Adventures

A Speechless Shelley

Shelley

Make a note, this is a speechless post, filled with warm (it was a hot day) memories of our daughters’ birthday celebrations yesterday, and a photo of one of the cute flower-eating scoundrels soon to be revealed.

Not this cute scoundrel.

But this shy, and extremely clever scoundrel…

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “make a note.” Do with it what you will. Have fun!

PS – Do share…I’m looking to make a note of any flowers that AREN’T appealing as snack-worthy to rabbits. The scoundrels attacked everything in my garden except the irises, catchflies, and daisies. On another note, I’ve been convinced by my youngest that I can do my own iPhone upgrade. Have you done that yourself or do you go to the store? Please tell me it’s easy to do from home ;-). The new phone arrived yesterday. My current phone’s battery keeps dying so it’s time.

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

69 thoughts on “A Speechless Shelley”

  2. I don’t know if this is reliable, Shelley, but our bunnies ate every tulip except the yellow ones. Once the yellow ones faded, they came back and at the stems to the ground. They also seem to be ignoring our yellow marigolds.

    1. Thanks for the ideas, Dan. I tried tulips one time early in my ‘gardening’ career and the voles ate the bulbs that following winter. They typically do that with the lilies too. The few lilies that survive are being eaten by the rabbits. I thought they’d hate the marigolds too but they seem to be targeted as well. It’s quite maddening to say the least.
      I hope your marigolds get to see the light of day for the summer!

        1. Thanks for the hope that the marigolds I do have that are bigger than little sprouts will eventually survive!

  3. I suggest trapping the rabbit and relocating it a mile or more away. Happy birthday to your daughter!

    1. We have a dozen or so bunnies in all different locations. Early in our lives here we did relocate one, I think he sent all of his relatives and they’ve since taken over. The fox and friends (aka, snakes, owls, coyotes) seem to be finding meals elsewhere this year.
      Thank you for the birthday wishes – both girls celebrate in July three years apart. We can’t believe one is 27 and the other 30. Where did the time go??!

  4. Great family photos! I don’t know what to do about your plant eating scoundrels. There are a lot of gophers in the neighborhood but fortunately not in our yard.

    1. Thanks, Janet! I bet Benny (if I’m remembering your dog’s name…or is it Benji?) is keeping the interest of the critters at bay in your yard. 😉
      I see you’re working on TikTok challenge – I hope that’s keeping you pleasantly surprised and busy at the same time. 🙂

        1. Oh, yes, and there are plenty of critters to chase here. If you want to send him over to play, I’ll be happy to have him visit! 🤣😂😁

    1. It does help! And, I’m happy to report I DID IT all by myself (with some side support/advice from Mr. and YouTube videos showing me what to do). It was better than standing in line waiting at the store for the customer service to complete all the steps. I’m a happy camper and the phone is still charged this morning, which is something that my other phone wasn’t doing anymore!

        1. Yes, I think you’re right. We were talking about that after I successfully did the phone transfer – YouTube is cool and instructional, but do we retain what we learn by watching or doing and figuring it out on our own? Is it a temporary crutch? 🤔😏😊

          1. People learn differently. For some people having the video as a reference is good, while others can read the manual and still others can trial-and-error their way through it. Confucius say: I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. Ideally, you use all three.

    1. I think that Apple and YouTube videos made it easier to DIY due to the pandemic. It was easier than I thought it was going to be and I got to just let the phones do the talking to each other while I did other things. I’m happy to report I did it all by myself and the phone is still working this morning. Now I just have to put the screen protector on and I’m good to go.
      🙂 Yes, I need to move to warmer climate and plant some cactus… 🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

    1. Thank you for the birthday wishes! LOL – no I didn’t, dang. I probably should’ve taken a few pieces of cake home with me to feed the rabbits. It would’ve been interesting to see them running around with a sugar buzz.

  9. Aw! What sweet photos! I love those pink shoes! A man with character! 🙂 I’d have to put garden fence around my flowers if the bunnies were eating them. Did that with a baby tree once. Had to double it to make the spaces too small for them to get through, and far enough away that they couldn’t reach the bark.

    1. Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed them. Yes, my FIL is a man with character. He was trying to get someone to buy them, no takers though. LOL.
      I’m so tempted to get fencing, but I think it’s too late. We keep thinking that with all the grass and weeds available, they’d be full and not need flowers. I saw one lounging in their own path of destruction in my garden bed. It’s like it was pot or something eating my tiger lilies. They can get in surprisingly small spaces. I need to make lots of notes and try to win the battle next year.

  11. Hi Shelley
    Not sure if you are still working on the phone – but in our experience the SIM cards have usually been transferable.
    –
    And I heard marigolds are bug deterrents and so they might be an option
    (Happy bday to your daughter)

    1. Hi Yvette – the phone switch went MUCH better than I imagined it would. The two phones sat together on the counter and shared info. Everything (including settings) that I had on my old phone transferred to the new phone without a problem.

      I’ve always heard about marigolds too – great for bug deterrents. I hope the few that have survived will survive and bloom soon.

      Thanks for the birthday wishes – they both had a wonderful birthday. It’s hard to believe they’re now the ages that Mr. and I were when we met. Time flies!

      1. Yes – time flies and seeing grown children reminds me of that otherwise I feel less of time passing (if that makes sense)
        Have a great day Shelley

  12. Nice you all got together and I like the family photos Shelley, especially the one of just the four of you (you/Mister and the girls). Very nice. The bunny is very cute, that eye checking you out. I hope you got the iPhone straightened out. I had to get a new flip phone this year as the other one died. Ordered it from Amazon and it had no battery in it. Had to contact them to send the battery – Seller sent two (likely thought to himself “I’m not tangling with the likes of her again!) Hope your phone is up and running again.

    1. Thank you, Linda – we’re happy for the memories of the day and the photos to prove we were together again!
      Yes, that little bunny was keeping an eye on me. He was cute, but did way too much damage on my flowers. Grrr.
      The phone switch worked out better than I had hoped it would. My daughter discovered that batteries and chargers are separate now since there are so many different models and they can charge extra for the accessories. Thankfully my new phone can use the old charger cords that we had purchased before. My old headset worked too. Whew!
      I’m glad to read you let the seller know you weren’t happy and that you have a spare charger too!

  13. It’s great you can all get together again even if only on holidays when you have more time to travel/visit. Somewhere I read that Apple was going to make a more universal charger so you didn’t have to buy new chargers and cords every time you upgraded and make interchangeable cords for other Apple devices, so guess that had happened. I think I mentioned to you (I think it was you) that Apple are now allowing people to buy tools to repair their own phones – I don’t know if that would mess up the phone’s warranty or not – good question. Yes, I was angry enough that the one-year-old phone went dead on me, but this battery issue made me lose my cool! The third-party sellers on Amazon are always cooperative since they don’t want to lose the Amazon.

    1. Yes, getting together is great! If gas wasn’t so expensive, we’d likely do it more often.

      I only got an Apple phone originally because my kids had one and could explain it to me. LOL! It’s easier for me to have something they’re familiar with and I can learn from them. I’d think that if you buy it outright you could fix it on your own? I’m not sure.

      You stood up for yourself, that’s a good thing. Yes, sellers don’t want things to go bad and ruin their reputation. Glad it worked out for you!

      1. That makes sense – kids know more about devices these days than adults as they grew up learning them. I have to use Windows for work, but when I no longer need a Windows computer – (and that will be a while as I’m still using my first HP laptop bought in 2009 for storing my photos), I will look into a Mac. A friend had a Mac and used to say he got a new laptop every other year and told me set-up was within minutes.

        1. Thankfully there are many resources available online too. Wow – that’s amazing you still have your 2009 laptop and that it’s still working! You might want to sell it to a museum 😉

          1. I have to say that I’ve always been happy with HP products. My current laptop I use for work was purchased in 2013 and it is in good shape too. I need to archive my last two quarters and pics onto a flash drive … I dawdle over small things sometimes. I tried to do updates on the Win 10 laptop and keep putting the wireless info in and it says “no connection” … I used to have more patience than I do these days and it is a Dell. I asked the computer guy to get me an HP – specifically said “HP” as I had two Dell desktops in the past, both problematic, but he got this. I didn’t pay for it, but said “if I have issues, it’s on you.” I am on Windows 10 at work after my work computer (a Dell) crashed about a month ago. My boss is still on Windows 7. We have issues with some documents we exchanged … no words.

          2. I’m with you on the old computer equipment. I need to upgrade my work computer and am dreading it. I’m not a fan of Windows 11 yet.
            We’ve tried Lenovo, Dell, HP, and it is hit or miss how long they will last. We must persevere and make them last as long as possible now that there are chip shortages.
            No words is right!

          3. I have not tried Lenovo yet, but I swear by HP … this 2009 laptop is a workhorse and had I known it would last this long, I would have bought the separate keyboard like I use now when I lost a few keys. Its battery went kaput years ago, but it works well and has my scanner software on it … I have a shoebox of pics to scan in that were not in any albums, so one day, when I’m retired, I’ll spend a day doing that. The scanner is packed away under boxes and other stuff. Sigh.

          5. For sure – one day it will have an end of life. Those are pics that I had no more album pages and they no longer made album pages to add to existing albums. I just kept putting them in a shoebox. I put everything off. I just backed up my blog and archived posts (done in Word) and all my pics for all of 2022 … I used to do them quarterly but always behind on everything. I’m even caught up in Reader. We are still slated for storms, but I’m actually going to shut down shortly and go offline – a rarity for me.

          7. I WAS caught up … I shut down early yesterday and lots of people posted since then. It’s rare when I catch up in Reader anymore. I lost my internet about a 1/2 hour ago. I rebooted and it came back.

          9. Been caught up almost four days in Reader … has to be a first. I’ve been hearing a lot about sleep deprivation and its effect on blood pressure and heart. I didn’t know that until recently and believed sleep deprivation only affected your ability to function well the next day. I don’t recall emphasis on sleep in that it affects your BP and heart – yikes. I have to get more sleep. And we still have firecrackers, big boomers, going off in the neighborhood.

          10. Glad you’re caught up!
            Not only does lack of sleep cause BP issues, it also contributes to the onset of dementia as we age. Sleep is so important! I say all that as a reminder to myself.
            Dang…that’s so wrong that there are still fireworks going off. I hope August brings a change so you can get some peace. Have you tried earplugs?

          11. I didn’t know about dementia as well. I have to start stepping away from here earlier every night. It is okay in Winter as I don’t go outside until it is light to walk/shovel snow/run the car … it doesn’t get light until well after 8:00. So I have more wiggle room, but I’ve been existing on 6 hours or less sleep for a while now. I used to use earplugs, the ones that you roll in a ball and they expand inside your ear canal, but I felt pressure in my ears, like a drumbeat, so I removed them. Perhaps I pushed them down too far. I do put kleenex in my ears to sleep though (especially during ant season – don’t laugh as I’ve found the little buggers on my comforter … I’m paranoid they go into my ear canal). I rue the day the former governor allowed big fireworks to be sold in Michigan.

          12. Yes, step away – take care of yourself and get rest. I struggle at times to get a good night of sleep – and I can tell the next day by how slow my brain gets working and how tired I feel.
            I’m not sure about ear plugs – I haven’t used them. We use this product to block the sounds of the neighborhood. Maybe it would help you sleep through the noises? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RDJRJS5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

          13. I don’t know why I never thought of sleep deprivation doing so much harm. I have been stepping away earlier at night the last week. I also don’t know why I never thought of the white noise machine. I just looked at it and will order it tonight. We had a white noise machine at the office – it was built into the speaker system. I was alone there quite a lot and the tenant was only there mornings and left mid-day. Many afternoons I would nod off from the white noise. I had a basset hound under my bedroom window for several years – neighbors’ dog and they left for work at 5:00 a.m. and they put out their dog at 4:00 a.m. So I had Radio Shack headphones that had some settings for train tracks, babbling brook, ocean waves, wind and seashore with seagulls. I’d go to bed wearing them so I didn’t hear the dog bark. Thank you for this info Shelley!

            Right now I could use it – someone is having a party since 4:30 and the house is shaking the music is so loud. [Since I am on your blog I will tell you I have called the police and if they came to shut them up, they cranked it up again. My feeling is they did not show up. It is nerve-racking. (Interesting, I always thought it was “wracking”.)] It will continue until the early morning hours unless we get this big storm overnight. We have severe weather tonight and tomorrow.

          14. Oh, dear, Linda – your neighbors are a nightmare! I hope the noise machine helps and I hope you get the much-needed rest. The storms went through here, but weren’t bad this time. I hope you just get rain and that you’re off to a great walk this morning. Hugs to you! 🤗😊

          15. Yes, it’s terrible Shelley – thank you for the hugs. Anything that helps will make me have quiet makes me happy. I looked for my radio headset and remembered I ordered new ear pads from Amazon. They weren’t on the radio – did they not fit? Did I put them somewhere intending to do it later … looked in some drawers and didn’t see them. I remember I ordered them and they took weeks to get here. Like the “leash” for my lens cap … ordered it on Amazon, came from China and it took about two months.

            We had storms last night, this morning … still waiting on Round 3 which I don’t think is going to happen. Wunderground Weather doesn’t show anymore storms tonight … I was worried as it got sunny and hot this afternoon, helping to fuel the fire. The weatherman says otherwise – hmm.

          16. You’re welcome. I do hope the sound machine helps. It also worked for Copper before he lost his hearing. He wasn’t so terrified of storms or the fireworks when we had the sound machine on. Yikes – I hope you found the headset. That’s a long wait for a cap from China!

            The storm rolled through where my oldest lives, and a tornado just 2 miles from her house. Thankfully, not much damage and her house was spared.

            The weather is crazy. I can check the forecast throughout the day and it is constantly changing. I hope you got out to take a walk!!

          17. That was a good idea for Copper. My friend is watching a relative’s black lab and she is afraid of storms. They had the same weather pattern as we had and Maggie jumped into the bathtub and crouched down both times. I like Wunderground best, but listen to two online forecasts and a radio forecast as well. Obsessed with weather, but even more so with the erratic weather we now have. Two bad storms in one Summer … is this the same daughter?
            The cap leash took forever and had a crummy, very tiny adhesive piece you had to attach to the lens cap and the other end of the leash was an elastic band. I had lost a few lens caps without it in the cold weather months. In the Summer months I use a fanny pack or a fishing vest and shove extra stuff in all the pockets.

          18. I was surprised it did work for Copper. I think his failing hearing also made it work. I feel for so many dogs, the month of July and fireworks is so hard on them. Our Golden Retriever LOVED them.
            I only check the weather for an idea of what might happen that day. And then hope it works out. Both of our kids are kind of in the normal path of big storms. They have both gotten strange weather too. Typically our oldest will get the storm we get before us and then the next day or later the same day our youngest will get it. All three of us will experience something different about it from the others.
            Way to compromise so you can still take your camera with you! I’d be lost without my lens cap…maybe I should order a spare one now since it takes so long to get here!

          19. The sticky tab on the “leash” fell off the one cap and it went into the goose poop and no, I didn’t have the heart nor desire to reach in and retrieve it. So I had to get another cap. I keep the leash on the long lens so it can just dangle down. My 35 mm camera had a built-in leash and it worked much better than this one.

          20. Yuck – goose poop is GROSS! Glad you finally got the built-in leash cap and that it is working for you. My elastic is wearing out, I may need to hand-sew new on it since the cap is just fine but the elastic is getting loose.

          21. I know! I saw it flip out of my hand and I thought “no way – even if I wash and sterilize it – just no!” I like the leash on there to keep issues like that from happening. I’m not the only one as I needed the replacement caps and was wait-listed forever for them.

    1. Thanks, Rebecca. You’ve been enjoying the summer and your adventures – to me that’s way more important than blogging! I’m thankful you stop by when you can and that you share beautiful photos and videos on Instagram!! Happy Summer to you!

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