Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
It’s Definitely Monday.
Greetings to all my faithful and brave readers! So nice to have you back again. It’s a rather cold day. And windy. Plus cold. Some light showers. And, of course, cold. But it was quite nice and sunny earlier this morning. And this blue jay was enjoying the day, or at least the peanuts.
Even though our snow did actually melt (except for a few patches here and there) it is still cold and feels very much like winter. We didn’t really have much of a fall this year, it just kinda went from summer to winter. Though for a bit, in between the two, it was cold and rainy. And I mean waaaaaay below normal for temps. Not even close. Sigh. I notice the cold a lot more now than I used to. It affects me. And it doesn’t even have to be that cold. I feel cold when the temp is 72F. For those who prefer the other way of talking, that’s 22C. Sigh. Due to being Celiac, I have to be on this gluten free diet now. Not fun. Especially for someone who doesn’t know how to cook anyway, and now it’s even harder. I wanted to bake some cookies the other day. I do like to bake. But haven’t tried it since going on this diet. I have my recipe, but how to go about it? I checked a website for advice. Just use cup for cup of flour it said. Hmm, sounds too easy. Checked another site. Never use cup for cup it said, always use less of the gluten free flour. Sigh. Now what do I do? I didn’t want to try another site, might get another different opinion. Then I would really be mixed up. It doesn’t take much to get me mixed up. If you have read my blog for a while then you probably already figured that out. So I tried the cup for cup. I haven’t baked for a while. I added some flour while the mixer was going. Not good. Poof! I turned white. So did my counter and everything on it. And it wasn’t even that much flour I added. Amazing. Muffin ran. I think she had been waiting for me to drop something. I usually do. And she knows it. I didn’t bother cleaning up just yet. Probably get dirty again soon anyway. I took the first batch out of the oven. Put the cookie sheet on top of the stove. Took the oven mitt off. Picked up cookie sheet to move it to the other end of the counter. Not a smart idea. Why did I do that you ask? Because it’s me. And I do stupid things sometimes. Okay, maybe a lot. Most of the time. Well, sometimes I don’t. Anyway, I picked it up. AAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! I also dropped it quickly. Now Muffin came running back. Fresh cookies! However, she decided they were too hot. Too bad I didn’t. I started to pick them up. AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!! Sigh. Sometimes I wonder about me. Then sometimes I wonder why only sometimes. Sigh. This is a small apartment. It has one of those stackable washer/dryer outfits. I’m not tall. As I was taking clothes out of the dryer I dropped a sock. I picked it up. Then stood up. Whang!! Hit my head on the dryer door. Dropped the clothes I was holding and groaned for a while. Muffin was sleeping. But she did open one eye to see what I was doing and if I was going to dance around and step in her water dish again. I didn’t. Though I have in the past. Then I walked over to the closet to put away some clothes. Whang!! Hit my head again on that dryer door. Groaned some more. Dropped my clothes again. Muffin got up and went into the other room. Smart. In case you’re wondering, the washer/dryer is in the bedroom. Kind of an odd place for it. But this place is small. Where else to put it? I went into the kitchen. Was not watching. Stepped in Muffin’s food dish. Muffin had to come and see this. Didn’t stay long since it was her food. Speaking of food. Got my supper ready. Picked up my plate. Forgot my fork. Turned to pick up my fork off the counter. Tipped my plate a bit too much. Landed on my foot. Muffin came running. After all, chicken dinner. Sigh. Glad she enjoyed it. Toast and eggs is good too. HA! Sigh. Went outside to enjoy the birds for awhile.
A little nuthatch and a chickadee came to get sunflower seeds I was holding. The nuthatch landed so gently. The chickadee held on tight. A great way to get rid of stress. But I do miss my chipmunks! It is quite dark outside now and still cold. And Muffin is sleeping. Have a great week and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
Fall Hiking, The Upside.
Good afternoon on this mostly sunny, except for the cloudy afternoon which has now given way to sunny skies once again, day in the last half of October and really quite a nice day compared to what we have been experiencing although yesterday was out nicest day in about a month with a temp of 59F which for us is beautiful for this time of year and, okay, I wasn’t planning on a long opening sentence today. Sigh. One of those days. But yesterday was very nice. And sunny.
Today had a rather cool wind. So it wasn’t quite so nice today. But it was still in the 40s, so not bad. Our snow has melted. Really wasn’t sure it would. But it did finish our beautiful fall colors before they really got fully colored. Sigh. Fall is just too short some years. And, oh wait, I’m supposed to finish our fall hiking series. Wasn’t really planning 5 posts on this. Sigh. It’s been one of those days. And, wait, there I go again. Starting to get off track. Anyway, Dad and I started off up that hill. It really was a somewhat large hill. And not that easy getting up. Especially with all that rain. That hill was all rock. Granite actually. With some trees. And a lot of moss. Which was now wet. Wet moss is very slippery. I looked over to my right and pointed to Dad. There was that pileated woodpecker again about 20 feet away from us, pounding away at the base of an old birch. He wasn’t paying attention to us at all. They are a beautiful bird, about the size of a crow, large bright red crest and this one had red ‘whiskers’ showing him to be a male. Just a little farther we were met by 3 gray jays looking for some food. They are one of the tamest wild birds in the north woods. I just had to stop and give them some of my leftover sandwich. One landed on my hand to get his meal, the other two were not quite so brave but did come close. I think Dad was getting a little impatient. Get going, he said, can’t you see it’s raining? We are already soaked, I said, can’t possibly get any wetter. Off we went. Everything was going good until my foot hit some loose moss. At least it was loose after I stepped on it. I slipped. And slid down. Poor Dad. He tried to get out of the way. And did jump off to the side. But I also tried to miss Dad so moved to the same side as I was sliding. Whump! Oooo! Seems my foot collided with Dad’s stomach. He sat down. Tired?, I asked. Dad just looked. After he relaxed for a bit we continued our climb. I’ll go first, said Dad. That’s odd I thought. He always wanted me to go first. Oh well. About 2 thirds of the way Dad suddenly stops. I didn’t notice that. I bumped into him just slightly. He sat down again. Tired?, I asked. Dad just looked. It’s okay, we can stop for a while, I continued. Dad said shhh. Why?, I asked. Dad pointed up the hill. There was a black bear just starting to come down, heading our way. I moved a bit to get a better look. Stepped on a loose rock. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!, yelled Dad. The bear stopped, then took off running. That got him running, I said. BONEHEAD!, said Dad. Strange that he would be enjoying this. You stepped on my ankle, he said. Oh, I said, I thought it was a loose rock. Someone has a loose rock, said Dad. Not sure what he meant by that. There was several chickadees in the pines above us. And a little red-breasted nuthatch walking upside down on one of the branches. They always like being upside down. Cute little birds.
Chickadees are one of my favorite birds. Such cheerful little critters. Anyway, we kept on going. Finally we made it to the top. No sign of the bear. Which was nice. The rain stopped. We still had some thick undergrowth to walk through. Dad said for me to go first. Odd. He was a long way behind me so I stopped to let him catch up. He was probably tired by now. Once he was close I continued. Whack! AAAAA!!! Seems Dad lost his hat. And glasses. He is always dropping his glasses. Let me help, I said. Stay back, said Dad. He claimed I hit him with a branch. That’s why he stayed so far behind. Dad was just accident prone and didn’t like to admit it. Back at the car Dad was definitely tired. The sun was shining again. Hardly a cloud in sight. Hey, we should go back, I said. BONEHEAD! That was all Dad said. Nice to know he enjoyed the trip. We did go back another time. But not that year. Oh well. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
