It was 45 degrees outside last night, our heating is set at approximately 60. I go to bed and my husband has the bedroom window open and the ceiling fan on. "It's cold in here" I say, reaching for my pink, fluffy monster of a dressing gown. "No its not" he says "its just right." So, I quickly remove my clothes, wrap myself in my fluffy monster and snuggle under the covers, whereupon my nose begins to turn blue. "It IS cold in here" I say turning on Fox News just a bit too loud so as to annoy him. "No its perfect" he says. He's getting too big for his boots you know.

Where the hell do all the clothes hangers go? This is beginning to become the same sort of mystery as the sock eating dryer or washing machine but that has a sort of logical reasoning behind it. Socks can get lost in tubes and hoses and vents and stuff and it makes sense that you perhaps put three pairs of socks in the washing machine and take two and a half pairs out. But clothes hangers? I routinely buy ten packs of plastic hangers from the dollar store and carefully hang up all our clothes after they have been washed and dried. On occasion I had a few left over which I would place in the closet lonely and clothesless until I needed them. Nowadays however, I go to the closets to hang up clean laundry and there are no hangers. This is not as a result of me going out and buying lots of new clothes at the weekend, I am not a clothes buyer, personally I would rather roll around naked in nettles than go out clothes shopping. Do I have an item specific hanger burgler? Does someone sneak into my house while I am out and take off with my cheap, ten for a dollar, plastic hangers due to some sort of fetish? I am waiting for a story to break in the local paper telling how the police have just raided the house of a local strange person whose rooms are stuffed full of plastic hangers lovingly arranged in areas of size and color and neat labels telling where they were stolen from. To be honest I think I would be happier if someone were stealing my underwear off the washing line, at least underwear doesn't need hangers.

I do not want to buy a car alright, I am happy with the car I drive, a 2000 Kia Sephia. I really, really do not want to buy a car. So WOULD YOU PLEASE STOP YELLING AT ME AT 2 minute intervals between 6:30 and 7:30AM when I actually watch TV TELLING ME WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME IT IS TO BUY A NEW CAR AND IF YOU DON'T COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW AND BUY A NEW CAR THEN YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY A MORON WHO HAS NO AMBITION AND NO CLASS AND EVERYONE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD IS POINTING AT YOU ON THE STREET AND LAUGHING THEIR PANTS OFF CAUSE YOU ARE NOT DRIVING THE CAR THAT WE WANT TO SELL YOU! I really do not want a new car, could you please leave me alone now? I propose a cable channel that is dedicated to car dealer ads, 24/7 so that people who are actually looking to buy a car can go to that channel and be told that NOW IS THE BEST TIME TO BUY (even though they said that last month was the best time to buy, a smart person would hold off for a while, knowing that next month will be an even better time to buy, in fact how about two months from now? in fact hold off for six months and they'll give you the car, put gas in it, and throw in a guy who will drive it for you so long as you feed him every now and again). Yes, that is the solution, a car dealer channel (hey there is a golf channel so ya know, what kind of demographic is that? I should imagine that approximately .00000000000001% of the population watch that one) where people who are actually in the market to buy a new car can go and be yelled at all day WE WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD, YOU PAY INVOICE AND YOU KEEP THE REBATE, WE WILL GIVE YOU THE CAR AND OUR FIRST BORN CHILD, YOU PAY WHAT OUR EMPLOYEES PAY - hey with what you pay your employees they can't afford to buy your cars, that's why they all drive Kia's.

I care about alot of things, the state of the environment, the apparent lack of concern of the people of the globe that eventually natural resources are going to run out and eveyone is going to be toast, the lack of concern of people in general that a plant or animal becoming extinct is actually a disaster as opposed to a blip on the headlines. I care about the fact that the past year or so has brought an almost unprecedented string of natural disasters, from the tsunami, to Katrina, to the earthquake in Pakistan. What do I not care about? I really do not care that Britney and Kevin despite having a baby to worry about appear to be having problems, I really do not care that Angelina is having Brads baby, I really really do not care that Katie is having Tom's baby (although you know I think immaculate conception might have had something to do with that one as I am not sure that the poison dwarf has it in him), I REALLY REALLY don't care that Jennifer is seeing Vince, and finally I REALLY REALLY REALLY do not care that Jessica and Nick, the famed "newlyweds" have split up. Unfortunately I appear to be in the minority. It is very sad when you consider what people care about.

This is a Brown-headed Nuthatch. As a result of deforestation he is becoming very rare in some of his ranges. Luckily in my garden that is not a concern, I have a thriving population of them, and I like to keep them well fed. Perhaps we should all care more about this little guy.

Despite the fact that my window for doing so was quite slim, due to having to paint trim and remove gutters and power wash windows and such. Still I allocated myself some time to watch the birdies, seeing as that is the main way I relax. So in between doing dishes and laundry I set up my tripod in the kitchen sink, opened the kitchen window and waited. To my great delight the male Pine Warbler decided to come and pose for me. The only other photo I got of him was so lousy it looked like a yellow blob. The reason this capture was so important is that the Pine Warbler is a new one for my life list. For those non-birders among you a "life list" is the list of birds that you have seen in your lifetime. (I know it almost sounds self explanatory.) So this is a new one for my list of birds seen in my lifetime.

The photo is a little misleading however because normally he would not have that black mark by his eye, I am assuming that it is an owie or some sort of anomaly with his feathers.

In addition to the Pine Warbler my goldfinches have returned in droves. They visit me every winter to stay fat and happy and then come spring, just as they change into their brilliant breeding plumage they move inland to breed. I have three thistle feeders, with twenty feeding stations between them, yet, even that isn't enough when the flocks arrive. Invariably someone has to stand in line and wait for an opening, its a bit like going to IHOP for breakfast at the weekend.



I also got another nice shot of the Red Bellied Woodpecker who is a personality and a half. When he arrives at the feeders it is like the parting of the red sea, everyone scatters. I suppose it is a safe bet, most of the birds on my feeders have short stubby beaks, when you come across someone who is armed with something like a rapier it is safer to get out of the way.



And finally the tufted titmouse decided to cooperate and pose on the posing table for me. They are delightful little birds, but incredibly difficult to photograph seeing as they, like their cousins the chickadees, utilize the "swoop and snatch" method of feeding, stopping only long enough to grab a peanut before disappearing again. I have learned of late how to recognize their distinctive call and can therefore prepare for their arrival and hopefully focus the camera in time. Today it worked.

I have been contemplating this of late, rolling it around in my brain, mulling, weighing the options, listening to the talking heads, on both sides of the fence. It occurs to me (and please take no offense at this) but America as a country is a baby of sorts when it comes to the threats and horrors of terrorism. September 11th was a baptism of fire so to speak, in the most cruel and horrible way. Those of us who have lived with terrorism for years and become almost familiar with it find America's resistance to full scale war against the terrorists almost unnerving. I am fully aware that Ben Franklin said that "those who are willing to give up liberty for security deserve neither" but I would posit that you don't have a great deal of liberty or security when you are dead. I am sure that the people who lost their lives in the twin towers would be happy as a clam to imagine that their government was monitoring the telephone calls of terrorists either in or out of the country if it meant that the terrorists never got a chance to hijack those planes and fly them into the towers. I lived under a tight security net for many many years (the 14 years I spent in the Royal Navy), at one point I was even issued a mirror on a stick to check under my vehicle for bombs each time I got into it. (Let that roll around your head for a moment, EVERY time you got into your vehicle you checked first for bombs). I couldn't tell strangers I met in a bar what I did for a living, I couldn't wear a T-shirt proudly proclaiming I was in the Royal Navy, on a night out in a bar we would have one member drink soda and be on "shark watch" to make sure no terrorists were planning to bomb the pub that we frequented, I couldn't even carry a suitcase that distinguished me as a member of the armed forces, and as a result of these rules I am alive and kicking today, and I was not shot in the head standing, waiting for a train at a train station. Ben Franklin was a wise man, but he did not live in the world we live in today, with weapons of mass destruction and cell phones, and planes, and skyscrapers. If monitoring phone calls can save the life of just ONE human being then is it not worth it? The most important point to remember is that ONLY those people who have something to fear will worry about having their phone calls monitored. Fred Bloggs calling Joe Smith to discuss the merits of the latest Panthers game has nothing to fear when it comes to someone monitoring his phone calls. Gramma calling Joey to wish him a happy birthday has nothing to fear. The right to privacy is of course important but surely, surely a human being's right to live trumps that right to privacy. Please don't tell me that if a monitored phone call could have stopped those people throwing themselves out of the twin towers to escape the fire you would have resisted that on the grounds of a right to privacy. I hate to say this but ONLY those people who are breaking the law, or who are planning to break the law have any fear of their phone calls being monitored. Look at historical fact. The British Government fought against the IRA for years with a variety of measures each one perhaps infringing on the "rights" of their citizens (ie random searches etc.) what was the result? the IRA as a terrorist group are dead, they simply do not pose a threat any more, they are gone. We won the battle by making our citizens more secure and by making life difficult for the terrorists (and not worrying about the political correctness of shooting them where they stood if the opportunity arose - Gibraltar.) The fact is that terrorists will prey on lax security and their "rights" being protected to kill human beings. I for one will sleep soundly in my bed tonight knowing that somewhere, someone is monitoring the cell phone calls of enemies of this country and thwarting their next plan of attack. Think about it people. How much liberty do you have when you're dead?

My cats are spoiled. I suppose this is a silly thing to say, bearing in mind that most people say things like "are Britty's cats spoiled? is the Pope catholic?" sort of thing but it occurred to me this evening that my cats are REALLY spoiled. To begin with they have an endless supply of dry food which is kept in one of those endless supply feeders on top of a bookcase in the living room. This is due to the fact that two boxers and a lab cross can go through a 10lb bag of dry cat food in the time it takes Paris Hilton to go through a fiance. So they are by no means hungry by any stretch of the imagination. But, in addition to the dry cat food (and not the cheap stuff either they get Cat Chow), they are fed a can of some sort of fish each night. It used to be canned cat food but I learned that it made them throw up and being tired of cleaning cat vomit from various places around my house I replaced it with fish. So on any given evening they dine on either Jack Mackrel, Salmon or Tuna. So this evening it was Salmon, I opened the can, and divided it up between their bowls and called them all for dinner (the ones that did not react to the sound of the can opener like a ballistic missile that is). Patches and her progeny, Mini-me (I think you have seen pictures of the two of them), slunk in from outside and sidled up to the food bowls whereupon they sniffed.... "hmmmmm pink salmon, where the hell is the tuna pah" and walked away. Now I ask you what cat in its right mind would walk away from a dish of pink salmon? ESPECIALLY (and this the the absolutely ironic part about it) as Patches, Miss "I'm too bloody important to eat canned pink salmon" was FOUND at approximately six weeks old starving in a parking lot at a local grocery store eating some squashed burger type thing.... and NOW, NOW she lives with me she turns her nose up at pink Salmon? I made some shrimp things the other week and had some spare shrimp so I gave them to the cats, same reaction, "hey this thing smells like fish but it involves chewing what's with that?" I tell you I am being taken advantage of and if she thinks she is getting tuna seven nights a week she can think again.



There is some sort of hawk or kestral type of thing that is checking out my bird feeders at the moment. Now as you know I am a bird lover, but I am in no way happy about some sort of hawk or kestral preying on the birds that visit my feeders. It is quite unnerving, one minute the bird feeders will look like Grand Central Station and the next there is not a soul around, and those that are around are keeping an eye on the heavens....while I love raptors in all forms I just wish they would stick to eating mice and rats and stuff and leave my birdies the he** alone....





And finally did you know that in the state of North Carolina it is a misdemeanor for a man and a woman to live together without being married.... yeah well now you do. Here is the story and in case you were wondering why I am posting it we are the lawyers for the plaintiff... (they need a local NC lawyer to be in on the case) so spent most of my morning kicking my heels in Pender County, Peter Isajiw is a sweetheart by the way, and not at all what you would think a "big New York city lawyer" sometimes the law is fun and this is one of those cases. Go ahead and get mad at this story...

[[LINK:http://www.wwaytv3.com/Global/story.asp?S=4373954]]

and not as one would expect in a subdued way such as refusing to heat water, resulting in the shock of a cold shower in the morning. No, as many familiar with my life know by now my water heater had to die in the most spectacular way possible, by springing a leak and shedding its entire contents onto the living room and dining room floor. I opened the door and entered on arriving back from work and was quite perturbed when I appeared to be paddling in my own living room. Now the dogs have been kept in of late, due to the vinyl siding guys, but I figured even they couldn't pee that much, even if all three of them got together and hatched a plan to all pee in the same place for at least an hour or so. Not only was I perturbed by the fact that the living room was full of water (thank the gods for tiled floors by the way, we dug up the carpets after hurricane Floyd and I swore I would never do it again, hence tiled floors) but in and around the water heater was where I kept my spare bed linens, this serves two purposes, it keeps the bed linens warm and dry and it keeps the water heater insulated thereby saving energy. So in addition to having a paddling pool in my living room all my spare bedding on the floor area of the water heater was soaking wet. After I had dragged out all of the sodden bed linens I contemplated the situation, does one call a plumber and get him to repair the water heater or does one buy a new water heater and attempt to replace it oneself? *jeopardy music* I got online and checked out the prices of water heaters, checked out how difficult it would be to replace and contemplated. Three words however convinced me that calling a plumber was the best course of action, the three words were a) water, b) electricity and c) soldering. As I have said in the past I am happy to do simple electric things (replacing a light fixture or ceiling fan for instance) but when it comes to technical electricity things I hand the entire job over to the experts, not wanting to end up burnt and crispy. To begin with "water" and "electricity" in the same sentence worried me, then when you add "fire" (ie soldering) into the mix I was thoroughly convinced that I would end up a) electrocuting myself b) flooding the house or c) burning the house down. Then there was the problem of how to dispose of the old water heater. Nope, a plumber had to be called. Luckily I have a great source of referrals in my vinyl siding guy (he knows absolutely everyone in town) and he put me on to a nice man who came out here this morning (saturday) and replaced the water heater, not only for a good price, but he was polite, efficient and didn't mind having to put up with the dogs wanting to know what the hell he was doing in the closet under the stairs. So now I have a new water heater, which I have to admit we have done quite well with as the old one was 20 years old and the average life span for one is 10 AND ours went through the Floyd flood and survived so I think I got off lucky. Of course this HAD to happen the month we are having the vinyl siding put in but you know, whatever. I celebrated this evening by drinking a VERY nice bottle of Chablis (you just can't FIND chablis in the US I have no idea why other than the fact that the French must keep all the best stuff for themselves and their fellow Europeans.) *Sigh* I suppose I am going to have to do the dishes now, for the past few days I had a really good excuse not to...