'Taters

Tomorrow I start training at my new job. I'm not nervous. I'm not excited either. But I'm happy I won't have to get up at 2am anymore.

As for today, I couldn't decide whether to spend the day goofing off or to accomplish a bunch of the million things I need to get done around the house. I think that I managed to achieve a happy medium between the two :)

One of the things I did today was dig up the last two of my potato plants. I didn't notice any difference in size or number of tubers from the plants I had dug up earlier in the season. It was an experiment worth doing. I think I will definitely plant potatoes again next year, but now I know that I can just dig up potatoes when I need them and they will be just fine in the ground until then.

Hide and Seek

This summer I got me some chickens. I was planning on getting some someday, but I had the opportunity to get some free ones, so I pushed my time line up and took advantage of the deal early this summer.

I really like having the chickens... Lots of fresh eggs and they are very entertaining. And once I got everything set up, they are very low maintenance - although I suspect that will change once winter sets in and they are more confined...

Usually the only time I have them fenced in is at night. Before it gets dark, they go to their coop to roost for the night and I make sure that the gate and doors are secured to keep out any fox or raccoons or anything else that might be looking for a chicken buffet overnight. During the daylight hours when I'm home, I like watching them roam the yard. They are especially fun to watch when they are chasing/catching grasshoppers.

That all changed a week ago. I volunteered to temporarily watch my sister's dog, Sadie. Sadie discovered that it's fun to chase chickens before we could stop her. But I think that once was enough to scar the poor birds. Now, as soon as they hear the jingle of Sadie's collar when she goes outside, the chickens disappear. Where they go, I have no idea. They are on the property somewhere, but I can't figure out where they are hiding. From the first time Sadie goes outside on any given day, the chickens are nowhere to be seen until they turn in at night. The yard seems so empty without them wandering around. I really hope that when Sadie goes back home, they won't be playing hide and seek anymore. I guess I'll find out in another week.

Oh Deer!

Today may or may not have been Dave's last day to be in town for work. When he finished up at the office for the day, we met and had an outstanding afternoon of Geocaching. We found some really fun caches and had our usual great time hiking around the woods. The park we were in is famous for it's number of deer and their boldness. I got a lot of nice pictures, but unfortunately with it getting dark so early, the lighting wasn't the greatest for my camera. The pictures came out pretty grainy...


... But I still don't mind. The pictures, no matter how bad, still bring back the memories of the day.

I guess we are going to have to wait a week or two before Dave finds out what's going on with the job. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that he will be working - period.

Bummed Out

Dave is someone I met through Geocaching about a year ago. He has been coming up to my area on a regular basis because of his work, and when he is in town we go hunting caches together. I always have a great time in his company and has become a very good friend to me. I found out today that he may be losing his job and may not be coming up this way any more. That really sucks on so many different levels. Why do crappy things always seem to happen to the nicest people? I am really hoping that they will find some position for him somewhere. Restructuring bites. I wish there was something I could do about it.

A New Start

Today was my last day with a company I have worked at for almost eleven years. Not only am I changing companies, but I will be starting a whole new field of work. I anticipate having more time and energy to pursue things I haven't been able to in the past. I enjoy reading other people's blogs and have been inspired, by one blog in particular, to try my hand at my own blog. This seems like the perfect time to give it a shot. I won't mention the 'Inspiration Blog' yet, in case this doesn't work out. I don't want to make anyone look bad :P I've read that most blogs don't last a year. Hopefully I won't end up in that category. I have lots of things to complain about, so we'll see how long I will last...