birds — Page 57

A Flock of Robins

February 13, 2014 at 8:29 am by Claudia

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In the “I had no idea” category, I looked out the back kitchen window yesterday and saw about 10 fat robins flitting from branch to branch in this wild rose bush, or as I call it, a prickly pain in the tush. Since I thought that robins disappeared for the winter, I was really surprised and I ran to get my older camera, which sits in the Vernors crate on the kitchen table. They were very active, flying from branch to branch, then to the trees, then back again.

“What are you doing here?” I said. “There’s a huge storm coming!” Surely they didn’t think spring was here! Not by a long shot.

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The display window on my older camera doesn’t work very well, so I just went for it, snapping away, zooming in, hoping I got a good shot.

Well, I did a little research and much to my surprise, some robins hang around in the winter, even here in the Northeast. And though they don’t do it in summer, in the winter they hang out in flocks. What I saw was a flock of robins – they can’t get worms from the ground, so they look for berries and there are berries on the wild rose bushes.

I love learning something new.

As I’m typing this, in the midst of this epic Nor’easter, the oil delivery truck just backed up in the lower portion of our driveway. Thank goodness. At least I don’t have to worry about running out of oil! When I got up this morning and saw the snow already on the ground, I was sure there was no way they could deliver today. There is already over 2 inches out there, the roads are snow covered and the snow is falling very heavily. But they did.

Now for the 12 -18 inches predicted for today, with the winds of a Nor’easter kicking in later in the day. This will go on for about 20 hours. I’ve been rather a mess, worrying about it all; about the house, about us, about the power.

Don feels powerless as he sits in his apartment in Boston. He wishes he was here.

I wish he was here.

Late in the day yesterday, I saw that my neighbor’s van was gone from their driveway. They have a house north of here in a skiing area – they are avid skiers. I panicked. What if they were leaving for the mountain and wouldn’t be here to help me? So I called them and Laura assured me they would be here to use their snow blower on my long, uphill driveway. Again, sigh of relief.

In the meantime, I will have to keep shoveling a path for Scout throughout the day. She has arthritis and it’s hard for her to make her way though a lot of snow.

This is a huge storm. Keep all of us in its path in your thoughts.

Happy Thursday.

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Miscellany on Tuesday

February 11, 2014 at 8:25 am by Claudia

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Oh, this bed. I love it. Although I have to say it’s strange having all that square footage to myself. Poor Don. The bed in his apartment sort of dips in the center. He finds the sofa more comfortable and he’s been sleeping there a lot.

And much to my surprise, I absolutely love this golden coverlet. I felt more than a little trepidation when I ordered it online. It was half off for one day (I think Garnet Hill was discontinuing this color) so I grabbed it. The whole time I was waiting for the bed – and we know that was a long time – I worried whether it would work in that room. I made back-up plans to order some other coverlet in aqua when I had some spare cash. But I love this color. I love the way it looks any time of day but especially when sunlight is pouring in the room. It just goes to show you that moving out of your usual color preference comfort zone is sometimes a very good thing.

In other news,

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I’m training Scout to do the laundry.

She’s a Border Collie, after all. She’s very intelligent.

Actually, Scout has developed this habit in the last year. She has to go into the bathroom several times a day to check things out. I call it ‘going on her rounds.’ She checks out the bathtub. She checks out the trash. She checks out the toilet. And when there’s laundry? She must check that out.

She’s missing her dad. She’s right by my side most of the day and I know it’s because she can’t understand where he is. Poor girl.

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I was standing at the sink the other day and saw about 10 birds flitting from branch to branch in this tree. There were two woodpeckers: one had black markings and the other was this one – a red bellied woodpecker. I ran for my camera but only managed to catch a glimpse of this guy. I wonder if it’s our friend Guthrie? I wrote a post about him that you can find here. Hello Guthrie, old pal.

I’ve been watching the Olympics like everyone else. I seem to be a bit more detached about them this time and I’m thinking it’s because I often see the results before I can watch the event. This time difference is tricky. Being on the internet is also tricky. It’s hard to avoid the results, as they seem to be everywhere.

I’m holding my breath about this approaching storm. As it moves up the East Coast, it could really wallop us. It all depends on the track. I’m praying it tracks further out to sea. I don’t have Don here to help me and I’m worried and already overwhelmed by all the snow and ice around here. I’m trying to stay in the moment and appreciate the beauty of this winter, and it is beautiful out there, but it seems to be harder to do when there’s already 15 inches of snow on the ground and there might be a lot more coming.

Winter, I love you for many reasons. But I am so looking forward to Spring.

I have two giveaways going on at the moment. Stop by my post about the Target Cartwheel app to be entered in a $1000 Target Gift Card Giveaway. And stop by my post about Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care to be entered in a $1000 Gift Card Giveaway.

Happy Tuesday.

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A Flower Frog and Some Feathers

October 11, 2013 at 9:10 am by Claudia

Apparently that scamp, little Miss Scout, managed to get on the computer and write a blog post! And then proceeded to answer the comments. She’s a Border Collie, you know; they’re very intelligent. Ah well, it’s good to get a day off from blogging every now and then. Scout as guest blogger – it somehow makes sense.

Also, before I forget, did you know I answer your comments right on the comment page? I think most of you are aware of this, but a lot of you have asked me specific questions lately and I want to make sure you know I always answer them. My answer is always right below your comment. To make sure you see them, you can do one of two things: check back in later in the day and see if I’ve answered, or, and I think this is easiest but that’s just my opinion, check that box right below your comment that says “Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail.” When I answer your comment, you will get an email with your original comment and my response. There you go! One of things I love about this blog of mine is the dialogue that happens in the comments – it’s a true joy for me. Scout obviously likes it as well. She tells me she had fun answering your comments.

Now. I’ve been collecting feathers lately – here at home and in Hartford. I love bird feathers. But what to do with them? How to display them? They were on top of the sideboard but any gust of wind from the window or the front door could blow them away. I’m too cheap to frame them at the moment and I’m not sure I would want to anyway. So, the other day my eyes lit on one of my flower frogs and I had an idea:

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A flower frog turned feather holder.

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I’m rather pleased with this simple solution.

It sits on the sideboard, along with a piece of brown transferware that holds all my acorns and pods and pine cones. My little nature center.

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I used to have a bunch of wild turkey feathers but somehow I have lost them. We had a lot of turkeys hanging around on our lawn and they left me some beautiful feathers. Where the heck did I put them?

The morning glories are still going strong. I never get tired of looking at them and photographing them.

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