Peabody's Tail

All that we have collected.  He's lot his entire tail now, so we missed a LOT of his feathers.  That's ok.Below is one entire tail - I collected every feather he lost one year, when he was caged, and made a swag out of it.  (He is free to roam the farm now)

13 Books I have Loved This Summer -

Not in any particular order - 

1. Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson - thriller
2. Love You More by Lisa Gardner - mystery from a series, but I haven't read the series, just this book - the series characters are pretty much background in this story
3. Now You See Her by James Patterson - mystery - & a really good one
4. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares - beach read/friendship/romance.. but not just fluff.  It was surprisingly good!
5. Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer - nonfiction, about the American Memory Competition.  Fun read!  It was nice to have this background before reading the fictional Before I Go To Sleep.
6. Smokin 17 by Janet Evanovich - I love the Stephanie Plum series!
7. 10th Anniversary by James Patterson - a lot of Patterson's books are way too graphic for me, but I love this series.  This one and his Michael Bennet series are on my all time favorites list.
8. Night Road by Kristen Hannah - I'm not a fan of Jodi Picoult, so it's kind of odd for me to compare this to a Jodi Picoult style book and say I loved it, but that's the best way I know to sum it up.  There must be a name for this genre - but I don't know what it is?  
9. Learning to Swim by Sara J Henry - this book is a mystery, but almost as a sideline to the drama?  I'm really looking forward to more by this author.
10. These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf - another chick lit/drama/mystery.  This genre really needs it's own name.  :-)  While I did NOT like the other book I read by this author, I loved this one.
11. Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah  I need to learn my book categories.  I think of this as historical fiction, but if that conjurs up images of bodice rippers for you too..  then that's not what this is. LOL!  It's fiction, but with some history woven in.  Informative, and a good story.  One of my absolute favorite kinds of reads.  
12. The Flower Shop Mysteries by Kate Collins - cozy mysteries.  Light, fun summer reads, no deep thought required, but not so ridiculous that you have to completely shut your brain off.  It might be a stretch to say I "loved" these - but I liked them enough to keep reading the next in the series.
13. One Summer by David Balducci - not a mystery.  I've never read Balducci before, my husband likes his books though..  this is apparently NOT his normal style, but it was really good! A drama of sorts.  Engaging, a good story.

Owl Banding Today

At our neighbors (also cousins) farm today, the game commission banded the owls that are about to leave the box/nest.

Making necklaces

With the boys away at scout camp, I'm attempting to  work on one craft a day.  Today was jewelry making.  :-)

Citronella Lanterns - Before & After

$3 lanterns from Family Dollar. I love them because I can fill hem with citranella oil and burn them on my deck to keep the bugs away..  but I really am not a fan of the bright colors our store had in stock.

I had some "hammered brown" spray paint leftover from painting my bike.  Much better!  :-)

Area 81 Geocaching "Fizzy Challenge"

GC1A6YE Area 81 - Code Name "Fizzy Challenge"

"To be able to claim a find on this cache, you will need to first find at least one cache of every difficulty/terrain combination (81 unique combinations). As part of those finds, you'll need to have at least one of each of the cache types below (the different cache types DO count against the 81, so if you find a 3.5/3.5 multi-cache, it fulfills both requirements.)"

And if that was not complex enough - 

All finds (except the Event and CITO Events) must be on caches that were"Published BEFORE March 26, 2008"

I created a google doc to help track your progress with this cache - see it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Nf6RCxs0QbldPdQuvtJoW12zRzNNNPl_C2dB88qlwd4/edit?usp=sharing

Our Progress:

First, we have to have found one cache of each type:

Traditional Cache -
Multi Cache - GCHVNE Guts
Mystery Cache - 
Virtual Cache - GCB619 Standing Tall
Letterbox Hybrid - 
Earthcache - GC13AMQ Watkins Glen State Park Earthcache
Webcam Cache - GCMHEM Pirate & Craftys Webcam Cache
Event Cache - 
CITO Event - 

NEXT, we need one cache for each terrain/difficulty combination

(my plan is to fill in the GC number in each block, once I sort out which caches we have found that qualify)

Terrain ------>

	1	1.5	2	2.5	3	3.5	4	4.5	5
1	GCMHEM		GCB619
1.5	GC13AMQ				GCAE2
2
2.5
3
3.5				GCHVNE
4	GCM91A
4.5
5

At first I was confused as to how to even start tracking this - It's Not About The Numbers, which is referenced in the cache description, no longer exists.  Then I saw in the logs that others had taken screenshots of their stats from their geocaching.com profile.  Go here: http://www.geocaching.com/my/statistics.aspx

Scroll down, and you will see:

   Difficulty and Terrain of Caches I've Found

and under that will be a grid like this:

This doesn't tell me if all of the caches were hidden prior to March 26 2008.  But this clearly shows what I am definitely missing, at least.

Geocaching - I've Been Everywhere Challenge - Pennsylvania

GC2A6HW - I've Been Everywhere Challenge -- Pennsylvania

GOAL - Log a cache in each of the following towns listed in the Pennsylvania adaptation of Johnny Cash's song, I've Been Everywhere (In Pennsylvania) By Earl Pickens 

To prove that you 'have been everywhere' find a cache within the following 93 places in Pennsylvania:

 *Some of the smaller towns may not have caches. After doing your search choose the cache closest too the city.

Conshohocken,

 Millview,

 Rockview, 

Waterloo,

 Lackawanna,

 Fairview,

 Bellevue, 

Sweet Root, 

Susquehanna,

 Lewisburg,

 Stroudsburg,

 Elysburg,

 Orbisonia,

 Harrisburg, 

Pittsburgh, 

Wellesrburg, 

Robesonia,

 Mountain Top,

 Glen Rock,

 Flat Rock, 

Sunbury, 

Saint Marys,

 Shickshinny,

 Big Shanty,

 Bellefonte,

 Southmont,

 Westmont, 
Womelsdorf,
 Nordmont, 
Dormont,
 Lebanon,
 Hummel's Wharf,
 Cedar Springs,
 Boiling Springs,

 Chest Springs, 
Center Bridge,
 Centerport,
 Leesport, 
Williamsport, 
Brackenridge, 
Lumber City, 
Central City, 
Lake City, 
Clearfield,
 Westfield, 
Winfield,
 Richfield, 
Beech Glen,
 Wilpen,
 Tunnelton,
 Conestoga, 
Bakerton,
 Curry Run, 

Smoke Run,
 Sanatoga, 
Slickville, 
Smithville,
 Flicksville, 
Maxatawny,
 Youngwood, 
Edgewood,
 Hopwood, 
Punxsutawney, 
Whitehall, 
Blue Ball, 
Centre Hall,
 North Apollo, 
Delano, 
Renovo,
 Loretto, 
Stump Creek,
 Penn's Creek, 
Pine Creek, 
Chambersburg,
 Middle Creek,
 Blakeslee, 
Falls Creek,
 Shippensburg, 
Johnstown, 
Allentown,
 Shepherdstown, 
Lords Valley,
 Daisytown, 
Doylestown,
 Downingtown, 
Cherry Alley Cafe,
 Plain Grove, 
Mill Grove,
 Mechanics Grove,
 Swissvale, 
Ferndale, 
Carbondale,

Monongahela

Logging The Final - 

The physical cache location is only about an hour east of us (East of Watsontown PA)