ChiaChatter

Just a quick hello; about my day

This holiday is celebrated on August 18, 2024. I recorded today for the first time since losing control and strength in my right hand, which God has restored. This song, written by Ira Stemphill in 1950, is called I Know Who Holds Tomorrow; I am playing it on my Yamaha Tyros5-76. As always, this is to share with my friends, not a performance. But I hope you enjoy it anyway! “If you seek perfection, look elsewhere.” ~ Chiafucius

We have a semi-tame pileated woodpecked that we call Johnny, and he flies down close to Pete, even coming to get him, screaming all the way, when the suet feeders are empty. (He even goes so far to bring wife and offspring every year!) He is hysterical. This is him at the suet feeder just outside the window next to the chair where Pete sits. Then along come Pete's (wild) turkeys: Tom, his brother Tom, and his other brother Tom, trying to steal the show! They come running when he leaves the house, hang around here all day, and follow him around the yard like puppies. (There is also their cousin Tom who also joins them here most days.) Who needs television when our days are filled with all of the funny critters who let us share their space?

Things feel so different since Myrtle was moved...and now with the new addition alongside...well, you'll see! We made a trip down to Clare too - stopping at the local market, and also at our favorite place to buy our beef, pork, and lamb! It's a bit of a drive, but totally worth it. Plus a lot of footage of our dogs playing in the yard as they also are adapting to the changes. All fun stuff!

I actually recorded this yesterday because I thought it was Friday all day, but it was, apparently, a faux Friday. When I discovered that last night, I saved the video to upload today! Now that Myrtle is moved, the garden has been undergoing some rearranging!

A couple of months ago we bought a bus to use for travel. We don't plan to camp in it exactly but if we want to stay overnight somewhere, for example, we will have a comfortable place to do it. In addition, since I am disabled and my husband has multiple physical issues, there are times we just need to STOP when we're on the road and take a break. We'll be able to bring our own food and will have the ability to cook as well. We took HoWie (Hamster on Wheels - my husband is a ham radio operator) to our son-in-law who outfitted him for us, and this is the result! We are so happy to have HoWie back home where he belongs! And my granddaughters are helping to show what their dad did, too.

Just a week ago we learned that we would have to move Myrtle, the fifth wheel in which we live. The next few days were a blur of a ridiculous amount of activity as we prepared - there's more to it than you might imagine - and Saturday Aug. 3 was moving day. We had a ton of helpers consisting of friends and family and neighbors and even our landlord from whom we are leasing this beautiful lot. On my own site are much of the boring details of those few days, but here is the day after, when we started to make this space our home. Though we only moved Myrtle about 65 feet, within the same lot, it was a Very Big Deal! And this video, which I think is the best and worthy of Rumble, is The Day After.

We went to Bay City (MI) to attend our granddaughter's play, Finding Nemo Jr., in which she had roles as a squid and as a jellyfish, after which we and her family all went to Lucky's Steakhouse to celebrate both of our granddaughters' birthday - belatedly - together. It was a GREAT DAY!!

I can't believe I forgot to do this on Friday (26th)!!! On Wednesday I was thinking I couldn't WAIT to show

OY! This isn't as easy as my grandkids make it look! From this short video I can see that (a) I have to work on keeping my voice at the same volume; (b) I move my head WAY too much! and (c) I need to remember that the camera points higher than my eyes - so if I'm looking directly at something, the camera is recording above that point. Anything else? Help is gratefully accepted :).

The video starts with Maisie helping me get ready to go, then shares all of the places we went while we were out, in pictures. There are then a couple of clips when we got home, one is outside and the other shares my thrift finds.

In addition to this week's garden update I decided to take a stroll down to show the feed lot that our helpers and grands planted for the wildlife last week! And then a little wandering around...losing Maisie a few times (not really! she just likes to follow her nose but always stays on the property)...and whatever else came to mind. This is a long one!

This was taken with my new camera sunglasses. In fact it is the first video that I made (though my grandson had tried them out already). This original audio was loud and distorted but I was able to improve on it with my editing software (kdenlive). But this isn't about me. It is about Myrtle's Garden, it has changed SO MUCH since last week! I'm excited to get out there tomorrow and work more on cleaning it up after a week of forced neglect...next week's update should show a much tidier spot!

So I've wanted to add some variety to my vlogs and videos for a long time. I have a drone but can't seem to manage it (which breaks my heart!); just for recording videos while trying to walk with my walker has been difficult too, so I got these sunglasses that record pictures and videos. This is the demo that my grandson recorded; he took the first 5 pictures and the first video which is what I'm sharing here. We have to get used to them but I think he did a better job than I would have done! And he loves them, and knows he'll be getting a pair of his own from us for Christmas hahaha!

I bought myself a new toy to use in my vlogging endeavors and it arrived on Wednesday. I'd told my 15YO grandson that he would do the unboxing, then he could show me how to use it. (There will be a demo video upcoming.) The family had just arrived to drop off our 3 grands for a long weekend, so chaos was reigning as Leelan was unboxing. I didn't edit any of it out either - so you could see us as we really are - enjoy!

Storm - turkeys - new washing machine! Bits'n'clips!

I recorded a ton of video yesterday, on all kinds of things, for all kinds of reasons, yesterday and figured I'd just keep the camera rolling and sort it into different videos during the editing process. WELL! I won't do THAT again! Just sayin'...but at least it explains why this one - and the others - are so choppy :).

Another update on how Myrtle's garden (etc.) grows!

Last weekend we had a lot of rain, so I did an update on the garden; this week we had loads of sun so, as promised in the last video, here is another update!

Took another stroll around the yard, checking out the plants and changes since all the rain we had over the weekend.

Just a stroll around the yard, checking out the plants and changes since last week.

Today I took a meander around the garden and yard, and decided to record so I could take you all with me. This is the result.

Went to Costco with my daughter and one of my granddaughters to help me; here I show what I bought and what I paid, and my feet.

Though we are in zone 5B, we started planting in early May...other than the lettuces which were planted in March sometime, with little greenhouses over them, made with clear gallon water jugs with the bottoms cut out. This isn't a full vlog but just a walkaround as I describe what was done in Myrtle's yard.

In which I share how the garden grows and what we did today.