Top 5 reasons

...why I haven't posted in two weeks.

1. School vacation week. Everyone home. Enough said.

2. My mother broke her ankle in two places and had to have surgery to put in pins and screws and the whole nine yards. So I took a rather unexpected trip to OH to help her figure out new ways to get around. She lives alone in a split level house, and of course it's her right foot (no driving!). But don't feel too bad for her, she broke it rollerblading!

3. My sweater has turned out to be an UGH and I haven't moved forward since. Pattern errors (of which the company who sent out the pattern still hasn't responded to my inquiries-bad, bad, bad customer service!) and just general ughedness have me at a stalemate. I'll have to make another post about it because I could keep going on...

4. Kidster #1 just turned 6. I am in party planning mode for an Under the Sea theme. Suggestions gladly accepted!

5. Construction in the house kept me away from the computer on the one day a month when the planets aligned and both kidsters were gone for a significant amount of time. Major bummer.

During my mini blogcation, a few new friends hopped in the sandbox. Welcome, and say hi!

New neighbors!

OK, another non-knitting post I know, but at least it is a backyard post!!

A couple of years back, Hubster had some bluebird boxes made by the woodshop class. We hung them up hoping to attract the bluebirds we kept seeing pass through. They would always stop and check out our boxes but we hadn't been able to get them to stay. This is a pic from November when five males (one is going in the box) were fluttering around checking out the neighborhood. We learned that the males pick out the spot and start bringing in the twigs to build the nest in order to attract a female. Once she approves, she takes over the interior decorating. Hey, can't blame a girl for knowing what she wants!

It has been a few years, but finally we have permanent residents.

The female (in the forefront) comes and goes quite a bit. The male (in the background) flies around outside keeping close watch for them. And we have noticed that when she is out, he will sit on the perch and look in, sometimes until she comes back. Why?

There are two eggs that we can see. And once they hatch and leave the nest, the mother may lay another bunch! And the other box in the yard? She builds a nest in that one too, to keep out any rivals. Amazing.

We survived it.

Since my last post, we had the flood of the century. For those of you in the states, you may have seen the news coverage of Rhode Island under water. The town I live in borders RI. We received 8+ inches of rain in one day. Everyone on our street had water in their basements, and most had sump pump failures because the water was coming in so much faster than the pumps could get it out. One neighbor had to move into a hotel so they could work on ripping out all their damaged walls and floors. A road nearby got washed out completely. On our street, the far end has a pond that flooded and completely covered the road. Our end looked like this:

I took the kids out so they could see some of what was happening around them. Don't ask me why they have shovels! Our house is just behind that gray one in the background. We were lucky. I guess there is one good thing about a 1970's curb-appeal-challenged raised ranch. No basement. I have a new found love for my ugly house.