post-thanksgiving

It's been over a week since my last post. I caught a cold last Sunday, as everyone was returning home after Thanksgiving and the house had turned quiet again. I've had so much to say that it has been overwhelming, but with my low energy I haven't composed my thoughts into anything sensible. Mostly I keep thinking that it is so wonderful to live here and that everyday experiences are such a blessing. It was great to have our Thanksgiving with Nina and Charlie, and Eddie and Kelly. It was interesting to see how the house works with more than just two people in residence. At night the house seemed quieter than in yesteryear. Snoring in the next room is less bothersome. The house is not totally soundproof but improvements have been made in this area. One great change is how the heating systems work so well and the house seems warm, and un-drafty.

The kitchen pleases me greatly. I try to keep the granite surfaces free of clutter because I just love seeing them  for their own sake, unadorned so to speak.  I can watch the birds during the day while I am in the kitchen. We moved the feeders from the summer location that is best viewed from the eating porch. Situated there, they were almost impossible to see from inside, so we moved them leftward, to over near the sandbox, so they are visible from all of the kitchen windows, as well as from the sunroom if one stands near the windows which overlook the front yard. We have talked about rigging up another feeder that would be visible when sitting in the sunroom. Still contemplating how best to do that.

The water pressure here is not so great. The meter is out by Elon Road, and the water is piped down a hill and back up a hill to reach the house. Brad and I have been dealing with this fact okay, but with more people on hand, it is a bit more of a nuisance. We've been looking at booster pumps for our water service.

Another purchase still to be made is a wood burning stove for the kitchen. We've been dragging our heels on that. Money has about run dry! In addition, we have not been able to use the fireplace in the living room, pending the acquisition of a new fireplace screen, one that covers the opening completely. It seems that we will need to have one custom made.

Nina and Kelly worked on a design for the wedding invitations. They are going to be so pretty! The weather cooperated so that we took walks around the property. One day we took the dogs to the pond. Another day Brad walked Charlie over to the "back 40" between Fawn Creek and Harris Creek. Faith and Stella loved the exercise. Eddie and Brad did a good job of frying a turkey breast outside in a fryer. Nina and I went through her baby book together. I had written an account of my labor with Nina and she was very interested to hear that. The book went back to Ann Arbor with her.

Nina re-positioned a couple of arrangements in the house. Her ideas were great!

 Now that my cold is gone I will hope to post again soon.

One more thing. This morning as we were having breakfast we were puzzled by total quiet on the bird feeders ---- none in sight whatsoever. We thought to ourselves either it's too cold for them to be out yet, or there's a  hawk in the area. After about 15 minutes we witnessed a large bird flying across the pasture out front, right to left and landing in the big tree that is in the pasture in the general direction of the dam. We pulled out the binoculars and discovered not one, but two, hawks, perched in that tree, but could not tell what kind. After about ten minutes, Brad walked outside into the front yard and headed their way. One flew away, and about 15 seconds later the other did, too. They were very obviously a pair of red-tailed hawks. Mystery solved!  It took awhile before the local bird population began to stir, but they finally did.