Judah was Right!

As we were leaving to go out this afternoon, Judah says "Why is there a birdie in the house?" I told him there wasn't, and he said, "I saw it flying over there."
Well, we left anyway, and later when we got home, he kept talking about the birdie. The kids started watching Spongebob, and I heard a "cheep". I looked around and found nothing. My imagination, I thought.
I started cooking dinner, and heard another "cheep". I'm going crazy now.
So I sat down and watched a little TV with the boys and heard it again. I asked them if they heard it, and they said no.
Then I heard it again, and it kept on 'cheeping'. So we went to look for it.
Caleb found him in the dining room. It was a baby sparrow of some sort that was barely able to fly. I grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots then opened the door and shooed him out. Some adventure!


Little birdie in the corner, behind the milk can


Little birdie after he got out on the deck

My Sidewalk is Finished!

After much delay and anticipation and sweat and more sweat and lots of hot sun... MY SIDEWALK IS FINISHED!
Now if I could get some front lawn to look nice, I'd be somewhat happy.
Next project is to put some edging bricks between the 'lawn' and the driveway, and then get some gravel for the driveway. Oh yeah, and move the pile of sand on the blue tarp.


From the front porch


From the driveway- with the exception of good grass, it almost looks right

Dryer Balls

So for Christmas Mel got me some dryer balls- No it's not an underhanded reference to a vasectomy. They are supposed to be the end-all to fabric softener and the like. But they don't work worth a squat. They are supposed to keep your clothes fluffy in the dryer and make them extra soft. They don't. I still have to use fabric softener. And the horrible noise they make when they go a-bouncing around in the dryer. So lesson learned; ask for a gift card for Christmas- Oh, and don't believe Billy Mays.
I think I would have gotten more use out of one of these... but probably not for what it's advertised for. Speaking of which, the dryer balls would make a great doggie toy!


Worthless Junk

Speaking Out About Lee Road 240

Published in this Morning's OA News was an article about Lee County's town hall meetings to attempt to create a master plan for the county. Quoted in the article is my very own wife who got the crowd riled up about the atrocious condition of Lee Rd. 240. The consulting firm who is putting the plan together had the intersections at 240/ Lee Rd. 179 and 240/ AL 169 as "Rural Centers"; areas where businesses can cluster in the midst of a rural area. If you know anything about these two intersections, you know there is nothing there now except a few houses, a land developer's warehouse, and woodlands. And there isn't a reason that people would go to these areas to patronize businesses even if they were there. But that's just my opinion.
My wife said, “How can this be a rural center if Lee Road 240 is the most horrible road in Lee County?" Hopefully some of the politicians in Opelika will read it and say "Hey, maybe we should do something about 240- like repave it!" Wouldn't that be nice.

Black Rat Snake or Black Racer...?

I was out in the yard this morning when I came across these two black snakes. One of them ran off, but the other stuck around for about 15 minutes. I watched it eat a few bugs and slither around. J woke up and looked at it with me, but he wasn't as in to it as I was. It finally slithered off through the leaves and underbrush. I think it is either a black rat snake or a black racer. It was about 2 1/2 feet long and as big around as my thumb. It had a gray belly and a little white (almost) under its throat. It would have been cool if it were an eastern indigo snake, but it doesn't fit the description. Either way, free pest control, and a great view of the local wildlife.
I saw another one a couple of weeks ago, but it was a lot larger. It might have been the mama. Who knows. It was a great thing to watch.

The "Pile of Sand" Cake

Here is the cake for Judah's party tomorrow. It took me most of the afternoon to finish decorating it. I think it's the best fondant job I've ever done. Spongebob didn't turn out so bad either. I need to work on my freehand lettering, though. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an "OK".

Judah's 5th

Wow! 5 years old.
It doesn't seem like he's been here that long, but he has.
Since Mel is in Canada on the company dollar, I had Leah and Larry and Oma and Opa over to grill some burgers... except it rained and hailed (it was nearly 95 earlier today, but you should've seen the hail comin' down) so we had fried burgers. They were almost as good. Then we had a little cake and ice cream and a few small presents.
I guess on Saturday were doing the big birthday party for all the friends and the rest of the family. Mel will be back by then, and she can run it, cause I know the real deal; we already had the REAL party!


Makin' a wish on some chocolate fudge cake!


It's a... sweater ... oh wait, it's a flute!


Hungry Hippo anyone?