Out of the Nest

We have a weed tree in our back yard; as far as trees go, it's got a nice shape to it - small like a crab apple, but without the annoying fruit to rake up in the fall.  We've had a couple birds try to make their homes in this tree, and it's ended badly both times.  Fast forward to this year when I looked out the master bedroom window and saw a mama robin making a nest.  To be fair, it really isn't a great tree for nest making only because any neighborhood cat can easily climb the tree, and I figured she must be a young mom bird or something.   

Mama bird sat on her nest for what seemed like a couple weeks - I hardly ever saw her leave the nest.  Then one day her babies must of hatched because she was busy feeding them, and this has been going on for a couple weeks.  I looked out the window this past Thursday morning, and it looked like the little old lady who lived in a shoe with her 4 fairly large babies nearly spilling out of the nest.  By the time I had a chance to look at the nest again on Friday, it was vacated.  Well, I guess that's what's supposed to happen, but a part of me was a bit sad to see the little family gone and the nest empty.

So Saturday around dinner time Mike and I were relaxing in the living room, when I hear all manner of bird squawking going on outside.  This wasn't normal bird chatter that you normally hear earlier in the day; it was frantic, angry even.  I happened to look out on the deck and saw a little bird being chased by our neighbor's overweight, declawed, house cat.  Normally he isn't outside but for some reason he'd been given outdoor access.  Aaack!  Mike, at my request, went outside to take the cat home.  The baby bird seemed dazed, and hopped up on our deck and huddled right next to the slider door.  This didn't go over well with our two house cats who wanted to kill the cute little guy.  I couldn't stand it and went out on the deck, and he didn't even budge - just looked up at me and opened his beak as if he thought maybe I might feed him.  Poor guy was having a bad week - booted from his cozy home where he'd been fed every meal of his life, chased by a fat cat, and now some weird looking large creature was stalking him.  Can't a guy get a break?  


He appeared unafraid of me, so I thought the best thing I could do was put him back in the nest till mama came looking for him.  We have several neighborhood cats who come by through our yard, and I knew he was good as dead if he stayed on the deck.  And he didn't look like he was ready to go anywhere!  So Mike got me some gloves and a step ladder so I could return the little guy to the nest.  Only he didn't want to uncurl his feet from my finger - I had to sort of push him off me and into the edge of the nest.  Probably be the only time in my life I'll get to hold a wild bird like that!

So this morning I looked out the master bedroom window and saw Birdie still in the tree but on a different branch.  This went on all day - him moving from branch to branch, up a little higher, out on the limb a little further.  I checked back about 7 p.m. and he's gone.  Finally got up his courage to join his family!   My work is done.


I took a few photos of Birdie today as the morning light was streaming through the leaves.  I had a feeling he might not be there much longer, so I'm glad I took photos when I did.

 

 

The Need for Toe Socks

It's a sure sign of age when you start having body aches and pains and things just don't work like they used to.  One of those signs came to me about 1.5 years ago when I started experiencing some major pain when I walked.  Hard to ignore, ya know?  Turns out I have plantar fasciitis, a fancy way of saying my arches are flat and failing me.  I was born this way, they've always been this way, but after 40+ years, they were done.   Going barefoot is a thing of the past for me.  These ole dogs need support from the time I get up in the morning till when I climb back into bed at night.

One of the hardest parts of dealing with plantar fasciitis is finding shoes that are either comfortable or that can accommodate orthotics.   Neither has been an easy task.   No longer can I shoe shop as most of you can by stopping in a shoe store, trying on shoes and walking out with the cutest, latest fashions.  Most shoes have very little arch support or if they have it (think Birkies), the support is so hard and uncomfortable, it's a wonderment to me how anyone can wear them.  So I've ordered thousands of dollars worth of shoes and inserts from Zappos in various brands and of those thousands of dollars in shoes and inserts, I've found a total of one pair of orthotics that works for me, one pair of athletic shoes, and one pair of flip flops.  All the rest were returned.   I'm sorry, but for a woman, that's entirely unacceptable and depressing.  Oh I still cling to some of my old shoes, occasionally wear them (like for a wedding), but I always pay the price when I do.  I'm not talking pinched toes, I'm talking can't walk the next day without feeling pain in my feet with every step I take. 

I've gone back to the drawing board for winter shoes, as a pair of athletic shoes and flip flips will only get me so far this winter.....and the latest $700 order of shoes being yet another disappointing shipment, with all the shoes going back.  In the meantime, the weather is turning cold, and my toesies are getting cold.  I could wear the athletic shoes all day around the house, but that is a bit constricting, ya know?  All summer I wore these awesome Montrail flip flops that were sooooo comfortable.  I'm having a hard time giving them up.  So I did the unthinkable......

Oh my goodness, tell me I didn't put on white socks and wear them with flip flops.  Major fashion faux pas.   I didn't leave the house in them this way, I promise.  But I'm tellin' ya, these flip flops are so comfortable! 

So I thought, "Maybe what I need is some different socks...."

 Cute, right?  Right?  Hmmmm.....

OK, maybe not a great look.

I really need to find myself some new shoes and maybe even a pair of slippers for wearing around the house......both of which need to have ample arch support that isn't hard as a rock.   If you know of a brand that might work for me AND doesn't look like something my great-grandmother would wear, shout it out (btw, I've tried New Balance, Alegria, Klogs, Keens (these are a possibility, but style I tried was too loose in the heel), Earth, Orthoheel, Merrell, Mephisto, and I'm sure there are others.)   I'M running out of options, and if I can't find something soon, I may have to leave the house in my flip flops and toe socks.    

Grilled Pizza

I've been making homemade pizza for nearly 9 years and have learned some tricks of the trade if you want a good pie with a crisp crust:  Use your grill.  This is great in the summer time as well since you don't need to heat up the house.   If you want recipes for my crust and sauce, click here.  You will also need a pizza stone and pizza paddle (or something that will suffice in it's place.)

Fire up your grill with your pizza stone on the grates.  You will want to heat it for about 10 minutes - if there's a temperature gauge on it you'll want it to about 450 deg.  My recipe is enough to make two "hand tossed" 12" pizzas.  So once the dough is done, divide it in half.  Roll out the first ball into a 14" circular shape on a well-floured surface.  

If you're fortunate enough to have a wooden pizza paddle (about $10 at Bed Bath & Beyond), sprinkle it with bread crumbs.  Gently transfer your 14" dough to the paddle.  With your thumbs under the crust, start twisting them one over the other to get the look below (it's really hard to explain this process.  Do the best you can.)   This will leave you with a 12" pizza.   You do not want your pizza crust to be larger than your stone or you will wind up with burnt crust.

Add your sauce and toppings.

 Our toppings included Italian sausage and orange peppers.

Place your stone in the center (not on the side like you see pictured below).   Don't do what my husband is doing here and try to use a spatula to slide the pizza onto the pizza stone. You'll accomplish this better if you make use of your wrist and those bread crumbs you put on the paddle.  The crumbs will help the pizza slide right off, but your aim needs to be good to get it to land on the pizza stone "just so".  I'm an expert since I worked in a pizza place like 30 years ago.  It's like riding a bike.  Then turn the inner burners down to low, keep the outer burners on medium.  You're trying to maintain a temperature between 400-450 degrees.

Cook it for about 7-12 minutes - depends on the temperature inside your grill.

Serve it up with the beverage of your choice.  Your crust should be crisp on the outside with a fluffy edge - perfect for dunking in garlic-flavored butter (melt some butter and sprinkle in some garlic salt.)   Enjoy!

A Trip to See The Jellies

Back in May, after the crazy NATO protestors left the city, the kids and I headed down to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium to see the Jellies exhibit before it ended.  The kids had never been to the Shedd and I hadn't been in over 20 years!

What follows are a few photos I took while we were there with minimal commentary.  Enjoy.

My favorite jelly of the day - we got a kick out of watching these little guys swimming and bumping all over the place!   We dubbed them bumper car jellies.

Just a little funny in the event you know me.....

At the gift shop trying on all the stuff we didn't buy....

I got a kick out of all the tshirts they had for sale....

At the end of our day before heading back home.....

Keats

Rest in Peace Kitty.  You were loved and will be missed.

Adopted  November 2005 - June 28, 2012

Cutting the Cord

I’ve long wanted to cease paying for TV, so when budget cuts became necessary in our household, the first thing that came to mind was cutting the $89 (+ taxes) we were paying for television channels. I called our TV provider to get local channels only. That was $19.99. A $70 savings was a start in the right direction. But then I was told it’d be an additional $7 to receive local channels on two TVs. So our cost was now $26.99. Oh, you want those channels in HD? That’s an additional $10. You want DVR service on those local channels? Another cost. I stopped at $26.99 (+ taxes) and hit the internet to find out how to get local channels with an antenna on the roof of the house.

It may come as a surprise to some people, but with the proper TV antenna, you can get local channels for free and in HD. It really chaps my hide that TV providers are selling something they’re getting for free. I get that they charge people to send you the local channels since they’re taking the trouble to receive them and send them on. But to charge for HD too when that’s how they receive the signal? How is that even legal? To boot, it turns out the compressed HD you may currently be paying for from your TV provider isn’t even as good as what comes free via the waves!

So if you’re contemplating cutting the cord, the first thing you need to determine is how important flipping through 200 (or whatever) channels are to you. To be sure, going from 200 channels down to about twenty or so is a huge adjustment. If having so few channels (for free!) has you hesitating, read on.

The good news is that there’s this thing called streaming. I had vaguely heard of it before I went on a mission to Cut The Cord, and after all my research I found out there are devices they sell specifically to stream internet content directly to your TV. Why would you want to do this, you ask? Once you buy a streaming device (more on this later), you hook it up to your TV, it taps into your internet (via wireless router or other means), and you can watch Netflix, Hulu Plus, news programs, Youtube, listen to Pandora Radio - as well as radio stations all across the world. Plus, there are thousands of other things that are available on the internet all via your streaming device which allows you to watch it on your TV!

Much of the streaming available is free. There are also loads of pay-as-you-go services (Netflix and HuluPlus are the obvious ones), but did you know you can also pay for MLB, NFL, and all the other sports? This may seem counterproductive, since if you’re reading this far you’re trying to cut your expenses. But stick with me here. Formerly we were paying $89/mo (+ taxes) for TV – a lot of TV that we didn’t even watch and that I even blocked out since my youngish kids didn’t need to be watching MTV, et al. So we were paying for what we weren’t watching too. But I can get local channels (via antenna) and Netflix for $8/mo. And I’m not even talking about all the stuff on the internet that is available for free (past seasons of TV shows, older movies that you always see on channels like TBS for instance.) Maybe you could care less about Netflix but are interested in a season pass to MLB. That’s about $99/year, which is the equivalent of paying for one month of cable TV! More later on streaming devices.

If this is all starting to sound good to you, then let’s get down to it.

You first need to get an antenna on the roof of your house. Unless you live a few miles from the source, an indoor antenna is not likely going to do the job. My family lives about 40 miles from the source, so we definitely needed to go the roof antenna route. To find out what you need to do for your particular residence, you can check out Antenna Web. Plug in your zip and address and it will give you an idea of what kind of antenna you need to receive each station in your area. After further research, we decided on getting a more traditional looking antenna:

(And as I type this, it’s of course cheaper than what we paid for it. Blast you Amazon.)

If you’re one of those lucky people who can get away with an indoor antenna, you can skip this list of what you’ll need. If you’re like most other people living in the ‘burbs, you’ll need to know what other things you’ll need to buy besides the roof antenna. I’ve got you covered.

• RG6 Coaxial Cable (to go from the antenna into the house to your TV. It’s sold in all different lengths.) I have a friend whose husband used the cable left behind by the pay TV provider. Not sure how the reception is for them, but for the RG6, you should receive a good picture for your HD TV. Note the cable we got has the connectors on the end.
  

• Antenna Tripod. A decent one was surprisingly difficult to find.

• Three Tar (or Pitch) Pads. These go under each leg of the tripod, and I believe are to prevent leaking into your attic once you bolt the tripod down to the roof. You need these. Tar pads were near impossible to find. I only found a couple places on-line that offered them, and no local places carried them.

• A 1.25” diameter/3-5’ metal pole to stick the antenna on, which sits inside the tripod. This pole can be purchased for about $8-10 at a home improvement store.

Preparations to cut the pole down to size.

Close up of antenna mounted to pole

• Hardware for mounting the tripod and antenna. My husband and I were really shocked to find that the antenna does not come with what you’ll need to mount on your roof. Seems like a logical thing for the manufacturer to include in the box, but apparently not. If you’re looking for a business opportunity, there it is: Package into one neat bundle all the things a person needs to mount a TV antenna on their roof, including those hard-to-find tar pads, and you’ll fill a void for sure. You’ll need bolts for the tripod (which came with the tar pads I ordered), as well as.....

• An 8-9' (feet!) copper grounding pole and copper grounding wire. Go to Home Depot or similar to find the bolts, pole, wire, and clamps.

Copper Grounding Wire

Copper Grounding Pole

You'll need a sledge hammer to pound the copper grounding pole into the ground

How far should you pound that 8-9' pole into the ground, you ask?

About this far.....maybe 3" or so out of the ground.

• If you’re planning on running the signal you receive to more than one TV in your house you’ll need a splitter. Depending on how many TVs you intend to send the signal to determines what kind of splitter you get. This is the one we got since we’ve got two TVs:

• If you’re planning on splitting to many TVs or you're just not picking up many stations, consider getting an antenna amplifier, as the more you split the signal, the weaker it becomes. As it turned out, our outdoor antenna provided us with CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN, FOX, UPN, several Spanish stations, and 3-4 stations of what I can only classify as oldies – reruns from the 1960’s – 1980’s mostly. We didn’t get any PBS stations, and when the weather was rainy, some of the stations cut in and out. So we opted to try an amplifer. This made a HUGE difference in our reception. Not only do we now get PBS, we get four different channels of PBS. We have multiple channels of most major networks, plus we got a couple channels that we didn’t even know about (ION and QUBO). I highly recommend an amplifier if your antenna isn’t quite doing the job: This is the one we got

Here's a close-up of our antenna with the amplifier on it:

Now you should be set to install the antenna on your roof ! It should look something like this when you're done. ;-)

Now on to the streaming devices. The best known ones out there are the Roku (several models to choose from), Boxee Box, Apple TV, Western Digital, many Blu-Ray players, Xbox 360, Wii or PS3 (or you can go old school and use your computer). If you’re only looking to add on something like Netflix to your local channels and you happen to own one of the last listed devices above, you don’t have to buy anything - just use what you have to stream Netflix right through one of those devices. If, however, you desire more, then there are the other options. I don’t have experience with all of them, so I recommend you do a little research on each of them via YouTube, Google, Amazon (particularly the reviews), etc. to determine which device will best meet your needs. We personally settled on the Roku 2 XS, which runs about $90. We felt it was easiest to use, offered us the options we were looking for, and was affordable. I'm really short-changing streaming devices here, but the scope of my blog post is more about "cutting the cord" and less about streaming. There are tons of YouTubes on each of the devices I mentioned, plus loads of articles comparing each one. I recommend you check them out before making your decision.

A quick note about the Roku 2XS – very easy to set up. You will need an HDMI cable, which doesn’t come with it, but we happened to have one leftover from when we hooked up the U-Verse box to the TV, so thankfully we didn’t need to go buy one (they’re not cheap, but oh so necessary if you have an HD TV. The picture quality without one is astonishingly sub-par.) One thing you may not know about unless you do tons of reading and researching is that once you create your online account with Roku, you can enter lots of “private channels” that aren’t necessarily offered at the Channel Store (this is a “channel” itself, which allows you to see what’s available and then load it onto your Roku so when you turn it on, you can scroll through all your internet channels. Most of them are free.) You can google “Roku Private Channels” or you can check this out as well. Not all codes work, but most seem to be up-to-date.

So you may be wondering at this point how much it costs to Cut The Cord. There is an initial investment, no doubt about it. For the outdoor antenna set-up, it ran us about $175 (including the amplifier, antenna, cables, tripod, pole, hardware, tar pads, etc.) and my husband did the work himself (we also got the copper grounding pole for free, which saved us a chunk of change.) This is the equivalent of about 2 mos of pay TV (AT&T U-verse 200). The Roku, which is not necessary to Cut-The-Cord, was an additional $90 (month three of pay TV). So overall, we spent the equivalent of about three months of pay TV to get set up for the antenna and internet streaming. After the three months passes (April, May, and June), our TV will officially be “free.”

And in case you’re worried that antenna reception is poor quality, I give you this unaltered image I took of our TV receiving an HD antenna signal BEFORE we put the amplifier on the antenna. And while you're at it, check out a typical weekly forecast for spring in the Chicago-land area: