And now, for something scary...

BOO!

Sometimes, you simply have to shake
your head in wonderment... and laugh.
Now available on eBay, of course.

Is it just me, or did the Biden and McCain
dolls have the same cabbage dad?

Happy Halloweeeeeeeen!!!!

Moihahahahahahahaha!

On the kitchen table

Some pretty mums with heather...
I adore flowers on my table.

Last of the flutterbys

This lone sulphur was enjoying the last of the Dianthus...

Yard art

A little friend left something for me in the yard...
a true work of art.

The deck is D-O-N-E!

Before:

Finally!
The deck rail re-do is done.
The crumbling composite rail is gone
and is replaced by some gleaming Ipe with
aluminum balusters and post caps.
We are beyond pleased with the results.


After:

So are you Christian enough?

Saturday morning, I was reading the paper, and came to the Lifestyle section which tends to profile faith and family issues on the front page for the weekend. There was a story about a man and his wife who are starting a new business in neighboring City By The River. They are compiling a "Christian Business Directory" so that those businesses who are "Christian" can list themselves as such and be frequented by other "Christians." I found myself having a visceral reaction.

I consider myself to be Christian. But, I also consider other faiths and beliefs to be valid and important. It is not my place to tell anyone what they should or should not believe. Nor is it my place to make others feel somehow deficient and misguided if they do not subscribe to my belief system. So, why is it OK to create a business directory that excludes people based on faith? The new business owner even went as far as to say that the businesses would have to sign a "statement of belief" and that their church memberships would be investigated and confirmed before they would be listed. Are you serious? I can only imagine the outcry if there was a new business directory put out by the B'nai Zion congregation excluding all but Jewish owned businesses.

We are at a crossroads in our country. We have so many serious issues confronting us and yet there are those who would seek to divide us based upon our belief systems. Being Christian does not automatically equate to being pro-American, patriotic, moral, or owning an upstanding business. New businesses like this only seek to divide us and send a message loud and clear to all those who have not yet begun a faith journey, that they do not want to be a part of something so seemingly exclusive and pious. It's all so very sad to me.

Hello Walter

Let me introduce you to Walter.
He lives in my sister's white lantana
and loves to have his photo taken.
She took these the other day.
She said he'll turn his head slowly
towards her until they are eye to eye
and he just looks at her as she snaps away.

Later, Walter was having an afternoon
snack of a moth and she captured him
enjoying the last morsels. :c)

We the jury...

We returned to the courtroom and were seated. Our foreman handed the verdict to the bailiff who handed it to the judge. He gave it to the clerk and she opened it. As she read the verdict aloud, I sat there in peace. Knowing, without a doubt, we had fully done what we were asked to do. We looked at all the facts, listened carefully, considered all the evidence, and came to a determination about the truth.

I watched both the Assistant D.A. and the defense attorney as the verdicts were read. Both were looking down at their respective tables and I could sense their surprise when "not guilty" was read on the first count. When the verdict for the second count was read however, Tom's shoulders visibly fell. The compassionate side of me knew that Tom was a product of his upbringing and life experiences. In many ways, he truly was doing the best he could, however, his choices were wrong and his "discipline" was excessive and cruel. His little girl would carry the wounds he'd inflicted in her eight short years with him for a lifetime.

After the second verdict was read, the judge ordered Tom into the immediate custody of the sheriff's department until his sentencing due to "circumstances and facts which had come to light" in the trial. We were all rather surprised. So, there were facts we did not know about the case which warranted his immediate custody? We were thanked for our service, told we were now welcome to discuss this case, and dismissed to head to the clerk's office for our $35/day stipend. As we filed out, Tom was cuffed and led away by a deputy.

Once outside the courtroom, we headed to the clerk's office and got our compensation. We were all standing together when the Assistant D.A. came out of the courtroom. He walked towards us and asked if we'd like to talk to him. We certainly did want to. We were able to explain to him how we came about reaching the decision we did, and he asked for our honest input about what he'd done right and what he could have done differently. It was wonderful feedback for us all.

He then shared that indeed, since the original indictment was handed down, and Sara was in therapy, it had come to light that there were some other issues which were abusive as well. If we had not found him guilty, there would have been another indictment on other charges. But, with our verdict, Tom was likely facing a possible sentence of 20 years. I was glad I did not know the sentencing guidelines beforehand. Many on the jury thought he might get "time served" since he had already served a sentence of ten months once taken into custody in June 2006. We had no clue about the sentencing for this statute, and were told by the judge before deliberation that we did not need to know, or take that into consideration when coming to a decision about our verdict.

We all walked out together, and said our good-byes. I had a bond with these 12 people, and did not even know most of them by name. We hugged, and expressed our relief that we felt we had indeed reached a fair and right decision. It's a huge responsibility, but one that is necessary for our justice system to work properly. I won't soon forget this experience. It will leave a mark on my heart always. Along with the pain, there is also a sense of pride in the fair and impartial way we, as as group of people who had never met before, were able to do what the justice system asks of its citizens.

Sara, who is planning to be adopted by the wonderful foster family she's been with, will hopefully be able to move forward in her life. Maybe, just maybe, this one child will succeed against the odds. God is good all the time... all the time, God is good...

~~~~~~~

Thanks to everyone for bearing with me
during this series of posts about my experience.
It really has helped to share it all, and I appreciate
all your input and comments so very much.

Deliberation decision

We returned Friday morning at 9AM. After a nice glass of wine in a wonderfully relaxing hot bubble bath the night before, I knew what my decision was going to be. There were two counts to be decided. Child cruelty in the first degree for the specific date when the video was captured, and a second count of first degree child cruelty at other times, dates undetermined by the Grand Jury.

There was discord about the video. It was dark, it was shot from across the street, and we could not really see inside the truck. Yes, we heard Tom yelling, and yes we saw Sara get into the truck and saw him smack towards her, but could not see him actually hit her, where, or with how much force. If we had only this video alone as proof, could it be construed that this could have been episodic and related to his anger in that moment alone? We had heard the story of why he was angry. Could we infer malice? We've all been there. So angry with our kids that we have a knee-jerk physical reaction. We are immediately sorry and contrite as we know we were acting due to anger in that moment. But, what if someone caught just that moment in time on video? Would we go to jail for child cruelty? So, we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt for the charges related only to that day as the video was the only proof.

Count two however, in my mind, was solid. There was a pattern of continued malicious excessive physical and mental cruelty towards this little girl. We'd heard enough testimony to corroborate this, and in my mind, the very fact that he put on a completely different persona towards Sara in front of church members and others told me that he knew what he was doing was wrong and chose to hide it. What happens in the trailer, stays in the trailer... I kept hearing her voice in my head.

But, there were three jurors who were just not fully convinced for various reasons. We dissected all we'd heard. We looked at the wording of the indictment, being careful to fully define "malicious" and "excessive" and listened to each person give their opinion. After nearly two exhausting hours of discussion, we decided to take a 15 minute break. We still were not in total agreement on count two. Most of us went outside for some fresh air. As I walked around the sidewalk surrounding the courthouse, the tears came. I was fully distressed at the thought of leaving that jury room as a hung jury, which would mean not guilty for Tom. How, I wondered, could anyone hear what we'd heard and not know that this little girl had endured all sorts of hell with this man?

I went to the restroom, to dry my eyes, and blow my nose before going back upstairs. Penny, another juror, who felt as I did, was in the bathroom crying as well. I smiled at her, hugged her, and we left the bathroom. As we did, I said to her, "God is good all the time... all the time, God is good."

When we re-entered the jury room, the main person who had been waxing on the guilty count, spoke up and said, "I have something to say." She went on to say that she's known the judge in this case for years, and knows him to be a fair person. She said because of that fact, she was willing to go with the guilty verdict on count two. We took another vote. All hands went up. We had a unanimous verdict. Count one, not guilty. Count two, guilty. We knocked on the door, and handed it to the bailiff.

Hearing both sides of a story

The defense called three church members and a relative to testify on Tom's behalf. All of the church members testified that truthfully, they had never, ever seen Tom behave in an inappropriate way towards Sara, though two did say that he could talk in a "gruff" manner towards her. When asked to elaborate, one youth pastor said, "You know, like your WWII grandfather's era of people."

The defense attorney spoke of how Tom always had her in school, took her to MD and dentist appointments, and how it "was not a crime to be poor." He was essentially "doing the best he could." Then, Tom was called to testify. As he stepped up to the witness stand, I could sense his anger and indignation that he was having to be put through this process. He testified that he simply would use "clipping" or "cuffing" (in essence, hitting her head with his open hand) as a manner of discipline, just as it had been used on him growing up, and that there was nothing wrong with that. His limits were pushed as the D.A. asked him pointed questions and he was becoming more and more angry. I was thinking about the movie A Few Good Men and all but waiting for him to lunge forward and yell, "You can't handle the truth!"

Closing arguments were given and at 4:15PM, the judge read us our duty to reach a verdict based upon the law and how to apply it to what we'd seen and heard in the testimony given. We processed out to the jury room, exhausted and emotionally spent.

No one was really ready to begin deliberating each count. I think we just needed to discuss what all we'd heard. By 5PM, we were called back into the courtroom and asked if we wanted to continue or come back the next day. We all elected to go home and resume deliberation the next morning.

Gut-wrenching testimony

The next day, the deputy concluded his testimony. The DFACS case manager who was on Sara's case at the time testified. Then, a kind woman took the stand who stated she was Sara's foster mother. She described how she's had Sara since she was removed from the home in 2006, and the struggles they have faced since that time. I think there was a collective edict going out silently to the defense as he prepared to cross examine that he'd best not be mean to this woman. He was not.

We were not, in any way, prepared for the next witness....

"Your Honor, the state calls Ms Sara O." I think there was a palpable jolt in the hearts of the jury as we watched a small girl with a blond ponytail enter the courtroom and head towards the witness stand. Tom's head never left its downward position. I was shaking inside as I could sense her fear in being there, and watched this now 10 year old girl, bravely raise her right hand and be sworn in. She seemed composed and ready for this day... until questions came about occasions when her dad hit her. The once composed little face crumbled and the tears flowed down her cheeks as she described how he'd hit her mostly with his open hand about her head, and how he used a fly swat to hit her on her arms, legs, and back, sometimes drawing blood.

I, along with other jurors, could not hold back. The tears were flowing down our cheeks as well as we listened to her recount when he'd once held a gun to her head... and no, she didn't know if it was loaded or not. She relayed instances of when he was watching a movie and he thought she was talking too much. Her quiet words rang loudly.... "He'd slap the side of my head and yell, "Shut the f*** up you little bi***!" When asked if she ever told anyone about any of this, her head was shaking in the negative, as her sobbing little voice said, "He told me what happens in the trailer, stays in the trailer."

What happens in the trailer, stays in the trailer... that statement resonated in my head for the remainder of the day. The state rested its case. It was time for the defense to call their witnesses...

Reality sets in

There I was, in the jury box. As I watched the process continue, and had 11 others join me, all I could think about was the gravity of this situation. I am a rational, reasonable person. But, could I really listen to all the facts and make the right decision? With all of us seated, plus one alternate, all the other people were dismissed, and we were told to raise our right hands. We were sworn in. Lunch time was upon us, so we were to report back to the jury room at 1PM for the start of the trial.

*Tom was a 63 year old man. He was 53 when a daughter was born to he and his girlfriend in Florida. They got married after she was born, and a potential job brought them to this area. When he found that she was "messing around" and doing drugs, he told her to leave. He was then left alone to care for a, then 2 year old girl, *Sara. Tom was an ex-Marine, served in Vietnam, and then went into the Navy for several years. He and Sara lived in an area mobile home park known for drug activity and crime in a three room trailer. The living conditions were "filthy" according to a deputy who entered the home. There was clutter everywhere and it seemed they had trapped and kept "pet rats." There is one bed in the home, which both of them slept in together. Tom's income was reported to be around $1200/month.

Because he had continued issues with his neighbors across the street, they set up a video camera on their property facing his residence to record any altercations they might have with Tom. It was on that video camera that his physical and mental abuse of Sara was first brought to the attention of the authorities.

We listened to the opening statements and viewed the video brought into evidence by the D.A. We listened to the testimony of the sheriff's department deputy who first went to the home, and later took Sara to the Child Advocacy Center to have an interview with a forensic interviewer and viewed that tape. All the while, Tom sat at the table with his attorney, head down, never looking up.

Finally, at 4:15PM, we were dismissed for the day.... heads full and hearts heavy.

(*Names, of course, have been changed)

Doing my civic duty

(This post will begin a six part series on my story of jury duty this past week. It has really helped to write it all out.)

When the subpoena came in the mail for me to report as a traverse juror, I was not especially surprised. This is a small county. I've lived here since 1998 and have never been called for jury duty. I figured the chances of my being empaneled weren't that great.

I reported to the courthouse on Tuesday morning at 9AM with approximately 100 others and we were divided into two groups. Fifty people were sent to another courtroom. The first case was a civil property dispute and I was not even called to be on the considered panel of 42 potential jurors. Whew. Maybe I was done? No? "Report back tomorrow at 10AM please," said the kind superior court judge.

The next day I was put on that panel of 42, and I was on the front row, the 5th of 6 on the front row. The case was presented. The state vs. a man indicted for child cruelty. Gulp. There he sat at the table in front of us. The nurse in me, who deals with so many people from all walks of life on a daily basis, found herself staring. Older, short man. Head down, short hair, stout in build, but not heavy, tattoos on both forearms. Mean. He looked mean.

I tried to put those thoughts out of my mind as both the defense attorney and the assistant D.A. questioned us. All I could think was that I did not want to sit on that jury. I found that I could not raise my hand on any but one qualifying question they asked (how many of you have children), but knew that with my being medical, the defense would certainly probably not want me. We had to fill out questionnaires when we received our summons, so they both knew I was a nurse.

The questioning was done. One by one our names were called and we stood. The first four people on my row received "respectfully decline" responses by one or both of the attorneys. My name was called, and I stood. I looked at the D.A. He smiled. "Accept," he said. Gulp. I looked over at the defense attorney who also smiled. "Accept," he said. It was sort of an out of body experience. Next thing I heard was the judge, "Please step to the jury box." I was the first one. I was on this jury. I was going to have to hear this case, be impartial, and find this man guilty or innocent.... Stay tuned.

White-breasted beauty

He is sometimes elusive.
Only diving in for a quick peanut or seed
before scrambling back to the trees for safety.
But when he does come, it's always such a treat!

Winter colors

The American Goldfinch are back
and the bright breeding plumage
is gone to be replaced by a still
pretty shade of golden olive.

--------------------------

As an aside, I had to report for Jury Duty
this week, and was empaneled on Wednesday for
a criminal case involving child cruelty.

Suffice to say, my brain is fried and
I am emotionally spent. I'll elaborate
once it's all said and done, but your
prayers that we, as a jury, can reach a
verdict today would be much appreciated.

King of the birdbath... for a moment

Two of my favorite feeder friends
came to the bird bath to share
a cool drink. It does seem though
that the chickadee was letting the
Brown-headed nuthatch know who
had the upper hand.

Then again, if I were the chickadee...
I wouldn't mess with the nuthatch.

Pure craftsmanship

During the summer, I had some beautiful geranium ivy in my planters on the front porch. They cascaded over the pots and bloomed gorgeous red blooms all summer long. But, the leaves were getting dry and crumbled and the blooming had ceased, and so it was time to take them away. Last year, I purchased some nice evergreens to go in the planters for fall and winter.

As I lifted the geranium out of the pot, which was just placed in it's own 10" pot inside, I noticed something against the rim....


As I took a closer look, I realized it was a couple of mud dauber nests! They must have found this area around the geranium pots a prime place to be undisturbed for the season.

As I examined them more closely, I was amazed by how intricate the construction seemed to be. If you'll look closely, you can see they they used several different sources of mud for building.


The larger one really shows this well. Would this be used by only one dauber, or several? I have to admit, I know little about their nesting habits, but I am happy that upon watering these pots all summer long, they didn't take offense to my being so near!

Afternoon rest stop

I saw this sweet house finch resting quietly
in the middle of the afternoon in the branches
of this tree. I quietly framed her face in my lens
and caught a sweet image through the leaves.

The magic of Clorox

WOW!
I have been on a quest of sorts.
I've never had a porcelain sink, and quickly found out
how easily they stain and how hard they are to clean.
I went to Lowe's and purchased cleaner specifically
for porcelain, and then even put a "sealant" on it afterwards.
Nope.
Didn't work.
Still stained to beat the band.
In my desperation, I finally decided to try some sort
of bleaching product even though it's not recommended.
I've used the Clorox Clean-Up in the bathroom before
and decided to give it a whirl on the sink.
I sprayed liberally and let it sit...
Then I gently used a Scotch sponge to scrub.
Wowie Kazowie!
Just look at that sink!
On second thought, before you scroll down
and enlarge, you might want to put on your shades!
Yea baby!
Mama is happy now!
(I know, it takes so little to make me grin.)

Tired flutterby

I have a patch of red Dianthus by the driveway that is
still blooming and attracting end of the season butterflies.
This rather tired looking Gulf Fritillary caught my eye
as he lumbered from flower to flower, looking for the last
bit of sustenance of the season.

Jiminy Grasshopper!

He flew in front of me as I was headed towards the back
yard and then landed against the edging.
He stayed very still as I approached, probably
feeling he was invisible in the dirt underneath him.
Doesn't he have great coloring on his legs?

A sure sign...

Fall has arrived on the kitchen table.
Come on by, I'll pour you a cuppa.
Hope everyone has a great day!

Acorn fan!

I received my cute acorn feeder from Gardener's Supply
and decided to fill it with peanuts since I already have
so many peanut fans at my feeders.
This little Carolina Wren wasted no time in finding
the new feeder and enjoying a mid-day snack.

~~~~~~~
P.S. Ruthie's Nature Knitter auction item for this month
is a beautiful shawl. Pay her a visit and bid, bid, bid. :c)

Hooverman

A man and his new Hoover SteamVac Carpet Cleaner...
it's a beautiful thing!

When husband told me "we need to clean our carpet and rugs" the only thing that went through my mind was rental of those horrid machines at the grocery store that leak and are cumbersome, and end up making your carpets a soggy mess. Shivering at the thought. But nay, he said, "I'm going to go to Consumer Reports and read up on carpet cleaners and get us one." That's my guy!

Still, the whole idea of water + carpet makes me nervous, though since his livelihood has to do with carpet manufacturing, I decided I needed to have a wee bit more faith in his desire to see cleaner carpets. Plus, letting him own this "very important job" gets me off the hook...he he. Are you with me ladies?

Well, he placed his order on Amazon.com and our new Hoover SteamVac arrived this past week. Since it's Sam's fall break, we both are taking the week off and so it was a perfect time to do some fall household maintenance, including his goal of cleaning the carpets and rugs. He wanted to start in the bedroom (eek!) but I convinced him to start with the rugs until he "got the hang of his new baby" and then move to fixed locations.

So, we moved the runners and area rugs to the garage and he commenced to cleaning. Imagine his pure glee when he called me out into the garage to show me the very dirty water results of his new fun machine. I "ooooed" and "ahhhhed" and said, "Oh, you were so right, and you are doing such a good job," as I danced back into the house smiling.

Sometimes, all it takes is a new toy.
Just keep that in mind ladies.
;c)
(wink-wink)

Red-tailed retreat

I was out on the driveway Sunday when I heard a commotion...
I looked skyward just in time to see three large crows
squawking and chasing an annoyed Red-tailed Hawk!
I ran inside for the camera hoping they would come further
my way so that I could aim the lens and capture the chase.
It's not great, but I was tickled to see that I did get this image
before the hawk arced skyward into the heights of safety.

Dashed expectations

When we purchased this house back in the fall of 2006, the back deck was a disaster. It had very steep steps, and felt as if it was leaning on a downward slope. We found it was about to fall off the house. So, the first order of business was to replace the deck. Here is a photo off the realtor's website of what it looked like at the time of purchase.

We decided to enlarge it a good bit so as to encompass the side porch, which seemed a bit oddly placed to me, and also decided to use a composite decking material so that it would last forever. This is how it looked just as they were finishing up construction. We were so very pleased with the results. We had much more space, and a deck that would, according to the manufacturer, last forever.

However, our expectations were soon dashed. Last fall, we noticed some "bubbling" along the rail caps, which seemed to be gradually getting worse and worse. We called our contractor, who contacted the company and had a rep come out. He admitted that they had "a problem with extrusion during that time frame" and so he agreed to give us a stipend to replace the affected rails. He also told our contractor that they were coming out with a new one-piece system in the spring and so it might be prudent to wait until then to replace them with the new system. So, we got our check, waited, and watched, as all the railing caps began to disintegrate before our eyes. This "decking that is indestructible" was deconstructing, as you can see in the photo below.

Come spring, we inquired as to the status of the new railing system and were told that "it would be fall or later before the company rolled it out" and so in June, we went forward with purchasing new rail caps. The caps came in, and we thought it would be a simple process to remove the old ones and replace them. As the day came for our contractor to come out and start the process, we noticed something ominous. The "bubbling" was no longer just on the top railing caps, but also on the bottom rails, the post covers, and even some of the balusters. Heavens to Betsy! We called the rep back out and showed him that the entire railing system was falling apart. Thankfully, he submitted our claim once he got all the figures from our contractor, and we were given a check to cover replacing the entire railing. Whew.

So now, we are ready to take it all down and start from scratch. The lesson learned here is that there is no such thing as "no maintenance decking" and the companies that sell this product are doing the consumer a disservice by claiming that their product will require no maintenance. In my investigating, I found that this specific product we purchased is made with olefin, which is a polypropylene product that does indeed degrade somewhat in heat. The deck boards are created with a process of pressure instead of extrusion, and so are more stable, but still, to be on the safe side, it should be sealed against moisture and UV exposure. We found a composite deck sealant (not easy to find either) and have put two coats on. We are hopeful that the decking will remain intact, but I have to tell you, my confidence was shaken.

Also, after much research, we've decided to use Ipe (an exotic hardwood) for the railing and we chose aluminum balusters, just to give us peace of mind that it will be more stable. Below is a photo of the architectural balusters we've chosen. I think it will look nice once it's all installed, which is supposed to happen sometime this week. The lesson here? Nothing is as it seems sometimes, and... repeat after me... there is no such thing as NO maintenance anything!

Splish splash

I've not seen my Bluebird friends in a long time.
So, imagine my glee when three came to the bird bath
yesterday to get the dust off and have some fun.
Only one at a time would go into the water, and
I caught this cute guy just before he took a hearty splash!

Off being Nurse Jayne

Off today to Johnson City for a conference
on.... drum roll please....
Pressure Ulcers.
I know.
You wish you were going too.
But I need the CEU's and so must sit
through eight hours of fun topics.
See you all this weekend sometime.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend ahead!

Welcome back little one

I was at the kitchen table, when I saw her
out of the corner of my eye.
She landed on the deck post.
Tail bobbing. Scoping out the grass.
My face grinned and I ran for the camera.

I've not seen the sweet Phoebe since early in the spring,
and it was so good to see one back on Chickadee!
I quietly crept out onto the deck, but by that time,
she was all the way across the yard on the pool fence.
The lighting was bad, but she was a sight for my sore lens.

As I stood there, with my camera poised against
my face, I was quietly talking to her.
"Welcome back little one, " I whispered, "I've missed you here."
About that time, it was as if she'd heard me,
for she turned all the way around to look straight at me,
and give me such a nice pose.