A Super Sunday!

What a way to spend a day. Plants and birds. 

Cass is being recruited by a few schools as a prospective athlete, playing volleyball. We were treated to "official visits". This means we are guests of the school and we really didn't pay for anything! There are NCAA rules and we certainly abide by those, but the school showers a lot of attention on her, taking her to nice places to eat and soaking up the university's atmosphere. My only problem with this entire thing is that it is exhausting! Hopefully, she's close to choosing her preference and we can be done with that for a while!

After spending a frantic week on the road with Cass for college visits, I so much looked forward to today. I wanted to start my winter sowing!
The folks in the winter sowing community talk about it being almost fool-proof. Well, I didn't have a whole lot of success with it. My lids blew off. My containers dried out. My containers blew away. Lots of trouble with wind. I mentioned my issues to Sue, of Sue's Garden Journal, and she sent me some of the trays she uses. This was before Thanksgiving and I tucked the box away, so it wouldn't get wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. (hey, it has happened!)
Today, I got the box out and began to sow the seeds for wintersowing. (Thank you, Sue, for the SEEDS, too!)

Guess what? 

Sue's trays blew away. 

I chased them down and began to think I am not cut out for wintersowing. 

I stacked up the containers I'd saved and Sue's trays and realized the containers I'd saved fit right into Sue's trays. I fit the containers in and filled the room around them with rocks. 

Problem solved.

I had to deal with the wind blowing the lids off. I pierced the top and bottom and slipped a zip tie thru the hole. 

Close up of zip tie solution. 

Containers ready for seeds. 

Getting ready for a busy transplanting season!

Today I sowed Goat's Beard, Pink Joe Pye, Cardinal Lobelia, Great Blue Lobelia, Northern Lights Snapdragons, Majestic Giants Pansy, Scarlet Flax, Tall Blue Flax, Pink Malva, and English Daisy. 

In March, I will sow the tender annuals. 

I covered the dining room table with paper and worked at my own pace, left alone all day. I was able to keep an eye on my feeders and what a wonderful reward I got today!

This makes me so happy, it's not right.

Hello, sir!

I truly was beginning to believe I would not see anything but the little finches. Now, I'm more inspired to lure more birds to my yard! This guy came back a few times today. 

I wish he'd invite his friends!

Feathered Drama

Spent last Saturday afternoon trying to lure song birds to the yard. I've learned lot, like keeping the birdbath plugged in and full of clean water-really draws the finches. I have made a mess sprinkling the tiny seeds around the deck rails, but some of the little ones don't feed out of the feeder, they pick it up off the ground. 

Bottoms up!

literally...

The birds happily scoot around, pecking and drinking. Suddenly, I spot a sinister figure in the tree line that borders our property.

Here is the reason I don't see any cardinals or titmouse. Hawk.

Enemy of the song bird. 

I watched him for a very long time. 

Then, he made his move.

Toward my yard.

And my finches...

I sat snapping away at my camera, as he powerfully made his way towards the yard...

   This unfolded in a matter of 30 seconds or so. In that time, a thought passed to me, what about the finches?? How do I help the finches? If I opened the door, they would scatter, flying into the air, back towards the hawk coming from the tree line. They'd be easy pickins, for sure.

The hawk was indecisive as well, not wanting to come too close to the house. 

Instead of coming in for the kill, he circled the feeder area and my finches spotted him and scattered into the meager brush, waiting for the clear. 

The hawk did not get his dinner from my yard today. 

This episode just proves to me that no matter how much I think I've accomplished, how many holes we've dug, trees we've planted, it is still not enough. There are still not enough trees, shrubs or grasses to provide the cover for the smaller birds. 

I'm seriously considering a row of grasses and red twig dogwoods. I also know that I will no longer pass the "Please take me home" section at the garden center. 

I ♥ TREES

Blizzard and Birds and Beef and Beans

Catchy alliteration for the title!

I saw this suet log online. They wanted $20 for it. It. Is. A. Log. 

A log!

$20???

My co-worker's children has the day off on Monday and I asked her if she thought they could make one. 

Sure enough, Tuesday, she presented me with this wonderful log that will lure the best song birds into my yard. I created my own suet mix with beef lard, (incredibly hard to find), peanuts, dried meal worms and cracked corn and dried cherries. Surely one of those things will tempt a woodpecker or titmouse to my yard?

I sat down in front of the french doors with my camera and my cup of coffee. I sat for hours. 

I asked my co-worker if she thought the kids could make a deck feeder. The next day, she arrives with this!

It is an cedar bird feeder! I love it! It is handcrafted and it is beautiful. 

This is a very resourceful family, to say the least!

This is a new bird in the yard. I think this is a Tree Sparrow..

 “Birds are flyin' south for winter. 

Here's the Weird-Bird headin' north, 

Wings a-flappin', beak a-chatterin', 

Cold head bobbin' back 'n' forth. 

He says, "It's not that I like ice 

Or freezin' winds and snowy ground. 

It's just sometimes it's kind of nice 

To be the only bird in town.” 

― Shel Silverstein

Everyone in the hot tub-this is a heated bird bath!

Why can't I attract more birds??

Purple finch. 

We did not get the 8" of snow that was forecasted. We got less than 5". We also got half day off. I spent mine in front of the window, watching tiny birds scurry around, gobbling up the seeds I would toss out for them.
I stopped on the way home and picked up a Rump Roast. So many cooks use Rump Roast for pot roast, but if you purchase a roast that is "choice", it will roast up so nicely.

I stab the roast with a paring knife and stick garlic cloves in the holes. I grind garlic and salt and rosemary together and rub the mixture on the top and sides of the roast and cook @ 350 for 25 minutes per pound. The salad is the Edamame with Chick Peas and Lemon and Mint, served on baby spinach. That salad is an absolute favorite. I highly recommend it!
from Kalynskitchen.com:

Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean) and Edamame Salad with Lemon and Mint

(Makes about 4 lunch salads or 6 side-dish servings, recipe adapted quite a bit from one found in The South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook.)

Dressing:
zest and juice of one large lemon (at least 1 T zest and 2-3 T juice + more juice for seasoning the finished salad if desired)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 T olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Salad:
1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas
1 1/2 cup shelled cooked edamame
1/4 - 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onion (scallions)
1 cup finely chopped fresh mint (or less)

Drain garbanzo beans into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water until no more foam appears. Let beans drain well (I pat them dry with a paper towel if they still seem wet.) If using frozen edamame, microwave for about 5 minutes. (You can microwave the desired amount in a glass bowl covered with cling-wrap, or use the microwave-in-the-package kind like I did.)

Zest the lemon using a microplane grater or the finest side of a regular grater, then squeeze the lemon juice. You need at least 1 T lemon zest and 2-3 T lemon juice. In a plastic or glass bowl large enough to hold all the salad ingredients, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, minced garlic, olive oil, salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Add the drained chickpeas and stir so the beans are well-coated with dressing. Let beans marinate in the dressing while you prep the other ingredients.

When edamame is cooked, drain well in the same colander you used for the beans. Thinly slice green onions. Wash mint, spin dry or dry with paper towels, and finely chop enough to make 1 cup chopped mint, or less if you're not that fond of mint.

Add the edamame, sliced green onions, and chopped mint to the bowl with the chickpeas and stir until ingredients are well combined. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as desired. (I added more lemon juice and a tiny bit of salt.) Serve right away or refrigerate until you're ready to eat it.

This still tasted great after it had been in the fridge overnight, but I added a little more lemon juice to brighten the flavor.

Borrowed Lens

 homemade deck feeder=coffee can lid with thumb tack. Cost=$0, birds love it.

I don't get any good ones like Titmouse or Cardinal or Wren or Flicker.

But I dearly love the ones that do visit me. 

Borrowed a friend's 300mm lens. Have to return it today, darn it!

Visitors and Julie

This morning in the yard, the tree swallows were absolutely swarming by the dozens. They fly in formation, then suddenly split up and gobble mosquitoes. Thank you, winged citizens of my yard.
We have hawks and sparrows and goldfinches and robins and bluebirds and purple finches. I want wrens and cardinals and titmouse and other song birds. I also want straight hair that isn't frizzy, as long as we're wishing.
The good news is, this morning I heard a wren in my yard! I grabbed the camera and learned a lesson.

Wrens are fast. I had my fast lens on, but it was no match for this guy.

Photo is blurry, but I was so thrilled with the sighting, I had to post it!

We have several families of robins. These moms are so busy, constantly bringing worms to a nest full of squawking babies.

everybody in the pool!!

One of the pairs of purple finch that we see.

 The other mama robin.

This is a bad guy. European house sparrow

Well, guess what?? I called Julie, the number you call to have the utilities marked in the yard before you dig. The utilities run right thru where I want my deer bed. So, now what? I have to figure out if I can still plant here, just not put a tree where the lines are. I remember the day they put these lines in. They wanted to go right down the middle of the yard, but the neighbor guy came out and said, you better make them move those to the side, you might want to plant there.
Great. Thanks, neighbor.
But you can see the progress the RoundUp is making. I will not be stopped! I will figure this out!

Finch and the price of things...

Little phyllo cups filled with custard and berries

Farmer's Market cukes and dill.

Do you know what they are charging for green onions at the store??? $1.00 for 6 individual onions! ONE DOLLAR??? Do you know what the mark up on that is??? They tried to charge me $2.50 for 5 Kirby cukes, but I wasn't having that. I will not pass on growing onions, next year. For $1.00, you can buy 30 count sets and have onions all darn year!! One dollar for 6= 17cents a piece!?  For the birds!

Cucumbers, well, it's just a matter of finding someone who is growing them, then you will have cucumbers. There's an old joke that says in cucumber growing season, don't drive with your windows down because people will shove cucumbers in your car while you're stopped at a light! With raised beds, I am not sure how, but I will grow cucumbers next year...! I won't pay .50 for a cucumber, that's for sure!

One thing I must be sure to include tonite: Congratulations to Mandie and Miles and William. They have a new addition to their family, Emma Grace! God's Blessings on the baby and on Dan and Barb!

I love those guys, they are family to me!

Our church has approached us to join a group to go to Joplin, Mo to help those who were affected by the tornadoes. My Darling and I have committed to this ministry mission. We are hoping Barb goes with us. My Darling will miss school, but she will be granted an opportunity to help someone who has had everything ripped away from them. That is an experience not taught in school. Perhaps it will bring some humility and gratitude, something not easily taught, either.