Wimpy eclipse, weird flower and baby owl

 Dad's saga

I left off with my last blog talking about my dad.  We did not get good news at the doctor.  And yet the doctor told him he had about two to three years to live, or rather someone in his condition has been able to live two to three years.  Was that person 91, I doubt it. A healthy 91 year old can't expect to live another three years never mind one riddled with cancer.  I think it was unreasonable optimistic when someone should really be told the hard facts so they can get their life in order. But the young doctor really liked him and maybe found it difficult to give him bad news. Let's face it everyone loves World War II veterans, they're so old and cute.  He came to the realization that what the doctor said wasn't very true, at least not in his case.  And is dealing with it as best as he can, he even gave his car away the other day much to the relief of all of us.  But enough about that...

The eclipse

I have been using Jim's camera to take pictures and thought I would share.  Some are of the eclipse the other day, which I thought was pretty wimpy. I couldn't even tell what I was getting through the lens so I just snapped away and hoped for the best.

New Pictures

We have this weird plant growing in our yard. It's called a "Pipe vine" and the flower is supposed to look like a man's old fashioned pipe.  Yeah no.  From a distance it really looked bizarre and not at all like a man's pipe. In fact it looked like a , yeah never mind what it looked like but certainly not a pipe.  We planted that vine long ago and never had a flower.  Maybe it's a every other year thing I don't know, but it was a unique surprise.

The other day I was walking up to the mailbox and heard a commotion in the woods.  The birds were all upset over some predator. The last time this happened a few blogs ago it was a huge snake.  I picked up rock ammo to hurl at it when I saw that it was a baby owl!  He was looking at me with those big eyes that almost seemed confused at all the trouble he was causing.  The birds were on their own this time there was no way I was chasing him off!

Owl version of where's Waldo

The last picture is of our pond with the solar water fountain causing a shower for the new goldfish. Now that Jim has his raccoon baffle installed every night we can actually buy goldfish and know they won't become dinner.

Messing with the little Sasquatches

Jim finally figured out how to stump the raccoons.  He build a three part screen cover for the big pond, which has the exotic plants and the fish.   The bad news is he has to install it every night. He really doesn't NEED to take it off every morning it can stay put but it does spoil the peaceful ambiance of the pond. So far it is working. The raccoons will have to settle for the two smaller ponds, no midnight raids and swimming contests for them, the new baffles have proved baffling.

In other news we peeled the whole floor up in the common area. It was actually fun.  We have someone from the carpet mart coming in a few days to help us decide what to put down.  We still haven't decided. Or rather Jim hasn't, I really don't care. I want it done.  It is in the gawky stage now and I hate seeing it like this.  I would agree to almost anything for a floor at this point, just get r done! The room really looks cavernous in it's naked state, especially with our limited furniture.  Maybe we should put in a small bowling alley.  Later today I have to take dad to his doctor appointment, we are not expecting good news.  More on that tomorrow...