Jan 1 2007

Here we are, a new year just starting with resolutions and good intentions coming out of our ears. Like regular updates to my site......Ummm, yeah - that's somewhere between resolution 57 & 117. haha

So let's play my little game of ketchup~

I feel a little bad that I have left the clown picture up for so long without saying that the "clown my mother married" is the most wonderful person and I'm so glad he's part of our family now.

I had an uncle die over Christmas. I have to wonder if he finally realizes that you can't take it with you. I wish my aunt would realize that and enjoy her final years. But what's that old saying....you can lead a horse to water .....Yeah, you know the one.

So my friends always have the best pictures of their families and pets. And then there's me.

Here's Chase at Christmas. Don't even ask...

I temporarily lost my mind last time I was at the pet store buying crickets for Chases gecko. There were a couple young girls buying hamsters and they were so excited. So yep, you got it. I walked out of there with a hamster too. He resides on my desk in the kitchen. I do believe the cat has found my little hamster according to the picture below:

I hope everyone has a great 2007. I have a few resolutions to work on. But don't we all~

NOV 1 2006

It's been awhile since I updated so I thought I'd post a picture of the clown my mother married.....

Haha - Got ya, Joe!

OCT 8 2006

Tales from the Campfire (or)

Attack of the Owls (or)

OH MY GOD, WHERE IS SADIE? DID THE OWL GET HER???? (or)

The Suchy's have absolutely lost their minds....But we really aren't at all surprised.

There's SO many good names for the following stories..

It's been a gorgeous fall weekend. Indian summer all the way! Yesterday we had a bonfire going most of the day, getting some yard work done. After dark we scrounged around for some some-mores, but found only 3 marshmallows left...hmmmm.

Since there was no chocolate to eat, boys being boys decided to play with the fire. Wanting a bigger fire, they found leaves worked best. First it was handfuls that gradually turned into full out RAKING THE YARD.......at midnight! I tell ya, anyone driving by would have thought we lost our minds. We have our boys outside in the middle of the night raking the yard. Not to mention Chase was wearing his tee shirt fashioned into a Ninja mask. Click here for link! And my second thought on this is if we would have actually assigned the chore of raking leaves, the boys would have complained all day. But this way we actually got the leaves raked without even asking.

Today has been another beautiful day. Chase had a football game earlier and his team won. Undefeated and un-scored upon all season! We've had a bonfire going all afternoon and plenty of some-mores for later.......BUT, we've also heard a strange cry coming from the woods all afternoon. We really didn't think much about it at the time......

The boys decided they were going to sleep in the club house and have some friends over for a campfire and some-mores. As they headed to the clubhouse, they were ATTACKED BY AN OWL! I am SO NOT kidding! I heard much screaming and commotion and I figured it was just a spider (their friend is deathly afraid of them). But then I heard "OWL! IT'S AN OWL!!!!!!!!!" Apparently this "noise" we heard all afternoon was a horned owl and apparently tonite he decided he was HUNGRY. He swooped down from the clubhouse right at the boys, they scattered, with 2 boys ending up in the house and one in the garage. Then Mark went out to see what was going on. At that point the owl was sitting in the driveway and TOTALLY FLEW AT MARK with a wingspan of about 6 feet and tried to attack him! (I actually saw this part!) This owl was completely insane. Then it kept flying closer and closer to the house, screeching. Like he was just waiting for some MEAL to walk out.

Here's a picture of him on top of our garage (looking for someone to attack, see his head down looking!)

Sept 30 2006

Here's a few picture to end September with.....

This is about all the exercise this little trampoline has ever seen~

(Look at all those great places for snakes to hid!)

Here's a little treat for my friend Jean. This little tree frog is living on our security light. What a smart little guy!

And my sweet little girl keeping my chair warm~

That should about wrap things up for September.........Oh wait, here's one more for Jean!

Here's what frogs and toads say at Jean's house....

Ribbit-Ribbit....squish

Sept 27 2006

We have had an interesting turn of events. (Mom, you ABSOLUTELY DON'T want to read the rest of this post!)

I decided to check the snake one last time before bed last night. There was no snake in the cage. NO SNAKE! The lid was on, everything looked fine, except NO SNAKE! I have no idea HOW he got out, but he definitely did. So to answer your question, yes - there is a mean little snake somewhere in this house.

Anyone have any suggestions for finding a snake in a rather large house?

Sept 26 2006

Is that a snake on that stick or are you just happy to see me?!

The boys caught this snake after school today. (Don't worry mom, it's not as big as it looks!)

We think it's a bull snake. A mean little thing. Rattles it's tail like a rattlesnake and strikes. ALOT! It really does look much bigger in the picture than it is. At it's widest, it's about the size of my ring finger.

Today I played around at the torch. I didn't worry about making money or sets. I came up with a couple new designs. WAY different from what I normally make. I can't wait to look in the kiln tomorrow. Although I shouldn't get too excited. The beads may be 'wood beads'.....beads chucked out the door and into the woods. Or aquarium beads...which is one step above 'wood beads'. But since we no longer have fish, does that make all my rejects 'wood beads'? I'll have to wait and see.......

Sept 25 2006

I found an underground bee hive in our yard this summer. It wasn't too hard to find because there was a constant flow of bees in and out of a hole about the size of a golf ball.

I didn't realize that bees made underground hives until we moved out here and heard about a neighbor stepping on one that was under his landscaping stones.

After researching the internet, I found out these bees were yellow jackets. Since the hive was directly under the boys clubhouse, it had to go. So my husband was employed to "humanely fumigate".

Well, it's been about a week now and those that know me, know I'd be digging up this hive to see what it's all about!

So here ya go -

This picture shows the different layers of the hive. There were about five.

And below is the hive torn apart. HOW COOL! The circle of white contained the little larve, well actually the larve were bigger than the bees. I think you can see some in the picture above if you look closely.

The hive measured 7 inches across and had a delicate paper outer shell that was just beautiful, but was mostly ruined by my digging. You can see part of it in top of the picture below. It's exactly like a hive you would find hanging in a tree, but it was completely underground. What I want to know is......what did the bees do with all the dirt they had to have dug out to make this hive?

Nature is pretty cool, huh?

Sept 23 2006

This was ME after trying to add some auctions to Ebay tonite:

A PISSED Puppy!

You know, what is it with the Computer Techy Programmer Types. They are like children, they can't leave well enough alone!

Sept 22 2006

Hikaru Dorodango

Otherwise known as Shiny Mud Balls

Yes, this is simply a ball of mud. You can read all about these works of art here:

How? Hikaru Dorodango

Why? Mud Balls

Why am I interested in balls of mud? My chickens like to make these.....on their toes. Only they aren't shiny. And I think there's more than mud being used.

You see, it's been a rainy summer and the chickens like to dig around in the mud. I noticed little marble sized balls of mud on a few hens toes. I watched these marble sized mud balls get bigger and bigger until a couple were golf ball sized. So an intervention was in order.

Armed with a screwdriver and my chicken herding skills (flapping arms and quick grabs). A hen with golf ball toes was caught. I thought the mud would crumble right off. But NO. These things were made of many layers and were like solid balls of cement. A hammer was also employed. Ever wish you had 3 hands?

So in conclusion, Japanese school children aren't the only ones making mud balls. Heck, given the right conditions a chicken can do it!