A Stressful Week

 Not to worry, we are physically fine.

Any number of things have brought unwelcome stress into our lives this past week, beginning with the upstairs remodel. To better understand my angst over the situation, you first have to know that having lived on the first floor for four plus years with nary a sound coming from above, the noise from a complete demolition of a 1,300 square foot space is a lot. Furthermore, I will admit to being sensitive to loud noises whereas Bruce, having worked in construction his whole life, somehow can tune it out. The noises, as I mentioned in my last post, began a week ago Saturday, Easter Sunday, and the remaining days of a normal work week, just not the normal hours. Instead they began at 8AM my friends, finishing up at 6PM. Hour after hour until every cabinet, door, floor, sink, bathtub...you get the idea, was removed. I will say that unlike what you see on television, they did a really neat job of things. All of the above was put neatly into the back of a big moving truck to be hauled away. That impressed me. As I type there is only the sound of scraping above my head. :)

Bruce and I work best when we stay on a schedule. In spite of what others say about retirees not needing to worry about setting an alarm clock, ours goes off every day at 5:45, allowing us enough time to prepare for the day ahead. That said, more than once this past week it has been raining or threatening to do so which has left us a little adrift. What else is there to do when you are fully dressed at 7am? To tell you the truth, I don't even know what we did those days. Today was the same with sprinkles happening as we drove to the courts, leaving them a little too wet for our liking. We take no chances because, Lord knows, we never want to go through any broken bones again! I did get an early start on this, however, a project, yet to be revealed, was begun here at home. More on that next time. All that to say, when our schedule is disrupted, I don't much like it.

Finally, the condo mess continues with some serious drama this past week. Because David is so entangled, we are, by extension. There are most definitely former friends pitted against one another. As you can imagine this has left us unsettled... 

So between the remodel, the condo troubles and the schedule not as we planned, it has been stressful, or at least that is how I am describing it. Should you be in my shoes, you might look at it entirely different. 

Good grief, do I sound like a whiner? Maybe so.

Joys, that is one thing our pastor mentions each week, joys and concerns. That is what I should have title this!! Because, despite my whining, lots of joyful things occurred. Speaking of church, here's our annual photo in front of the Easter Cross.

Our friend Cynthia, along with some other ladies, have blessed us so much with their gift of arranging flowers. Not only were there the two huge displays in front but another huge one below the cross.

I was nervous indeed that the flowers would be knocked off one of the tables as the children gathered!

Yesterday they did something no one has ever done before. Unfortunately my photo does not do it justice but it looked like a flower garden instead of a traditional arrangement. 

The swans were seen gliding along Lake Davis with their four cygnets in tow. 

Sadly, I have returned since taking the above, say five days hence and two of the cygnets are no more.

On the other hand, the mating birds seem to be seeking me out; I swear I've never seen so many before.

Just Saturday, while Bruce was working, I watched a pair of Anhingas, who btw, are quite boisterous, leaving no one wondering what was happening!

A joy for me this week was looking out the back window and seeing a swan on the lake. Hurray! Not too much longer I saw a second one sparking a hallelujah!! That is, until I learned that they were fakes from Thomas who fishes the lake multiple times a week. From afar they looked pretty darn good.

I began to suspect something was amiss when one, they never moved, and two, kept their distance from one another! From recent experience I knew that probably wouldn't be happening this time of year.

Well lookee here.

A few months ago this nest adjacent to the courts, was active and then I thought it was abandoned. Now I am not so sure as this happened last week. 

Lookee here, part two. A series.

It starts like this,

phase two:

phase three:

All I kept wondering about was not the drowning bit but those claws! A Common Gallinule, or some folks call them Moorhens.

I sort of wish I had not gone on my whining rant because, as I scanned through last weeks photos I realized I'd seen all sorts of interesting things. Interrupting the flow just now because I was searching for an event in my blog using key words. While what I was looking for did not surface, THIS POST from 2007 did. Oh my goodness, you must read it!! 

This happened while I was walking around Lake Davis. A goose whisperer perhaps?

For, maybe the last month or so, I have been searching for the hawks that inhabit a nest Peg told me about on the property. While I found the nest readily enough, the actual birds seemed to be AWOL. As such, while I was driving towards the gate while talking to Maryanne, I instantly said I would call her back. Finally, I was seeing one of the Red Shouldered Hawks on the nest. Jumping out of my car after stopping in an out of the way spot, I was so excited I left the car door open!  Anyway, I saw not just one, but two because the mate flew in while I was looking.

No eyas within view but a nice find nonetheless. Eyas??? Name for a baby hawk if you can believe it. Then it got super interesting as one of the parents decided having me thirty or forty feet below was too close for comfort. Hey you get out of here!!

And I mean business!

Oh yes indeed it was coming for me, and not just the one time!

I literally ducked,  finally getting the hint that I should leave ASAP.  And now you know why they are called red shouldered hawks.  Too bad it is a wee bit unfocused, but you get what you can when a raptor is coming for you.

I'm nearly done but not quite because I have two treats for you. One is a hummingbird's nest that we would have never found on our own except for the kindness of a stranger who took us to it. We were very blessed to have the hummingbird show up. It takes some searching to find it amongst the green.

So exciting, as was the privilege of seeing a Pileated Woodpecker family, thanks to Candy who posted her own terrific photos on facebook. After pickleball one morning, armed with cameras and a set of binoculars, we went to Mead Gardens hoping to see them ourselves. 

We found the site easily enough, but when we arrived there was no action at all. Several other birders were waiting patiently, regaling us with some of their own birding stories. Eventually most of them left, but our patience was rewarded if only for a quick moment. Mom arrived with food for her brood:

Hard to know if all three nestlings are getting the same amount of food as two of those seem to be making it hard for nestling #3 to get his share.

All that whining turned into something worth waiting for, right? So, if all that bird action wasn't enough to lift one's spirits, the sighting of this iris, that I might easily have missed, was a blessing for sure.

Thanks for sticking with my fussing which I will be trying very hard to curb. That said, the remodel is expected to last for at least six weeks, so I suspect I will have some ups and downs on that resolve. The sun has broken through the clouds so that's a start!

your friend,

Gail