Saturday, January 30, 2021

End of the week

 Our weather is finally seasonal...chilly... but not freeze your butt off. 

This week I finished gathering all the Income Tax stuff, it is ready to go to the accountant next week...yeah me!  I also corrected all the change of addresses from Christmas in my address book....and on my computer address list....yes I keep both current.  That was my "paperwork" for the week.

Christmas decorations have been put away properly...I had them laying on the stairs and shoved through the railing upstairs... no one visits so who really cares...well I guess I do. 

I found a very old stale bag of pretzels shoved way back on the top shelf in the laundry/furnace/pantry room.   I dumped them out under the bird feeders...some squirrels liked them others ignored them...one would grab one and take off.   The next morning they were all gone...we figured a squirrel had been really busy all night long.  The next night there was a bit of moonlight shining through the clouds and I saw a deer by the bird feeders...mystery solved.  

  Far Guy is woodcarving and painting. ( I help him paint a little)

 He goes over to my brothers shop and visits his new old car...the brakes are better now...and they are working on replacing a Pinion Seal what ever that is.  Some kind of a special gas can that cannot spill has been ordered...I think it still needs a special wooden box that is strapped down...and we have to make a gas run to town these old cars need non- oxygenated gasoline and that is sold only a few places.  Who knew.  Alcohol in gasoline is the problem...it is harder on the older gas tank, fuel lines and engine. Old cars always an adventure.  

Far Side

** Daughter Jen had a Robin on her deck yesterday... A Robin in January...isn't that something!

28 comments:

Pauline Persing said...

Pretty wooden sunflower. I didn't know old cars needed the old kind of gas. Thank you for the note. Life is different but I am learning to adjust. It is hard. Hug Far Guy.

Val Ewing said...

Yes, we had Robins in the valley last week, I wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't been in the area. Very strange. Almost like they were flocked there by accident or passing through!
Those new gas cans are a pain but keep from spilling.
I assume the old car only takes leaded gas. They sell it around here all over for boats and other machinery. I don't pretend to know why ... or the difference. :)

aurora said...

Well if you can't grow flowers outside, you just create them inside!! Great cheery sunflower! Stupid question time, is the green stem & leaves carved from one piece of wood? What a great hobby!

DJan said...

I didn't know that about old cars needing a different gas. I'm wondering where we will get our taxes done this year, since we have always gone to the Senior Center with AARP volunteers. Sigh.

Sara said...

That poor robin is in for a tough couple of months. I've had lots of chickadees around my bird feeder this past week but haven't seen any other birds. My squirrel is back too.

Lea said...

Hope you have a fun weekend!

Martha said...

What a pretty flower, it looks like spring! Have a great weekend :)

Victoria Zigler said...

Glad you got all your paperwork sorted. I'm sure the squirrels and birds were glad of the pretzels. I didn't know that about older cars needing different fuel... You learn something new every day.

Far Side of Fifty said...

the stem is a twig from our woods and the leaves are carved individually and then attached to the stem:)

Betsy said...

We have one of those non-spillable gas cans. Dennis hates it. The gas doesn't want to pour so he ends up pouring it into an old can that pours better, but then, he's not buying that special gas either. It's for the mower and snowblower.
I do the same thing in January every year...update all addresses in my computer so it's ready to go whenever I want to mail something. It's surprising to me how many changes there are eery year.
Dennis took our taxes to the accountant yesterday on his lunch hour. It's very close to his office so it's easy for him to drop off and pick up.
Have a great weekend.
Blessings,
Betsy

Maebeme said...

That sunflower is gorgeous! A robin? I wonder if it got blown in on the winds...or if it knows something we don't know.

Take care, stay well!

Red said...

Do you have flying squirrels? That could be a reason for pretzels disappearing, but it was most likely the deer. We get robins every month of the year. My friend reported robins in early January.

Bonnie said...

That flower is so pretty! I have never seen carved flowers as beautiful as those Far Guy carves, what a talent. Of course, your painting adds just the right touch. I didn't know old cars needed special gas. You've taught me something new. That's exciting that Jen saw a Robin already. Did she tell "she who sees robins first" about it? ;) I'd love to think we had an early spring coming!

Rita said...

Love the sunflower!
That robin obviously lost its way somehow. I've never seen one in the winter. How strange!
Special unoxygenated gas--never heard of that, either.

Linda Reeder said...

Today I opened my TurboTax account and confirmed preliminary information. But I don't have all of my tax documents yet.
I used a bunch of my Covid relief check from the government to make charitable donations to food banks, meals on wheels, the Salvation Army. Lots of people need help. I attended a baby shower in Boston, via Zoom, and a garden club meeting, vis Zoom. It has been a busy morning!
There are quite a variety of birds coming to our feeders, including hummingbirds.
I love the sunflower carving.
I guess old cars are like old people. We have to be careful what we eat.

Miss Merry said...

What a beautiful flower! It sounds like you accomplished a lot! We have a very lazy weekend planned. We might be in line for a lot of snow. We grocery shopped and the crockpot is bubbling. We picked up gas for the snow blower, replenished the rock salt for the rest of the year and I think we are ready.

At Home In New Zealand said...

We once owned an old car (a 1970s Mercedes!) and it needed special gas, that was often hard to find. Eventually we found there was an additive we could put into 'normal' gas and that did the trick, but I have no idea what it was (that was hubby's domain, not mine).
Love the carved sunflower :)

Leilani Schuck Weatherington said...

One time we had some nasty biscotti that we bough at a salvage store, so I put them out on the table where I fed the birds. I was stunned when crows showed up and started taking the biscotti. One of them tried to take 2 and ended up dropping them both. Crows are not everybody's favorite bird, but I enjoyed watching them very much. That was the first and only time they ever paid us a visit.

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

Nice, the type of sunflower I like as in not real and in front of me

L. D. said...

Someone posted a photo in downtown Des Moines where there were dozens of robins. I don't know what they think they are doing. Great sunflower sculpture. Great carving and paint job.

Gemma's person said...

Oh, that is just one of the Northern Canadian robins who come south to you in the winter. :)

Debi said...

You have been a busy lady! Hope you can rest a bit. The sunflower is so pretty. You and Far Guy are a good team!

Granny Marigold said...

If it was a deer that ate the old pretzels I'll bet it loved the salt on them.

diane in northern wis said...

That is one gorgeous flower! How awesome. So I wonder who ate the pretzels....the squirrels....the deer....who? Good for you on getting your tax stuff ready to go...it will be awhile before I get that done. Our Christmas decorations are all put away and today we got out the valentines day decorations. They do cheer up the house! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, you two.

Jacqi Stevens said...

I'm not surprised by that robin sighting, even in January. The weather is weird around here right now--frost last week (which is unusual for us here), then torrential rains and gusty winds (electricity out for 18 hours), then sunshine today like we were already in spring. Go figure.

www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com said...

I had no idea about the gasoline for old cars. That's amazing how things have changed and I didn't even know it!

Cynthia said...

My dad carved sunflowers! That’s a very pretty one and you did a nice job on the paint. Guess what — we are going to get a bit of snow in the air tomorrow night. Doesn’t happen every year and I’ll probably miss this because it will be gone in the morning.

Leah said...

The sunflower is gorgeous and Jen saw a robin (that is crazy) for January!