We spent a quiet Sunday. We alternated between Hops resting in her fireside bed or on my lap.
Hops seems to have lost all mobility on the one side of her body.
She is in her bed for the night.
Tomorrow we will go back to the Animal Hospital.
No matter what, we have had a quiet weekend of sweet kitty time.
❤❤❤
There is no joy here. Hops is not better. Yesterday I forced a little water into her with the eye droppers, but I don't know if I'll do that today. She is not in distress but just lays here
Today I'm planning on having her on my lap much as possible.
Tomorrow we will go back to the Vet.
this morning. 
I watched live as Buddy perched on the porch for a spell tonight.
40° probably feels pretty great to this little guy too.
I just finished reading & scoring my last essay for the State Academic Decathlon. Some were about the novel The Cat's Cradle, and some were about the cold war and the programs that were put into place that proliferated the fear of communism. Some of these kids did a really good job. All were interesting, one even made me laugh with their writing style. Anyway, I am done, for now, but I might have to read a few more to break some ties.
501,000+ Americans have died as a result of Covid-19. Many people are suffering from long term effects of having survived the virus. Unimaginable is the blanket of grief that covers our nation.
Everyday I am grateful that I have avoided the virus and especially today as I am just home from getting my 2nd dose of the Covid19 vaccine.
I'm keenly aware of how lucky I am to live in a situation that has made self quarantine a minor inconvenience. I'm also very thankful for getting the call to be vaccinated.
I hope in the next few weeks that vaccine supplies will start to equal the demand.
In the meantime, I'll take a moment to remember those lives that were lost, many needlessly.
The other day I was sitting where I could see these 3 woodpeckers, 2 downy & 1 hairy. They perched on this branch for about 15 minutes. They were not pecking, just sitting.
I wonder if they were in 'time out'.
So, in October 2020, I noticed that my dishwasher was leaving soap behind, shortly thereafter I could see the dishes were not getting clean.
Since I had a home warranty program through Sears, I called to make an appointment. After paying my $75 co-pay, I was assured the machine would be fixed or replaced in compliance with my agreement.
The first (1) appointment was for October 27th. On this day, the technician diagnosed the problem as the timer and he ordered the part & made another appointment for 2 weeks later. When the next appointment (2) rolled around, I got a call that it was cancelled due to illness. Another appointment was made for 2 weeks later, and lo and behold, again this (3) appointment was cancelled due to illness. Finally, 2 weeks later, the technician showed up (4), he installed the new timer and thought that was the cure. But after he left, I ran a cycle and there was not spraying happening in the dishwasher. I called Sears right away and they agreed to send the technician back, in two weeks. This appointment (5) was a bust after the technician determined that the ticket had been written up as if I was going to pay cash and not under my warranty agreement, so he had to leave. I had to call and reschedule, 2 weeks later, with a corrected work ticket. In that visit (6), the technician decided it was the motor for the pump that was faulty. He ordered the part, left and made an appointment for 2 weeks later. Then, on the last appointment (7), he was unable to loosen on of the 4 levelers on the leg of the dishwasher, so he could not pull it out to work on it. He told me that it was corroded and rusty. He also mentioned that the water lines were corroded and he was surprised that I did not have a water leak under the washer. He told me that I would have to have someone work on that leveler/leg, and that I could call and make another appointment once that was done.
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| Downy Woodpecker, fluffled |
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| Hairy Woodpecker, this brat was tossing seeds off the platform like crazy |
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| I noticed this bird when I heard the seeds hitting the window. |
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| Red Bellied Woodpecker |
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| Red Bellied Woodpecker |
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| Red Bellied Woodpecker |
While listening to the closing arguments of ImpeachmentX2, I noticed a couple of Tufted Titmouse at the feeders. Such pretty little birds and I'm so lucky to have them as repeat customers. After listening to the closing arguments by the Impeachement Managers, I am also feeling lucky that we have some elected officials who are carrying the load of the impeachment procedure with their mastery of the constitution, their fluency and their sincerity. It gives me hope. I am wowed by each of the impeachment managers as they deliver their messages. I hope that we can elect more like these and less like those who act with disrespect towards this process, who seem to diminish our constitution and who scoff at the charges against former president dt.
My little song birds are a wonderful delight on a day such as this, below zero outside and a sad and serious process taking place on the floor of the US Senate.
Take Care.
Be Safe.
🕊☮☮☮🕊
My ability to see great-niece Ruby play 7th grade basketball has been hit-and-miss. Sometimes the games are live streamed, but sometimes it's very hard to find where they are available on the internet. On Thursday night Luck seventh graders were playing Unity at Unity. I didn't find the game until halftime.
Ruby's team has really improved over this season. I really love watching Ruby she's a good ball-handler and she is fearless. She is not afraid to go grab the ball away from one of the opposing players if she gets the chance. She also has kind of a move that is hers, I call it the 'Ruby Route'. When she brings the ball down after the inbounds she calmly dribbles around the corner along the base line and almost always gets a bucket.
This particular game with Unity, who is also one of the natural rivals of the Luck sports teams because they are located so close by, was a nail-biter. The score flip flopped back and forth for the lead almost the entire second half. We ended up in overtime, where again the score flip-flopped and ended in a tie. So a second overtime was played. It was very exciting and in the end, Ruby and her team were the winners. I almost thought she might be able to hear me yelling from my living room, I was very excited.
This is tournament time for the high school teams, but THIS was the best game I have seen this entire season. Well done Cardinals!
Milwaukee Business Journal
By Rich Kirchen, Senior Report, Milwaukee Business Journal
Milwaukee businessman and philanthropist Herb Kohl on Monday disclosed another sizable gift to Wisconsin teachers to fund projects and educational programs in their classrooms — and announced a matching-grant offer to support social-emotional learning projects.
Kohl posted a “You just got funded” message to 578 teachers in 359 schools impacting 51,379 students, Herb Kohl Philanthropies of Milwaukee said Monday. The foundation paid a total of $425,000 across the state via flash-funding Wisconsin teachers’ projects on the site DonorsChoose.org.
The timing was in honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week May 7 through May 11.
“What teachers do every day for students inspires me to provide this support,” Kohl said in a press release. “These classroom projects are just another example of how teachers go the extra mile to provide for their students.”
Kohl said the materials cost money and that teachers all-too-often cover those costs.
The matching grants for social-emotional learning projects will become available on Tuesday.
The grants will go to classroom supplies and educational materials for teachers requesting resources that help students become “happy and connected members of their communities,” the foundation said.
For every dollar of support for these projects, Herb Kohl Philanthropies will match them 2-to-1. The foundation will provide up to $75,000 in that effort.
This marks the third year that Kohl’s foundation is funding Wisconsin teachers’ DonorsChoose.org requests.
Kohl is a former Democratic U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
https://wiphilanthropy.org/project/herb-kohl-philanthropies-again-funds-wisconsin-teachers-projects/
Our cold weather continues on and on, as does the Impeachment-X-2 trial of DJT.
Today, it was a high of 5℉, but it was bright and sunny so that softens the chill a bit.
I took a few photos of the birds in the wind.
A Bluejay is always a striking sight.
The cold is sticking around about another week. We will survive, but we will be grateful when we seen temps in the 20s and 30s, that is for sure.
Tonight was the beginning of Regional Tournament play for our high school girls.
Spring Valley played at Augusta. It was a close game. In the end 3 pointers by Augusta & Spring Valley turnovers made the difference. Spring Valley hung in there, I think the final spread was only 8 points.
Laila and I have often used this phrase with each other after seeing this meme. Who knows why it strikes our funny bone.
And today, it even applies to the temperature outside, a brisk -6℉ on a sunny afternoon.
This has been a mild winter right up until Friday, then the temperatures dropped to zero. It is not uncommon for us to have a stretch of below zero weather in January or February, in fact, normally around basketball tournament time we can count on it.
This week it seems hard to take because it has been such a pleasant winter, with manageable amounts of snow and temperatures in the 20s and 30s. The forecast is for about a week of these cold temperatures. This kind of cold just adds stress into daily living. There is worry about pipes freezing and furnaces failing. Any hiccup instantly becomes a crisis in this kind of cold weather. So, even though I am safe and warm in my house, there is that underlying worry that doesn't go away until the mercury climbs a bit.
One bonus is that it is sunny today and was for most of the day yesterday. That helps my brain think it is not that cold and I think it is probably beneficial to the critters who live in the woods. The bird feeders have been busy. I truly amazed at the survival of a song bird in -20℉ temperatures.
Google sent me my monthly travel recap.
This is the 12th month of self quarantine. It seems crazy now, when it all started I think I thought a month or 2, 6 months max. Now I'm hoping, with the help of vaccine, for some normalcy to return in the next 4 to 6 months.
I liked the look of this feeder in the catalog, but now that I have it, I think I could go broke keeping stocked with peanuts in the shell.
The first to visit was a White Breasted Nuthatch and he spent quite a bit of time there pecking away.
