I Slept Through the Quake!

I slept through it all, but Warren didn't. He was already at work. He said it sounded like someone was blasting rock next door. (Common around here in order to build a basement.) The building shook. By the time he figured it out, it was over.


I feel cheated. After having taught about Earthquakes in Missouri for over 20 years, I would have liked to have felt one.

Here's a link to the stats of the Day. Cool Jpeg of the area covered.

Talked with Sarah and she says she's GOT to be the only one in the St. Louis area who slept through it. Even Dan sat up abruptly in bed, saying, "What's that?"

Sarah feels cheated too.

But she DID feel an aftershock later this morning. Shook her 8th floor office quite a bit. Kinda cool and kinda scary at the same time.

So Sarah doesn't feel as cheated as me!

News Links:

Midwest quake felt far and wide

5.2 earthquake rocks large area of Midwest; no major damage

The Bluebird Eggs Are Gone!!

I came home tonight to a long-faced bluebird lover. "The eggs are gone," he said. "Just like last year."

"What do you mean--gone?" I said.

"They're gone. Nothing left, " he said. "It hasn't been tampered with in any way. The straw hasn't been disturbed. No snake could have gotten in there with the snake baffle. I just don't understand."

"Well, maybe a raccoon got in there."

"I don't think that's possible," he said.

"Why not? Doesn't it just open from the top?"

"No," he said. "It opens from the front. And it's exactly the way it was from the last time I opened it. I don't think they could have opened and closed it so perfectly."

"I don't understand," I said.

And we still don't, even after talking about it and mulling it over. We still don't get how there could be nothing left of two bluebird eggs. Not even a tiny piece of shell is left. We're devastated. We thought we had it all figured out. I guess not.

"I'm gonna have to talk with Steve and Regina over at Bird's I View, I guess. See what they think."

Meanwhile, we'll just mug-wump around here and feel bad about what could have been.

Bluebird Eggs!!

We have two bluebirds eggs in one of our bluebird boxes!! This is a big deal if you are bird lovers, like we are. But we have other reasons.

Last year, a chickadee took over the bluebird box. There were two or three hatchlings from that batch. Nothing against chickadees, we love them, but it wasn't what we'd planned.

The year before last, we had five bluebird eggs in our bluebird house. They all disappeared one day. One day there were five eggs, the next day there were none. Not even the smallest piece of egg shell. We figure a snake got them. Hence the snake baffle on the house now.

Three years ago, we had two baby bluebirds hatch. It was a miracle to watch.

So you can see why we're excited this year. There are actually bluebird eggs in our bluebird box! Two of them. There could be more, but we aren't looking for a few days. The mama bird lays one a day, so we are going to give her a chance to lay the rest of her eggs undisturbed. We have our snake baffle, so they are more protected than before.

Bluebirds build the most beautiful nests. They are neat and tidy works of art. We've spent the last month watching the bluebird pair fly in and out of the box, each time carrying one sprig of straw or grass inside the small hole.


Here is a photo from a couple weeks ago, showing the papa bluebird resting on top of the birdhouse. You can see the snake baffle below it. You can also see the new bluebird house that sits closer to the creek.


I hope you like bluebirds because I may just have a few more posts about bluebirds this spring!

St. Louis Friday Night

Instead of planning the next part of The Bathroom Project, we played hookey. Warren picked me up at work with the car loaded, we jumped in, joyfully crossed the bridge, and raced to St. Louis. We got to Dan's law office, which is just a short walk from the Stadium, met Dan and Sarah, bundled up because it was already in the 40's, and walked over to make it in time for the first pitch.

This is the scene as we approach the Stadium.

Approaching the Team Store , which I managed to avoid, this time.

The Sea of Red we love to be part of.

Looper on the Mound, Glaus (new guy) on Third Base.

Got a good shot of Dan and Warren, later in the game.

Every good shot of Sarah and I got mysteriously erased from my camera.
Here's the only one of Sarah that survived. Cute pink STL hat!

At home after the game we unwound in another Two Cat House. Their living room is this vast expanse of carpet, waiting for a new couch. We lolled around at cat-level, playing cat-human games, entertaining us all.

Henry on the left, Jackson on the right.

The kewl thing about this is that the cats are IN the room. They usually don't come around people who descend on their house. But they lived with us for a year during Sarah's 5th year of college and I guess cats do remember people, because they were there and let us pet them. One of life's small pleasures, to interact with cats you've loved in the past.

Got these shots early in the morning. They each have their favorite snoozing spot upstairs.

Henry likes the back of the upstairs couch.

Jacksie Bear actually sleeps in his cat bed!

The morning fog in the valley outside Dan and Sarah's home.

They live in what is called Missouri Wine Country.

We hated to leave, but we knew we had plenty of garden work waiting for us at home.

A Great Neighborhood

I live in a great neighborhood. In September, we have an old-fashioned block party, with police barricades blocking off the cars even. Last year we all had such a good time, we had another one, impromptu without the barriers, but we still sat outside in Nancy's driveway/street with a portable fire pit warming our tootsies and melting marshmallows for S'mores.

From last year's block party:
Jan and Tim set up kid games in their driveway.

From last year's block party:
Warren, Sam, and Tim are playing "Pitch to Sam." Best game on the block!

Take tonight for example, I walked out to take some shots of my blooming daffodils and ornamental cherry tree.

My daffodils are out! You can see Jan with her cane in the background.

Out on our block were Jan and Tim, who live next door, and their darling grandson. Tim was trying to get his lawn mower working. I was glad it didn't work because even though their grass is long, it's so peaceful without that noise. Seems too early to start the eternal mowing racket. Jan was limping around with a cane, her arthritis acting up again. Jacob was trying to play softball with the "big" kids.

Nancy and her two "big" kids, Sam and Maya, and a couple more boys, cousins or buddies of Sam, were playing softball in the driveway/street/Tim-and-Jan's front yard ball field.

Maya in her soccer practice outfit. You can see Linda on the left. Sam in the red hat on the right.

Along came Linda and her little min-pin, Gretchen, taking their nightly walk. We firmed up plans for our weekend "Wine Chat" with Nancy. More on that later. Nancy and I made a gardening date for Saturday.

Before I went back inside--it was getting too cold to be outside without a sweatshirt or jacket--I reminded myself how blessed I am to live in such a great neighborhood.

Then I got cold and went inside, Linda and Gretchen went on down the street, Jan and Tim took Jacob inside, and Nancy and her mob went off to Soccer Practice. The street quieted down.

But I suspect we will all be out there tomorrow night. The kids will be batting more softballs, Jan and Tim will be trying to get their lawn mower working, Gretchen and Linda will come by on their nightly walk, I'll be outside taking more photos and itching to begin that gardening, and Spring will continue to warm our hearts and gardens.

Life is good.