7-4-09 The Ants

They are gone but I thought they deserved a spot on the blog anyway. See all that yellow stuff? That's the ant larvae they carried in through the crack in the floor. As soon as Dan finds the cement patch stuff he's going to seal it. I thought they were eggs until I blew up the picture and noticed each "egg" has two tiny eyes. Ewww!!! Science!!!! In the meantime, all ants and larvae are gone. It sure is nice how they take care of their siblings. A queen ant can lay up to 100 eggs a day.....

7-3-09

I know I promised you Ants today but I've been too busy to get the photos off my "real" camera. Rest assured the ants went away. They were building a nest of eggs on Dan's computer power supply on the floor of the studio. It was warm and dry! Well, he unplugged the power supply and dropped it. Ants and eggs scattered. When we re-visited the scene of the crime, not an ant nor an egg was to be found.

Anyhow... today was more unpacking. We FOUND the pots and pans! But that doesn't mean I'm ready for serious cooking yet. So we had dinner at Ramsey's Diner, a local favorite. We had fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, corn fritters, okra, mmmm... was it good. Here's a photo I got off Google Street Views because I forgot to take one when we were there.

We met more neighbors today too. All is well. But we miss the kids. It's just not the same.

7-2-09

Today we unpacked more boxes and got the kitchen looking really nice. The living and dining room too. We ran errands after dinner and managed to get 8 foot long pieces of lumber and 12 foot long pieces of conduit in the Honda Fit. Oh, we had dinner at a wood stove pizza place and ran into my future coworker and her husband. After we got home we took Friz for a run and met three bluegrass musicians picking and strumming on the front porch. Way cool. Tomorrow I will report on the ants. Yes, you read that right. Ants.

7-1-09

Overwhelming. I liked it better when stuff was in boxes. Got a
migraine today, got rid of it and cleaned the fridge, now it's coming
back. Time for a nap.

6-30-09

I am sooo tired. We got up at 7 this morning and started unpacking
boxes. The house is looking really good. I love the floor in the sun
room (see photo) and the breezes and the light. I got my office key
today and look forward to moving into my office. Wow. So much going on.

6-29-09

Frisbee at home in the jungle. Movers still hard at work, we are all tired and would like to lie down somewhere. We met two of the neighbors today and they were so kind. It still seems unreal but so far we love it here. The only things missing are Jes, Aza, and Squirt.

Happy birthday to my DAD. For the second year in a row, I failed to send him good wishes. I guess I need to get organized quickly and find my stationary and stamps.

6-29-09 scene 1

Our new homa on Tahoma. Let the moving in begin! -11:00am

6-28-09

We hit the road at 7am today, heading west over the mountains. It's
been an emotional weekend saying "see you later" to all our friends in Cville and to Aza and Squirt. Last night was hard- officially watching our son go off into the world. We get to see our new house at 5 this evening. Update at 6.

Update: The new house was not ready for prime time. The couple who had been living there for 43 years were still moving out. I did get a tour of the botanical gardens though. It's like a diversity display! My favorite- the tupelo tree. Oh, my second fave- the fig tree. Oh, and the giant ginko. I took four pages of notes on the plant species. She even had planted Jeffersonia dyphallia, "Twin Leaf."

We had dinner at a park afterwards. Frisbee is still adjusting to all this change.

6-27-09

Taking a lunch break from cleaning the house top to bottom with my lifelong friend LP. She drove all the way from Richmond to say "farewell." We had lunch at my favorite pizza place on the downtown mall. You could say that "LP" stands for "Long Playing." This friend has been with me for the long haul. See post 10-19-08

Empty clean kitchen...

Empty clean Jes bedroom...

Empty dining room...

Bye bye birdies.... fly well... and come home to visit!

Closing the door for the last time.

6-26-09 moving day scene 4

Frisbee at our friends' house where we are staying the night giving us the signal that it's time for us to come to bed. He knows how tired we are.

6-26-09 moving day scene 3

Six thirty in the evening they finally moved everything out. Empty house.

6-26-09 moving day scene 2

Allied Van is out front. I've got a headache and am overwhelmed. Photo taken from Dan's office window.

6-26-09 moving day scene 1

On bird flew the nest this morning. I watched it crawl out of the nest to explore the geraniums and then it was gone. Jes. Here are the two left.

6-25-09

Last day before the moving truck comes. Aza was here to help box and clean. It has been such a stressful day so far. Everyone is crabby and stressed out and maxed out. We run out of boxes. We run out of tape. We run out of food. Yuck. Well, our birdies are getting ready to leave their nest. Here's the shy one who didn't want her photo taken hiding her eyes.

L reminded me about my special perrenial, Jeffersonia Dyphallia, given to me by a student. I dug up half of it. I hope the new owners appreciate the half I left them. I've been blogging about this every May when it blooms, reminding myself to not leave it behind.

See how the birds are starting to get curious about the geranium basket they're in... investigating the world outside the nest. Two little unhatched eggs are still inside. On represents Lilly. Looks like that bird on top is Jes fixin' to fly first. I hope we get through this evening whole.

6-24-09

Walking downtown after signing the papers at the lawyer's office to
sell our house, I realized that this little place called Court Square
is my favorite part of town. Today was hard work. We have only one
more day to pack and it seems impossible that we will finish.

6-21-09

We got Belmont BBQ and an awesome cake from Albemarle Baking, and our friends brought side dishes. We threw ourselves a Farewell Party. Here I am with my two close friends of 20+ years.

And the birdies are getting bigger each day. I'm not sure they'll fly the nest before we leave on Saturday. They are so sweet and don't mind my taking their pictures each day at all!

6-20-09

We went to a wedding today. The bride and groom are native to India
and she wore a fancy sari as a wedding gown. These are her hands.
Stunning!

It was not an easy day. I hope tomorrow is better.

6-19-09

When I saw this big black snake in the street in front of my house, I was afraid for my baby birds. Black snakes are good for eating rodents, but what about birds? Birdies were fine. Mama bird chose a good nesting site for them.

They are getting little feathers now. So cute. Today I patched and painted all the holes in the walls left by hanging pictures. There is so much to do. So so so much.

6-18-09

I got home yesterday and was excited to be able to check on the baby birds in my flower pot. Here's daddy bird keeping an eye on his babies.
It was good to sleep in my own bed last night. I got a picture of Frisbee on my iPhone doing the same thing. I wonder how he will like moving?
Birds are SO related to dinosaurs. Just look at these two!

6-17-09

I am at the airport in Austin waiting for my jet plane. It's time to
go home. So this roach crawls on my suitcase and I start taking
pictures of it. Then I knock of off and it appears to run in my purse.
Ewwsww!!!!! I frantically and carefully pull everything out one item
at a time then spy said roach a few seats down. Gross.

Saw the bats last night. Photos on my camera will be shared tonight.
Oh no, here comes that big roach again.




Bats flying out from under the Congress Street bridge down the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. 1.5 million of them!

6-16-09

Scene from the expo hall. My research presentation went well-better than well. I leave in the morning and hope to see the 1.5 million bat colony once more tonight. I'm eating a really bad veggie wrap and just trying to decide what to do next. Lost my blue sweater-not happy about that.

6-15-09

Today was a great day. The conference was interesting, I had lunch with some profs at Oklahoma State, and Carolyn invited me to meet Fancy. What a peaceful, beautiful-souled horse. Also, today I adopted a moss ball. Photo of pet moss ball below.

6-14-09

This is the Bat Bridge. Its the view from my hotel window too!
Apparently at night they come out in swarms to feed. I got a
reservation for 12 so the whole Auburn crew can join me in having a
drink from the hotel restaurant patio to watch them tonight. I've been
having so much fun at this conference meeting up with old friends.
Tonight I'm having dinner with my cousin who lives here. The Harleys
are leaving town today, thankfully.

6-13-09

Workshop today in Austin. We were told to prepare for 34 people and
got 55. They had a great time but it was hard accomodating so many
people in one room with supplies for 34. Had dinner with an old high
school friend and her family. It was so much fun seeing them all. We
had real Texas BBQ and I wasn't in Virginia anymore....

6-12-09

Austin, Texas. The engineers conference just so happens to coincide
with the Republic of Texas Harley gathering. A parade of bikes, biker
dudes and dudettes everywhere. I've never seen so many tatoos. Hope I
can sleep tonight with all these engines revving.

6-11-09

So this is why Daddy Bird has been around visiting. Two babies have hatched so far... and I found out that we have finches. Check out http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/house_finch/id for more information on house finches. The dad's red head helped me identify them. So much to do today.... but at least I don't have to go dig for worms.

6-10-09

Daddy bird came to check on his egg babies today and I got a photo of him with my telephoto lens through the window blinds. Then mommy bird came to rest and I got a photo of her too. Any idea people? Look at that red head. Wren? Finch? I can't wait to see the babies.
Got a migraine today as MIL and FIL left. Preparing for my trip to Austin to do a workshop and give a paper. The fun never ends.

6-9-09

 

My MIL is a packing machine. My goodness, she has done a week's work in two days. She puts me to shame! Must be all those vitamins she takes in that big old pill box... I tell you, it's hard packing up your house. Emotionally and physically. It's harder emotionally because everything needs a decision. Keep? Sell? Give away? Throw away? How to pack? Where should it go in the new house? Attic? Garage? Basement? HELP!