Backyard Transformations

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was having some work done in my back yard, but never got around to posting about it (along with a bunch of other things I never got around to posting about, but will likely get to soon).  I don't really have much in the way of before and after pictures, and right now the after pictures wouldn't look too much different from the before as most of the changes so far are under the ground.

The problem that needed resolving was this:

Water near front door

Every time it rained, an area 10 feet by 25 feet quickly became flooded - and unfortunately, that area was all around the back door.  In fact,  for several weeks this winter, there was 3-4 inches of water between the back door and the gate.  I did a temporary fix by building a 'bridge'

Bridge over the River Crofton

but of course that didn't resolve the problem of all the mud in the yard, mud which was generously tracked into the house by a minimum of 12 muddy paws several times a day.

And so a couple of weeks ago, I called in the big guns.  Together we worked out a plan that was within (more or less) the budget that I had set aside for landscaping, would resolve the problem (as well as it could be resolved when you live near the beach at sea level, on an island where all the homes to the west have properties higher than yours, and where the soil is clay).

We began by removing a section of back fence to give access via the back lane, and in came the machinery to dig dig dig, scraping and re-grading the soil and preparing for the drainage pits and pipes.

The municipality wouldn't allow us to channel water off the property (unless we connected to a storm sewer which runs down the middle of the street at the front of the house, and for which I'd have to pay many more thousands of dollars to have the road dug up and about fifty feet of pipe laid just to connect to whatever underground pipes were being done in the back,), so we dug a pit 4'x6'x6' and filled it with 2.5 tonnes of rock.

Got any bodies you want buried?

We dug trenches diagonally from the west side of the yard to the pit, and from the downspout of the back porch to the pit, sunk drainage piping surrounded by landscape fabric to prevent clogging, put in an access port to clean it out if it should clog, and surrounded the drainage pipes with more rock.

Drain from back porch to pit

Drainage channel diagonally across yard

Meanwhile, we had a 10' x 25' exposed aggregate patio built along the back of the house.  We discussed removing the back porch altogether, as the landscaper really thought it stuck out like a sore thumb, but between costs and utility (the porch is easy to contain dogs on, a good place to put stuff down when fumbling with the back door, etc.) I vetoed that idea and had them build around it.  Some day I will have a nicer back porch built, or at least replace the ugly cover with something more esthetically pleasing.

Down comes the aggregate

Finished exposed aggregate patio

Lastly, we added sand and topsoil.  We used sod over a small area, so the dogs would have somewhere to pee, and seed over the rest, fenced off with snow fencing while it gets established.  One area was left unseeded (covered with tarp) for a perennial garden.

From back porch.  Tarped area will be planted with shrubs and perennial flowers.

So, with the exception of the new patio, it doesn't look too much different from the mud and bare land I had before - except that it is ready to be 'softscaped' now.  However, as the budget has been used up on the heavy work, I'll be doing the rest myself - at least, for this year.

Here's my plan for the yard.  It's still subject to change, as I haven't quite decided where to relocate the umbrella clothesline (which I carefully had them work around and then decided to move!) - I use it all the time, so it has to find a home.  I'm also unsure of the placement of the 4x4 cedar compost box I want to use for garden materials like lawn clippings that are too long and wet to leave on the ground but fill up my other composter too quickly. I'm pretty I'll use the back corner, camouflaged by shrubs, as any other place creates an obstacle or an barrier to something else.

Plan for back yard - for those with good eyesight!
(You can click on the picture to make it full sized, and to view
a slideshow of all the photos in this entry)

I have already built a level contained area for the various garbage and recycling bins and for my mostly-kitchen compost bin, and I have the wood for the cedar garden compost and for the new raised veggie beds.  I've ordered two custom-made 5x2x2 planter boxes for the end of the patio, which I'll fill with tall evergreen shrubs to provide a privacy screen from the nearby neighbour's deck. I've got seeds and some plants and lots of compost and peat. I've spray painted a metal flying pig and hung it on my wall behind the red chairs.

But most of all, I have sat on my new patio at sunrise with cup of coffee in hand,

Sunrise, first morning on the new patio

and watched four baby birds take their very first flight:

Mom, is today the day we get to fly?

Please, please, please can we fly today?

One last snack before you go!

Ready.....

Are you getting this, camera lady?

Steady.....

Go!
(Aw, camera lady, you almost missed it!)

Cost of drainage project:  $5,600.  Cost of  a morning sunrise spent with baby birds:  priceless.

Allie and I have been robbed!

Allie's reality show "The Secret Lives of Hungry Birds" is no longer available - some jerk stole our wrought iron bird feeder, including the shepherd's crook it hung on and the clear plastic dome that kept the seed dry, and even the dang seed.  I found the seed dumped on the sidewalk and on the step of an apartment building two blocks away.

Cancelled:  The Secret Lives of Hungry Birds

I filled the feeder last night, and I'm pretty sure it was still there this morning when I watered the plants nearby.  So it was either stolen when I took my friend Else out for her belated birthday breakfast, or while I was working on landscaping in the back yard - that is, in broad daylight.  I did hear Sadie barking like crazy while I was out the back, but didn't really think twice about it as she often barks at people on the street.

What is scary is the feeder is only 18" from the window (which is a good distance from the road!), and was well spiked into the very hard ground.  And who in their right mind walks off (or drives off, as I suspect, since there was no spilled seed between my place and where the seed was dumped) with a five foot tall shepherd's crook with a filled bird feeder swaying from it? If they were stealing it for the metal, as often happens nowadays, you'd think they would have dumped the seed and the plastic dome right there instead of juggling it all to their car or home.

Crofton has always felt like such a safe little town to me.  It has a very, very low crime rate - virtually nil - and is the kind of place where a lot of people don't lock their doors, and where you can safely walk the streets at any time of the day or night.

It doesn't feel quite so safe to me any more.

And Allie is very pissed off.

I will GET YOU, you jerk!  

Trouble in Bloggerland

My McAfee Secure  system tells me that most of the blogging sites I visit (Haiku Farms, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the time, Bully Buddies, A Collection of Madcap Escapades, Just Another Dog Blog, The Foster Report, Little Dogs on Long Leashes, Mountain Music, Bikesbirdsbeasts, to name just a few, have become infected with a dangerous virus.  Turtle Gardens and 7MSN don't seem to be affected.

Of course, it is possible that people trying to visit this site are also getting the "Whoa! Do you really want to go there" message, so won't read this, but I thought I'd try to let my cyberfriends know in case they want to run a scan on their computer.

If you are getting that message when you visit this site (but decided to risk everything and come here anyway), please let me know.  I've run a scan on my site and can't detect anything, but what the heck do I know about the evil world of technology?

Still here

Still here, still tired, still taking a sabbatical from just about everything (including blogging it seems).  I have been working in the yard a bit, reading a bit, watching garbage on tv a bit, sleeping a bit (though not as much as I'd like), writing a bit, and playing with the new-to-me camera a bit.  I took this shot on my patio at night, trying out some new settings and lenses.  I'm pretty happy with it, but can't for the life of me remember the name of the plant.  Two hours thumbing through gardening books and surfing the net hasn't left me any the wiser.  Can someone enlighten me? It is a perennial, grows about three feet tall on long stems with paired leaves along the length and rows of these flowers hanging along the underside of each stem.

Flowers at night

Dogs, Frogs, and Blogs

Sadie B, Eddie, Gail and I went up the southern end of Maple Mountain on Thursday, starting at the east side  of Escarpment Way.  My local dog friends refer to this as "The Pond Walk" as all the swimming dogs head straight for a small but fairly deep pond not far along the trail.  This was Sadie B's first time on this walk, and she found the pond in no time:

Bliss!

Eddie doesn't have much use for water, so moseyed about while Sadie B swam.  And Eddie doesn't do fetch, so ignored the sticks that Sadie B kept bringing back for 'just one more throw, pleeeeease":

Sadie B's favourite pasttime

Apparently, neither Eddie nor Sadie B do frogs, because both of them completely ignored this little guy who afforded me many opportunities to photograph him, even after Sadie B danced right on his head:

Excuse me - could you keep that dog off my head?

Swim time over (though Sadie B would have opted to stay there all day, as long as someone would keep throwing her stick), we continued up the wide trail which ascends at a gentle slope in dappled sunlight:

Happy Eddie on the trail

Hurry Up!  There could be another pond ahead!

About an hour later we reached an area from which we could see Quamichan Lake below.

Quamichan Lake from the south side of Maple Mountain

I had company arriving in the afternoon, so that seemed as good a point as any to turn back.  The dogs had a good run, we had a nice hike, and Sadie B had a great swim.

I've been falling behind in blogging, reading and commenting on cyberfriends' blogs, and sorting and editing thousands of photos.  This week the drainage and patio guys were here, and now I can add "water newly seeded area three times a day" to my to-do list as well as "edit photos and blog about back yard transformation" to my growing list of things to blog about.

I have been feeling over-extended lately, though it isn't so much the volume of work as the timing of it - balancing my Sadie's frequent meals and between-meal meds, with Petey's needs, with Eddie's walks, with other tasks that need to be done for the upcoming kitchen renos, with trying (in vain) to get the flowers and veggie seeds in, with meeting writing deadlines, with ........oh, maybe it is the volume of work.

Anyway, I decided to clear my calendar of all but the essentials - taking a couple of months off from a few of my regular, non-dog-related activities in order to have more time for me. I really want to be gardening, reading, and most of all learning how to use my new camera equipment (the above photos were all taken with my old point-and-shoot) - and these are solo activities that don't mesh well with clock-watching, preparing for meetings, getting to places on time. This might also give me a bit more time and energy to blog and to respond to some of the truly wonderful blogs I like to read.

Or not.  Kitchen renos begin June 25th.  Life may get crazier before it gets calmer.

My New Toy: Part Two

I have such clever readers.  And their responses to my last post were ALL correct.  Part of my sister's legacy to me, aside from the role model she provided and the countless ways she influenced my life, was this:

My sister was a gifted photographer.  She would spend hours in uncomfortable positions, usually lying flat on the cold hard ground, waiting for that perfect shot. She belonged to the Summerland Camera Club, entered competitions, and was also a judge at some events.

Carole's partner Bev was her sherpa, her go-fer, her packer and unpacker of all this photographic 'stuff'.  And Bev's last camera-packing job for Carole was to pack up all the gear and send it on home with me.  Five boxes of stuff.  Books and lenses and filters and tripods and cases and reflectors and fancy frames to make star-shaped images and a zillion things I haven't yet figured out.

Among the treasures are two cameras - a film Nikon F-801 which she used for slide photography, and a digital Canon EOS Rebel XSi.  I t was with the Canon, plus a Canon EF-S 18-200mm  zoom lens and a  UV Haze filter, that I captured the photo of Allie in sunlight, the teaser in the previous post.  I assure you, the quality of the shot was purely a fluke.  So far I've only made it to paragraph five of the manual, which appears to be written in some secret code.   Apparently I am a hands-on, trial-and-error learner.......and believe me, this will be a steep learning curve.  But what a gift, what an opportunity to follow in my big sister's photofootsteps.

One day I will post some of my sister's wonderful photos - Bev is currently helping her elderly mother to move, but will forward some to me when she has had time to catch her breath - but if you look closely at this picture of my new toy, you'll see one of my sister's photos just behind the camera.  Ironically, it is also of a cat in sunlight.  And I didn't notice that until just now:

I look forward to many happy hours (and no doubt many frustrating ones too) learning to capture our beautiful world through the lens of my sister's camera.  I hope I can grow to be half the photographer she was.

My New Toy - Part One

Wanna guess what my new toy is?  


I'll give you a hint:

Allie

No, it's not another critter!  Try again!

Mother's Day Meanderings

Seeds burst from bull rushes at Chemainus Lake:
mothers sending children off into the world

One of the pleasures of my recent trip to attend my sister's Celebration of Life last week was the opportunity to spend time with my daughter, both on the ride up and sharing a hotel room for three days.  Okay, I'm a person who likes living alone (well, as alone as one can ever be with critters around!) and likes my own space, so I was a bit apprehensive - while I love my daughter dearly and I know she loves me, we are not what you might call a closely bonded pair.  We phone or email each other once every couple of months or so, but we would never be mistaken for sisters - or even kin - in either looks or personality.  Yet we do both enjoy the outdoors, photography, writing, reading, and the occasional family gathering. Perhaps we are more alike than first appears.

Motherhood is, I believe, one of the most stressful and demanding choices a person can make.  I single-parented for eighteen years, just the one child, and I am in awe of those who single-parent multiple children without losing their mind or ending up doing time for murder. And I am even more in awe of mothers who so obviously enjoy parenting.  While there were some parts of it I liked - like reading a bedtime story, or watching her reach a new milestone in life, parenting was definitely not my forte.  My child was a challenge at times, though thankfully it was because of our opposing personalities rather than any of the scarier teen issues like drugs or alcohol or crime.  She was a good student, had really nice friends, and turned into an amazing adult. I am so proud of her.  My daughter, now in her mid-thirties,  matured beautifully in spite of me!

In many ways, our relationship mimics the one I have had with my own mother - strained at times, but I always knew she was there for me.  She, too, was an independent woman, a strong woman, a woman with whom I lacked a close emotional attachment in day-to-day life but hold firmly in my heart.  Watching mom in these her final months or years of life (she is 93) is not easy - in recent years she has lost so much that brought her happiness - her mobility, her eyesight, some hearing, some cognitive abilities, and, of course, her oldest daughter.  It hurts to see her unhappy, and I often feel guilty for not seeing her more often or doing for her the little things my sister did to bring her pleasure.  I find myself wondering how my daughter will handle my senior years. Having a very elderly mother is almost as challenging as having a very young child.

My daughter phoned me bright and early this morning;  and I will phone my mother a little later in the day.  Meanwhile, true to form, we will each do our own thing - three independent, sometimes stubborn women, connected by the strings of the heart and the strands of DNA.

Happy Mothers' Day to the mothers out there.  May your family times be happy ones, your memories be good ones, and your children grow up fine - not your clone, but individuals in their own right, ready to take on a challenging world.

(And this wasn't the topic I had planned to write about this morning - I had seven topics in mind, but this is what popped out.  Perhaps tomorrow I will post about the trip, or my new toy, or the landscaping that starts at 7 AM tomorrow, or the concert I attended, or the bears, or - oh yes - the inspiration for ever starting my blog:  the animals! )

What's wrong with this picture?

What I did today:
Walked the dog, did five loads of laundry, picked up the new kitchen sink and faucet for the renos,  met with the kitchen designer, mowed the grass, took garden refuse to the dump, bought a composting bin, went to the bank,  raked the grass, sorted stuff I brought back from my sister's, cleaned out a cupboard to make room for stuff I brought back from my sister's, met with the guy who is pouring my new patio,  talked with the guy doing the drainage work Monday, boxed up something my daughter needed, went to the post office, picked up groceries, checked out the paint for the kitchen, and read (but haven't yet replied to) 33 emails.

What the dogs did today:

Eddie

Petey

Sadie

In my next life, I wanna be a dog!

I am home

I am back on the island.  The dogs and Margaret survived just fine.  I will write more after I have had a chance to unwind from an emotional but also wonderful time.  For now, let me share this single photo I took of a rose cast on the lake by my sister-in-law Bev (my sister's life partner of 36 years) as we said our final goodbyes to Carole:

A rose for Carole

Our Mama's gone and left us!

By Sagacious Sadie, Steady Eddie, Perky Petey and Allie the Cat

On Wednesday, our Mama (Petey:  she's not my mama, she's my FOSTER mama!) pulled out the suitcases.  We know what that means.  We quickly dispatched Allie to run interference:

Allie, one o'clock

Allie:  This should keep her from packing!

Allie, two o'clock

Allie:  Maybe if I scrunch down real low she won't notice me

Allie, three o'clock

Booted out of one case, she quickly slips into the other

Allie:  I'll hide  in here - she'll never see me!

Petey:  She's goin' away and she makes ME have a bath?
Shudn't the one goin' away have the bath?

Petey:  An she even took me to Auntie Karen's for a haircut!
(Now let that vet tell my foster mama I'm too fat -
I was just FLUFFY!)

Sadie:  I bet she takes me! She told me she loves me BEST!
(Oops, she said not to tell you that!)

Eddie:  I s'pose I don't get to go?
Jean:  NO!  None of you are coming!  Auntie Margaret is going to
 take good care of you right here.

Sadie:  Aww schucks.  No fair. I wanted a road trip!

Petey:  At least I'll have a lap to snuggle on!
One that stays still for more than two minutes!

Allie:  Mom's gonna be gone?
Not here to protect the dogs?
Now's my chance!

Sadie:  I think us three canines better stick together

Mama will be back in a few days.  Wiv pictures and stories, I betcha.  Meanwhile, we 

is getting spoiled by her friend Margaret.  Mama has wireless at her hotel, so she will be 

able to read your comments about how cute we are and how mean she was to leave us behind 

and how lucky we are to have a nice lady looking after us.  And telling the cat to **** off. 

Morning escapade and a timely reminder

Eddie and I were out for our morning walk, when I spotted two little dogs high-tailing it down one of Crofton's main streets.  No person in sight.  While we do get the occasional wandering dog in town, these two were clearly escapees judging by the speed they were travelling and their jerky movements as they tried to decide which way to head next.

The little grey fuzzball, very much like a slightly larger and heavier version of Petey, came right up to me and I quickly grabbed him. He was friendly, and Eddie liked him, so I threaded Eddie's leash through Fuzzball's collar.  He had no tags, just a not-very-tight, very worn cloth collar.  He was docile enough, however, that I figured a double loop of the leash and a tightening of the collar would suffice to keep him safe.

Dog number two, a young brindle minpin, was another story. He clearly wanted to be with Fuzzball but was very skittish and would not come near us.  I started walking towards home, Eddie and Fuzzball walking nicely side by side on the one leash.  Brindle Badboy did the twostep around us, always keeping just beyond my reach.

Though I was very conservative with my movements, many times he darted out across busy Queen Street, and twice just barely avoided being hit by cars.  After the second time, which scared him as much as it scared me and the driver, he took off back up the hill we had just descended.

I decided to follow, hoping he would lead me to his home and I could get Fuzzball back to his owner.  No such luck.  We walked and walked and walked and soon we were on the busiest street in town - the one road out to Duncan, our nearest 'big' (using the term loosely) city, Osborne Bay Road.

Worried for his safety, I sat on the curb with Eddie and Fuzzball, and after some hesitation, Brindle Badboy calmed down and came close enough for me to wrap an arm under his belly and lift him up.  He had no collar, he was wiggly, and he had very smooth slippery skin, and for a smallish dog he weighed a ton. This was not going to be easy.

I thought of taking Eddie's collar off  to use for Brindle Badboy, but was not willing to put Eddie in harm's way.  Eddie's offleash behaviour is pretty good now in the park or trail, but he still can't be trusted off leash around streets and cars. (In fact, we had a close call the other day when he hopped out of the car at my friend Liz's, and he panicked as he realized he didn't know where he was - ears, eyes, head and tail said he was all poised to bolt.  Thankfully, Liz grabbed his leash before he could dash off.  But it was a heart-stopping moment for sure.)  I didn't want to save a stranger's dogs only to have mine lost or run over. Plus the likelihood of getting a collar off one dog, resizing it and getting it on a scared dog in my arms without losing the other two dogs or my balance - well, it seemed pretty unlikely.

And so I started plodding my way home - Eddie and Fuzzbutt on one leash, fifteen pound Brindle Badboy in my arms.

And that's when it happened.  Eddie decided to have a dump.  On the sidewalk.  In front of someone's house.  With cars going by.

I am anal (pun intended) about cleaning up dog poop.  I am the Dog Poop Hag.  I rant and rage about people who don't pick up after their dogs, whether on the sidewalk, on trails, on the beach, or in a back lane.  If your dogs makes poop, you scoop.  Period.  And don't toss the filled baggies into nearby bushes and trees!  I have written newspaper columns and letters to the editor about it.  I have offered people baggies, I have bagged it myself and left it with a note on the offender's front step (when I saw my neighbour's dog doing it on my yard for the umpteenth time).  I become incensed at the sight of unclaimed dog poop.

And so I could not walk on, leaving Eddie's poop for others to step in.

You know what's coming, don't you?

As I squatted down to scoop the poop, two dogs on one leash and another in my arms, slippery, slidey, wiggly, skittish Brindle Boy saw his chance and with one great heave flew out of my arms.  Across the busy road.  Up the hill.  Headed for Mt. Richards.

I knew I couldn't catch him now, so I continued on home, planning to call the pound (no, I didn't have my cellphone with me - I should have.  Shoulda woulda coulda.  I'm just not a cellphone kinda gal.), crate Fuzzball, and head up there to look for the miscreant.

But just as we walked up my driveway, a car pulled in behind me.  The owner of the runaway dogs and his dad.  Dad lived in town, son was visiting from elsewhere.  Dogs were son's.  Dad had put dogs outside and then forgotten about them.  They escaped - for the second time in two days!

I reamed the dad out for letting visiting dogs out unattended.  I reamed the son out for not having collars and tags on his dogs and for not keeping his dogs on leash in unfamiliar areas.  (Readers know, of course, that I am not only a Dog Poop Hag but also a 'keep dogs safe' hag.  I have no patience with people who do not take every precaution to keep their dog safe in unfamiliar environments).

Last I saw of father, son and Fuzzball, they were speeding up the hill toward the top of Emily Street and access to Mount Richards.  I hope they find Brindle Badboy.  And I hope they keep their dogs safe.

And so, as we head into spring and summer visiting and travelling, this not-so-gentle-reminder:  If you are travelling with your dogs, KEEP THEM SAFE.  If you have people visiting with dogs, KEEP THEM SAFE.  We may hear wonderful stories of legendary dogs travelling 3000 miles cross country to find their vacationing owners or to find their way home, but the reality is that many lost dogs in unfamiliar environments end up one way and one way only:  DEAD.  Don't let it be yours.  This is a public service announcement. 

Leading Friends Astray

Yesterday, I invited my friend Margaret to join Eddie and I on one of our little hikes. ( Margaret will be staying at my place looking after the critters next week while I attend my late sister's Celebration of Life, and this was a good opportunity for her to reconnect with the hyper little monster my sweet sheltie boy).

Margaret had not been on any of the hikes in  Crofton and left it up to me to pick one.  The tide was in, so I ruled out Osborne Bay Park and chose Crofton Lake, a short but enjoyable hike I've done many times with many friends.  It is normally about a twenty minute hike up to the lake, a bit of time taking in the beauty and serenity at the lake, and fifteen minutes for the return trip.  Let's say an hour's outing altogether.

Except when I lead my friends astray.

Back in the summer of 2009, when I first moved to Crofton, I had gone up to the lake with some friends and we had done a circular route - up the 20 minute trail, but back down through the trees and along an old logging road  around Richards Mountain which gave us panoramic ocean views and eventually brought us back out at the parking lot.  I hadn't done that route since, but figured - what the heck, it can't be that hard to find.

Oops.

Somewhere along the way, I zigged when I should have zagged.  There were many secondary trails through the trees, and on one we found some cairns marking the trail so we decided to stick to that one - if we came out in Duncan, or Chemainus, or Maple Bay, we could always use my cellphone to call for a friend to give us a ride back to our car.

We walked.  And we walked.  And we walked.  I was somewhat anxious about not knowing where I was going so the camera stayed in my pocket most of the time.  But if I had taken more pictures you would have seen more of this

Trail on Richards Mountain

and more of this

More trail on Richards Mountain

and a bit of this

Oregon grape in bloom

and even some of this

Little camouflaged lizard in mud

And some of  a tired Eddie and a tired friend.  I won't mention that said friend also slipped in the mud at one rather awkward point in the trail and ended up covered from head to toe with mucky mucky mud.  No, I won't mention that.

Tired Eddie on the trail

We did eventually come out at a logging road, though at the time I had no idea which one.  Instinct told us to head right, which would take us down the mountain.  But my instinct hadn't been working very well so far that morning, so we turned left.  It was the right choice - just fifty meters or so up the road  we came to an intersection we recognized - the old logging road and a wide dirt trail - the dirt trail that in about ten minutes would get us back to our car.

We declared the hike a big success, despite taking two and a half hours and netting us one very muddy set of clothing, several aching joints, and a very tired dog.  Next time, no matter how short the hike is supposed to be, I shall carry more water (I gave my bottle to Eddie), granola bars (I forgot to replace them after my last hike), and my walking stick.  I did have my cell phone so we weren't in any great danger of being lost.

My friend proved her weight in gold - she kept assuring me we weren't lost, we were on an adventure. No, not lost, just exploring.  Not at all lost, just having a nice long walk.  Thank goodness for friends like that.

Caption, please!

My chuckle for the day:  I saw this cat just behind a shed when I was walking Sadie around the block.   He hissed at us when we stopped to take his photo, but didn't budge.  I invite your captions!

Blogger woes

Blogger (the site that hosts this blog) has apparently made significant changes to its platform and I can no longer access my 'dashboard' or do anything other than post new blogs.  So if you commented on the new post below, it will be published when/if Blogger straightens out this mess.  For now, I can't do anything but read your comments in my email box.
Why can't they leave well enough alone!
Jean