Bell tower Festival-Day 1, Friday

Leo and Keri had two of their grandsons at the bouncy toys. They were having a high old time and did not want to quit! Beckett loved running full out in this safe environment and Grandpa Leo enjoyed watching him.

 Beckett greatly resembles his grandpa and his mama.

 Brady was having fun too. I am telling you I would not be all that crazy jumping off the height this boy did without a seconds thought!

The sculptures in this year's competition.

Cleaning Hack for window sills

Still tackling the mountain but it more closely resembles a hill now. We are going to have the house painted this summer so I do not plan to clean windows until after the painting is done however, the window sills/track are very dirty so decided to do that part and wonder of wonders I remembered this tip from Pinterest.
Baking soda!  And vinegar!

Step 1.

Sprinkle baking soda on dirty sill and work it with a brush until it has worked all the dirt you can loose. Especially into corners and crevices. An old denture brush works very well for this job. I use this old denture brush for many cleaning chores.

Step 2. vacuum up dry baking soda and dirt.

Step 3. Spray cleaner with vinegar or straight vinegar, in corners especially and let it bubble a bit. Wipe clean!

I was amazed how well this worked.

Before-

After!

Today I worked

I know it rarely happens but I did work. I decided my lethargy stemmed from what seemed like a mountain of unfinished projects so with new enthusiasm I decided the only way to cure it was to start climbing the mountain.
Today I cleaned the inside of the motorhome! It is all cleaned and polished and ready for use. While I was doing that, Butch started cleaning the roof, the first step in getting the new paint job waxed for the first time.
Between the two of us, we took care of several other small things. We do not have any wrens this year so I suggested Butch clean them out. We discovered that both of them had old wasp nests in them. So that is one mystery solved. The wren houses are now ready for new residents. We moved one of them onto our tree in the backyard. They had been in an area where we would never have seen their comings and goings if they had been occupied. I am hopeful.

Rode to Winkleman's Switch

Keri and I rode the farthest I have gone for quite some time. Nearly 9 miles round trip. It was wonderful. Keri and I have not set a date yet but we are planning a ride to Jamaica for a tenderloin, having the guys meet us there.That would be a 16-mile ride one way and very do-able. Who knows, we may decide to ride back too. It feels so good to be back on the bike. Here are this mornings pictures: Keri Rides

    Cute little country wren

Getting back in the groove

Keri and I walked this morning. We did our usual 2+ miles and I am happy to say it was pain-free. Tomorrow we will be riding the bikes!!

We have lined up our friend Russ to put cement siding on our garage and then we have Eldon Cunningham set to do our painting. Butch hates painting and I hate having him on a ladder. He didn't work hard all his life to retire and then fall off a ladder and lose any of his functions!

                               Our patriotic neighbor Bill

Our redheaded neighbor

Our friend the BlueJay taking a bath.

And a Cardinal

All of the bird shots taken within the last hour from where I am sitting.

They are ground feeders now!

                                                     
                                                  3 squirrels      

Easy Rider

Today I took my first bike ride of the season. My back has been giving me issues so I decided to trade off and see if biking felt better. It sure did not at first but soon I felt the old arthritic joints loosening up and about 1.5 miles out I was feeling absolutely euphoric! I love to ride. And especially on the trail. You do not have to deal with traffic, at least not the motorized kind. A bit of traffic when I leave home and one rural road to cross before the raccoon river bridge and that sums up the interference. I came home all energized and potted a few plants.

                                            Swirls and eddies.

Photos this past week

Pretty little house finch

 See the squirrel on the tree trunk? So far, so good! They have as yet not found a way to get to the feeder.

Taken on Memorial Day after a very light rain shower.

On the trail picture, Taken today

Pete and Jerilynn throw a party

 Dugan and Sharon have arrived

A gift in their flower garden

 Mingling and chatting

We had to keep on the move to keep from being buzzard supper.

They were having a high old time riding the thermals.

Today's Best Bird pics

So far, so good with squelching the squirrels. We have seen an upturn in bird numbers and varieties.

Cemetery Photos

Jefferson Cemetery

                                     
                                     Jefferson Catholic Cemetery  

Butch declares war...

Butch is warring with the squirrels. They climb out to the feeder and shimmy down the wire that connects to the feeder. That is until yesterday. Butch fashioned a bucket to make an obstacle to them getting to the feeder and so far it has worked. Now they lay on a limb scoping out the situation and hoping for a miracle. So far they must not have a plan because they have yet to try but I do assume in time they will.

On the trail. The last time we walked the trail this lady passed us.