Sunday........

The Birds are giddy over the newly added seed in the feeder. The sparrows seem to be more social than other kinds of birds.  Rarely do you see a loner sparrow coming to eat.

The interior of the new found bird feeder has been created with thought.  I found it on the farm and I figure my father in law bought it at an auction.  He never fed birds but he did have a feeder in his barn.

I have set it up and put in a batch of seed in order to feed the squirrels.  Instead the birds really like it and maybe the squirrels will come by and pick out the leftover kernels of corn.

We lost a lot of this snow the past two days.  It did freeze last night to help keep the mud from forming in the yard.  Barney brings in mud so I hope it always freezes overnight.

It is Sunday and our routine seems to be the same each week.  We can maybe go eat somewhere completely different to stir up things. We both seem weary so we won't work too hard today.  Thanks for stopping by today.

It's The Weekend.........

Pointing down and looking up the bird is quit an acrobat.  It is rare to catch a shot at all as they fly in quickly grab a seed and return to at tree branch to open it to eat. I did decide that his is a nuthatch but looking down on them makes it harder to identify.

The sun was reflecting in the globes but the camera really doesn't capture the moment.  I won't be taking these down yet as I will wait until the last snowfall is gone to do so.  It looks good with ornaments and snow together. No reflections today as we seem to be overcast and it is warm.

The cardinal is peeking around to see if the coast is clear.  There is a feeder above him that  has overflow seeds falling to the ground.  They do like to be on the ground but the neighborhood cats and my dogs seem to keep them hesitant to land there. 

Saturday is here and I don't have physical labor on my schedule today.  It has been warm the past two days and there are large periods of time that our furnace just doesn't turn on to heat.  It was good weather to work outside yesterday and I see we are sitting at 36 degree F. this morning.  I don't think we will have a cool down for a while.  The rivers around Des Moines are melted so the bald eagles are having to fish from the water or the shore.  I saw one yesterday flying overhead while driving in the Saylorville, Iowa area.  I wish you all to have a good day today and thanks for stopping by at my post.

Friday............

We had a warmer day than usual.  We lost snow but we have a lot of snow to still be melted.  In the thin areas it thawed and turned things into muddy area. 

I had four bluejays at the feeder yesterday all there at the same time. The rushed in and then rushed out quickly.  I guess my feeder just didn't have what they wanted. 

I found out yesterday that I am having some problems with my photo programs that I use to edit things.  I decided to download my photos onto my two different computers.  The laptop is an old one on borrow from the school.  When I do return it they will send it to recycle.  The laptop has iphoto.  I discovered that I was throwing away good photos.  Pictures that were viewed on iphoto with the screen on this laptop were being trashed by me. 

I downloaded the same pictures on my macbook with a high resolution screen and I could see this wonderful shot of a chickadee. The photoshop program is better but the screen is better to help me see them better.  My having a new camera made me think things were not as good as I like.  When I download the new cameras photos on the macbook they are all great.  So I have to change my habits.  I will be back sitting at the desk with the emac and not in the dining room window.  I will get use to it but I wonder how many good photos that I trashed on this laptop. 

I spent my day loading old car tires from the farm and taking them to the recycle center.  It took most of my day so this blog is very late.  Recycling tires is a wonderful thing.  The place where they process them and shred them is not a pleasant place to be. They don't make it easy for people to recycle.  Piles of tires everywhere with piles of shredded tires were strange to see.  The roads around all of this are muddy and filled with water puddles.  I was definitely mud coated by the end of the day.  We dumped almost sixty tires into a big pile and of course we had to pay them to take them.  I am certain that I will feel those muscles in the morning.

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Thursday, All Day........

The wreathe of fake things has come down.  The real cardinals in the past didn't like the fake red birds.  They are so much smaller than a real one but they did try to attack them one winter. The pine cones are real with their added glitter but everything else was constructed in a factory.  I did notice for the first time that my Japanese yew shrub has a berry on it that the cardinals are eating.  The shrub is near the door where this was hanging.  The were flying in and out yesterday both male and female finding things to pick off deep inside of the bush. They do like flying out of there in a lightening speed.

The downy woodpeckers continue their work on the suet.  The nuthatch does come by once in a while to get some seed from it but the hairy woodpeckers seem to be eating somewhere else.

I shared a photo of four old things on my Photo a Day blog.  These two were a part of the group.  The shot was to show the worn off decoration on the lid of the egg.  The photo also shows the grainy veins in the sphere.  It reminded me of ivory tusk and I did find them for sale on the net.  They are illegal of course today as new items but the historic sets are not banned from being sold. The white ones were cue balls and they painted them the different colors required for the game.

We are suppose to be warmer today.  Things may melt some today.  Our temps are never as warm as the big city so we may just be above freezing.  The snow on the ground will still make it feel cold and I am sure it will slow the melting process.

As another blogger mentioned it has been too cold for way too long.  It will be a nice break.  I keep thinking I am coming down with something as I chill so easily but I seem to be ok otherwise.  My tolerance of the cold is down to zero for sure.  We need to venture out to the pharmacy today and will pick up some basics at the grocery store.  I won't go until the frost has cleared of the car on its own while sitting in the sunshine. Our low was 19 degrees F.  last night and that is great compared to all those negative temperatures.  I hope everyone is doing well out there and thanks for stopping in today.

The Middle of the Week......

I came across this toy engine while digging around in the toy cabinet.  I hand dusted some of it but I take good photos of dust also that I didn't get removed.  The train is a toy replica of the British train that was in the first  of the three "Narnia" movies. I bought it at the Kansas City train station when they were displaying a collection of "Narnia" exhibits from the movie.  The very first movie shows the aerial view of the actual train with this engine traveling through the English countryside. It had steam coming out of its stack and pulled passenger cars of the same era. The time period of the movie is during WW 2.

This is a glass replica of a plane from the same era.  It held small beads of candy and I think they were sold in stores like Sears.  I am not certain of it.  My mom kept it in a trunk for years and I suspect some of the four boys in the household did mess with it as parts are broken off of it.

You can make out the cockpit area and the wings have the American star symbol on the end of the wings. It is hard to see them. I need to research these to see what they originally looked like.  I have four other glass items like this that held candy and were sold at the same time.

I really don't know how the squirrel could get this off of the feeder.  I do know that one year I found one on the roof of my house.  I suspect a raccoon could of done this but I would think it too cold for them to get out of their den. I have this and one other feeder to get picked up today. A squirrel took down  a bird feeder and it too is on the ground.

I can always get a good shot of the downy woodpeckers. Back view isn't the best but they do seem to not scare away quickly like a chickadee or a nuthatch.  The birds seem less hungry as we are warming up a little.  Our low temp was in the double digits.  I think 12 degree F. was our low.  We will be close to freezing today and then tomorrow we might have a thaw.

I have small projects to get done today and will enjoy not being at school.  I hope those of you who are covered in snow are getting a chance to warm up also.  The southern states should be warming up for them for sure.  Have a good day and take care.  Thanks for swinging by today.

Tuesday's Twitting........

My tropic zone next to the dining room table shows the flowers like the area.  The very dry air from the furnace has helped cause the violets to bloom.  The water birds are still entertainment for me with their shape and their ability to remind me that somewhere out there it is warmer. Birds somewhere  are scouring the shores of a lake or ocean finding food to eat.

The decorations are still being removed in different parts of the house and it seems a little bare in color and lights. The mantle figurines are not the expensive ones but lesser priced ones with the same glaze colors as the expensive pieces.

 A scene in my garden area that looks like the gardener just walked away in the fall and didn't put a thing away for winter.  The ladder is an oldie and it still leans in the tree and the roll of wire is waiting to be put away or thrown away.  My one son said that I could let this old wheel barrow go now.  He is right but I will have to be in the right mood to send it on its way.  Now that I have a new one this would only be there for decoration. It is too heavy to use as my dad did make it for a petunia planter.

I like this photo as you can see the eye of the squirrel is still watching to the back area of him.  The squirrels do not seem to be frightened of me as I walked up to about three feet from one and he didn't bother to run away.  I had to yell and wave my arms.  I do know some say they are near sighted but they do see fast moving dogs coming at them and react accordingly.

Working around the toy cabinet yesterday I noticed it is time to do some spring cleaning inside it and some organization is needed.  I found tow firetrucks which show two different fates.  The one in front is probably a little older than the shiny one but the beat up one was found out in the dirt where it had been left for quite a few years.

 We went to see a movie yesterday at the Jordan Creek Mall.  We watched "Into the Woods"  We were attracted to it as we wanted to see how some of the actors portrayed their characters.  We both were clueless as to what it really was all about but we do creative exploring once in a while.  It proved to be a great experience. 

The history of the writing had its beginning in the Old Globe Theater.  It eventually made it into a broadway musical in New York,  The whole movie is based on four different fairy tails and most dialogue is sung.  The story, the song writing, and the music is all over the edge with creativity.  It is funny, fun, and mysterious. Disney always goes to the extreme to make the special effects and sets to be great.  The endings of things many times are hard for writers and this one too sort of stumbled to the end.  It concluded but I  was wishing for something else.  I still liked it a lot and someday will buy the dvd of it. Not everyone will like this style of presentation so research it and don't take my word on it.

It's an Off Day.......

I would rather drink coffee today than to take down the tree.  It will happen soon. It is going to be a two day process. The branches of the tree require a lot of time and process to get it down and to be taken to the basement.  The weather is getting to be a downer for me.  We had a high of 19 degrees in the night and the temps are going to fall all day.  The snow doesn't go away with those temps and warm isn't to be coming back until Friday.  There is a lot of week between now and then. 

I sub in the Spanish room tomorrow so I am appreciating having this day off.  Thanks for stopping by today.  Everyone take care.