An early start

I did much better last night, with Ken and I both going to bed around 10:30. I knew I had to get up fairly early today, because our contractor (Dan--we love him!) called yesterday and is coming by today to put a window in the garage. I asked what time they'd be out, and he said, "Oh, probably between 8 and 8:30." I said, "Yikes! Guess I'd better not be staying up as late as I have been!" He started laughing.

So what do I get for being a good girl? I can't sleep! I'm sure I must have slept at some point during the night, but I remember waking up and seeing 1 AM, 2 AM, and I tossed and turned after that. I got up with Ken at 6. I actually feel just fine, so I'm not worried about it. I had set my alarm for 7:30, so at least I didn't have to hear the alarm go off!

I had to laugh, because as I was laying there wide awake, a cardinal let out a call, and he sounded like he was right outside our window. If you've never heard a cardinal singing, they are very loud. This was very early, too, about 4:30, and none of the other birds had started singing yet. This cardinal hollers out about 5 notes, and then is silent. I had this mental image of the other birds saying to him in a stage whisper, "Larry! Not yet!" (For some reason, in my imagination, this cardinal's name is Larry.) Maybe 10 minutes later, he lets out 2 notes and falls silent. Apparently the other birds said, "Larry! Shut UP!"

15 minutes or so later, all the birds started singing, including Larry. Loudly.

I love hearing the birds, and most mornings I either sleep through those dawn songs, or I find them soothing. But when I was laying there wide awake this morning, all I could think was, "Man, they're loud!" I imagine that someone who lives in the city would find it the most godawful racket they'd ever heard!

When I was putting dinner together last night (we had Muffalettas again, and I used up the last of the olive salad), we had the TV on while Ken was finishing up some "work" work. "Two and a Half Men" was on, arerun of course, but there was a line in there that cracked me up and I had Ken write it down for me. I don't know if any of you watch that show, but there's a smartass housekeeper named Berta. She came walking into the kitchen, saw Alan (one of the brothers, played by Jon Cryer), and said, "Drinking from the well of bitterness, are we?" It just struck me so funny, partly because of my entry about inner happiness, but mostly because of her deadpan delivery. I might have to remember that line, because one never knows when one will find the perfect moment in which to use it...does one?

Brrr, I'm kind of chilled this morning! Looks like it cooled off overnight, down to about 50°. It's supposed to warm up nicely, though, so I'll definitely wait a little bit before planting my flowers.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about our raccoons! I've been seeing some young ones around lately, mostly at the back of the yard. Yesterday, I threw out some stale Cheerios to feed the birds or whatever. Last evening, Sheeba started running around like a crazy man, so we knew he was seeing something outside. I looked out back, and I saw a mom raccoon and two young ones chomping on the Cheerios. They were picking them up in their little paws...it was so cute! However, we try to keep them away from the deck as much as possible, so if I see them close to the house, I'll try to shoo them off. The mom took off as soon as I walked out onto the deck, but one of the little ones stayed and was still munching Cheerios. The mom stopped and looked back, like "Hey! Come ON!" I finally had to get the BB gun and fire a pellet in its general direction, just to scare him off. So the whole family goes running down the pathway. End Round One.

10 minutes or so later, Sheeba starts tearing around again. I looked out, and they were back. I grabbed the BB gun, and told Ken, "Aww, look how cute they are! Come and see!" As we walked out on the deck, the family took off...and I think 3 more that were under the deck! I looked at Ken and said, "Good grief, was that 5 or 6?" He wasn't sure--they all took off and we couldn't count them. The raccoon population at Nutwood is thriving, apparently! End Round Two.

We've been here long enough to know that we probably aren't going to win this match! They haven't been coming up on the deck as much this year, but there have been times when I heard a noise, looked around, and there was a raccoon sitting right outside the window looking in at me. "Hi lady. Got any food?" Criminy. They're so irritating...but so dang adorable!