Mentors

One of my life mentors passed away last Sunday.  Hard to believe Dr H is no longer physically here on earth.  He always comes to mind when I have a difficult case that I am ruminating over.  Some little piece of advice or comment from one of our after hours surgery conversions will come to mind and help me solve the problem.

This week he has been constantly on my mind.  I only knew him for about 35 years of his 85 years of life, but I was amazed to realize all the people and animals he touched in those years.  He was a brilliant asteroid that crashed into this pond called life.  I consider myself very lucky to have been hit by one the ripples he created.  I can't imagine what my life would have been without him.  I am grateful to his family for sharing him with all of us.  I know it was not easy for them.  The time he gave to others took a great deal of time away from them.

I know these last few years were hard on you, but I hope you were able to connect with the family that you missed out on in your younger years.  Sir, I will miss you greatly, but I rejoice in the fact that I knew you and that you are free to return to your brilliants.

I Bet Every Generation Thinks This

"May you live in interesting times."

Yep, I think we got that covered.

Safe For Another Day

Every morning I read the obituaries from a select number of sources.  You might think that is a bit strange for morning reading, but as the old joke says, "just checking to see if I am in them."  Actually I do it for geneology research.  This one in the Greensboro News and Record Newspaper for Artola "Artie" Marie Johnson Meyland really grabbed my attention.  Pretty much sums up life:

GREENSBORO Once strong hands now rickety with age Once keen eyes now wild with uncertainty and dismay A body once lithe, now pale and frail Such is life for the aged nearing the transition Like a wave rolling onshore reaches its high water mark And then slowly draining down the beach to rejoin the vast waters Flotsam of time. Artie was a native of Idaho when few people could make that claim. She was born in Payette County on January 20, 1921, and raised in the small farming town of Fruitland, a stone's throw west of Boise. She made her way to North Carolina after meeting and marrying a young B-29 navigator, A. L. "Gus" Meyland, during World War II. After a stint in post-war Chapel Hill, she and Gus came to Greensboro with a baby (daughter Sarah J. Meyland, J.D.) in tow and another (A. Leger Meyland III) on the way. She settled into family life in Greensboro and added a third child (Roger M. Meyland) to the pack while living next to other postwar couples in Kirkwood. She is survived by her children. For 71 years, Artie called Greensboro home, a happy place to live, raise a family and make friends. She played bridge in the bridge club, raised flowers in the garden club, cheered on the UNC Tar Heels and went to the beach. She switched her kids when they needed switching and hugged them when they needed hugging. She was a mother and a wife. She loved spending summers in the family's cottage on the shores of the Pamlico River and it pained her greatly when she could no longer make the trip down East. A member of the Mayflower Society, she outlived her husband and her many great friends, but never forgot them. She died on May 13, 2017. The family would like to thank the staff at Cone Hospital, Abbotswood and Beacon Place for the care they gave Artie. She was interred in Green Hill Cemetery at a private, family graveside service. Online condolences may be offered at www.forbisanddick.com. Forbis & Dick North Elm Street Chapel is assisting the family.

Besides her poor taste in college basketball teams, I think she is someone I would enjoyed talking to.  Rest in Peace Artie.

Here Comes Summer.......

House Site 6/6/2015

....and the house is completely under roof.  So much for taking showers in the house when it rains. ;-)
The guys finished all the sheeting and have most of it covered in roofing felt.  They still have some to do on the back.  As you can see they still have a little of the walls up by the eaves on the right wing to close in.  They also have the whole right far in end to close in but we are getting there.

While out walking with the dogs, we came across a very large old box turtle.  The 'child unit' calls them "Steve."  I don't know why, but all turtles get the name of "Steve."  I am pretty sure this one is a girl, so we will call her "Stevie."  I left her with a piece of my clementine.  When we came back a little later, she and clementine were gone.  She may have eaten it, or it may have been snatched up by one orioles that is in the area.

Stevie The Box Turtle

Hopefully next week they will get the house completely buttoned up and the roofers might show up.

Happy Memorial Day

Construction on the house is moving along faster now.  The left wing of the house is completely roughed in.  The decking and felt is completely covering the roof. The side walls are up to the eaves.

Left Wing Ceiling

Southeast End of House

  The concrete was poured for the garage and David and his guys were able to get it completely framed.

Framed in Garage

The significant other and myself finished taping all the seams on the outside of the house and got the baffles put up in the loft room. 

Baffles in Loft Room

Thing One and Two worked at testing suitability of the floor for sleeping.  One felt it was fine and the other felt it needed more padding.

Lazy Thing One & Two

House Site 5/29/2016

The plan for this week is to get the roof on the right wing of the house.  I leave you with some cute pictures of Tree Swallow babies.  By the time you see this, these guys are probably flying around the property with their parents

Five Baby Tree Swallows

Go hug a veteran.  They are the closes we can get to those that paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy.

Next Comes.....

.......the roof.  The guys were able to put the decking on the trusses and got the tar paper put on the front section of the roof.  The back part of the roof still needs some decking and to be papered, which was readily apparent during a downpour this weekend.  They finished the front wall up the trusses on the front.

House Site 5/22/2016

The significant other got the mesh over the J Channels covered with concrete.  We also, made decisions on shingles, stone, and vinyl for covering the outside.  So we can get those things to the house site before the bridge closes.

Staged Materials for Bridge Replacement

 The power company came and put the lines up, so now the guys have electricity instead of having to use a generator.  Makes things a lot quieter at the house site.  Even the turkeys have returned with the quiet.

Turkey Under the Power lines

We have new Tree Swallow families starting life in our nest boxes. 

Tree Swallow Babies in Jeter Box

Tree Swallow Babies in Machine Barn Box

Hope you have a great week and the only vultures you have to deal with are those up in old dead trees.

Sunning Black Vultures in Northwest Scag

Drumroll Please..............

..........we have TRUSSES.  That is right!  We have most of the great room covered and felted, and now we have the left wing of the house trussed.  We also have power poles up to the house.  No wires but the poles are in place and the water line repaired.  Apparently, the power company does check before they dig. ;-)

Trusses Over Left Wing of House

Really feels like great progress was made this week.  Which kind of helps out with the news we got this week.  Remember the little, single lane bridge that we had to work around to get stuff to job site-turns out DOT will be replacing it this summer.  Luckily, we have about thirty days notice before it closes. So we can get things to the job site before the easy way is closed.  Of course once it is closed a trip from town that used to take ten minutes will take at least 45 minutes.  You got to love rural America.

In other property news, we had a death.  The mother Eastern Bluebird from the machine barn nest was killed.  The dad has been doing a great job caring for his brood.  I offered them food to try and help him out, but they are about ready to fledge and have reached that stage where they will have nothing to do with humans.
Also, predator guards don't do anything to protect nest-boxes from bears.  The Eastern Bluebirds in one of the other nest-boxes fledged.  I cleaned the box out several days ago and someone was already starting to rebuild.  When I went to do my rounds today, I found the pole with the box on it bent flat to the ground.  No bird eggs or babies for the bear but it looked like he got a lot of ant larvae from a pile of deteriorating logs that he torn into that was nearby.

House Site 5/15/2016

Toad at Old Cattle Waterier