Out Like A Lamb

I'm so proud of myself! I have been keeping up with reading blogs. It took me two weeks to get caught up with all the blogs on my google reader, and to make a comment or two on each one, and so far this week I'm keeping up with reading about a dozen each day. So if you haven't heard from me in the past two weeks, you may want to leave me a link because I may not have you anymore!

This is a big thing because for several months I felt like I was struggling to do the things I enjoyed doing -- guess it was the winter. I'd make a bit of progress and then fall behind. Now I am back into a good routine with those little "extra" treats we give ourselves, like reading our friends' blogs, and I'm hoping I don't fall behind again.

Now writing in my own blogs is another thing altogether! I'm not going to commit to doing that every day, but I will try to post at least a few times a month.

Anne of Saturday's Child is coming through our area on Friday, so Eler Beth and I are meeting up with her and her friend Vivian for lunch at Olive Garden. It will be good to see them again.

Today is the last day of March, and I guess it has been a pretty good month all in all. Right now it is 75°, which is a bit warm I think for this time of year, but it is nice. Tomorrow is supposed to get up to 80°, and there is a chance of thunderstorms on Saturday, which is a bit scary for April -- above normal temps and thunderstorms in early spring make me think of tornadoes!

Eler Beth got an elk last month! It was a private hunt that she and Thomas went on. The guy who owns the ranch lets a couple of his herd be killed each year at a discounted price, and that pays for the grain for the rest of his herd for the year. He runs an elk ranch, with restaurant and health spa -- it's a beautiful place! Did you know that elk meat is just about the healthiest meat there is? Well, anyway, Thomas wanted Eler Beth to be able to kill this one, and I got to be there. She did great, and she got a cow that went about 400 lbs. Now we have a freezer full of elk, minus what we've given away and already cooked, and there is NO meat that tastes better to me.

I guess everything is going along smoothly here at home for the moment. Thomas' company is coming up on new contract time, but hopefully the company and the union will be smart and neither will do anything stupid. The vote was supposed to be this Sunday until someone realized that it's Easter. I'm assuming they'll postpone for a week, but who knows?

Guess I'll wrap this up. The sunshine is calling me outside, and I have a few more blogs to read today. Eler Beth is down at the creek catching frogs! She just stuck her head in the back door to ask me if I knew that frogs have four toes on their front feet and five on their back. Well, no, I didn't, but I do now.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Copper Says It's Spring!

Copper, in case you've forgotten, is Eler Beth's pet flying squirrel.

One day in early October we noticed that he was spending more and more time in his little log (now dubbed his "winter home"). This is a little wooden "home", about 8 inches long and 12" in circumference, open at only one end. He started dragging some of his pine bedding into it. Sometimes I would break a small leafy branch off a tree at the creek and put it in his cage, and he began pulling some of the leaves into his home, too. Then Eler Beth started putting her own hair that she'd cleaned out of her brush or comb into his cage and he'd use that too. Pretty soon he had it the way he wanted it. He'd come out to get something to eat or drink, or we'd tempt him out with a pecan (his favorite) which he'd take from our hands and then take into his winter home with him. When he did that he'd come right back out and ask for another one ... and another ... and another .... This was new because he generally would only need or want one. So we assumed he was storing up for winter.

I guess they do semi-hibernate, or at least spend a lot more time inside their "nests" in the wild. Sometimes we wouldn't be aware of him coming out all day or for days on end, prompting us to pull a bit of his bedding out to make sure he was okay. When we did this he'd very quickly either come out looking for a 'cahn (pecan), or he'd irritably stick his head out and glare at us and then pull his bedding back in. How dare we!!

Back in February he started coming out more often and sometimes sitting up on his look-out house, sleeping in his "summer home" (the furry one) or eating inside his other log, hollow with two or three escape hatches. Something had fooled him into thinking it was spring, but only temporarily, because he then went back into his winter nest for most of every day. (Take note, Debbie, that I used "every day" correctly!!)

This past weekend he told us in no uncertain terms that it really is Spring! He's spending more and more time out of his nest and has been sleeping in his summer home. Eler Beth has started bringing in buds off the trees for him to eat, and he eats them like they are a delicacy. Some people freeze buds for their flyers so they can give them a "treat" all during the year. I guess we'll have to do that too.

The robins are out building their nests, trees and shrubs are budding, and flowers are poking out of the ground and even blooming. But there is nothing to compare to the confirmation of spring by your very own flying squirrel!

Finally!

I am so thankful that Spring is officially here! It has been a long and sometimes difficult Winter. Our weather has been very Springlike lately, and I do hope that continues.

Happy Spring everyone!

Five Years? Really ?!?

Yesterday was my Five Year Anniversary of keeping an online journal/blog!!

I started with AOL Journals five years ago yesterday on March 15, 2005, and of course moved to Blogger along with everyone else in the fall of 2008.

I think I'll celebrate -- belatedly -- tomorrow by catching up with all the blogs on my list and leaving everyone at least one comment.

Beth at Nutwood Junction

Beth at Nutwood Junction is in Florida with her family right now. Her father suffered a stroke a few days ago, and is not expected to recover. If you haven't already, please send her a supportive message via her blog (above), email or facebook.

Thank you.

How'd You Like To Have A Pup Out Of That?

Thomas works with people from all walks of life, and in a company that employs (even after all the layoffs and forced retirements) around 700 individuals, there are bound to be a few walking around who are a few crayons shy of a box. This entry is about one of them. I'm going to call him Doorknob, for obvious reasons.

The most recent of a long line of foolish things this man has done or said happened last week. He was doing a job for which the company requires wearing a hood with the face shield down, but Doorknob has a problem with authority, and so was wearing no shield. He'd been caught and warned about this before, but he continued to ignore the rules, despite the fact that the policy was there for his own safety.

Last Monday he was doing this particular job without a face shield and was seen by the president of the company. This new president of the company is very much a by-the-book person. He went to the manager of Doorknob's area, took him out to where Doorknob was working and pointed him out. Doorknob still didn't have his shield down.

The manager, of course, did a disciplinary write-up on Doorknob and decided to suspend him for three days. Doorknob was brought into Human Resources and had the write-up read to him. Do you know what his defense was? When the HR Manager got to the part about his not having his face shield down, Doorknob interrupted and yelled, "Now see?! That there's where he's wrong! I didn't even have a shield on!"

He didn't even realize what he'd said until the HR Manager asked if he needed to re-write the write-up. (Re-writing it to say that he didn't even have the face shield on would have resulted in his being fired, by the way.)

Just thought this one was too good not to share. I've worked with some strange people, some very young and naive people, and even a few who haven't had a whole lot of common sense, but the stories Thomas comes home with about Doorknob (and few others) top all.