Yesterday was a sad day for our immediate neighbors.
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The row of willow trees that have graced the front of their property for more than 80 years…
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Were deemed a nuisance to the power lines and cut down by the state.
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As a rule willow trees don’t live that long but these were glorious and well cared for.
We will miss them.
😰
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Squirrels.
Nature’s seed stealing acrobats.
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My husband was thrilled when he received this red seal five dollar bill as change the other day. I made the mistake of asking why it was special but zoned out after the first 17 minutes of rambling explanation. Here’s a more succinct recap.
On June 4th, 1963 President Kennedy signed executive order 11110 which allowed the US government to make it’s own money and bypass the Federal Reserve. The 4+ billion dollars of United States Notes (backed by US gold and silver) were put in to circulation in denominations of $2 and $5. The $10’s and $20’s were printed but never released as he was assassinated and the program was shut down.
The used car shopping continues. Miles upon miles of traveling only to be disappointed by condition or mechanical problems.
Funny part of this saga? We met up with a friend of ours on the journey who happens to sell cars on the side. When the husband told him what we were doing he gave me a strange look and said, “No offense, but I know money isn’t the issue. Why don’t you just buy new?”
To which I rolled my eyes, pointed, and said “Ask him”.
That launched my husband into his usual diatribe about how new cars are an over inflated rip off that depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot. Then he got started on the car salesman two step. You know the dance… spend half an hour dickering on price only to be told to have a seat while he talks with his manager. Husband hates the whole process.
Because really, used car salesmen are so much better.
🤣
Our last stop of the day was a dealership almost 2 hours from home.
I immediately spotted the car I wanted him to buy.
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Don’t recognize the logo?
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Yeah.
Just a snazzy little runabout in which to do the weekly grocery shopping. Did it cost more than our first house? Sure. But money’s not an issue remember.
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Someone came in right behind us and put a down payment on this thing. To which I thought… what a giant waste of hard earned dollars… but hey, whatever floats your boat.
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This was the vehicle we came to see and might seriously be a contender.
If you care nothing for the feeding and rare sightings of our fine feathered friends please feel free to skip this post because I’m about to gush like a horny ornithologist.
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Yesterday evening at 7:41pm I walked by one of the windows that looks out over our backyard and saw this.
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We’ve lived in this home for over 20 years and I’ve only spied this elusive creature twice.
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They’re big, usually 20 inches long.
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They like deeply wooded areas and though we hear their jackhammer like drilling occasionally it’s rare to see them out in the open no less hanging on our suet nugget feeder having a nosh .
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To say I was thrilled is an understatement.
There was a female pileated woodpecker in our backyard!!!!
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The sexes can be distinguished by the amount of red feathers on their heads. Red halfway down the face to the eyes? Female. Red all the way down to the beak? Male.
Yes, after owning his current BMW sedan for barely 2 years my husband has decided he wants a new vehicle.
And by new… I mean my husband’s version of new which is usually 20 years old. He’s rough on vehicles and puts a lot of miles on them quickly so while I buy new, he doesn’t. Which is why he always wants a different one every few years. He plum wears them out.
His current car is a 2006 and since he’s on a BMW kick, the next one has to be as well. Tired of him constantly buying and selling I persuaded him to go a little newer this time. Ya know… preferably in the last decade. It was a struggle but I convinced him to draw the line at 2014. Nothing older.
I also leaned heavily on the idea of an SUV. River’s bad knee has had enough of climbing out of low slung rides.
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We found this blue one..
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And took her for a spin.
But the porridge was too hot.
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We found this brown one and took her for a spin.
But the porridge was too cold.
We drove for 7 hours that day randomly hitting car dealers and private sellers. The result? Those two.
Apparently the BMW X3’s are a rare breed in our part of the world.
The search continues…
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 