Clickin' through January

I think the magnitude of a piece of news which I just read far exceeds that of the earthquake which occurred off the coast of Alaska overnight.  

From what I've read on Facebook, there was plenty of shake, rattle and roll on land during the 7.9 magnitude quake, which was followed by a tsunami warning, which has been since called off.

No, the news I just read on Twitter could probably register a magnitude of at least 8.5.  

Twelve camels have been eliminated from a beauty contest in Saudi Arabia for using botox to enhance their looks.

Well, the camels didn't do it, but they're the ones that got eliminated. Why is it that the poor animals have to take the heat when their handlers do stupid stuff?  

Makes no sense. Nor does the botox. 

Anyway, I don't know if that was fake news or not, but it certainly got my attention. 

Now, that pretty Arabian lady up above----not the barn but the horse---she's never seen botox---just brushes, combs, clippers and good food. 

And, Chrome, as she's called, is even pretty in her natural winter state.

The botox story and the earthquake story have gotten the day off to an interesting start.  Hoping everyone recovers from the scare in Alaska and the embarrassment in Saudi Arabia.  

In the meantime, we notched one more day in January 2018 yesterday.  Twas somewhat mundane but still eventful enough to provide a variety of photos. 

The only one missing is my vacuum cleaner.  It needs a little botox before I take its photo cuz the Dyson has been around the house a few times, and, like me, it will not win any beauty contests in its golden years. 

By the way, my vacuum cleaner is not a purebred Dyson.  When its older sister, the yellow Dyson started going bad, and this one, a blue beauty (in its day) had a breakdown of sorts, I just stole a part off the yellow cleaner, installed it on the newer model and everything has worked well ever since-----until Sunday.

While vacuuming the living room floor, I noticed that the cleaner did not suck.  Now, this does suck, as the younger generation would say. 

I took tubes off, cleaned them all out, and it still did not suck, even the lightest swabs of Border Collie hair. 

So, I put the vacuum cleaner away, figuring I'd have to buy a new one.  

Yesterday I decided to give the cleaner a thorough examination out on the work bench in the shop.  That's a heckuva lot easier than turning into a contortionist on a dirty carpet while examining the inner parts of the machine designated for cleaning that carpet. 

Nice to be at eye level. 

Well, am I proud of myself.  I found another tube (not removable) on the vacuum which I had not examined on Sunday.

With no surgical assistant available, I had to search for tools to help me with a diagnostic exercise.  The screwdriver did not work because it does not bend.

So, I pulled off a piece of thin, flexible fence wire from a spool on the work bench, inserted it into the tube AND found an obstruction on the first try.  Then, I inserted it into the other end, thinking I could work the obstruction loose. 

It took several tries, but eventually, I was able to get it all---a bunch of fuzz and a matted up, hard ball of fuzz!

Talk about a thrill.  Two minutes later, the Dyson was reassembled and sucking up dirt from the shop floor. 

It is SO satisfying to be able to fix something.  That doesn't happen very often in my life here on the farm, so yesterday's triumph in vacuum-cleaner surgery where the cleaner now SUCKS again ranks right up there.

The rest of the day involved a trip over to see CB. This time, CB left his friends in his corral and walked through the big herd, which pays little or no attention anymore.

We went to the indoor arena where he enjoyed some grooming and a few minutes without his blanket.  CB is a well behaved little horse, but he is still a herd animal, and it was obvious he preferred being able to see other horses, any horses. 

Still, on a scale of 1-10, his separation anxiety might have registered a 2, which is A-OK.  I would worry if he were any different. 

The sun came out while my sisters and I visited for a few minutes and that melting snow turned water was cascading from the barn roof. 

Later, Bill and I went for a drive, taking the Lakeshore Drive/Dufort roads to Priest River and back on HWY 2.  We drove through a lot of rain, and let's just say the scenery was a bit mundane, as it often can be this time of year. 

I did find a few fun photos, and when we arrived back home, the rain had stopped, noisy crows were roosting for the night in their tree tops over at Meserve's and CHEEZEburger birds were singing their distinct tune in between trips to the bird feeders. 

All in all, it was another pretty good January day, but I can assure you that I'm still doing the countdown to February.

Happy Tuesday!  Maybe I'll just do some vacuuming today, or better yet, go check and see if there's a camel beauty pageant on one of the TV stations.