Owl be darned

After some diligent Internet research, I think I know who the culprit is behind the monkey talk. An owl. In particular, a barred owl, known for its range of vocalizations. That claim really does hold some water since I actually saw an owl in one of my trees last year. That sweet little dear even hung out long enough for me to snap some pictures. Too bad it had to turn around and scare the bejeezus out of me a mere 365 days later.

Who dat? I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's my very own barred owl.

Hear it for yourself:

Turn up your volume. Tell me, does that not sound like a primate to you?

Monkeyin' Around

Last night around 11 p.m., both Brian and I heard what can only be described as a monkey. I was already in bed trying to fall asleep and Brian was in his room tooling around with a broken pair of headphones when we heard the first spooky strains of ooh-ooh-ee-ee-ee-ahh-ahh-ahh.

I thought I'd imagined it, but when Brian said he'd heard it too (and that he wasn't joking), I got a little panicked. Because, really, why on earth would a monkey be outside of our bedroom windows...or worse *gulp*, in my basement?! So, we each grabbed a weapon (I, a hammer, Brian, a crowbar) and proceeded to do a clean sweep of the house. We scoured every nook and cranny of the basement and went outside to survey the perimeter.

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, our search turned up nothing. While this little drama unfolded, I couldn't help but wonder, what really made that sound? An actual monkey? The neighbor's dog? Some prankster teenagers? A burglar? Ahh! To help me sleep I pulled barricades (trash cans, chairs, American flags) in front of several of my doors.

The monkey hunters in all their fierce bravery. I'm in my pajamas, people.

Spiders 2.0

My house must be some kind of arachnid Mecca and all spiders that have the means must make a pilgrimage here at least once in their lifetime. And September must be their holy month. I find spiders everywhere. EVERYWHERE. They had practically taken over my garage until I did a furious clean sweep a few weeks ago. They pop up in window sills, in door frames, on the fence, on the deck, on the siding, on the stairs, and now on my shoes.

I'd only worn this pair a day or two ago and already a spider has claimed it as its own. I killed the spider after I took this picture. I guess that makes me a religious terrorist and the spider a martyr.

Look closely. That unassuming black dot is actually a spider suspended between the heel and sole of my shoe.

Bumper Crop

A bumper crop of apples on my parents' farm means good eats for me. Well, really, just one good eat. I'm going to turn all of the apples into apple crisp. I have so many apples, I project I will have apple crisp to eat for the next three weeks. Hooray!

I plan on stashing the apples in my basement until they are called into action. Hopefully, they'll keep. That's what cellars are all about, right?

How do you like them apples? Very well, thanks.

New water heater

On Saturday, my parents breezed into town and helped me install my new water heater. I played the role of general contractor and my dad and brother played sub-contractors.

Preparation
A few days prior to the installation, and three hours away, my dad took care of buying the right pipes and other piping miscellany. I just took a few measurements and a few photos and e-mailed them to him. Then, he worked his magic and showed up with the correct pipes and tools in hand.

Day of Installation
Once we drained the old water heater, it was out of the basement in minutes. When my dad and brother went to carry my new water heater into the basement, I made the unpleasant discovery that it was dented. In multiple spots. At that point, my mind locked down and I could not figure out how I should proceed, suggesting I may be completely hopeless in a real crisis.

Someone told me to call Lowe's to remedy the situation, so that is exactly what I did. And thank goodness too. I was able to get half my money back without even so much as one little argument!

After that minor crisis, the water heater went in no sweat (we did have to make one quick run to Ace, but it was no biggie). To top it all off, my parents hauled my old water heater back with them to dump at a local junk pile. So, no haul away charges for me! I owe my parents big time.

Before.
Old water heater - scorched and sad

During.
My dad - doing something important

After.
The new, improved and slightly dented water heater

Leafy

Care to guess what kind of plant this is? Hint: It's big and green and leafy.

Give up? It's a poinsettia! As in that quintessential Christmastime plant. While my humble poinsettia finally kicked the bucket after a valiant attempt at a post-holiday life, this one, which belongs to my brother's fiance, has flourished. I was in charge of watching it for a week while they went out of town. I think it died a little under my care.

Poinsettia. It's not just for Christmas anymore.

Sweet View. Street View.

Let me preface this post, by saying, "YAY!" I thought it would take a long, long time to be deemed worthy enough for Google Maps' Street View. But really, it didn't take that long at all. Yay!

My, what a sweet little home that is. As viewed from the Google person's car, from the street, from my computer.