posted 30 June 2001 03:36 PM               

You know, if it wasn't for the excuse of exercise, I wouldn't bother. I'm not sure if my neighbors would fire-bomb me for raising a small forest or not....

posted 30 June 2001 04:14 PM               

1. Train Your Neighbors

Pull Lever

Get seed from 'Payoff Slot'

Eat Seed

Repeat

posted 30 June 2001 06:58 PM               

Great photos, after my post I decided to do something I havn't done in awhile, take a nap and relax.

Have a good weekend,

Al...

posted 02 July 2001 02:57 PM               

I'm totally green with envy! You have a beautiful place - beats the heck out of my little 1/4 acre in the burbs...

It may be a pain the butt to mow - but man, what an awesome place. No wonder you have racoons & all the other furries. Very cool!

Have a great 4th of July!

Cheers!

posted 02 July 2001 03:59 PM               

It has been fun watching the squirrels learn the lever 'trick'.

As for the bluejays - well, I spend about US$50 a month on 'animal' stuff. The bluejays here end up well fed. Actually, they like the MeowMix I throw out on the patio as much as the seed in the feeders. They'll come to within maybe 5 feet of me when there's a bunch of them and they 'feel cocky'. I throw out MeowMix or other cheap bulk cat food and the birds eat it, the 'coons LOVE it, the groundhogs eat a lot of it, but mostly in the spring. Skunks like it, as well. There are several wild cats which seem to like whatever I throw out, as well. Sometimes I put a bowl of peanuts inside the door (my desk is right at the sliding door) at my side and the more cocky 'coons come in and grab a few and take them to the patio to eat them. Not many rabbits show up for any length of time. I'd like to see more rabbits - I like them.

Desk by the sliding glass door (typically door is open):

posted 02 July 2001 04:11 PM               

Mine is about 4 or 5 years old and I clean it once a year in the spring - as I do with all the feeders (I have 7 different feeders). It's as good as when I bought it. Works fine and no damage yet!. It's pretty well built and designed.

posted 02 July 2001 07:50 PM            

I am curious how much ground you have there. I'm restrcited to an acre, and pretty much in town (married a city girl). Quite a bit of wildlife though. Jays, Mockers, Deer (neighbors feed them) Rabbits, occasional possum.

By the way your lack of rabbits may have to do with the wild cats hanging around. They are contra-indicated if you want rabbits around.

Great place. And great Web site too. Thanks for sharing

James Huening

posted 03 July 2001 08:34 AM               

I'm assuming that you feed the squirrels to keep them off the bird feeders. Or, have you a secret method of keeping them out. I don't mind squirrels, but I spend good money for black oil sunflower seeds and the squirrels love it. I even bought a book called "How to outwit squirrels". You can read it all you want, it's still a challenge. Great place to kick back and enjoy life.

posted 03 July 2001 08:59 AM               

Squirrels raid the bird feeders as best they can. There's one in my 'main' feeder right now. I'm getting to run some errands or I'd post a picture.

My ex- gave me a 'squirrel' proof feeder some years back. I don't knnow whaqt I did with the opicture I took, but it was funny as hell. The squirrel would lay over the top of the feeder, reach down and pick seed out - knowing that pressing the bar closes the seed access. I don't know if you know of the type I'm talking about but they've become real common. You can set the spring tension so that big birds like bluejays will close off the access - but the squirrels figured out how to get to the seed. It's OK if you're trying to keep the jays and other big birds like grackles out. To be honest, it's the only feeder of the 7 I have that I rarely fill.

posted 03 July 2001 11:22 AM               

This sounds like your neck of the woods, ever been there?
---------------------------------------------

Drivers Chuckle Where Grinn Meets Barret

Updated: Mon, Jul 02 7:42 AM EDT

CHICAGO (Reuters)

Grinn Drive by itself is not funny, but it often prompts chuckles from drivers where it intersects Barret Road in West Chester, Ohio.

"It looks silly when you are driving up and you see Grinn and Barret," said Steve Piper, a supervisor at the U.S. Post Office in West Chester, a city of 60,000 outside of Cincinnati. The English expression "grin and bear it" means to put up with something unpleasant.

On Friday, the intersection of Grinn Drive and Barret Road was singled out from tens of thousands nationwide and declared the funniest intersection name by State Farm Insurance, the nation's largest auto insurer, the company said in a release.

Selecting the funniest intersection names was a byproduct of State Farm's recent research to determine America's most dangerous intersections.

West Chester has known for some time that its intersection was popular because the street sign is frequently taken.

"The intersection had been without a sign for quite a while," said Bob Murphy, road superintendent for West Chester. "It is a very popular sign for being stolen." ..........

posted 03 July 2001 02:21 PM               

Lesourdesville - West Chester Road

Try fitting that in your database street field.

posted 03 July 2001 08:46 PM               

First, my hubby made plans to go to the "Turning Stone Casino" near Syracuse NY. On an Indian reservation. Has a nice golf course. Of course this was all a surprise to me - and I needed to know what to pack.....

So it started with - if I had to dress up for dinner, I needed shoes to go with the dress. (Hang on, guys, it gets better)
So stopping for shoes delayed our T-time by 1.5 hours. When we got there, it was pitch black, threatening rain, so we didn't T-off. So far so good - had we kept the original time, we would have been out on the course when the thunder, lightening, and torrential rains started. So we hung out in the car laughing....best layed plans....and thought we'd at least grab a beer from the snack bar. Come to find out, the reservation doesn't have a liquor license. (Bear with me, it gets better....)

Meanwhile, its raining so hard, I decide to reach through the opening to the trunk and grab my camera for an "anniversary picture."
The car was 2-days old and the armrest opening required a key to get to the trunk. In the process of reaching for the camera, I was leaning on the armrest, which caused the key in the lock to bend almost 45 degrees - which subsequently snapped on trying to straighten. Only other key in Rochester...so lets try "pontiac roadside assistance" - which got our hopes up until the guy called with - "I can get a key Monday at 9AM - the parts departments are closed" By now the sun is shining, time to T-off so we do, while we contemplate our options. Ended up having someone deliver the key from our house - to whom we owe a huge favor.

So we golf, rent a cab to get a bottle of wine (strange - you could BYOB into the restaurant even tho they didn't serve liquor). And I told my husband to dress casual - after the day we had. He said he didn't think his long sleeve shirt would look good without his jacket. I knew he didn't have a shirt as he described, and when I looked at it, I realized it was my son's, which wouldn't fit. So now, he's dressing casual, I'm dressing casual, which means I didn't need the shoes in the first place!

Feeling like you needed that information, Here's my subsequent 5-why analysis...

Why did the key break?
Because it was used to open the trunk opening.
Why?
To get a camera
Why?
Because we were stuck in the rain.
Why?
Because we delayed our T-time
Why?
Because I needed shoes
Why?
Because my hubby wanted me to dress sexy...
Why?
(You fill in the blank)

Yup - all boils down to one thing.

Hope y'all survived the story.....I know I'll remember #17 more than some of the others

Laura