Happy New Year!

Just want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! May peace, health, and happiness reign in your lives.

And may all your birds be lifers!!!

Snow day

Taken from my side porch.

No more pictures. I promise.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

And may your next bird be a lifer!

More house

Don't know exactly what this is, but it's cool and staying.

The 2-story garage which I simply refuse to enter.

This fence runs down the side of the lot that used to be another house. It's old and neat and also staying.

The foundation of what used to be another house on the corner. Taking it out would probably cause the whole sidewalk to cave in. This is where the RV is now. We're going to fill it with gravel and turn it into a parking area for RV and trailer.

New House

It's not much, but it will work for us for a while. We do have furniture in it now, but there are so many boxes and stuff just laying around, I can't get a good picture. When all the unpacking is done, I'll take more.

The stove was the first thing to go. Couldn't fit my cookie sheets in it.

Happy Holiday!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday and send a wish for a prosperous and healthy New Year!

Moving and whatnot

Hello all! Just wanted to let you all know that the house has been purchased, the moving in has begun, and chaos reigns supreme! I do have pictures of the house that I took before it got all buggery out. As soon as I find the cord that connects the camera to the computer I'll post them. If you need the address and/or phone number, just let me know and I'll email them to you (I don't want to post that info on the net).

The house is old and small. It's slowly driving me crazy. We don't have enough room for all the stuff we have. Most of it will have to be packed away or donated or something. It's not that the place is so much smaller than the last house we had, it's just laid out differently and has no closet space. (Which really doesn't matter at the moment as my winter coats have gone AWOL.) And the teeniest bathroom the world has ever seen. It does, however, have a large yard. One in which the RV, the trailer, and the dogs all fit. We just have to put up a fence. Boy, will Eugene be in heaven then. He can play with his ball anytime he wants!!

Nothing happening on the birding front. The only birds I see anymore are Starlings. And the 2 cardinals that live in the hedge next door. We found the bird feeders and stuff, so we have to get them out so the birds will have food this winter. The redpolls and juncos have arrived, but with nothing to attract them, I don't see them very much. Pigeons. Lots of pigeons live in Kulpmont. They live in the old factory building at the end of town. I haven't really found anyplace good for winter birding in the area. I guess the PPL Montour Preserve is good. But you have to be careful when walking in the woods around here. It always seems to be hunting season. And I'm not sure what blaze orange will do to the birds. It would be like wearing white. Highly visible.

And if anyone is at all interested, it is National Blue Jay Awareness month!

Happy Holidays everyone and may your next bird be a lifer!

Birthdays and stuff

So, November seems to be a big month for birthdays in my family. Not that I know. We had a birthday party for my Aunt Judy yesterday. She turned 60. She's the youngest in the group of them. And today is my cousin Dorothy's birthday. Happy Birthday, Dottie!! Don't know who else is this month, but I take it there's a couple of them. And September seems to be the birthday of the rest of them. Me? July. Go figure.

Still no word on the closing date of our house. Better be soon, though. The campground is officially closed and they finally had to turn the water off. We're going to get thrown out soon. (Probably not. I don't think the guy who is here really cares, as long as we don't cause him any trouble. He just waves when we see him.) We're going to have to do a lot of recommending this campground to people. Which I would. Nice people, nice area. It just turns into a small pond when it really rains. It's not the owners fault though. It has a high water table being near the river and creek. Which makes it a great place in the summer.

Have decided this part of Pennsylvania is not a hot birding spot, meaning I'm going to have to do some traveling in order to find any great birds. The juncos are coming through, but I haven't seen much else. *sigh*

Happy Birthday Eugene!

Tomorrow (Halloween) is Eugene's 4th birthday! We think. Close enough. We had a birthday party at grandma and grandpa's today. He had a whole cupcake to himself. After the complete sugar high, he is crashed on the sofa. See previous post picture. He looks just like that, but without the blanket. I would have taken a picture, but it would have been redundant. So, anywhoo. They grow up so fast, don't they?

New house

Bill and I bought a house! It's in Kulpmont, so my nightmares have come true. But at least we'll have someplace warm and dry to live in this winter. I opted for moving to the warmer south, but nooooo....we have to stay here. Still looking for jobs. Apparently experience counts for nothing here, but a piece of paper from any old college and no experience at all will get you a job.

Will post pictures as soon as we close and can take them without looking like stalkers.

May your next bird be a lifer!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Mom!

If you see my mom today, wish her a Happy Birthday!

No birds, just a few bats

Baseball bats. Little League baseball bats to be exact.

This past week, Bill and I took in a couple of games of the Little League World Series in Williamsport. Since we're not that far from the stadium complex, I think we'll be making this a yearly thing.

We saw 2 games, 1 at Volunteer Stadium, and 1 at Lamade Stadium.

Game 1 was Chinese Taipei vs. Mexico. (C-T is in the teal blue uniforms, Mexico in green.)

The second game we saw was in the bigger stadium, which has an area outside the outfield that seems to be the place many people prefer. Especially kids. The hill is a great place to slide.

The team in the light blue uniforms is USA West (Chula Vista, California), and the team in the dark blue uniforms is USA Southwest (San Antonio, Texas).

And in case nobody is watching, Chula Vista won the Series today! Go USA!

For more pictures, see Bill's blog.

On the birding front: I haven't been out birding. We've been busy looking for a home, and jobs. I did, however, spent a pleasant half hour watching 2 chickadees and a tufted titmouse play in the pine tree outside the RV window. They enjoyed chasing each other. And it wasn't vicious chasing, it was like they were playing tag. And I saw 3 mallards today. Does that count?

May your next bird be a lifer!

New RV Park

On Monday, Bill and I move from here to here. I think this means that we're looking to settle in Bloomsburg. Not a bad place, I guess. Not Anchorage, but not bad.

Scranton

Ever seen "The Office"? Then you'll recognize the sign.

Brew Fest

On July 18th, Bill and I went to our first Brew Fest. It was the Hops, Vines, and Wines in Selinsgrove, PA. 29 breweries, 4 wineries, good food, great music, and 1200 people drinking until they floated. It was great!!

On the birding front

Birding here in Pennsylvania seems to have slowed a bit. Lots of baby robins, and what seems to be millions of baby Grackles. They are fun to watch. Nothing is more entertaining than watching a juvenile Robin try to pull a great big earthworm out of the ground. It's like watching a game of tug-of-war!

This week I've only seen 2 new birds here. A Brown Thrasher and a Sharp-Shinned Hawk. Both of these were in the field behind the RV park. The hawk was in the grass, and it looked as though he tried to get himself a starling, but missed. The Catbirds are driving Mieka crazy, especially since there are cats roaming the park. She's obsessed. Eugene doesn't pay any attention to them. He's focused on balls. Just balls. Big ball, small ball, red ball, blue ball. As long as it's round and he can either roll it around or catch it. :o)

Back on track....Neither of these birds are lifers for me, but they bring my PA birding total to 52. There are probably lots of birds I've missed, especially the LBJs. But since I haven't had to expend a lot of energy to get these, I'm happy. Waiting on fall migration to hit full bore, then I'll get to Hawk Mountain or the Delaware Water Gap and look for hawks and warblers on their way south. Unfortunately, that time is nearing fast. I've heard on Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds that the folks in MA have noticed migration starting.

I'm beginning to ramble. Better go now.

May your next bird be a lifer!

Wordless Wednesday

France

Happy Bastille Day!!!

Car Cruise

Forgot to post these pictures.

On June 21, Kulpmont had a car cruise. It was pretty neat. There were old cars, and new cars. The muscle cars were the coolest, especially the ones from the 70s. The real muscle cars. There were a few new ones too. And some pickups with the big tires. Anyone could participate. They went from one end of town, turned around, and went back. Just like cruisin'. I remember cruising Independence Street in Shamokin when I was in high school. We'd go to Knoebels on a Friday or Saturday night, then head to Shamokin to see who was out and about. We thought it was cool.

On the birding front: Spotted a Green Heron and an Eastern Kingbird in the swampy area across the road. Not lifers for me, but added them to my PA list.

May your next bird be a lifer!

Settling in

After spending the holiday weekend with the in-laws, we are settling in at our new "home," the Pocono Vacation Park in Stroudsburg. Not a bad place. Not many trees for shade, but it's off the main roads and somewhat quiet. Nice. There is a nice grassy area behind us for the dogs. They aren't supposed to be off their leashes, but that's never stopped us before. :o)

I have some pictures of places we've been while we were staying at the campground in Catawissa. One day, Bill and I went to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary to see if we can find anything. All we found were a couple of warblers (one of which turned out to be a lifer for me), and this guy:

It's a Turkey Vulture in case you couldn't tell. We'll go back in the fall for the migration and look for hawks. We're going to try to take our niece and nephew, Cathy and Ben, with us. They are young birders and I think they will enjoy this experience. These are views from the top of the mountain:

I have more pictures from the car cruise in Kulpmont. I'll post them as soon as I can.

Until then....

May your next bird be a lifer!

Happy Independence Day!!!

Movin' on

So, let me just say...it's raining again. However, it's been nice all week. The rain has actually cooled the temperature down. 'Nough said.

Added 2 more birds to my Pennsylvania list, an Indigo Bunting and a Red-Tailed Hawk. Both were found on the back farm roads not far from our campground. No lifers though.

We leave Elysburg on Wednesday. We'll be headed to Hawley and the in-laws for the holiday weekend. It was hard to find someplace to stay. We'll be in the driveway if you're looking for us. After that, we will be spending the next month at an RV park in East Stroudsburg. I'm going to have to start looking in that direction for a job.

Speaking of jobs...I still can't find one. I had applied to Cherokee Pharmaceuticals more than a month ago, had a grueling 3 hour interview, and haven't heard anything for the past month. I'll take that as a "thank you very much, but no thank you." There really isn't anything here in this area for me. I'd have to compromise my knowledge and experience to get a job here. So, I'll try the Poconos and the Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area of the state. Hopefully I can find something soon. I really want a HOME. I'm getting tired of the rv. It was OK when we were traveling, but we're not traveling anymore. If I can't find a job, then we'll have to rent something. We need to get our stuff out of Alaska before it snows and the roads become impassable for the truck and trailer. And then I wonder why I have high blood pressure and indigestion.....

Damn "enter" key is sticking on my computer. It is throwing off my typing.

Enough whining for another day. I have a few pictures of the dogs and stuff. I'll try to get them posted today or tomorrow.

Bye for now.

May your next bird be a lifer!

Rain

Rain. Rain. Rain. I hate this part of the country.

Lifer!

Yesterday, Bill and I went to Hawk Mountain . They had an Arts Auto Tour around the area. We took a hike to the North Lookout to see what we could find and besides the 3 Turkey Vultures, I found a lifer! A Black-throated Blue Warbler! What a beautiful bird. I also saw a Black and White Warbler and a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. 3 birds added to the PA list, 1 to the life list. On my way to 400!!! May your next bird be a lifer!

Damn Squirrels!

I put up 2 bird feeders to see what is around the campground. Damn Squirrels!

Yes, it's hanging upside down enjoying the sunflower seeds.

Belted Kingfisher flew down the creek yesterday. Another PA bird. Just need to find some lifers. Feeling rather sassy because I know all the birds around here.

Rain rain go away!

It's rained all week. It's cloudy and humid during the day and then rains like crazy at night. We've even had a thunderstorm or two. The poor dogs haven't been able to get to Grandma's house to play in the yard all week. We're going to need to build an ark soon. It's just plain dreary.

Added an American Kestral to my Pennsylvania bird list. It was sitting on a fence post looking like it would like the rain to stop too. And we added another goose family to the pond.

May your next bird be a lifer!

And may it not be raining when you find it.

Tweeting

I am now on Twitter. Find me here: Ocdbirder

Birding the campground

We've been here at this campground (it is a campground, NOT an rv park or resort), for a tad over 2 weeks and the birding has been good. I even got one lifer, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The coolest bird that I've seen so far was an Osprey that flew around the campground and tried his hand at fishing in one of the ponds. didn't get to see if it got anything out of the pond, but it probably did.

Speaking of the ponds here, there are 2 families of geese here. One pair has 5 goslings and the other pair have 3. They share the pond with 2 bullfrogs who like to make noise all night long.

Other birds in the campground:
Baltimore Oriole
Chipping Sparrow
Common Grackle
Robins
Mallard
Common Merganser
White-Breasted Nuthatch
American Goldfinch
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Bluebird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Black-capped Chickadee
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Gray Catbird
Spotted Sandpiper

Not a bad haul for sitting outside watching the water go by (see previous post for picture of said serene scene).

Our temporary new home

The view from our place these days. This is Roaring Creek and it runs directly behind the RV.

Made it

Approximately 18,000 miles, 25 states, and 3 countries later, we've made it to Pennsylvania. We're currently settled in at our campground in Elysburg. We made it here a week ago and finally settled in, except the laundry still isn't done due to the fact that it has RAINED almost every day since we got here. Yesterday was a nice day, and this morning is looking good.

I've started my job search, and it is a wide search, reaching from Sunbury to East Stroudsburg to Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton. Somewhere out there is a job for me. I hate looking for a job.

I'll have to take some pictures of the area when the sun finally comes out. And hit some of the local spots to show you all what's here in the middle of nowhere.

On the birding front, the birds are migrating through in large numbers now. Since we hit Pennsylvania, I've got 30+ birds and actually added a new one to my life list, a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak!! There are a lot of Robins here and plenty of Baltimore Orioles. Yesterday an Osprey flew over looking for lunch in the pond, a pair of Common Mergansers went floating down the creek (or "crick" as the locals pronounce it. Did I actually say that when I was here? UGH!), and a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird stopped by my new hummingbird feeder yesterday! The swallows are starting to show up too. Hopefully when the rain stops and the weather clears up, there will be more. The big difference between birding in Pennsylvania and birding in Alaska is the trees. It's really hard to see a teeny tiny bird in a 40 foot oak tree. Going to have to learn to bird by ear a little better.

Going now.

May your next bird be a lifer!

Grand Ole Opry

This is the only picture I have. I did have the mind to take a picture with my camera at one point. This is Bill Anderson, for those who know their Classic Country artists.

The show we went to was on the radio! It's on WSM 650 in Nashville. You can listen to the show online or on Sirius satellite radio. It was in 4 half hour sections, with commercials in between. The first part was sponsored by Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (they like their Cracker Barrels down here. :o) ), and was hosted by Bill Anderson. The performers were The Whites and Emily West. The next session was sponsored by US Bank and was hosted by Jimmy Dickens. The performers were Jimmy C Newman (cajun music) and Cherryholmes (a family blue grass band). The next one was sponsored by Humana and was hosted by Lorrie Morgan. The performers were Jean Shepard and Jack Greene. The last part was sponsored by Johnson Controls and hosted by Marty Stuart. He had Mike Snider and Connie Smith. Each one performed 2 songs, including the hosts. Bill Anderson did a cute song about unicorns with his grandson. It's very informal making the whole experience fun. I had a great time!!!

We went to Lynchburg yesterday. Lynchburg, TN, for those who don't drink hard liquor, is the home of Jack Daniels. The distillery, not the person. He's dead now. We did the distillery tour (free to the public) and got our group picture taken. When it's available on line, we can download it and print it out. The tours are done by groups and they take a group picture when the tour starts. We went into Lynchburg to the Hardware store for souvenirs. I should mention that Lynchburg and the distillery are in a dry county, so we didn't get those kind of souvenirs.

Now we're in Chattanooga. Actually, we're in Georgia, but just over the border. Rossville is actually split in 2 by the state line. One part of town is in TN and the other is in GA. The Georgia side has a lot more traffic. I'm not really sure why we're here, except to check out the brewpubs. Of course. There is, however, a winery at the entrance to the campground. :o) After this, we head to Pennsylvania.

Our trip is almost over....

Nashville, TN

We went to the Grand Ole Opry and I FORGOT MY CAMERA!!!!!!!!!!

More later...

Wordless Wednesday

Birders will get it.....

More Graceland

Like I said earlier, jumpsuits. However, as time went on, they became jumpsuits with big belts and capes. The earlier ones Elvis wore were just the suits.

The racquetball court.

The meditation garden.

Elvis, his mom, his dad, and his grandmother are buried in the meditation garden. There is a marker for his twin brother, but his brother is buried in Tupelo.

The current residents of Graceland.

Enough about Graceland. On to Nashville!

Inside Graceland

The living room with the music room beyond.

The dining room. The blue drapes and white carpet run throughout the entrance of the house. I actually like it. It's not pretentious. Classy.

Part of the jungle room. My pictures didn't come out very good because you couldn't use a flash and the room is rather dark. The green shag carpeting is not only on the floor, but it is on the ceiling as well. It has a wall on one end with a waterfall. The kitchen (another room that I couldn't get a good picture of) is a typical 1970s horror room with the dark wood cabinets and all. They left it just the way it was when he died. But it was probably the most modern kitchen at the time.

In the basement, this is the TV room. There are 3 TVs on the wall, a fireplace, and a bar.

This is the pool room, which is also in the basement. And yes, that is fabric on the walls and ceiling. Since there are no windows down here, makes sense to me.

The upstairs is closed off to tourists. And I never did see any bathrooms. The other room on the 1st floor was his parents bedroom. It is behind the living room. All in all a very surprising glimpse into a life that I thought was more extravagant. He had his quirks, but they weren't over the top. Except maybe the Jungle Room

We also saw his cars, walked through his planes, and saw just about everyone of his jumpsuits that were his signature style. There is even on museum dedicated to his military uniforms.

Oh, before I forget. There are a few other buildings on the property. One is in the back, which used to be the smokehouse when the house was originally built. It was used by Elvis' father as an office and storage. Then there is the racquetball building. It has a lounge where you could sit and watch a racquetball game. The court itself is full of gold and platinum records and some of the above mentioned jumpsuits. And what used to be the patio to the pool was closed in and became the trophy room. This one contains awards, trophies, plaques, gold and platinum records, and more jumpsuits.

Graceland

The backyard

The family room, aka the Jungle room, which was at one time a patio, but was closed in by Elvis to create the family room

The horse pasture. Yep, horses at Graceland. There are at least 2 there now. They were frolicking in the front yard when we were there.

The back of the house.

The pool.

The whole place is not as big as you would think. It may have been enormous when it was built in 1939. But by today's standards of mansions, it's small. I was rather surprised that it was so small. All the stuff across the street is bigger. And talk about the tourist trap. They like to gouge you around here.