An Outside Kind of Day

For those of you who have asked, China is doing well. The meds seem to have done their magic. She is happy and seems comfortable. She is lively and has been chasing Ali a little bit during the day, and she is sleeping well at night. Her little tail wags a lot! And this afternoon when someone came to the door, she was barking at them as if she was a true guard dog!

I am seeing a few signs of her health declining, but they are not bad. One thing I have observed is that she is not losing weight, so I'm guessing that the tumor isn't eating it's way into her, thank goodness. I know it is only a matter of time, but I'll take every bit of it that I can. I'm doing OK. I have moments, but they are not frequent for now.

I needed to clean my house today. Really badly! But instead, I spent most of the day outside. There was work out there, too, and it was a perfect day to be working outside, a little cool and breezy, so it balanced the "sweat factor" very nicely.

I moved (read that "dragged") a big plastic cabinet from the back yard, where the previous owner stored yard chemicals, many which didn't have labels, to the front porch where it is now sans the shelves and home to brooms, snow shovel and the weed whacker. These items have been a bugaboo for me since I got here, and now they are behind tidy little plastic doors.

Then I looked down at the newly acquired Mexican bench, still sitting at the bottom of the stairs. No, it's too heavy to move alone, but I was inspired to make a decision about where I wanted it to go. I knew within a few minutes how I wanted to reconfigure everything, and I decided I could move one of the swings as I'd been planning to do for a long time. So I got out the drill and bits, made a new set of holes and moved the swing down the deck so I have a beautiful view from it, just as I do the other swing.

Next I rearranged the rest of the deck furniture, and did some other organization that was sorely needed. And looked at the empty spot where the bench will go. :( It looks so sad. Sooooo..... yeah, I did it. Go ahead. Yell at me. But it is done. Na, na, na!! I got the legs of one end on a low step, then picked up the other end, and "walked it" up the steps. It actually wasn't very difficult at all.

Now the bench in is its little spot, looking very happy and smug. I didn't think to take a picture before it got too dark, but I will tomorrow.

Late in the afternoon I went out to sit on my various wonderful seats on the deck and have a cold drink of water, and I noticed that one of my piñon trees that I thought was dead seems to be putting out some growth. Yay! Then I walked over to check the other which is unfortunately looking quite dead. But as I looked at the tree I noticed a little bird, a finch, on the tip-top branch. I tried to figure out what type it is, and after checking my bird books, confirmed that it is a little house finch. He was just singing away! I love the song of finches!

Here is the little guy......
(I'm sure you'll need to click to enlarge it to be able to see him)



There was a little female going back and forth between that tree and two others. I'd guess they are nesting, but I can't tell which tree has the nest.

Speaking of finches, we had several when the kids were young, and I learned to love their happy little songs. And ....... I'm going to get some indoor finches in a few days! Allan called me a few days ago saying he has a friend who has about 30 baby finches that she needs to find a home for and am I interested? I thought about it for a while, debating, because if I go on a trip, I wondered about someone to care for them. Allan said that he wants some, too, so we can "birdie-sit" for each other. That did it! So I'm going to get two or four of the little buggers soon!! Then I'll have happy songs inside and outside my house! Yay!!

While the weather is good I will be able to hang the bird cage out on the deck sometimes. We used to find that when we hung our finches on the deck in KC, it seemed to encourage them and the wild birds to sing more. I'm excited! I haven't figured out where I'm putting them in the house yet, but I will before long.

It has been a good day. I like what I got done. I wish I'd done some housework, too, but that's not a big deal. I have nothing in more abundance than time!! LOL!

Life is (again) beautiful!!