Catching Up...March Edition

This time I know it’s spring! Temps are forecast to be in the low 80’s this week and everything is either blooming or leafing out. The photo is of a weeping peach that we just purchased and planted a few days ago. The color is far more vivid than the puny weeping cherry in the front yard. It has only a few pale pink blossoms and if it doesn’t get busy, next year it will be replaced by another peach like this one.

The hollow stump where a Tufted Titmouse nested last year has been taken over by a pair of Nuthatches. They are already feeding babies, so they might raise more than one brood this year. Multiple broods seems to be the norm for Texas songbirds.

The front yard Bluebirds have built a nest in their house, but the world might be better off if this pair doesn’t preserve their gene pool. They have to be the dumbest pair of birds I’ve ever seen. At first light, the male attacks the kitchen window, and he’s been doing so for over a month. He goes through this battle until about noon and then the female joins him. Those two idiot birds spend most of the day fighting their reflections and are totally exhausted by evening. If she starts to sit on eggs, he’ll probably kill himself in his futile battle to defeat his glass enclosed nemesis.

Another pair of Bluebirds has been building a nest in the backyard Martin house, but their progress has been slow and erratic, as if they’re not too sure they want to move in, or maybe they forget what they’re doing. They might be related to the mentally challenged dummies from the front yard.

I found a dead Red Bellied Woodpecker in the yard today. It showed no sign of injuries, so I have no idea what killed it, but its mate has been calling all day from the dead tree where they had chiseled out a home.

Final bird report. Last fall, a male Carolina Wren began spending nights in a fern that was hanging on the patio. When the cold weather arrived, the fern froze and stopped providing much cover for the wren. I felt sorry for the little guy, so I cut a hole in a plastic bucket and hung it beside the fern. The wren moved in immediately and spent the rest of the winter roosting in the bucket at nights. He must have really liked his accomodations, because he has now built a nest inside. I suppose that ugly bucket will have to hang there for the entire nesting season!

I ordered 12 yards of pine bark mulch and 10 yards of topsoil to be delivered Wednesday, so I’ll have enough work to keep me busy for a couple of weeks. Wore myself out cleaning a bunch of weeds from the flower beds today, so I’m ready to mulch...after I rest a couple of days.

April 19th, 2010

Don't Tread On Me


Rattling the Second Amendment Sabers

The Educated Voter

Test Question: The recently passed healthcare bill was supported by about 30 percent of the American public and opposed by 70 percent. After watching the video, to which group do you believe these voters belong?

Thanks to The Old Hippie for finding another good one.

Contemplating the Future

King George couldn't do it, nor could the Kaiser, Mussolini, Hitler, Hirohito, or Mao. No, our Republic was destroyed by a bunch of self-serving politicians who took an oath to defend and protect the Constitution against all enemies. Led by a trio of stealth Marxists, they have set the nation on course to imminent bankruptcy and perhaps violent confrontation...and it's our fault for sleeping on duty and being too politically correct to recognize that pure evil exists in the hearts of those we elected. The Norwegians called them Quislings. I call them something that's not appropriate for this blog.

Now we are faced with serious decisions. How do we fix the mess? Do we sit back and wait for the next election to get us back on track? Do we engage in civil disobedience demonstrations that mimic those of the left in the sixties? Do we do as some hotheads are already suggesting, and destroy property as the Sons of Liberty did before the Revolutionary War? Do we goad the DC statists into an act of violence so as to trigger a violent response? Or do we do something else to put fear in the hearts of those who would destroy our country?

I wish I knew what was the right thing to do. What I do know is that it will no longer be business as usual for me.

Winter...Round Three

I've guessed wrong twice already. Despite the calendar, winter is determined to give us another icy blast. It was 70 yesterday, and it's now 36, with a strong NW wind, and there is snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

Last week, I hauled a bunch of plants from their cozy spots in the house out to the patio, and I'm too tired to haul them in again, so that's where they are going to stay. The palm should be okay, but a couple of semi-tropical plants might be in trouble.

Global warming my butt...bah-humbug!

And The Fools in Washington Refuse to Listen

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2010/03/to-all-modern-sons-of-liberty-this-is.html


Sons of Liberty

Another Concord Bridge?

Concord Bridge Patriots

Restore The Constitution

On April 19, 2010, an armed rally will take place on the grounds of Gravelly Point Park in Washington D.C., and it’s no coincidence the rally falls on the anniversary of the 1775 battle between British troops and the Minutemen at Concord Bridge in Massachusetts.

A year ago on that date, a few members of a newly formed group known as Oathkeepers reaffirmed their oath to defend the Constitution at the site of the original bridge. They were a small group that was mostly dismissed by the media, but since then the number of Oathkeepers has grown by thousands and can no longer be ignored.

This time a protest takes place on the back porch of the federal government. It will be difficult for the media to ignore hundreds, and perhaps thousands of armed modern day patriots standing together in a peaceful display obviously meant to spit in the eyes of an increasingly overbearing federal government intent on pushing our country into the gutter of Socialism as they blithely chip away at the very liberties those Minutemen died to gain over 200 years ago.

Let’s hope April’s show of force sets off a chill in the spines of the elitist tyrnants, and that it successfully conveys the atmosphere of discontent roiling among the citizenry. Additionally, let’s hope nothing happens during the rally that triggers a response from either side that can’t be controlled. And let’s also hope we can find a peaceful way to prevent Washington’s Marxists from destroying our country until we can hold an election to evict their sorry asses from government.

Stocking Up

America's economic goose is cooked.

Between the warnings from Glenn Beck and articles like this, I've finally accepted the fact that a US economic collapse is not only possible, but probable. During the Carter administration, Similar fears were commonplace, and many of us prepared by storing enough food and supplies to weather several months of chaos. Thanks to the leadership of Ronald Reagan, those supplies weren't needed then, but the situation today looks far worse than the Carter dabacle, so it's time to prepare for survival again.

Over the past several weeks, I've been adding more and more survival items to our shopping list, such as camping gear, lanterns, fuel, ammunition, etc. I also enlarged the size of our tiny garden so we can at least grow some of our food.

This morning, I ordered a three month supply of freeze dried meals to supplement our pantry and freezer stock. Along with the food, I bought a 72 hour emergency survival kit that contains all the little things you tend to forget when stocking up. One of the neat items in the kit is an AM/FM radio/flashlight/lantern that is powered by household AC, solar cells, crank generator, or batteries. It even has the capability to charge a cell phone and flashlight batteries.

The food is advertised to store safely for 30 years, so even if we don't use any, someone will have a supply available long after we're gone. I hope none of these things will have to be used, but as Glenn Beck says, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

God Blessed Texas

I recall a time when I wanted nothing to do with the state of Texas. As a youngster, I had endured four weeks of basic training in San Antonio and made a quick trip to El Paso while on temporary duty with the Air Force. I quickly decided that those were not places I wanted to live, but with time, my opinion changed. Years later, my employer sent me on a couple of business trips to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and I fell in love with the state. Now, I can't imagine living anywhere else.

I think this youtube video does a good job of capturing the spirit of the land, and feelings I have about the state.

Thanks to Taxidave on the oldhippie website for finding this.

Extreme Makeover

Well, ABC’s Extreme Makeover crews are gone and the Carr family has moved into their new home that was built in one week. Now the topic of conversation at the coffee shop is if they can afford to keep the house.

For those who don’t know, the new house is located just outside of the small town of Mineola, which is about six miles from where we live. Naturally, the area has gone gaga over all the activity generated by the event.

The house replaced one with an $80,000 mortgage, and those who know the area said that houses in that neighborhood are mostly in the $100,000 range, which means they are modest two and three bedroom homes no larger than about 1500 square feet. ABC sort of overbuilt the neighborhood with their upscale 4500 square foot home that would be valued at a half-million dollars in an area where houses that size were the average. If the family can’t pay the property taxes, utilities and insurance on that monster, they will have a hard time selling it for half the assessed value.

As of last week, they were still $20,000 short of paying off the mortgage on their old house, so that could still be a worry if no one comes up with the money they still owe.

Makes you wonder if the television folks ever bother to think beyond the feel-good aspect of the show.

Tyler Morning Telegraph photos

Has It Come To Choosing Sides?

Bossier Parish is far from being a rural parish filled with rubes, rednecks, Bible thumpers, and old fat guys with guns, as the lefties in this video would like you to believe. It is located across the river from the city of Shreveport, that together with Bossier City, have a population of over a quarter million. One of only two B-52 bases left in the country is located within the parish. It also has several large casinos that are filled with thousands of people around the clock, so it is certainly the type of place terrorists would consider for an attack.

You can almost smell the fear when those lying, elitist idiots do their pontificating.

Is It Spring This Time?

After a false start about a month ago, it looks like spring might have actually gained a foothold this time. It was a glorious sunny day with highs in the upper sixties and more of the same forecast for the next ten days. There is the possibility of a few thundershowers next week, but thunder is another harbinger of spring.

I stopped to check on any progress they might have made on my convertible, but it's not going very fast. The rear end has been changed, and he's working on the suspension, but nothing has been done to prep it for paint. I have a hunch it's going to be well into convertible season before I get it back.

Except for the governor's race, the local tea party supported candidates did very well. Our over the hill local RINO was defeated by the very conservative young man who visited our coffee group last month, and another woman who visited us was elected county clerk against tall odds. Her opponent was supported by the party and all the big name politicians, but she easily defeated him. A few years ago, he organized a union for county workers and that unpopular effort came back to bite him. I enjoy watching RINOs defeated almost as much as I enjoy watching Democrats go down.

It Makes You Think

As a lifelong flag waver, it's disconcerting to read articles like this, but it certainly makes you step back and rethink some things.

Link