{"id":11034,"date":"2020-07-26T22:40:50","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T05:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/?p=11034"},"modified":"2020-07-27T21:15:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T04:15:43","slug":"birds-cats-sky-landscapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/?p=11034","title":{"rendered":"Birds, Cats, Sky & Landscapes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, July 20 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Going back a month to some bird photos from friends:\"\"Left 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, New Jersey, by Elise Schlosser; right, a Great Egret, SE Michigan, by Maude Buszek (longtime friend from Atlanta, GA since 6th grade).<\/p>\n

I miss the bird feeders out our front door and back patio door, with the changes in our remodeling efforts. We still have lots of quail rummaging farther out for sunflower seeds, but miss seeing them and the little colorful birds up by the house.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure the morning was exciting, but I don\u2019t know what we did, other than the ordinary. I had to take my pre-med (an antibiotic) for dental work with food, so I was probably getting dressed to go out in the real world and fixing something to eat before taking my pills.<\/p>\n

I got to the Dentist by 2:00 for teeth cleaning with Tracy, and had taken my Amoxicillin at 1:00 p.m. Unfortunately, they found decay under a crown in the back top of my mouth. I was 4 months overdue. I\u2019m approved for cleaning every 4 months, but with the COVID closing of dentists, they were off limits for 10 weeks, and then it was difficult to obtain an appointment because of all the catch-up required. \"\"Above X-rays were due to be taken in March, but were just taken. The left two are the right side of my mouth; the right two are the left side of my mouth. In number one, far left there is a dark spot above the top of the crown (second in on top). That is the decay that needed to be removed, along with the old crown, which had only been in since 2006. The other two on the right side show my two implants on the bottom which I truly detest. I will never ever have an implant again. The top has a bridge, which I also do not like at all. <\/p>\n

My dentist figured it needed to be done as soon as possible as it was a candidate for a root canal otherwise. I was scheduled in for 2 days later for the build-up to occur.<\/p>\n

After today\u2019s cleaning, I went to Safeway for Just for U specials, getting fried chicken, a free dozen eggs for a \u201creward\u201d point, and, 4 bottles of 2-liter cola for John at a lower price.<\/p>\n

Came home and worked on several projects, and watched music from Australia (hosted by Kathy Williams-DeVries from Brisbane.
\n Kathy plays pieces dedicated to Benny Goodman (104 mins)<\/strong><\/a>
\nKathy\u2019s Playlist for Benny Goodman music<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

John went out at 5:15 p.m. to get our horse Myst who has been going downhill, not eating properly, and losing weight again. Dr. Dan Charlton, veterinarian from Ellensburg Animal Hospital, stopped on his way home (north of us about a mile), at our corral to examine and evaluate her health. He thought she looked somewhat dehydrated, and pumped a couple of gallons of water into her but didn’t find any other issues. A day later she went back to an established routine. Not sure we are done with this.
\n\"\"Saddle Rock (Wenatchee, WA; east and north of us) Neowise Comet and the Big Dipper, photographed by Motojw Photography, 11:30 p.m. 7-17-29; with 10 second time-lapse exposure, permission granted by the owner, photographer, Jason Wiegand. He\u2019s quite talented. He also flies a drone and gets beautiful landscapes from above. I guess you have to have a Facebook or an Instagram account to find his Motojw Photography sites. <\/p>\n

Next another Neowise Comet photo from EvieMae Schuetz from the west side of the mountains just north of us.
\nIn the collage below the top photo is Neowise at Lion Rock near Ellensburg, WA. 10:45 pm July 24th, 2020 (6 sec, 24mm, f3.5, ISO1600); photographed by EvieMae Schuetz (both below).\"\"Last one of Mt. Stuart, by EvieMae Schuetz; 8:23pm, 7\/24, settings 1\/1000th of a second, 200mm, ISO 100, f6.3
\n[We are at 2,200 feet elevation; Evie was 4,000 feet higher.]<\/p>\n

Posted by USGS — Mount Nyiragongo is a stratovolcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It\u2019s one of the most active in the world, having exhibited volcanic activity at least once every 3 months since May 17, 2002.
\nDemocratic Republic of the Congo, Mount Nyiragongo Eruption Activity Captured by Terra ASTER (1 min 21secs) 7-20-20)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Tuesday, July 21 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I tried sleeping in because of crazy interruptions during a couple hours of my attempted night\u2019s sleep. First at 1:45 a.m. when dog wanted out and was up for 45 minutes, with her drinking, eating, and going out. Then at 5:00 a.m. I was up again with hungry outside cats, while dealing with inside cats as well. Again, awakened before 7:00 a.m. with noise through our open windows for cooling the house, from our electrician fixing 3 lights in the roof of the handicapped walkway to be concreted soon; and he was here to connect our coaxial cable in the new room, which he had to do from the attic, with a power saw and drill. I don\u2019t know the procedure required, but for some reason, it had never been connected there in the original attic wiring work for lights and ceiling fan installation. <\/p>\n

He finished work of the lights in the roof of the walkway:\"\"I thought the front light (which only turns on at dusk) is prettier in the top view. The bottom view I took with a flash to display the woodworking under the roof trusses.<\/p>\n

John was out early working on yard projects moving rocks, water, and dirt, while the temperature was cool. The doe with her twins was around again this morning; they\u2019re here almost every morning.<\/p>\n

Took my alendronate, ate a \u00bd hr. later, plugged in the external back up drive, so it would be ready for its noon Tuesday backup for the previous week\u2019s new files. It only took 28 minutes today.
\nJohn had slept in too, and not opened our gate. The fellow was due to come yesterday afternoon, but did not show. Possibly because of the heat being worse in the afternoon, and better this morning.<\/p>\n

We had a snack of strawberries and bananas, mid-morning, and are planning to have bacon and something with it for brunch.
\nBeen working on alternate projects, switching times between several. <\/p>\n

I watched a geology field trip tonight at 7:00 p.m. on Kathy Williams-DeVries YouTube channel. She is presenting the Geology of Australia over the next several Tuesday nights. \"\"History and Geology of Kangaroo Point Cliffs in Brisbane<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

St. Mary\u2019s Anglican Church \u2013 rock church made from Brisbane Tuff quarried in Queensland, years ago. Built in 1873. The volcanic rock is 200 million years old.<\/p>\n

St. Mary’s on the Cliffs, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Reached Gerald at son\u2019s Gene\u2019s house where he spends some nights.<\/p>\n

Supper: Fried chicken, and Pepperoni & cheese on crackers; pecan pie & ice cream for dessert.<\/p>\n

Worked on corrections to the blog for John to make to last week\u2019s blog because of technical difficulties with some of the viewing from Australia.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, July 22 <\/strong><\/p>\n

After talking with Bi-Mart Pharmacist, Melanie, I made a list of my meds for her to compare their prices there to the other pharmacies I deal with (for the lowest cost). It\u2019s truly amazing the difference between cash or insurance prices at different places. They do honor GoodRx prices, but often undercut them. Bi-Mart has an outside window for the pharmacy that I used, and she had the list ready for me to pick up later in the day. While there she shared a nice cloth mask with lady bugs on it, a woman had donated to people who come in.<\/p>\n

Dental appointment changed to 1:00, so I ate and took my Amoxicillin at noon, and left at 12:30.<\/p>\n

Over 2 hours in the dental chair, painfully, more so with my neck than my mouth. Too bad they couldn\u2019t numb my neck!
\nWhat happened:\"\"The work was completed for the build-up of the upper middle tooth, and the old crown removed. On the left, one can look on the left side of the tooth, and see a dark spot, which is the decay not yet removed. The right X-ray shows it removed. Now the tooth has a cemented-in temporary, hopefully to last until January, when my insurance kicks back in. I\u2019d already used all of mine with this work and an upcoming paid-for cleaning in November. Medical stuff is driving people, including me, nuts.
\nBack to Safeway:
\nI only recently learned of their ‘Rewards Program.’ <\/p>\n

The enlightened City of Ellensburg refused Safeway’s request to have a gasoline plaza at the EBRG location. The nearest one is 30 miles away, in Cle Elum. John thinks this is the Company’s way of letting down-county shoppers share in rewards, long given to gasoline buyers. Likely there are many others places of similar constraint.\"\"Thus, the rewards option is open to club members (regular Safeway customers) by which one can save a lot of money. Got some stuff totally free (a dozen eggs), $7.00 off a 3-lb package of thick bacon, already marked down $4 from $15.97. I had a reward of $2.00 off any baked in store item (my favorite English Muffin Bread, which sells for $2.99). And, $5.00 off my whole grocery total (because it was over $5). I walked out only owing 99\u20b5 for all those groceries. Safeway’s ads and cash register receipts are “busy” and all but indecipherable. This is compensatory, I guess.<\/p>\n

Supper: late, the last pieces of fried chicken, onion rings, pears, curly fries. John had pecan pie and ice cream for dessert. I passed.<\/p>\n

Just realized tonight after John went to bed, that in my absence today, he moved the refrigerator from the back porch of the patio, into the back door of the new room, into the utility room. I\u2019m amazed he could do that on his own. His answer: it has wheels.<\/p>\n

Thursday, July 23 <\/strong> <\/p>\n

Three friends in Cle Elum and the Senior Center are trying to do a music-Zoom for the Center’s clients. As an AAC regular and these are my music friends, I got involved this morning. Talked to Katrina and emailed both her and Katelyn.<\/p>\n

I needed to leave for a blood draw at 9:30 and was back at noon. Got a nutrition drink, and had soup for lunch. As planned, I made the connection in time to get the blood centrifuged by Kim and sent by currier to the hospital lab to be analyzed.
\nThe large dose of Amoxicillin I had to take for the cleaning Monday afternoon and yesterday afternoon for the crown build-up, will raise my INR, so we needed to get a reading in the morning to make the dosage decision for tonight.<\/p>\n

I did a lot in a short period. Went by Safeway, hospice friends, Joanie\u2019s, and by Briarwood to Karen\u2019s front porch to drop off a bag of underclothes, too large for me. I thought I had found them all, but found more.<\/p>\n

Supper: We decided to go the Palace Caf\u00e9 for our Anniversary Dinner, with one free meal (Chicken Fried Steak, with brown gravy, baked potato with fixins, and cooked veggies-mostly broccoli and some carrots) for John, and I had a Cobb Salad made with Iceberg lettuce (the only lettuce I can eat with taking Coumadin), it\u2019s a main-dish American garden salad made with chopped salad greens, tomato, crisp bacon, cooked chicken, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, Roquefort cheese crumbles, with Roquefort cheese dressing (I included what was in my salad tonight). It is always a generous serving. John had a Black Butte Dark Draft beer. <\/p>\n

Then by Safeway for some reward specials, and on in both cars by Fred Meyer gasoline station to spend up all our June fuel savings. It was up to 30\u20b5\/gal off, so cost us $2.47\/gal for ~24 gallons. My car took a couple gals more than John\u2019s.
\nWe are not much into Fred Meyer shopping except the pharmacy and colas on 1st Tuesday of each month when Company products have a 10% discount. And sometimes they have specials on products we do like. My dog’s pharmacy items are quite expensive, and they are run through Freddies. I will just wait to get hers in August to push up my fuel points.<\/p>\n

Friday, July 24 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Today at 2:30 is a trial Zoom run of the Cle Elum Trio music for the AAC, hosted by Katelyn. I\u2019m to join as a guest\u2014evaluation took almost an hour, but I think we made good progress. The trio was in Sharon\u2019s house in Cle Elum; Katelyn was in the Senior Center, and I was home. <\/p>\n

Kathy Williams-DeVries is reviving her musical programs on Friday nights, only. She had intended spending all her time on her Geology of Australia field trips (on Tuesdays), but then realized how much she missed her viewers and enjoyed doing them. She is continuing at 5:00 p.m. PST Fridays with the music, tonight, 7\/24\/20.
\nKathy shares what she\u2019s been doing since lockdown<\/strong><\/a>
\nThat one above stopped unexpectedly at 34:38 minutes in, so Kathy had to start an entirely new stream; see below.
\nSecond part of Kathy during lockdown<\/strong><\/a>
\nSeveral of us finally got back together on the new stream.
\nNext is the intended playlist for this evening, which we did not complete). We\u2019ll resume next Friday, so stay tuned.
\nKathy\u2019s Playlist Intended for this Evening<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

One of the inclusions is very near and dear to our hearts: Dedicated to Washington Geology Professor Nick Zentner for his wonderful livestreams from his backyard keeping us sane, entertained and even learning something during Covid-19 shutdown. Everyone viewing this blog, will enjoy watching this.
\nMusic is performed on 5 bass recorders and 1 great bass recorder by Kathy Williams-DeVries and the music is Alfonso Ferrabosco’s Di Sei Bassi, published by Arcadian Press AP 012.
\n Washington Geology Rocks!!!!!!!!! Apr 19, 2020 (3 mins)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A striking video came in this morning across my computer screen, regarding the July 19, 2020 Eruption of Stromboli Stratovolcano in Italy, which I grabbed the location of. In making this blog and adding it, and testing links, I found the original one I had was removed by the uploader, so I went searching. I had trouble with others until this from an Italian source.
\nI\u2019ll substitute it below. It is shorter than the previous, but certainly gives you a perspective of the large explosion (I\u2019m just sorry we don\u2019t have the full thing.) Had I known I would have videotaped the original. That one was talking about the blobs being thrown out of the volcano as larger than a car or bus.
\nStromboli Volcano (Italy): Sudden Large Explosion NEW FIND: Esplosione del Vulvcano Stromboli-Jul 19, 2020 (2 mins)<\/strong><\/a>
\nThe original in English was titled (as above): Stromboli Volcano (Italy): Sudden Large Explosion 7-19-20 (4 mins) <\/p>\n

Supper: Leftover cobb salad from last night, with a buttered warm roll.<\/p>\n

I learned late tonight that Nick had a 41-second video posted on Instagram about his next planned livestream. I checked my new account there I had just opened and still haven\u2019t learned how to navigate yet, and add him to my \u201cfollowing\u201d list. He is now following me, so I will see his announcements there (the only place he actually announces the warning for those on his YouTube Geology channel to receive notification and set reminders for the time they will be aired).<\/p>\n

Before going to bed, I sent an alert to all the people on my list from the study group, including bcc: sends, to keep an eye out for the announcement. Our next field trip will be glacial geology landscape features primarily drumlins in Wisconsin, from his family farm.<\/p>\n

Saturday, July 25 <\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been up since 8:00 a.m. trying to start the morning. I checked to be sure there was not a Nick on the Fly livestream, and found it probably won\u2019t be aired until tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. from the farm where he grew up in Wisconsin, and his trip back to visit his mom. <\/p>\n

Next thing John and I had planned for this morning was for me to film him dumping various sized rocks into the capturing point for runoff from the “roof-valley” at our front entrance. I\u2019ll show that video below.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s continued working outside on projects such as getting sunflower seeds to the birds, exercising the dog, feeding the horses, and landscaping. Currently, the temperature is still manageable, at 64\u00b0 in the last hour, but just now before 10:00 a.m. it is up to 70\u00b0. It\u2019s headed for project high of 83\u00b0 today, and hotter tomorrow, and way high in the 90s next week. Will not be nice. Worse, it will be 100\u00b0 in Yakima, and we need to go there to have the left taillight on my Forester fixed. But, also want to go to COSTCO. We may put it off until next week and hope for lower temperatures. He also moved a computer desk into the new room for setting up his computer, and he had a couple of clear plastic mats ordered that arrived yesterday to put under chairs. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m working on several laptop projects, merging with filing tax receipts, doing kitchen cleanup, and uploading photos and videos from my camera (particularly of the remodeling effort underway).<\/p>\n

This just came across my screen, from the USGS. It\u2019s a well done geology and physical geography link of the river conditions during the last 3 months, around the U.S., with flooding and drought conditions. Definitely, before playing it, read the description of the animation beneath the video when you open.
\nU.S. River Conditions, April to June 2020 \u2022 7-20-20 (1 minute)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Called Stewart Subaru to take in my 2014 Forester to fix the left rear brake light and get its oil change. We\u2019ll schedule it next week some time, or maybe the week after (as mentioned above).
\nOkay, off to remove photography from my camera, and begin processing. John will be in shortly to fix brunch. (bacon & eggs).
\nBrunch: Bacon, scrambled eggs with cheese, cup of peaches & banana, with English Muffin toast (mine with Kenny\u2019s homemade Apricot Preserves)<\/p>\n

I took photos of the footer wall hole John is filling, right off our front porch, with companion cats, Czar & Woody, watching progress.\"\"Here is John\u2019s description for what you\u2019ll be seeing in the video: <\/p>\n

Problem \u2013 an L-shaped house where an alcove with front door is near the roof valley that dumps water onto a wood platform.
\nSolution \u2013 remove the wood platform and drop the ground, and create a rock pit with drain to take the water away. Also build a short wall to help widen and protect the alcove. The top of the pit and drain will have a rocky landscape (xeric) appearance. In this segment, the trench next to the wall foundation is being filled with rocks rather than back-filling with the dirt excavated for space to build the footing and foundation. A rock-filled soak pit, the dry well, will be under filler’s feet, with a hidden drain going to the left.<\/p>\n

John Doing Rock Dumping for a Dry Well<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Just spent a long time in the kitchen cleaning dishes, pans, and counters, and now soaking more so had to rest. Figured my tummy needed a nutrition drink, so now I\u2019m enjoyed it, while working on the blog. John\u2019s outside in the shade on the carport side of the house moving dirt, rocks, and visiting with the cats who arrived for their supper.
\nLate afternoon, the temperature high for the day went to 85\u00b0, 2 above the high predicted. <\/p>\n

Supper: Leftover chicken noodle soup, with extra chicken breast added, with a \u00bd leftover roll, from the Palace Caf\u00e9 heated and buttered. John\u2019s having beef stew, and \u00bd the roll, plus something else, I guess.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Jul 26<\/strong><\/p>\n

We each worked on various projects today. John moved a Panasonic radio\/CD player to the new room after removing several years of dust.
\nI managed to get the dishes I washed late last night out of the washer and into the cabinets. Now to load the newly dirtied ones. Took me quite a bunch of time, but I refilled all my meds for the week ahead. Fed the cats and visited with them.<\/p>\n

Now to Wisconsin:\"\"Nick\u2019s family farm barn, built 1940, foundation from glacial erratics from Canada, brought by the Continental Ice Sheet, the erratics were taken off the fields. You can get the whole interesting story by watching the video below for 18 mins. This aired with several hundred people watching from around the world, at 10:00 a.m. PST, after Nick had gone with his mom to church. He was wearing his dad\u2019s overalls for the presentation.<\/p>\n

Nick on the Fly #6 \u2013 Wisconsin Drumlins for 7\/26\/20 (18 mins)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

One last video for today, on another geology topic from China; warning, this is a sad 10 minutes to end the day on:<\/p>\n

China\u2019s mighty Yangtze is heaving from Rain and the Three Gorges will be tested once again<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Brunch: I had soup and crackers. John had artery clogging stuff.
\nSupper: Meatloaf and beans with chocolate chip cookie dough pie for dessert.
\nLate this evening the temperature hit the high of 92\u00b0. Highest in awhile.<\/p>\n

Hope your week was fine.<\/p>\n

Nancy and John
\nStill on the Naneum Fan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, July 20 Going back a month to some bird photos from friends:Left 2 Pileated Woodpeckers, New Jersey, by Elise Schlosser; right, a Great Egret, SE Michigan, by Maude Buszek (longtime friend from Atlanta, GA since 6th grade). I miss the bird feeders out our front door and back patio door, with the changes in … Continue reading “Birds, Cats, Sky & Landscapes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-report-by-day"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p72iNf-2RY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11034"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11039,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11034\/revisions\/11039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}