Love another bird feeding station!

7.V.07 - MoM

Thank goodness the wind is gone. All is calm and quiet again. I am impressed that you also did the Sunday X-word. Sandy and Charlie do it together every week. I save my energies for Monday's. Sandy is always trying to get me to "graduate" to Tuesday's but I am happy with the brain stimulation I get from my so-called "200 Easy New York Times Puzzles" that I keep in the bathroom. I like feeling my little cells scrambling around remembering strange things. Sometimes I am amazed at obscure things that are hidden there. Even for the briefest "visit," I take time to do a few words.

The big excitement of my day was Charlie and Sandy coming by this afternoon and putting together my new APS bird feeding system. Charlie chipped out one brick so we could put it in the middle so the squirrels can't jump on it from the bank. Will keep my fingers crossed that they don't decide to "fly" from the edge of the "new" living room roof. It has a hanging feeder, a flat one, humming bird feeder and a suet thing.

While they were here, I got a few more loose ends taken care of. I hadn't been able to get my bedside lamp plugged into my new remote, it needed more push than I had. Also, the double pane glass door is fogging and it was bad enough today that I could not see for sure if it was the wren that was "singing" loudly from the top of an old feeder on a pole on the deck, that they sometimes use for a nest. (The male builds several nests, then gives the female her choice.) They are very noisy, singing at the top of their lungs early in the morning. Charlie is going to get in touch with the glass people and will ask them to replace the glass in it. (I do hate to have anyone see the closet mess that is out for sorting in the back half of my bedroom, but (oops a surprise shower is raining on my new bird seed I put out today --I need to shut my bedroom door).

After more treatment on the deck fountain scale with Sandy's suggestion of half and half white vinegar and water HOT, and a stiff brush, I think I am about done with it. I have it on the kitchen counter so keep I have been able to keep after it every little bit.

I think I may be able to get serious about the bedroom mess tomorrow however I just remembered that I have those new plants in the chaos I call the sun room. With FL help, I'll relax and attack both a little at a time.

* * * * *

This finishes the letter of 30.I.86.

It looks now as if we may try to make a trip to WVA in July for a month. Naturally we are not telling the people here yet that we are going to be away as the Frau does not like to have the house completely vacant. We just decided a week or so ago that we had better make a trip back. After Jan and Bill Fendrich and Rosie worked very hard to clear out a lot of our stuff upstairs and to get the house ready to rent, we have decided that we are not going to rent again for now. Will tell you about our reasons when we next see you.

We have no other real plans for travel, but might hop over to "Merry Ole" sometime in May for a couple of weeks after the Fendrichs have been here for their 2 night visit at the end of April. Also, after the lease is firm, we may loop up to Den Haag for those wonderful pepper hot frog's legs and excellent TexMex food. [And, probably we needed some more books from the fantastic American bookstore.] Also, want to wait for a little as need to be around as I think that Frau Manhardt may take out the red seating bench in the downstairs kitchen and put in a nice matching base cabinet along that wall. It is heresy here to have a kitchen without a corner seating arrangement but it worries her to see me have to put things like my pressure cooker under the bench and hear that my roasting pan is under my bed. She does not know about all the appliance things that are in DoD's closet. I told her that would no longer be a problem when we got the extra apartment as most of the things I don't use very often, but she thought that was not good to have to run up or down for them. We are not planning to have a real kitchen there, but will keep the sink, the only thing in there now.

I had planned to make a copy of the enclosed stuff, but have decided I will never get that done so will send it all to you. How about checking this out for next fall. Were you interested in the Brittany area along the coast, north and east of Brest or somewhere else? If we were up there we might check what is involved in that cooking school I told you about for some one of your times over here. We will pay for the expenses involved in the article.

Probably will go shopping after DoD finishes his nap, so want to get this in the mail then. Still waiting to hear from you one of these days. I can't believe how fast the time slips by. Enjoyed hearing from Marty and Christmas and hope to get a letter to her one of these days. When I get working on the German vocab on the disc, nothing else seems to get done,