Random 5 for April 11, 2021 – Imaginary things, Fitbit, organization, crafts, memories

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It’s been a crazy week. Lots of weird stuff happening.

This guy got a day off!

I got it, I got it! Early in the week the cats were going crazy. They were all batting and chasing an imaginary bug. I couldn’t see it. With all the effort I expected it to be dragon-sized. This went on for an hour until the beloved husband caught it. It wasn’t imaginary. It was a hard shelled flying thing so I’m not sure why it was so elusive but it’s gone now. Perhaps I should pay attention when they are fighting that imaginary lion!

A broken hearted Fitbit – I had a reaction to my second covid shot this week. I slept most of the day after I got it. My Fitbit never went through a day like that. It kept buzzing me. “Yo Dude! Get up! Gotta walk. Get those steps in.” Then I would roll over and go back to sleep. The Fitbit was more disappointed than I was. Somehow I got in 1500 steps and I have no idea how as I wasn’t very mobile. We reconciled and it’s ruling my life again.

Side effects of moving – You can’t find anything. When you first move in, you are emptying boxes and putting things everywhere. I tried to keep “like things” together so they’d be easy to find but sometimes that didn’t work. I’d run out of room on a shelf or a cabinet and the rest would go somewhere else. Yesterday I took the time to reorganize my large storage cabinets. It took several hours but at least all the noodles are together as are my craft supplies.

Speaking of craft supplies – I’m not really a crafter. I never was in the true sense. I did the obligatory candle making and ceramics in my youth but my heart wasn’t in one thing (besides cats). I always thought I would go back to painting after I retired but that hasn’t happened. I threw out almost all of my craft supplies only keeping tools that were multipurpose. If I decide to go back to something I’ll have to start from scratch but I’m not holding my breath.

Here is a threesome swaying to the music!

Remembering my pond – This is the time of the year when the pond gets lively. The frogs are out and mating. The fish are active. Lots going on. I miss the activity although I don’t miss the pressure of getting it cleaned out in the spring. Our back yard slopes and we have a high deck so there won’t be even a little pond here. I miss my little friends.

So how was your week?

 

57 thoughts on “Random 5 for April 11, 2021 – Imaginary things, Fitbit, organization, crafts, memories”

  1. Slippery pond cleaning is definitely something to be glad to leave behind (I still laugh over the snake a few years ago…glad it wasn’t me!). Oh, the fish. I forgot they were staying. Silly. Hopefully if the pond is leaving, those can be donated to a local park or arboretum pond.
    While you have a downhill slope view with neighbors now, it’s so nice to have an elevated deck – always seems like a tree house. For an easy sound fix, they make all these table top/plug in/ small “waterfalls” so at least you hear the water sounds. My neighbor has one that hangs on the wall so they can see it from their breakfast table. Big enough for birds to visit.
    Glad you are up and about again. Gotta enjoy this brief weather window before summer and the laziness slips in.

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  2. LOL – -my FitBit doesn’t like me sleeping in either, not that it happens much 🙂 I bet you miss your pond! You wrote about it often, and it sounds like such a lovely, peaceful place, at least for the most part.

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  3. I’ve actually thought of your pond, Kate, and wondered how you felt about it, now that spring is here. They are so much work, as we’ve experienced this spring (in a deep cleaning), but it’s a part of me now. I’m sure there are many things about your previous home you think about, but I really admire that you’ve been able to move forward and make decisions that in the end are better for the two of you. So glad you’ve had your second vaccine, and now those side effects are behind you!

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    • There will be other things to do here that will make this place fun and pretty. The last owner was not a gardener and the outside has been neglected. We need a few trees planted and at least 2 taken down. Technically I could put in a small pond (very small) but with a walk out basement you wouldn’t see it from the living area and that’s where we enjoy it most.

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  4. Maybe a bird bath will suffice. I put a solar devise in mine to spray like a water fountain and the black birds love the ‘new shower.’ Plus you only have to empty it when the weather turns. Much easier than the maintenance a pond requires.

    Hopefully you’ll figure out best storage solutions sooner than I did. I felt like I had to use my labelmaker on every door and cabinet for months so I could easily (and quickly) find stuff.

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  5. I knew you missed your pond!!!
    So funny about the fitbit. Maybe you went to the bathroom a lot? Maybe you get steps for tossing and turning? I got rid of my fitbit–or at least I decided not to use it and have now lost track of where it is. I got paranoid about being spied on everywhere, so I decided that was one thing I was going to get rid of since I’m not getting rid of my iphone. I guess the fitbit was just superfluous because “they” can track me through the phone.

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    • I will miss my pond but not the work. It’s not that there was a lot of it. Ponds take care of themselves but because it’s small, I would do a complete water refresh and cleaning once a year. Last year I fell twice. It’s not deep but the lining is slippery. Old peeps shouldn’t be doing that. I’d love to have a small water feature that may attract frogs. I live about a block and a half from a stream so there are frogs around.

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  7. I’m glad the Sassy cats got you through it! Sorry, you don’t have the critters anymore. Salem and I have made good friends with a squirrel and a chipmunk. I tried talking to a bunny yesterday but she just ignored me. The birds are ok, too. I’ve never met a frog. I’m jealous. Maybe you will get new creatures. I once met a snake that came up to the second-story deck in our old house. I didn’t know they could do that, but they can.

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  8. Hi, Kate- I’m glad that you got your second vaccine and are now feeling better (and that your Fitbit is happy again). Richard received his first shot today. I am supposed to be able to receive my first vaccine by the beginning of May. Fingers crossed!

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    • It gives a little sense of safety. There were so many times that I was around too many people and sure I’d get sick. At least now I feel like I have a fighting chance. Our numbers locally have started going up again so it’s mixed feelings. I’ll continue to be cautious.

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  9. Are you on friendly enough terms with the new owners of your former house to bop on by and ask if they are going to keep the pond and still feeding your critters? After all, the guy was conversational about the flannel shirts and jeans comment. I hope you’re done painting and organizing and can enjoy your new house and any outside amenities without a lot of fuss. I started a “retirement box” downstairs about twenty-five years ago with hobbies started, but not completed … that was before setting forth into cyberspace. That kind of killed a lot of my grandiose ideas from yesteryear.

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    • No. I met them for less than 2 minutes. The realtors keep buyer and seller separated for many reasons. They maintain our privacy about our new home in case the buyers become disenchanted and start to come after the sellers. I had a realtor tell me that being buddies is not a good thing. I get news through the neighbors across the street.

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  10. Thanks for the photo of your lovely pond. We can all enjoy the memory.

    Friday my oldest daughter and her husband put their house in IN up for sale. They plan to move to Bellevue, WA. They don’t have a buyer yet, but my son-in-law is already missing their current house. They’ve lived there for more than 20 yrs. Their children (who now live in WA) grew up there. My S-in-L, who grew up in NJ isn’t looking forward to all the evergreens in WA. He thinks he’ll miss the creek they now have in their back yard. We’ll all enjoy memories of that house, but we’ll make new ones.

    Your cats can always be depended on for entertainment.

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    • Cross country moves most be tough. You can’t just hop in a car and drive by the old house. Let’s hope they love their new home enough to make it an easy transition. For me the hardest part would be living someplace where the beach wasn’t a few hours away. For a Jersey boy, getting near the ocean again may help.

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  11. I know a COVID reaction is not desirable, but I laughed at your tale of the Fitbit. Daughter Lise gave me a simple step-counter, but I won’t wear it unless we are walking to the creek. I saw her dancing around the house to get her Fitbit steps in for the day. I’m not that desperate.

    I miss your pond, too. Find one of your beautiful photos of the pond, and open the window to listen to the spring peepers. If that doesn’t help, stand knee-deep in cold water until you are happy to be pond-less. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get an invisible drone and visit your pond? If the new owners fill it in, find another one close by. Oh. There probably aren’t any. How about a fairly large birdbath on your high deck? Float a solar fountain in it, and I can almost guarantee birds will come to drink. Some potted plants nearby would make a tiny garden, of sorts. I miss your pond.

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    • Somehow I will have a water feature of some sort but maybe not this year. I’m already working on a birdbath that attaches to the deck railing. The bird feeders are up and we have a nice crop of birds that visit daily. The cats aren’t happy that they can’t get out on the deck but maybe next year we’ll do something creative out there like cover it and screen it in. You never know.

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      • I’ll stay tuned. We have one uncovered deck and two covered porches, and we use all three. Dog Sadie loves to go on the deck. It has a railing, so that keeps her from running loose. Of course, that would not be a deterrent for cats. Being open, it’s a great place to feed the birds.

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    • It all depends on your own sense of what you need to do. I take my Fitbit seriously because it has done a lot to get me moving and active. I am so rarely ill and never that ill that I don’t even get 5K steps. My normal since the move has been 10K. Prior to that at my old house I would easily do 14K steps a day. There aren’t many steps in a “project” like painting. We have reconciled and it’s happy again.

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    • My old house backed up to a water retention area and there is a small “pond” or water hole there. Lots of frogs. Also there is a large pond up the street so they will find a home. I worry more about the fish. I had some beauties and I probably should have fished them out and given them away.

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  14. Every year I hang a hummingbird feeder on my balcony. I put one out last week. So far no visitors, but they will show up soon. I am going to get another feeder because last year there were a couple territorial birds, and they would scare off other hummers. I am thinking of getting a small birdbath. Not sure I will because we have lots of pigeons, and they make a dirty mess.

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    • The birdbaths are so fun. Usually it’s the robins who have an orgy and kick out all the water leaving behind a muddy mess. I haven’t been lucky with hummers. They don’t use my feeder. If I have flowers they like, I will get one sporadically but not with any regularity. I found myself changing the food in the feeder too often without any takers so I gave up. You are lucky. They are fun to watch.

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  15. I’ll miss your pond posts too. They were always so interesting, though there’s no way I could ever have put in the work you did. 😉 I had my second shot on Thursday morning, and for about two hours I felt dizzy and slightly nauseous. We had plans to go out later that day, but I took it easy and just stayed home. By the next day I was fine fortunately. Sorry for your own experience, but I’m glad you got through it okay. – Marty

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    • It’s such a little blip on the scale of a lifetime that I felt badly even mentioning it but then again, I needed blog material! 🙂 Oh my pond. 😦 I will try to work out a small water feature that maybe will allow me to grow a lotus or water lily but it’s doubtful it will happen this year. We are all sucked up in inside projects.

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  17. I channel my inner “fitbit” to motivate myself . . . and it never bugs me when I want a day off because I’m having a reaction to a vaccination, inoculation, or celebration!

    Glad you’re on the mend and getting things organized.

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      • Party on, dudette!

        It helps that I really enjoy going for walks (and bike rides) around the hood & on the beach ~ walking was our sole social outlet during the pandemic because we would bump into neighbors on our morning walks. Not literally, of course. We would maintain 6 feet of separation! 😆

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        • I like walking too. I just get absorbed into something and forget all else including moving around. Oddly, at my old neighborhood, people didn’t walk much. I’d rarely see more than one or two other people and it was a beautiful place to walk. My current neighborhood is a little hilly. I like the flat walks of the old house although I realize that the “hilly” is good for me.

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  20. I have avoided the Fitbit. Mainly because I spend time typing and I don’t like stuff on my wrists. I’d worry I sit too long only the dogs are always reminding me they need to go out. Or come back inside. Nope, out again. Nope, too hot, back in again…

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  21. I was very happy when I realized autopilot takes care of so much……I just let my pilot take me where IT knows I need to go !. You’re right about second shot reactions – it’s SOOOO worth it. Mine were so minor and I feel SO much better now that I’ve had them both.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I feel better too. I was in situations during the last year with the buying/selling house stuff that I felt sure I was going to come down with it. Now I have a level of confidence although other than the occasional workmen, I don’t come in contact with as many people as I did 6 months ago.

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  22. The last time I moved was 16 years ago, and I hope it is the last. I can barely find the things that are in the same place all the time. 🙂 I bought a medium sized plastic barrel to make a small water feature. I’m thinking a couple of plants. I wonder if one season will get it out of my system. 🙂

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  24. Glad you’re feeling better. That Fitbit can be a little tyrant. The things I found hardest about moving was that nothing was on autopilot for awhile. Finding the bathroom in the dark in the middle of the night actually took effort. Knowing where the nearest grocery or drug store was. Everything took more effort than it does when some of that stuff is on autopilot and it is tiring.

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    • You hit the nail on the head. We moved 4 miles so the things we used to do or go to are about 5 to 10 minutes farther and that seems like an eternity. I have to think when I go to get something. “Now where did we put it?” Exhausting! Love autopilot.

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