okay, if I'm the manager or assistant manager of the store and some guy is losing me business, I'm gonna be a bit more upset than that.  "Ah, yeah, I'll have a talk with Gary and have him check the stock."  Really???  Do you not keep track of the amount of food that comes back as stale??  Do you not care that your customers are doing their best to not enter your store?  Geez, you have got to be kidding!  How does this guy keep his job??

I know that I buy probably 1/4 what I used to when there were two truly competing stores.  There are more people living in the area, so maybe they just don't notice it.  Having two pissed customers standing in a busy line complaining about your lousy food and the fact that they buy elsewhere when possible can't help.  Ah, well, I did get some fresh Saltines at BiMart.

Meniere's Disease

Ah, such fun, a Meniere's attack.  It's been almost exactly 12 months since my last full on attack.  Never know how long they will last, as I recall the one last year was close to 3 weeks long.  I've never been able to identify a common pre-condition that sets them off.

Meniere's is one of those fun things that no one quite knows what the cause is.  One theory is that it's a autoimmune disease, but they really don't know.  The main symptom is vertigo, which is NOT dizziness. It does tend to cluster with other autoimmune problems such as arthritis, which I have, big time.  The obvious source is the inner ear and I have had inner ear problems all my life.  I've also had serious tinnitus since the early '80s and I wonder if there is a connection.

I have found that doctors are worthless with respect to both tinnitus and Meniere's.  I've tried every possible treatment for the tinnitus, none have worked.  With both, most doctor tends to think it's all mental.  Well, no question, I'm mental alright, LOL.  If they can't identify the exact cause, it must be all in your head, not real in the least.  Yeah, right.

I read about 6 months ago that there had been successful  treatment for a case of Meniere's with surgery.  I personally had doubts and thought that the surgery was worse than leaving it alone.  But, when you first start getting the attacks and they are coming often and long term, surgery might be a real relief.

The thing is that the apparent natural progression of the disease is that the attacks come less frequently with time.  That is the case with me.  When it started some 15 years ago, they were often and they lasted what seemed forever and they made life pure hell.  With time they were 2 or 3 a year and now I appear to be 1 a year.

I think I was lucky, I figured out fairly quickly how to hold my head to stop a body dropping case of vertigo and if the world did start to spin, I got pretty good at stopping it.  Early in the disease there is no stopping the world from spinning and you just lay there waiting for it to stop, it doesn't matter if you're eyes are closed or open, it's like being inside a clothes dryer, it just won't stop.  Yeah, I remember that, I'd have gladly gone for surgery.  Some people are never able to stop the clothes drier from spinning.  I am ever so thankful that most of the time, I can get it to stop spinning in under 5 minutes and usually in under 1 minute.

I remember those early day, when the world would spin for 10 or 15 minutes and all you wanted was to die.  Hopefully I won't ever go there again!

Wave after Wave

After the melt came another wave of snow, well, actually, two small waves.  I spent today moving snow around with a shovel.  The snow blower just doesn't blow when the snow warms up and I didn't get out early enough.   I am pretty sure I can get the horse trailer out if I need to.

It's suppose to be nice tomorrow, then we're scheduled for another wave of snow.  Hopefully I can get the stalls cleaned up tomorrow before it hits.  As long as it give me a few days between each wave, I should be able to keep up.  If we get a really big dump or several waves in a row with no relief, gonna be in trouble.

Still, I'm glad I'm not in the mid west.  I have a friend that lives in Minnesota and it doesn't sound pretty.

As skittish as the Flickers are, the Red Breasted Nuthatches couldn't care less.  I was moving snow near the suet and looked up.  Not 2 feet away were two Nuthatches eating, watching me, but not really particularly worried.  LOL.

Fall Thaw

Yuck, after several weeks of early snow build up, the last 3 days have been warm and rainy, rainy, rainy.  The stalls and paddocks are a mess.  It's the kind of mess I expect only in the spring with the spring thaw and I don't mind it then, 'cause it means summer is near and it doesn't usually last long.

I was sort of prepared though, so the stalls haven't flooded the way they did a few years ago when we had the last el nina.  Only one of the stalls got slightly flooded last night as the last of the snow on the roof melted with the warm weather and tons of rain.  The other stalls are still completely dry.  Whew.  Every year is just a bit different, prepare for snow from the west, it comes from the south and so it goes.

The hay in the barn is fine but the hay shed doesn't have a vapor barrier and the ceiling is sweating, or should I say raining on the hay and fire wood in there.  Better feed it first and get a tarp out there.  We're at 4,200 feet, it's suppose to get cold, snow, stay cold until spring, then thaw.  Ah, well.

After cleaning up the stalls I tried to clear the way in front of the horse trailer so I can get it out and use it.  We'll see, a bit muddy, but I think I can get it out.  A couple of us are trying to arrange the use of a covered arena to work the horses, so would like to be able to actually get out.

Have to take all this snow and manure moving slow and easy, do a little, rest a while, do a little, rest.  The back is holding up, but it's talking to me.  Rather ironic that after spending time moving snow, I have to come in and ice my back before going back out to move more snow.  Actually, my arthritic hands are giving me a whole lot more constant pain than the back.  I'll come in and they ache some thing awful.

Suppose to start snowing again tonight, so maybe homebound for a few days.  Just gonna be one of those years I guess.  Well, better get back to work.

Greedy Girl

The female Northern Flicker was in eating lunch today.  Wow, she was really going at that suet, it was flying all over the place and you can see she had plenty sticking to her as well.  They are still skittish as all get out, but now that I know that I can get a decent picture through the storm window, I don't scare them off as quickly.  Still, if they see me move, off they go.

Finally Got Him

Wow, these Northern Flickers have been coming in to feed for a couple weeks and I've had a heck of a time getting a photo of them.  I got a few on the ground, but it's in the tree that shows them in all their colorful glory.

Finally, today, I got the male in the tree.  I had to do it though the double panes of a storm window and the result was a bit muted.  BUT, I have Apple's Aperture to help and I was able to undo the muting effect of the window panes and show this fellows true colors.

Finally!  I'm happy now.  LOL.

Getting Closer

It's amazing how fast a bird as big as the Northern Flicker can move.  As I've worked at the computer, birds have been coming in to feed.  Several Mourning Doves stopped by and I got some shots of them.

I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the activity but suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I realized that one of the doves looked different.  Uh, yeah, it was the Northern Flickers coming in.

Not just one, but three Flickers.  One of the males looked young, maybe mom, dad and son.  Any way, got an okay pic of the female.  The two males were quicker to take off at the slightest noise or movement.  They even scared each other a couple times.  Darn they're skittish!

The white snow doesn't help a lot in getting a good shot.  It's been raining all day but I don't think the snow is going away any time soon.  Hate it when it rains and warms up on top of the snow.  It turns the entire area into an ice sheet.  Plus it's heavy to move.

Anyway, they are all a whole lot prettier than these shots suggest.  I'm sure it's all the white as the female is a bit truer to color with the other brown around her than the male is with all the white.
They are beautiful.  Hope I can get them in the tree next.

Getting closer

Well, I almost got a picture of one of the Northern Flickers today.  Darn, they are skittish little buggers.  They'd been coming in off and on all day and every time I'd get close to taking a picture, off they would go.

Right as the sun was about to go down, one came in for one last bite.  Close!  Not enough time to snap a second.  I WILL get a decent picture, I WILL!

Hmmm, Hairy or Downy?

Boy, I've had a hard time making my identification on this bird.  I finally got a hold of some photos rather than just the illustration and now, I'm sure, I was correct, it is a Hairy Woodpecker.

From the illustration and description, I was starting to think this was a Downy Woodpecker, but when looking at an actual photo, the beak makes it very clear that this is a Hairy Woodpecker.  I refuse to change my mind on this again, it IS a Hairy Woodpecker.  What an odd name.

I always pulled any feeders before winter because I didn't want to encourage birds to stay that should be migrating, but, I live in a sub-division and I have noticed several all year feeders around.  So, what the heck, if they're going to stay, I might as well have them stop by here.

As for those darn Norther Flickers, they are the most skittish little buggers.  The slightest noise and they are gone.  They've been coming in all day today as I work at the computer.  It's as though they know when I'm trying to get a photo.  Switched things up a bit out by the tree in hopes of making it a bit easier for them to feed.  They are so much larger than the other birds that they have trouble with the suet feeder.  They are so beautiful, I really want to get some photo's.

Strong Arms

So, winter is here, the yard is white and the wood stove is getting used.  Some years I don't mind the white stuff, but then years like this when it warms up and turns the snow into a substance similar to cement, I could do with out.

A few birds have stuck around, mostly the Mountain Chickadee's and Red Breasted Nuthatches, but there have also been a few woodpeckers, including a beautiful Norther Flicker.  I was never able to get a photo of the Flicker, but did get a couple good shots of this Hairy Woodpecker during a snow storm.  I haven't seen the woodpeckers in a couple days, so maybe they've moved on.

As for me, I've been alternating between moving horse manure or snow.  I think the snow has finally gotten deep and heavy enough that the horse manure will be staying where it is until spring, but I still have to move snow to get to the barn and the front gate.

A fair share of moving snow requires shovels and my arms and back are getting plenty strong.  My lower back was causing considerable problems lower down in my leg and foot and I had to ice it to get some relief.  Such fun, come in from the 32 degree outside and stick ice on my back.  Well, it worked, along with a fair amount of asprin, got the swelling down and my leg/foot feels a whole lot better.

I think maybe today is take a day of rest before more snow has to be moved and enjoy a good book and a warm fire.  Stay warm all!