The Electric Company: This Is How We Roll

It was around 8-ish this a.m. when I heard a loud helicopter going by the house. LOUD. LOUD. LOUD!!!

 I thought that perhaps the first lady was coming to town for another vizzie, but no. The helicopter wasn't going by my house. It was hovering by my house. And attached to it was a long cable with a row of several circular saws.

Morning tea interruption.

 I went on the back porch and there were a bunch of workers standing by trucks. I mouthed, "What's going on?" and they just waved. I watched as the giant saw started hacking away parts of the tree. I thought, "They're awfully close to the power lines. I hope they know what they're doing."  Haha That was the whole point.

Can you imagine the precision required to do this?!

A haiku: Blue sky morning. Blades of tree death. Glistening.

Flying off to the next area.

Afterward, the helicopter moved along the line, and the workers got to work moving the branches into a pile. One of the guys came up to chat. He said I should have gotten a post card notification. Nope. I had no idea this is how they cut trees down!  It was like I was a cowgirl getting steampunked. Heh.

The crew starts clean up.

Millie & Maggie watch.

Buh-bye.

Afterwards, I called Neighbor Dave, of course. He said the postcard notification prolly went to the owners of my house. Oh. He asked me if I'd lost electricity. No, still on. Then call annoying beeped thru with a call from Mum, so he lost the Phone Face-off. And then the electricity went out. I called Neighbor Dave back after the Mum Chat. He said that the electricity would likely come back on soon--but then it would go off again as they continue along the lines. And he was right. Sometimes it goes off for a few minutes or longer. Sometimes, it's a few seconds. Luckily I have a landline I can use that doesn't require electricity. Unluckily, every time the power goes out, it makes this LOUD cracking sound on the line!  Puts a damper on phone calls for the day.

Dear Deer

Young buck with Mama Deer.

The family grazing.

Mama with the twins. SO SWEET.

Turkeys

Yesterday, Millie was on the back porch and she started barking her "I see some sort of animal out there" bark. I look at her line of sight and she's watching a turkey waaaaaay down in the field.

View off the front porch.

Turkey out standing in its field.

And then it joined a few friends & their chicks:

Hullo.

M&M Monday

My GSF Bess from massage school & Husband Val came for a vizzie over the weekend. Here the girls are greeting them:

*sniff*  Hullo   *sniff*  *sniff*

Millie's spidey-senses were tingling. "Another massage therapist in the house!"

Aaaaaaand . . .

Millie finds her opportunity on the way back in from the porch.

"Why did you stop?"

Bess demonstrates proper body mechanics.

Hullo.

In the meantime, Tabby Bobcat found a new fan:

Zzzzzz . . . .

Hullo.

Yesterday, Mum came over for a vizzie to deliver homemade GF bread. Millie was coming back up the ramp but heard her car, so she settled in to watch Mum:

Mum also redid all the cushions on my wicker furniture, so she was bringing the rest of them over. Millie sits right in the way, of course. "Hullo."

Mum gives Maggie a gingerly pat hello:

I see from this post that Maggie is woefully underrepresented!  Will remedy that next week. ;-)

Funny Friday

This post is for you, Mum, because you love penguins. Click HERE to see cool pic of Peter Shankman swimming with a penguin. But that's not the funny part. This is:

What a co-winky-dink! SleepTalkinMan AND Peter Shankman on Twitter tweeting about penguins. Hahahaha

John & Mel

Work Is for People Who Don't Fish

Crossword Wiz Mel & husband John came for a vizzie last week. GORGEOUS day! I came down to the river to find John & Mel, and . . . 3 other trucks, one with a 4-wheeler on a trailer. 5 random guys, one stacking up cases of beer, another wielding a chain saw and sawing up a fallen tree. The NOISE!  Who are these people???  Having Mel & John there gave me a bit of confidence so I marched over to the guys & said, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" They claimed to be friends of the owner. When pressed, friends-of-a-friend of the owner. Turns out they thought they were on Neighbor Chuck's lot which is just before the gate, next to mine.  I called Chuck & had him talk to one of the guys. Next thing they're doing is packing up. "We're real sorry, ma'am. I guess we'll put out the far and move on over to Chuck's."

Fire?!

Yup, with a grill over it ready for some campfire fixin's. So they packed up and moved. About 3 a.m. the following morning, the sky ripped open and pelted my roof with golf balls. When I went down to the river the next morning, the guys had left. I imagine hail hitting a tent is a bummer. They told Mel & John I was a "city girl." Hahahahaha 

But back to Mel & John & a few pix:

One of a gazillion perch, bass, & whatnots.

Hi Mel!

Another one!

It was a busy canoe day. This was funny. Look closely at the canoers.

This is the life!  :-)

What a delightful way to spend the day! Thanks John & Mel for making the trek all the way out here! :-)

M&M Monday

 This girl. We've had quite a week together . . .

Millie sneaks the cat dish from INSIDE & brings it out to the porch to lick it clean.

But that's nothin' compared to this:

Looking innocent enough.  On the porch.  Except . . .

Except that she wouldn't come back in the house when I was trying to leave to go out for the day. I had an appointment for my car & a bunch of errands. Did she care? NO. And leaving my house and going anywhere is no small task. It requires planning and coordinating and a long driiiiiiiiiive to the nearest town of Loo-ray, which is rarely my final destination. SO. There she sat and wouldn't budge. For half an hour. I called, I cajoled, I bribed with treats. Nothin'.

Not a care in the world. Tum-de-dum.  *sigh*

In the meantime, Tabby Bobcat is oblivious to the dramady unfolding:

Zzzzzz . . . .

And here's Maggie sitting inside. Oblivious, except that she did notice when the treats came out. And yes, she got one, of course!

What?

I was meeting Mum, so I called to tell I was having a hard time getting Millie back in the house. Mum was really, er, supportive. Her first suggestion was to just leave her on the porch. As if. When I rejected that idea, she said, "YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE THE ALPHA whatever!"  So with renewed determination, I got a towel, wedged it under Millie & lifted her up. The whole time she was grumbling and growling, & whipping her head around. My arm grazed a tooth where I have a slight bruise. Otherwise, we got into the house. I don't know if she saw me loading up the car (huge load to the thrift store) and didn't want me to leave, or what. But it was definitely inconvenient--as dogs can be sometimes! [insert eye roll from Mum]  *sigh* 

Back inside. All is well.  :-)

In the midst of me trying to get Millie back into the house, I was reminded of a neighbor I used to have at my last house. He had a yellow lab who was rather yappy. And he would yell, "BE QUIET!" And the dog would bark some more. "I mean it!" he would yell. It was very entertaining. Entertaining when you're not the one trying to get a dog to do something or not do something. Ha!