Ramblings of a rural(ish) geek

now that all the upstairs moving is done, I need to get back into the basement and get the clerk's stuff all back into the space where it belongs.

But the supervisor is saying "we need to sort the stuff in the shed"! I mean, she's not wrong, but there's 20+ voting booths currently in the shed that need to be put into the basement before we can work out there.

BC wants me to take Sup downstairs tomorrow, and say "this is what I need to have moved before I can put anything else (like the voting booths, or the 10 linear feet of shelf stuff currently in the FO space) away. We need a moving crew to do it. Please schedule one, or BC will." I think I need another set of shelves for the election stuff, but I can't be sure until I have the available space cleared. I know we need another "random stuff" shelf, but that's pretty easy -- the only question there is "one unit or two". Again, I won't know until I see the space available *and* get a better handle on the volume of stuff that needs to be stored.

Chilly again today, but sunny. I probably should have gotten into the garden with a rake, but it's a bit cool for that. Maybe this weekend, if it warms up before it rains....

The sandhill cranes have returned to the backyard. I think it's a pair we've had before, because they are unfazed by a cat (or two) coming out. The birds lift their heads, and watch, but then go back to poking at the ground once they've determined what it is. They stop what they're doing when J comes up the driveway on a motorcycle, but decide pretty quickly that it's not a threat either.

Despite the heat advisory on Tuesday night, the Livingston concert in Fowlerville went on. Tuesday evening was cooler and drier than it's been the rest of the week, and there was a nice breeze. The trees in the park there are getting big enough that there was enough shade for the audience - the band is under a pavilion, which is nice for purposes of heat mitigation, but not-so-nice for purposes of playing for an audience. The sound goes up into the pavilion roof and bounces around, and not all of it gets out to the audience. OTOH, they keep inviting us back. :)

DC and I got the first set of ballots into the mail today, after altogether too much faffing around figuring out how to get the state voter database to do what we wanted it to do. The method that they suggest is intended for large jurisdictions with 5K voters per precinct and multiple full-time clerks; not little townships with under 2.5K voters and three less-than-half-time clerks. Once we got it figured out, I don't think it's any slower than the "old" way, but getting to that point was way more confusing than it should have been. Didn't help any that my label printer had somehow gotten only mostly unplugged, so it looked connected but actually wasn't. And it was both ends of that cable....

J has been busy with a friend's car and working on some much needed repairs at the parsonage (things that probably should have been done 15 years ago and *still* aren't done). It seems as though they've also recruited him to be a non-hostile IT person.

I guess that if I have to pick a week to be at work every day, the week that it's too hot to work outside is a good one. I don't feel as guilty. :) And, honestly, even the weeds don't like it when it's this hot. :) We do get more birds when it's hot -- they don't want to wast time flying around looking for food, they just come here where they know there's food *and* water.

I now have gotten shot twice (Covid booster last week, shingles yesterday) in a week. My arm is sore and I'm creaky all over.

The FCB progresses toward the anniversary concert next week. Prez finally got the score for the soloist's piece, and sent it out to section leaders so that people could figure out their parts. Most people are struggling through the poor scans of the music. One of the trumpet players transcribed the trumpet parts. I really don't know why more people didn't. Even if one doesn't have a program to do it on the computer, certainly one can find (free) printable staff paper on the internet (or buy some at the store) and transcribe by hand.

I have stopped filling the hopper and platform feeders -- there is an outbreak of Highly Infectious Avian Influenza, and the DNR is asking people who have lots of corvids (jays, crows) in their backyard visitors to take down feeders and thus limit the size of flocks. Songbirds are, apparently, much less likely to catch it. The squirrels are quite annoyed by this. I have been putting out the tube feeders still, because the jays and crows don't like them (they're too small), but those come in at night so that the deer and raccoons and squirrels don't empty them.

We have a new pair of sandhill cranes in the yard as well -- well, we think it's a new pair. There were two for a couple of weeks, then just one, and now there's two. One is noticeably smaller than the other. That's another denizen of the backyard that's not too happy with me not putting out as much birdseed.

The big patch of daffodils in the front garden is just about done flowering. I hope that it warms up this weekend so that I can go out there and cut them back. And at least do *some* yardwork, once I get over the creaky from the shots.

Well, maybe. 60F+ yesterday and today. Of course, it was 40F and damp on Tuesday, so..... They tell us that we will have more seasonable weather this weekend. I'll probably put out the heated birdbath tomorrow, as they're predicting below freezing temps for the next few overnights.

Raked up about half the leaves on Monday, skipped raking on Tuesday when it was cold and damp and icky, finished the raking on Wednesday. Raked up 9 (nine!) garden cartfuls of willow leaves (long thin leaves that pack really well - this means that it's really not a good idea to let them sit on the lawn all winter). Yesterday (Thursday) I weeded around some bushes that J hadn't done all summer. I don't know why he didn't, but they were just about swallowed by grass, and the ground was soft and the weather nice. 90 minutes later, I had a garden cart heaped high with grass and a few weeds. And the bushes looked much better.

Errands today, later than my usual, but as my usual erranding time was immediately after my 8am PT, and I wasn't out of the house until 9:15.... Cider mill had the cider in the cooler today - she said she really hadn't expected to need the cooler in November. (Last year at this time, we'd already had a 12" snowfall that had pretty much melted.) There are odd holes in the freezer cases - stuff that was there last month isn't now - paper goods and sugar/flour are still not full, the soda selection is weird (no DrPepper in cans - bottles, yes, Cherry DrP and DrP+Cream soda, yes. Still no throwback Mt Dew, but there is throwback Pepsi.).

I've started sorting in the workroom - it's been 8 months or so since I've been able to spend any consistent time down there, and I think the first couple of weeks will just be sorting through the things that have been piled there until I had time to deal with them. But J is now working upstairs, and the gardening is about done for the year, and my shoulder is about as good as it's going to get, so..... I've been down there most days this week, and you can almost tell! :)

Wednesday there was a largish bird all floofed up in the tree outside the kitchen window. I watched it for a bit, and realised that it was a raptor. Which explained why there were no other birds in sight, other than the lady cardinal hunkered down on the platform feeder, being very still. (probably chanting 'i am not food. i am what food eats. you don't see me.')

EU's birthday is next week. I haven't sent her card yet. Oooops! No way she'll get it on time now. (In early October, it took 2 weeks for a letter to arrive. Still not willing to send a package, although something without homemade treats might be OK - don't want her to get a box of stale cookie crumbs as the box takes a couple of months to get there.)

In a related item, it's Thanksgiving next week. Have no idea what we're doing. Don't like turkey, don't want to get a ham, and the usual standby is no longer in the rotation. (Lasagne is hard when you're avoiding dairy/young cheese and don't like the taste of goat- or sheep- milk cheese.) Honestly, with as much appreciation as I get for doing a big sit-down meal, there's no real point. DB notices, helps a bit without being asked, and is willing to do more (toss the salad, do the rolls, drain the veg) if asked, says thank you for extras. J shows up to eat, spends the meal telling us about the podcasts he listens to/youtube channels he watches, and may grudgingly do the pots afterward.

35F this morning when I left just before sunrise.

More PT. She stretched and poked at things, refined a couple of the exercises on the home exercise program, did some assessment of range-of-motion, etc. She expects that I'll be dropped down to once every two/three weeks after next week's scheduled appointment. There's really not a whole lot that can be done by them at this point - they can't strengthen the muscles in the shoulder, after all. They can design and supervise an exercise program, and do some stretching, but it all comes down to whether I actually do the exercises at home.

Meijer is in the process of re-arranging their vitamin/supplement section, both at the retail level (shelf placement) and at the supplier level (packaging), and as a part of that, the Fe supplement I've been using for the last decade is now unavailable. boo. The multivitamins are unavailable too, but there is (currently empty) space on the shelves for them. so they'll probably be back in stock before I need them. I can get those at Costco, too, if it looks like I'm going to run out. But Costco doesn't carry the Fe. I'll check the grocer/CVS in town next week.

It was chilly and/or rainy last week, so I didn't get into the garden after Tuesday. On Tuesday, I started by clearing out grass from one flower garden, but then went and got a rake so I could collect the cottonwood leaf "tufts" that were all over the side yard -- there's just enough branch on those to cause all sorts of noise/damage/projectiles when hit by a lawnmower, and J rarely stops to move anything when he's mowing (one reason he goes through so many spindles/blades on the lawnmower).

I haven't seen a hummingbird at either feeder since Sunday, so I can probably take those down for the season. There's still a few frogs out on the rocks in the evening, especially on days like this when it's at least sunny. The larger birds haven't started migrating yet - I'll be able to tell because the birdseed consumption will go way up. Right now, there's enough natural food that they don't need the birdfeeders. They still like the pond, though.

It's been definitely chilly at night (I've begun closing the house overnight), and there've been a few days when I've not opened them very far during the day. Today is one of those days, as it's still cooler outside than I like inside, and it's noon already....

The cats have caught a few mousies - Ji plays with them, but Anna will 'mortalise' them and leave them laying about.

Music season begins this evening, with FCB rehearsal. First performance is in 3 weeks, so there'll be a lot of things we're familiar with on that program. Due to performance conflicts, I won't rejoin the LCCB until after the Halloween concerts. I'm looking for a new bag for the FCB music folder -- the one I have is OK, but I really want a horizontal bag for it. Unfortunately, most of the bags that I find are either too small in one dimension or are waaaayy too deep for just a music folder.

K is still here. Theoretically going home tomorrow or Wednesday, but we shall see.

DB tells us that the cranes were on the front porch one day while we were gone up north. He has pictures!

Frog count is 9, a mix of leopard and green frogs. None more than about three inches long, but I think they're mostly this year's hatching, so that's not too bad. There's a couple of tree frogs around, too -- we hear them frequently, but they're not easy to spot.

No library this week, as Chelsea is on spring break. Next week there's no FCB, as Farmington is on spring break. We got Easter music for bell choir (the choir decided that we're playing at both services on Easter. whee. 7:30 am call.)

The crocuses in the side garden are blooming. It's still too early for the first bees, so the patch isn't buzzing yet. I should go out and rake leaves out of the garden bed by the forsythia before the early tulips come up through the leaves and make it hard to rake. I should also rake up the cottonwood branches before J runs them over with the lawnmower and does damage to the blades and the ground. Tomorrow should be OK for that, as long as the rain holds off.

The big tulips in the raised bed by the deck (where it's warmer ) are about four inches high, and there's a patch of something coming up in the milkweed bed -- looks like it might be hyacinth or some small iris, but it's a much larger patch than I remember.

The flock of mixed black birds (grackles, starlings, red-winged blackbirds) is at about half-strength, but they spend most of their time in the trees or at the feeders. It's still too cold for the moving lawn effect, as the insects they eat in the grass haven't started moving yet this year. The pond is getting a layer of ice on it every night - not really thick, but thick enough that the squirrels can run across without falling in.

There's a new set of Music Booster officers to break in -- the president, when asked for a short note, sent me a full page letter. She'd already gotten a copy of the newsletter file, and it should have been obvious that there wasn't room for a note that long. Lots of semi-public information in it, and four of the ten names were misspelled. I spent four hours reflowing the newsletter, and editing the articles so that they'd all fit. And she wants logos for a couple of fundraising sites in the newsletter. there's not room, and I can't make room without cluttering up the newsletter. I *like* whitespace in my layouts, tyvm.

Huh. I don't have an icon appropriate for packing. :)

I've been helping Mum pack. She's moving to NC this weekend, and has finished sorting stuff into go/not-go piles, and while the movers will pack most of her stuff, she doesn't really want them messing with her tchotchkes, many of which have sentimental value (the teacups her mother collected, pictures of her parents shortly after they got married, stuff she and Dad bought on their travels) or otherwise make her happy to look at (the cute rat, the angel made out of silverware, the grumpy bluebird). And I've been given a few things, like the dining room chairs which go with the table we got from her 10 years ago, and the garden bench Dad built when I was a kid (it used to be green, but LilSis painted it red and beige 10 years ago), and the cutting board that Dad built in HS shop. And Grandmother Anastasia's china which is supposed to go to LilSis at some point -- I already have Grandma Mildred's (nearly the same pattern, just different colors (1930s Montgomery Ward)). She's nearly done - movers come on Friday - and my part is even closer to being done. I will go over on Saturday am (unless I hear otherwise) and get the last chair. I thought it might be nice to leave her something to sit on other than the rollaway she's borrowing for Friday night. :)

Not much else going on here. The redwinged blackbird flock is about a hundred strong. I saw a bird poking around one of the birdhouses a couple of days ago.

Monday evening was the FCB On the Education Stage. Those are usually fun, if only because we get to play in different venues. This particular concert was very short - the HS band only did two short pieces, so I was out of the building by 8:30. Franklin's new auditorium is very new, and quite nice. And teeny! my HS auditorium is bigger than it is. It's quite a live space, and I think we may have blown away the people sitting up close to the stage....

First male red-winged blackbird sighting of the year. It's possible that there have been some females mixed in with the mixed brown birds, but as they're just speckled brown like many female birds, it's a little hard to tell.

Also, a red headed woodpecker was at the birdfeeder this morning. More than once. I've seen a hairy a few times this year, as well as a red-bellied. They seem to like the tube feeders - they work almost like tree branches, except they give seed not bugs.

Based on the tracks I saw this morning, multiple deer were poking around in the seedfall overnight.

The snow is gone except in the deepest piles. The ice in the pond thinned considerably, and shrunk away from the pond edges with the 50+F temperatures and three inches of rain. Then it got cold again, and there's a thin skin of ice over what was open water.

Depending on which thermometer you believe, it was either -9F or -4F (one is 12 feet up, so it's entirely possible that they're both right) at 8:30am. I went out to feed the birds and yes, it was COLD out there. They were waiting for me.

All the snow we had two weeks ago melted, but we got another 6" between noon on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I shoveled a path to the garage before I fed the birds, then had quickie breakfast and back out to help J shovel the driveway. Then DB was up, and we had proper Christmas breakfast and presents. By the time J went out in the afternoon (to take down the video/sound in the overflow space at church), the driveway had filled up again with blowing snow. Yesterday afternoon, DB and I went out and cleared the drive way of the drifts and the 3" of new snow.

Christmas Eve service was OK, but I really dislike the pastor's reliance on the annoying backing tracks. The viola soloist had apparently never heard O Holy Night(!) and was putting weird breaks in the middle of phrases and emphasizing the wrong notes in the "frilly bits", and the vocal piece was about three keys too high for the soloist. At least he was well rehearsed and knew the piece he was singing. The Bell Choir played two pieces (one a hymn accompaniment and one for offertory), and they went pretty well - I cross-handed a few measures, as did J (usually the higher chime is on the right, but sometimes for whatever reason it isn't, and if you don't notice...).

I just started the holiday cards, so I'm pretty much on (my) schedule with them.