Gone, Baby, Gone!

I've got to say that, although I miss my oak tree, if this is how the rest of my life's "disasters" go, I'll be one happy Woodlandmama! When I first told my sister about it she asked if I would have to pay $500 to have the tree hauled away. Quite honestly one of the first things I told Mr. Hobbitfeet was, "Crap, there goes our vacation."
Because the tree fell into the street, the city was responsible for cleanup. Everything that our neighbor didn't take (mostly the branches and leaves), the city crews came and took this morning. They even cut off the roots and left the rest of the trunk in my neighbors yard for him. There are still leaves and sticks every where and they killed my alliums and several of my lilies, but we still get to have our vacation and I even got a souvenir round from the big part of the trunk.

Mr. H. wants to know what I plan to do with it. It's too heavy for very much, but I couldn't let my neighbor burn it all up next winter. That tree has been around for at least a hundred and fifty years (there were too many rings for me to want to count), it's kind of sad to just let it completely disappear just because some ants ate it's roots and my neighbor was cold.

Happy Mother's Day To Me!

This year for Mother's day I got . . . .











That's right, the giant oak tree in my front yard fell. Luckily, it just fell across the driveway and the street. We were just rounding the corner to pull in the driveway when it fell, so Boy was freaking out. But as I said we were down the block so we're fine. And thankfully our neighbor put in a wood-burning furnace so he's helping chop the tree up so he can have the wood.

Here's our tree in happier times:

Things I Know You Couldn't Wait To Hear

Before I get to my news, I want to bitch a little bit. I bet your surprised. I think your "gonna have a heart attack and die from not surprise." Anyway. I decided to try Norton 360, and I hated it. So I uninstalled and I must have done it wrong because it deleted all of my user settings! It took me forever just to get back into my computer and once there EVERYTHING was gone as if this was the first day I'd ever used my computer.
Luckily I was able to restore from the backup drive, (but not directly) and I lost all of my Firefox bookmarks and have yet to find them. This is a pain, not because of the bookmarks I use everyday, I know them, but because I had a bunch of places that I go occasionally, and places I was interested in for my upcoming vacation and I don't remember them. That's why I had them bookmarked. Eff Norton 360! Also, eff Windows Vista because I am sure I'd know where they were in Windows XP!!! Plus, I think Windows is punishing me because I'd rather use the superior Firefox over Internet Explorer.

Now for the awesome!

I GOT MY NEW CAMERA! Hooray, It took forever, but it came around 10 this morning and I am so excited! Unfortunately, I'm the only one home so for now Mr. Giles is the only subject on whom I can test it.





I also got some nature photos. These are flowers that are everywhere in my lawn.

This is the more than 6 foot high pile of wood that my neighbors have stock piled recently. No, they didn't cut down a tree, they imported it from somewhere. I'm not sure they know that it's April and not November in Little House on the Prairie days when you had to have a huge stock pile of wood for when the snow piled up to your roof. Maybe this was easier for them than building a fence, but I can still see them.

And yay! My dogwoods are blooming!

Why Visiting Chicago Is . . . .

. . . . awesome- we see our loved ones and maybe get some of the yummy food we miss.

. . . . sucks-we run our asses off, don't eat right, and I only sleep well in my own bed, so by the end of the trip I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Plus the traffic is crazy bad, and I get awfully lonely for trees.

Mr. Hobbitfeet says that some day we'll move back to Chicago, but the lack of trees and over-abundance of cement freaks me out. Plus, Thursday I was laying in my hammock enjoying the nice weather, and a bald eagle flew right over me. A BALD EAGLE!!! It was so cool, I admit I cried a bit, just like one tear. Shut up! Have you ever seen a bald eagle in the wild? Just flying by, dummty-dum like it's a sparrow or other really common bird?

The answer is no. While they have made a comeback they're still crazy rare, and I got to see one in my back yard! How can you leave that?

A Bit Like Chicken Little

Mr. H. and I closed on our house on September 15, 2005, and quickly learned the price of living in the midst of an oak forest. That price is bazillions of acorns falling from September through December. Luckily it's only really bad every other year. I mean we get acorns every year, but every other year you get pelted with acorns every time you go into the yard, like that part in the Wizard of Oz where Dorthy and the Scarecrow have apples thrown at them by the talking trees.
This year is a big year. Even when you're in the house you hear them every few seconds, dropping on to the roof and then rolling into the yard. It is good that the previous owners installed gutter guards or we'd have baby oak trees growing out of the gutters.
The day I picked Jenni up in St. Louis, Boy had to be at home alone for a half hour until Mr. H and Girl got home. I got a frantic call from him on my cell phone. He was terrified because he kept thinking he heard someone in the house. It was the acorns.
I've looked up various acorn recipes, but they all seem like a lot of work for not a lot of reward. you have to boil, rinse, boil, rinse, etc. until the water stays clear to get all of the tannins out because they are bitter and in large quantities, poisonous. However, if you're willing to try them out, you are more than welcome to my harvest. Otherwise we'll just sweep, or rake them up and toss them by the bucketful into the ravine for the squirrels.

I'm So Sad!

rardinlodge3
Originally uploaded by ejsm219

I always pass this building on my way to my mom's farm, and I loved it. I wrote about this in the past, but this morning I saw this in the paper.


RARDIN -- The owner of run-down buildings in Rardin that were the subject of a demolition lawsuit have been torn down.

Workers were at the site Thursday morning removing debris from what's now a bare spot along the main road through the unincorporated village.

The county sued the owner of the property, William Bowersock of Lima, Ohio, to try to get him to demolish the buildings or get a court to allow the county to do the work and put a lien against the property to recover the costs.

State's Attorney said if the work is done properly, it should mean the lawsuit won't be needed any longer. He said a hearing scheduled for Tuesday on Bowersock's motion to dismiss the case will remain in place for now, but that could change.


Mr. Hobbitfeet and I truly enjoyed the majestic beauty of this building. Having grown up in a city so terrified of a fire that happened 136 years ago (next Monday) that nearly everything is built from some manner of brick, and then coming to Central Illinois, Mr. H. and I treasure the few brick buildings that we see. I think we view them as a touch of Chicago in an otherwise anti-everything-Chicago area. Don't get me wrong, I love the natural beauty around here, but I do miss the man-made beauty of Chicago.
This building kind of reflected my soul. It's a beautiful and well made brick building (actually a former Mason's lodge) reminiscent of so many in Chicago, all alone in a tiny hick town in the middle of nowhere, sticking out like a sore thumb. The insides crumbled and deteriorated over time and a large tree grew up right in the middle. It isn't usable or "safe" anymore (though the brickwork was not rotted and would have stood a lot longer on it's own), so "they" are tearing it down.

Why You Wish You Lived Where I Do

Now that I am home , I've decided to go walking everyday. So I headed to the lake park that starts behind the properties across the street from me. Of course I have to walk the long way to get to the paths, but the views are gorgeous. There is no one to keep me company except Mr. Giles and the 3 billion spiders who have built their cobwebs across the path. It is so beautiful it makes me wonder about the legions of people who do laps on my block when they could walk a block farther and see sights like these:






Of course you do have to watch out for the trees, they're hungry.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I followed my dog,
And that has made all the difference.

(Sorry for the quality, I only had my phone.)

Owl Love

Great Horned Owl
Originally uploaded by ddurbin123

So, last night I didn't get any sleep. Why? Well, apparently a couple of great-horned owls have taken up residence in one of my trees very near my window, and are mating. Follow the link to hear an approximation of the call (it's the third one).

While the idea of an owl hanging out in my trees is pretty cool, and the idea of owl babies is even cooler, I don't really need to hear the opening strains of owl love. Even worse, it starts around one a.m. and goes ALL NIGHT LONG!!! I wish they would just do it, and get it over with.

(By the way, this is not a picture of my owls, I got it from Flickr. I'll get one of them, once they stop courting and start sitting on their nest.)

Depressing Myself

For the hell of it today, I calculated my family's carbon footprint. The result is that we put 42415 lbs of carbon dioxide in the air each year. This is less than the national average and may be less because it doesn't take in to account other factors like the number of plants and trees I plant every year (which is actually kind of a lot). However, I am still depressed, it still seems large (I've also been known to be a big spaz when it comes to global warming). I blame a large part of our footprint on Mr. Hobbitfeet's 93 buick LaSaber (and his smoking). That'll make me feel better. I'd better go plant some more trees.

Blessings. Count 'em.

After my two weeks in hell, I am experiencing new joy in things that I've been taking for granted lately.

1.) I like my kids, a lot. I know that most moms love their kids, but I like mine too. They crack me up on a regular basis.
Although Boy seems quite foreign to me in his love of all things mathematical and scientific, he also is developing a sarcastic and silly way that is so me. I also love the side of him so rooted in fantasy. It's completely the opposite of his other side, that you wouldn't really think it could possibly co-exist yet it does.
Girl is freaking hilarious. She is so silly and so energetic. It's awesome to watch her play. Sometimes the things that come out of her mouth are so unexpected. Also (and maybe this is cruel) but she so knows how to push Boy's buttons. It is not in away that gets him mad, but that exasperates his 10-year-old sensibilities to a point that cracks me up. Like yesterday when we were in the doctor's office for Boy's allergy shots, Girl started making weird noises and flinging her hands everywhere. When asked what she was doing she said "Iiiiii'mmm beeeeinggg siiiillly" in a weird deep voice. Boy instantly scrunched down in his seat and hid behind his book, saying "Uh how embarrassing." Then on the way home Girl demanded to know the names of the boys in his class because she wanted a new boyfriend. Boy replied with a VERY shocked "But you don't know any of them!" It's awesome.
Plus, their dynamic reminds me so much of Meander and I when we were little it's scary.
2.)I love making good food for people. I could do without the chopping involved, but I love when people like what I have made. I'm sure Mr. Hobbitfeet wishes I'd cook more often, but I think maybe he wouldn't be so impressed if I made my dishes repeatedly.
3.) I like spending time with Mr. Hobbitfeet. We have a lot of fun and can actually talk to each other. I love watching TV with him, which makes the re-run break in which we find ourselves that much more annoying.
4.) I love my house, my trees (even though the recent frost killed all my dogwood blossoms), and my yard (even more so since we got the backyard cleaned up.
5.) I like my dog a lot more now that he doesn't use the inside of my house as a bathroom or chew up the kids toys. I also like him more now that I can let him come out front with us and not worry that he'll run away. It's fun to go out to the mailbox or to get the paper and have him trot along behind me. Now, if only the damn groomer didn't make him look like such a fluffy poodle, I'd be happy.

YAY! Spring!

All of the sudden every tree that can is blooming. The birds and frogs are crazy loud, and I feel like spring is finally here. Of course I don't get to enjoy it because all I am doing is working. Ah well, check out today's pictures.

Look our strawberry plants are growing.

The dogwoods are starting to bloom.

I don't know what these are.

The ravine is looking greener.

What a difference from March 1st !

More flower buds.

Almost here!

Today one of my peonies popped out, and my cherry tree got a baby blossom.

Sorry the peony picture sucks!

Night time fun

It was very warm so we got to stay out all night. So my March pictures for the day are of Girl, Mr. H., and I playing in the dark (Boy was at Taekwondo).

The cherry tree at night.

I don't get how people can say she looks like him when Mr. H. is such as freak, and Girl is so cute!

This is Girl being a monster at our dark party.

Wow!

I had this really fantastic post, about how I was busy working my now (temporarily, but maybe permanently) full-time job, my part-time job and a side project, and Mr. Hobbitfeet was busy with school and work. That we were both busy with the kids, especially getting Boy ready to test for his black belt (which he's doing on the 31st). Unfortunately, Blogger ate it, and I don't want to re-write it. So you are out of luck.
However, I will redo the pictures. The first time I explained that I was giving you more pictures than usual because I was so far behind.

My mom came and visited on Wednesday. If you look close you can see that I lent her my copy of Firefly. My mom loves cowboys and space, so I felt that she couldn't miss the show that combines the two.

Mr. H. never wears shoes.

Lots of baby leaves-

even on my cherry tree!

The baby lilac tree is coming alive!

Some random flowers!

And my favorite:

The buds on the dogwood trees are opening.

Buds and Sprouts: the Order of the Day!

Today has me very excited. When Mr. H. and I went for a walk by the river on my mom's property, there were tons of trees budding. This morning when I took my pictures, I was focused on buds and sprouts.


My dogwood buds:

The surprise lillies came out a little more:

The burning bush has little buds:
and this little guy came out, I think he's the allium that I got from my mom last year:
And most exciting, we have leaves!!!!

Warm and Lovely

Today the weather was fan-freaking-tastic. At least 78 possibly 80. Don't you just love spring?
Anyhow, my March pictures are brought to you by my hammock, very graciously given to me for Christmas by my sister-in-law, C.

Here are the trees as seen from my hammock: And a view of the surprise lilly sprouts (from the hammock): And finally, Girl from the patio floor, where I was after I fell out of the hammock (don't you love the boots?):

An Exciting Development

I know that I've been a slacker with my March pictures. I have no excuse except nothing much has been happening, and I was sure my audience (if there is one) didn't want to look at the same pictures of my dead-looking yard. But this morning (thanks to four days of spring-like weather) there was an awesome development!

Look:

My baby cherry tree (last year's mother's day gift) has new growth! Not just tiny buds, but a whole new branch!

And:

Look sprouts! These are the plants that I don't like, but that dominate my yard as they are extremely popular round these parts, so the old owners put them EVERYWHERE. People around here call them "Surprise Lillies" because they sprout early and look like tall, thick blades of grass until about June or July then all of a sudden a long flower stalk grows and SURPRISE! you have lillies.

Here is what they'll look like (I got this picture from Lisa Shea)