Thursday Already?

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It's my sister's birthday today.

I hope she threw sense out the door this morning and ate cake and ice cream for breakfast.





Just a few videos of Abby the Gardening Pooch. They were taken weeks ago, but she does this everyday.

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I wasn't going to mention this, as it's tragic and so sad, but hug your loved one's.

If you've heard about this week's kidnapping of a 3 day old child outside a pediatrician's office, and the murder of the mother... this all happened close to home here in Spring, Tx. It happened probably 10 minutes from our house.

Thankfully, the Texas Rangers found Baby Keegan safe and sound at around 8 'o clock that same evening. I'd be pretty shocked if the kidnapper doesn't receive the death penalty. It's pretty obvious it was premeditated, and the poor mother and child were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

What's also sad is that she was the mother of 3 children: A 3 year old, 1 year old, and 3 day old. I feel so sorry for her entire family. This never should have happened.

It certainly puts things into perspective. For weeks I've been worrying over dental work I need done, but then I hear about such a senseless murder happening so close to home. It makes one wish their loved one's would never step foot outside their door.

Just a dream away....

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Dear Coincidences,
Why are you stalking me again, and what is your purpose?

Dear Bluebird Fledglings that just left the nest,
Happy Travels!

Dear Patio Weeds,
Please grow back soon, because Abby loves you so.

Dear Rain,
I miss you.

Dear Pets,
I love how excited you all were when I got home today.

Dear Izzy,
You don't have to cry every time I leave the house. It's endearing, but unnecessary.

Dear Patience,
Stick to my side like Peter Pan's shadow, okay?

Dear BBC America,
Please stop airing all these Top Gear marathons every single day. And whatever happened to the Doctor Who reruns?









I can't decide which Carousel of Progress I enjoy best. I love the original's "Now is the Time" song and narrator's singing voice, but I also love hearing Jean Shepherd. Even "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," I enjoy. I just don't love JS's singing as much.


(FANTASTIC video quality here, esp. when maximized)

Disney Wednesday

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1925:



Roy Oliver Disney (Walt's brother & business partner) marries Edna Francis (from
Reece, Kansas) at Uncle Robert Disney's house on Kingswell Avenue in Los
Angeles, California. It is the same house where Walt lived and set up shop after first arriving in Hollywood from Kansas. As Walt owns a motion picture camera, he shoots the day's events. (In 1930 Roy and Edna will have a son named Roy Edward.)

2006:



Winnie the Pooh celebrates his 80th birthday by receiving the 2,308th star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California. Pooh is one of a select few animated characters to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - an honor that is perfectly timed to the global 18-month long Pooh anniversary celebration Disney kicked off in December 2005. (The only other Disney characters to be given a star - as of this day - is Mickey, Donald, and Snow White.) On the same day as the Walk of Fame ceremony, Walt Disney Home Entertainment releases Pooh’s Grand Adventure -The Search for Christopher Robin, for the first time ever on DVD.

You Can Fly!

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The last of the bluebird fledglings left the nest yesterday. I filmed the last one to leave. I didn't get it flying outside the bluebird box - thanks to the dead camera batteries - but the box is empty now. Mom searched the yard for any of them, because of our dogs when they go out, but we don't see or even hear them anywhere nearby.

Mom and I are gonna miss them, but no doubt they'll be more. I do wish I had seen at least one of them fly outside of that bluebird box though.







Here are some sweet Beatrix Potter cupcakes Mom made for Easter. The neighbors went nuts for them.







Warning: Drama Ahead.

Just kill me now, please. I was never afraid of dentists until now. My last experience was not fun, as they numbed my teeth twice and still I felt everything as they worked on them. And I dread knowing that it will be worse this next time around.

Consider me completely freaked out. I sort of wish all this December 2012 hype were true, only it'd come early. That way I don't have to deal with all these future painful visits... and I know from what I was told the last time that there's a lot of work that needs to be done. I'm trying really hard not to panic, be an embarrassment, and a big crybaby about this. I just need to get it all over with as soon as possible. It'll take months, starting with this one tooth that's starting to bug me, but at least the day will come that it will all be over with. I'm trying really hard to concentrate on the end result here.







PS - I updated the previous post with photos.

Everyone, Meet Fievel

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I can’t believe that we didn’t bother putting out our usual Easter decorations this year. We had a few new things out, but not the older decorations.

Namely the little scene below. Shame on me!


(Larger Pic HERE)

And of course they have names.

Father: Finnigan / Mother: Rebecca
Girl bunny: Polly / Boy bunny: Patrick
Chick #1: Lily / Chick #2: Westley
Sheep: Owen



I have no clue where these Easter bottles are stored. I haven’t the foggiest idea. I bet I’ll find them by Halloween.

Can you believe I found them for only $1 a piece in Old Town Spring?!



The little guy pictured above we did remember to set out this year. He, too, has a name but it escapes me at the moment.

No, I remember now. His name is Elwood, from the Jimmy Stewart movie “Harvey.” You know who Harvey is, right? The 6 foot 3 and a half inches invisible rabbit belonging to one Elwood P Dowd.

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- My parents went up to our land yesterday to mow the grass. Thank goodness, Hugs and the cattle were there again.

I guess when I was there last weekend they were just grazing in another field. I didn't think they'd get rid of Hugs, but I was worried they had sold the cattle. Hopefully, they're all pets.

- My dream was right. There was no Disney Easter Parade on tv this year.

HOW COULD THEY DO THAT TO ME?! I can't even remember the last time they cancelled the Easter parade. It doesn't feel very much like Easter without it.

Ah, well. I'm gonna have to remedy this nonsense right away. Maybe I'll watch "Miss Potter" or something. That's a really sweet movie (although a little sad in parts), which I haven't seen in a really long time.




(Click HERE for larger version)

Warning: Lots of rambling down memory lane ahead, so grab the Tylenol.

I've been meaning to post these videos for a while now, but I think today is the perfect day for it. It's the perfect day because it was Easter week of 2009 that we were befriended by the tiniest little bluebird we named "Fievel." (Yes, thanks to some lovely people on a Bluebirds forum at the time, I discovered that if Fievel were to be placed in a Beatrix Potter story he'd definitely be wearing trousers and not a dress).

For years, we had two bluebirds that always built a nest in our backyard. We named them Duncan and Rose. Sadly, in 2009 Duncan was without Rose and caring for the little baby bluebirds on his own. He wasn't feeding Fievel very much. Fievel was the runt compared to his siblings, and we feared he wouldn't make it. Nature can be cruel like that.


(Meet Rose)


(Meet Duncan)

That Easter Sunday we had an unusual spot of chilly and extremely rainy weather with high winds. It was raining cats and dogs and there were tornado warnings everywhere. We didn't know what to do. Before that nasty weather arrived on our doorstep, we had decided to do our best to step back and let nature run it's course. So far Duncan was still the caretaker here. Mom and I were just keeping Fievel away from those big dogs next door and the busy street; a perfectly humane thing to do I think. We tried to just have faith that Duncan would take over and teach the little guy to fly.

That didn't happen, and we quickly realized that there was no way Fievel would survive in those conditions. Truly, it was like Tropical Storm weather out there but with cold temperatures. (By this time Fievel refused to stay inside the birdhouse, so he was open to the elements). It's one thing to sermonize that letting nature run it's course is the right thing to do, but until you yourself EXPERIENCE having to make that decision... well, if you have any heart and compassion at all you'll choose a chance at life over witnessing certain death the next morning. We couldn't allow this creature to starve to death, and being Easter Sunday there were no wildlife organizations open to call for help anyway. So all I knew was that while there was still a heart beating inside that little chest, if I could help him I would. If Mom and I didn’t even try, we’d feel like an accomplice to murder. That wasn't us being over-dramatic either. It was the nasty black and white truth. Whatever happened to him after he could fly.. now that we felt had to be left up to nature. Whatever happens, happens. Hopefully, if he'd survive that is, instinct would just kick in when it came to foraging for food. Surely he'd learn just from observing other birds.





During the day we tied a huge beach umbrella to a bench with some rope, to try to protect him from the elements, but it was a disaster. The high winds turned the umbrella inside out, even after nailing part of it to the fence to secure it.

Thank goodness there was a break in the weather after a few hours, and the sun came out. (This was when the videos I'll post below took place; that Easter Sunday).

That evening we put him inside the cat's crate inside my Mom's closet. We really didn't think he would survive the night, but at least inside he had a 50/50 chance. (And apart from the weather, we were worried about the big dog next door making a dinner of him. This dog was so fierce that they had to replace the fencing once because the dog would slam himself into the fence so hard; the same fence Fievel liked to make a little home for himself next to). Mom and I both didn't sleep a wink that night.



To our surprise, Fievel did survive the night. Duncan still came around with Fievel's sibling's (pictured below), but only once every evening at around 6:30. We fed Fievel every once in a while, but for the most part had faith that his Daddy and siblings would help him out. We didn't want to intervene more than was necessary, as this was a wild animal we're talking about and not something to make a pet of.


(Meet Fievel's Siblings)

Thankfully, Fievel was okay in the end. He learned to soar like some eagle, and came back to visit us every once in a while.

I'll never forget his first visit. (April 15, 2009). That evening was the day he flew off on his own. Mom and I were worried for him because he wasn't with his Daddy and siblings. He was still a fledgling, and fledglings still need to be fed by their parents. That was the most depressing day. We felt like our child had gone off to college and was all alone and not knowing what to do or where to go. Thank goodness, that day I heard his little chirping. (It's true. Mom and I both could recognize his 'voice' by now. Like a mother knowing her child's cry). Mom was talking to the neighbors in the front yard when she heard Fievel calling. She hushed the neighbors, gasped, said "That's my baby!" and ran off. She told Dad to check the backyard for him, which is where I was.

We kept calling Fievel, like he was some dog or cat, and he kept answering. He finally swooped down on the first story roof of the empty house behind us. I mean, he was sitting there smack dab at the apex of that roof and talking to us.

Mom and I tried getting him to fly down so we could feed him, but instead he keeps talking to us before he flies up to the second story roof. It's as if he was showing off and saying "Look what I can do, Ma!" He was flying WELL, too. Just like a pro. Him landing on that first roof was such a sappy, beautiful, Heavenly Hallmark moment!





He didn't come down for food, so we knew that meant he was being fed somehow. He had to have found Duncan and his siblings during all those long hours he was away.

Honestly, that moment felt like something spiritual. It's only that Mom and I were so desperately worried for his well-being, and then right before sunset he pays us a visit. It felt very clear to us that he visited us that evening intentionally.

I often hope that the male bluebird we have visiting us these days is Fievel all grown up. It probably isn't, but you never know as they say that bluebirds do return to nest where they were born.

Here are a few videos of Mom's and mine's feathery friend. Wasn't he just too adorable for words?! He was so small. Were he a female, I'd have named him Thumbelina. Even pictures and video can't demonstrate how small he was. This bluebird was the size of my thumb, and here people are always telling me I have "baby hands," so you can imagine how small that was.







Eventually, I'll add more photos of Duncan and then Fievel's siblings inside this post. I can't do it now because I'm painstakingly backing up all my old photos onto a flash drive. Photobucket wouldn't even accept my password yesterday, so I'm backing everything up now.