Bird Retreat

This feeding station was a birthday present from Steve. I can add more hooks and attachments to it if I like, or even take some off. There's something for everyone so I get a nice variety. I've since added an Oriole feeder since I saw one observing a couple of times. There is a Wild Birds Unlimited store here, or I can go online here.

I could sit on the back deck for hours just listening to them communicate and watching the different personalities as they all mingle.

A beautiful birdbath from my parents, made out of pebbles, has added to the bustle of this little retreat. I'll add a picture of that when I get one and put it on this same post.

Cardinals

We get a lot of cardinals, but I read that they get territorial in mid summer when they nest, so some of them will get driven off.

I also read that the male will feed the female not only when she's on the nest, but anytime he's driven to. So I watched them more and saw it happen several times. I wanted to get a photo of it but it happens so quickly. The closest I came was when he just did it and their beaks are still very close.

Hummmm

I think this is a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird because a male one, which has the bright red throat, comes occasionally but I haven't caught him on camera yet. When I'm out on the deck taking care of the flowers I hear that Humm or Buzz sound they make, like a huge bumble bee only louder. Sometimes one will come and knock another off the feeder and I hear little chirps.

Assorted Birds

We have a variety of birds visiting our yard so I will be showing a few of them at a time.

Downy Woodpecker w/ Chipping Sparrow, Grey Tufted Titmouse, Nuthatch

Someone's Always Watching You

That's what my mom always reminded us kids when I was growing up. She was meaning God. I, in turn, always told my daughter that, meaning God and anyone else that we may not notice, and (in this day and age) even surveillance cameras.

Well, we have a pair of strange Cowbirds. In April this pair started perching on our deck rail right beside our picture window or on the hummingbird feeder hook that is suctioned to the window. Then they would constantly fly at the window. But not just fly at it, they would flutter up and down the height of it, tapping or pecking at the window 4 or 5 times as they did. If they thought their reflection was another bird they were fighting with I would think they would be more aggressive, but they just gently tapped at the window as they fluttered up and down. It was driving me crazy because it went on all day every day. After a month they shifted their interest to the sliding door off the dining room. They would sit just outside it and peer in, occasionally tapping. I could always feel their eyes on me. Even when it rained they'd be there, looking so pitiful. I came very close to letting them come in.

Another strange thing I noticed is that every 20 seconds (I timed it) the male would puff up and let out a strange noise and sway off balance, then the female would chirp at him. I began to wonder if he had some kind of mental or neurological defect and was staying at our door asking us for help. I know, that's a childish thought, but they were in my face for so long I began to humanize them. They started reminding me of Bible verses, which made me feel more guilty.

behold I stand at the door and knock... Rev. 3:20
ask and it will be given... Matt 7:7
because of his persistence his friend will give him as much as he needs. Luke 11:8.

One day I decided to change the bird food in our deck feeders to get rid of the flock of Cowbirds and Grackles because they take over the feeders and keep the prettier birds away. They do not like safflower seed but the cardinals and other birds do like it, so that's all I put out. I also put up a finch feeder (which the big birds can't eat from) to keep the gold and purple finches around.

The flocks of grackles and cowbirds eventually went away, but it took this pair much longer to part themselves from our windows. I only see them on the deck occasionally now. I hope they've grown out of it.

My sister in Michigan said she had a bird constantly flying at her sun room window for 3 years. It has now directed it's attention to her neighbors car window.

Animal Rights

"Okay Joe, on 3 we jump that thief." This Grackle and Cow Bird look like they're ready to run off this squirrel. I love to observe the critters on my back deck and imagine what they are saying.

Well, they achieved their goal.

Grackles, Cow birds and Squirrels would be on my hit list if I had the nerve to use a beebee gun. They scare off, and eat all the food that attract, the pretty birds. When my grandpa was alive he did shoot squirrels and Blue Jays so that his favorite bird, Cardinals, would have more of a chance. He let us kids take home a squirrel tail once, which my mom promptly threw away. Being a mom now, I would too.



Male and female Cow Birds.



The squirrel was the first thing to find the bird food when we first moved here in November and wanted to start attracting pretty birds. Even though he was a baby, he ate a big part of the daily supply, Along with the raccoons that came at night. But the birds eventually started coming and the raccoons seem to have backed off.



I will be posting more pictures of the variety of birds we have around here. Somehow they all manage to fight for their right to the rations.

"When I was your age, television was called books".

The Princess Bride
I don't usually steal other peoples posts but since I like funny movie quotes, I wanted to share this post with you over at Life With My Special K's.

Would you like to tell me some of your favorite funny quotes?




Remember; no matter where you go, there you are."- Buckaroo Banzai

Wary Bird

I caught this Rose Breasted Grosbeak spying on Deliverance preparing her garden beds down below him.
I could just imagine he wanted to make sure there was no threat of her coming after him before he would go for the food.



The Lord sure made an interesting variety of birds. They are all unique and beautiful. The longer I watch them, the more personality I see in them.


I guess Mr Grosbeak liked the assortment I had because he came back the next day and braved the rain. It looks like he spotted me in the window with the camera.

One For The Memory Book

Remember at Christmastime when I said we took in Steve's mom to live with us because she can no longer safely take care of herself? My sister-in-law Barb and I had to take her to a Dr appointment one morning so Barb thought it would be good for mom to get a hair style, while we had her out, that would be a little easier for me to take care of. One that Barb wanted her to get for years now, a little more stylish. We also talked her into going with a more natural looking color for her age.

Since we would have to wait around while she had this make-over Barb made the appointment for all 3 of us to get some color highlights, a trim and a quick curl with the iron. Barb and I had about 4 different colors put on, and mom had 3. She was very hesitant to go shorter and gray-er, but she trusted Randy (our hairdresser who works wonders) and ended up being very pleased with the result. These are the before and after pics.

Mom's dementia has been effecting her more often so we thought she would like a soft stuffed animal to keep on her bed for all those spur of the moment hugs she always feels compelled to give. She picked out "Pinky" because she is so squishy. Mom has also been obsessed with having a watch that doesn't ride up her arm since she's lost a lot of weight. Barb has brought her so many that were still too big, but we happened across some childrens watches while looking for her "handy hugger" and she picked a pink one with angels (pink is her color). It thrills her to pieces that it stays on the wrist.

On the way home Barb stopped to pick up her husband Lee and they decided to treat us all at a Mexican restaurant. Mom was so tired she couldn't eat much, but was happy to stay out and show off her new "Do"



The events of that day had created a memory to cherish, because now mom is bedridden and suddenly over the last 2 weeks the dementia has her in constant confusion, so there will be no more special outings with her.

Everyone Has Something Going On

Deo Volente has a touching video clip on her blog.
This man had his own very heavy heart, but he chose to focus on lightening someone else's burden, and took his mind off of his his own in the meantime.
Click here to see it (hope you have audio).

Scooby's World View

Scooby's world is basically the deck area at the back of the house. He has a leash long enough to run around a small part of the yard until we make a fenced in area for him. He often gets tangled around a bush or a post which prevents him from getting back up the steps until we go get him, so a fenced area will be nice for him and us.

He likes to try to look through the trees for the dogs that live on each side of us. They make little noises when they hear me let him out through the sliding doorwall.



Steve and Josh make paths in the yard to be able to walk around, get to the shed, and for Scooby to ---you know.

Scenery In Our Yard

Steve took these pretty photos

Snow, Snow, Snow

This being our first winter in an area that gets a lot of lake-effect snow, plus a winter with a heavier snowfall than usual, we've been amazed by how much we've had so far. So during this latest blizzard we took pictures.

I have to be careful how often I say how beautiful it is, because Steve and the kids have to keep it cleared, and drive in it every day. Steve's mom and I get to stay inside most of the time. I just help keep a path brushed off on the deck so Scooby can get through it.


When it's really cold like this I can use a cooler on the back deck for our freezer food over-flow.

We Had A Blizzard !

I thought I'd get some errands done before it started, but all stores are a 15 min drive from us and I got caught out in it. It was a white-out on the way home and I could barely see the tail lights of the car ahead of me, so everyone was going about 15 mph, which took me 3x as long to get home as the snow got deeper and deeper.
It continued through the next day also.




Here's what Stevie saw through his bedroom window.






































After a lot of work from Steve, Josh and Deliverance - a nice clean driveway.

35 Years With My Steve

A lot of "stuff" can happen over a period of 35 years, and the Lord has blessed me with a man to love me through all of it. He has been the closest person to share all the wonderful and disastrous times that comes with life.

I can no longer imagine living any part of my life without him living it with me. It never ceases to amaze me how much continuing grace our Heavenly Father has to decide to bless me as much as He does. I wish I could be perfect enough to never complain about anything again.

Happy Anniversary honey!!

Auld Lang Syne

I have to apologize to all those who keep stopping by to check my blog for new posts. I'm afraid I have to take a long break from blogging. My mother-in-law has become a semi-invalid and is now living with us so we can care for her. We really feel the Lord wants us to take care of disabled parents for as long as He makes it possible for us to do so. I realize there may come a time when we will no longer be able to, but for now it is possible.
I have enjoyed blogging and will get back to it when other priorities permit. I will still be peeking in on the blogs I have always enjoyed reading, now and then.
Please continue to visit Deliverance's blog. Since we live in the same house you might hear what's going on with all of us. (here's our black raspbery patch)

Our First Real Snow Fall

We've had little flakes come and go a couple of times, but this morning it actually stuck to the ground without disappearing. It was a steady dusting of powdered sugar for a while.

Scooby couldn't wait to go out and take a better look, but quickly came running to get out of the cold. He has short hair so it couldn't keep him warm for very long. Then in the evening it came down almost like a white blanket for a short time and made sure everything was covered, but I didn't take a picture of that.
It is so pretty, like a gift floating from heaven. I know that shortly we will look at it differently, forgetting how pleasing it is today. We'll get tired of it's coldness and trying to drive in it, and having it limit our time outdoors.

Does that remind you of how our attitudes change about the many new things and experiences that come into our life? Like maybe even our first desire to learn everything about the One who had just redeemed us. That hunger to study every word and dig as deep as you can go. That thirst to be what He wants you to be. That attitude of gratitude which kept Him in the forefront of every decision and emotion.

There are so many different things that can slow down our spiritual maturing process. We all probably know what our weaknesses are, it doesn't take very long for the devil to figure them out and use them against us. It takes an effort to make the decision to rejoice in the day that the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24), and to do what is necessary to grow my spiritual life and attitude. God says if I acknowledge (know, depend on) Him in all my ways He will direct my paths. Keeping that desire to become like Christ doesn't just come upon us with our physical maturity. He said I need to use His words as my guide in all matters. When I know Him more I will love Him more and will walk in His path.
So when our growth has been stunted, and spiritual attitudes are getting off track, God has graciously provided the way for us to continue being guided by Him in a new life as a new creature - Pro. 3:6.






Tuesday morning - after having fun jumping around in the beautiful new snowfall, Scooby is ready to get warmed up.

Recipients Of His Blessings

I promised some pictures and finally had time to take some and put in a couple that Steve took, too. The 2nd one is a view of our street. Most of the houses can't be seen until you come up to their yard. Getting our new house in order has been going very slowly. Since we no longer have a basement to "pack-rat" in (the kids have thier aparment on the lower level), I'm constantly deciding what I can live without. When I'm done, having less "stuff" in my life will be a good thing. But, right now it feels overwhelming and makes me want to ignore it. That's why I think this may take me several months.
One nice thing is, when I do want to escape for a while, there is plenty of yard to meander around and find a small project to get interested in. Like pruning some of our overgrown black raspberry thicket, that will be in another post.
Here are the views of our back yard that I get to look at every day, all day. The first one is from the entrance stairs of our bi-level (we have different chairs ordered). The living room picture window and the dining room doorwall are like large frames for the serene landscape. The next two are the view from our kitchen. We hope to see deer sometime.
I don't know why the Lord has blessed me with so many good things in my life. Like great family and friends, His protection time and time again, etc. . . and especially salvation!
Every time He heaps another one on me I think about how much I DON'T do for Him. He knows it will turn my thoughts to how gracious and merciful He is, that He would lavish so much on the undeserving. He knows, that being yet unperfected we will fall short of living the life He deserves from us.
It makes me remember songs like "Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus" and others that praise His amazing grace.
1. O the deep, deep love of Jesus,vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

2. O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

3. O the deep, deep love of Jesus, Love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing, ’tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Birthday Girl

Today I reflect on all the great characteristics that makes our little girl such a wonderful young woman. We love you Deliverance.

When It Rains . . .

As of yesterday, we have all our things moved over to our new house, but most of it is still in our new garage. Although the rooms here are a little bigger and the house is in perfect shape, we have less storage areas here and have to sort through more of what we can do without, and look through the home stores for organization ideas. But we are just going to relax and take things slow for a while because things have been too hectic for too long.

During the last week of our move, we consistently felt overwhelmed with how much we had to do. To save some money we hired a couple of moving men to move only our heaviest things. Well they never showed up and never returned my calls. (stress #1). But another company squeezed me in for the next day. They sent 2 very young men that seemed like they had very little practice at it and I was afraid for their safety when they struggled with our refrigerator. I was as unsure of them as they seemed to to be of themselves (stress #2).
One of Steve's friends let him borrow his truck so we could get a lot moved over ourselves in less trips, and while following him in the car I bumped into the back of it when Steve had to stop suddenly when someone cut him off. The trailer hitch of the truck poked a hole in the front of the car, but it was Steve's work car instead of our good car, and we were relieved it only left a small dent in his friend's bumper, but I felt horrible about it. (stress #3). Then when we were returning the truck, it was dark and a deer popped out of the woods and into the front side of the same car. Of course it shocked me since I didn't even see it come out of the woods, and for a split second I thought it might kill me. But it rolled onto the hood, and as I braked it rolled onto the road ahead of me. For a few seconds it tried frantically to get up, which broke my heart. Then suddenly managed to run back into the woods (stress #4 - and a cry, poor deer). Steve hadn't seen me hit the deer and didn't notice I was no longer following behind him, so when I started down the road again I called his cell phone. After a mile, I realized I should have waited there for the police and I pulled over at a cross road, out in the middle of nowhere (stress #5), until Steve came back to me and called the police. Well, the car is still in the shop, and since we still had stuff to move, we opted for our insurance to pay for a rental. They didn't have any cars, so they gave us a deal if we took a truck (which we really needed anyway) for $5 a day. I ended up finding out from our insurance claims person that we didn't need the extra insurance the rental guy persuaded us to buy, and I think the stresses had my nerves wearing thin, so I confronted him pretty firmly (for me) and insisted he take that charge off our bill for the 7 days we've had the rental so far (I even told him he lied to us, which shocked Steve). I know Steve was embarrassed but in the end he was glad the bill would be $85 cheaper now. So, I DID have to put up with a day of Steve calling me "Iron Lady", making me walk in front of him so I couldn't shove him around, and whenever I seemed agitated with something he asked me not to hit him.

Finally, with only a few days left to finish things up and needing about a week, Steve's mom's boyfriend died from a breathing problem. I took the funeral day off from moving to be with her and our family, and Steve ended up cutting his moving time short to help his mom with a problem. But we were glad to be with his them during their own stressful time.

For most people these interferences wouldn't seem like much, but I'm not used to having stress in my day, I usually avoid it quite well. I know things don't happen unexpectedly to my Heavenly Father. He knows what I'm going to have to deal with daily and that it will all be used to shape who I become. He is an umbrella, protecting me from more than He has prepared me for, and it's good to know He has the power to make things go the way He wants it to.

UGGGHH - Moving !!!

We are almost done with moving to our new house. We are doing it all ourselves, with Deliverance and Josh helping us get things into the garage and house. We only paid for movers to get the really heavy stuff like our fridge, stove, couch etc...
Now we are finishing up getting the smaller stuff, and then cleaning our old house so the landlord won't be too grossed out. It is a very dusty older home, so there is a lot to do in the cleaning department.
We have just now got our internet out here in the country, about a 30 minute drive from wher we used to live. But I won't be able to spend much time on the computer. It will probably take a year to get everything situated here.
I'll be sending some pictures later, whenever I can. Thanks for continuing to stop by.

Farwell, Lady Grey

One of Deliverance and Josh's rabbits, Lady Grey, died last week. I found her like that in the morning when I went to feed her and her sister Céilidh (Kaylee). Their hutch has been on our back porch until we all get moved over to our new house. We don't know what caused it. She had fulfilled her purpose, which was to purely be a pet. Letting those around her feel the rewards of giving love. Just as her sister continues to do. The Lord only knows why she wasn't allowed to stay a little longer.

Birthday Boy Josh

We are blessed with a wonderful son-in-law. Happy birthday Josh, we love you!
We're thankful that the Lord placed you in our family. He knows who we need in our life.
Sorry these are old pictures. For more recent one's see Deliverance's blog.

Wordless Wednesday

This summer, somebody's pet pigeon got lost near my parents house in Michigan so on the way home to Indiana we dropped it off with a veterinarian who loves pigeons. It was a sweetie that loved to cuddle.

Celebration and Repentance

Today is Yom T'ruah, or Rosh Hoshanna. You can Google it for yourself, but here are a couple of sites that I found with some explanations. This one is audio.

What I could understand is that it is a day to celebrate the next 10 days of reflecting on your spiritual condition to prepare for atonement. Whenever this horn was blown it was for specific reasons and everyone's attention given. Some info on the shofar horn said that it may have also sybolized God's own voice.
Since Jesus the Messiah became my attonement, I appreciate the need for times of remorse for my daily sinfulness, remembering my unworthiness, because it draws me closer to my Lord. But God doesn't want us to "dwell" on this because He deserves my joy and gratitude for redeeming me in spite of all my garbage. I'm often overwhelmed with the realization that He has actually made me His precious heir, and that He has very intricate plans for my life.

Flooding

After days of steady rain, many counties around us (northwest Indiana/northeast Illinois) have been declared a disaster area. We have to boil our water and stay out of the flood waters. Our home escaped with only 2 inches of water in our basement, which is nothing compared to those who have lost everything.

When waters started receding many of our townsfolk came out to look over the damages in our little downtown area, which is situated beside a lake where our dam broke. Some streets are still closed off from flood or sink holes, and some bridges are crumbling apart. According to the weather history for our area, the last flooding this bad was 100 years ago, so we may not see it this bad again in our lifetime. Maybe that's why everyone was walking around taking pictures, like Steve and Deliverance were.
For more pictures visit Deliverances flicker pictures.

Slacker

... that's been me lately. For those of you who were faithfully checking my blog for new posts, sorry for wasting your time by not having anything new for long stretches at a time.
At first I was just under the weather for a while, then we got excited about looking at new houses on the internet, and visiting them.

Deliverance and Josh asked us if we would like to go in with them as co-owners for a house that has related living and we are looking forward to it (since we have the greatest kids in the world). We looked at some that wouldn't work out, but just recently we found a nice Bi-level out in the country that has a flat on each level, and an acre of land. All the others we looked at needed work done and things replaced, which we were prepared to do anyway, but this one has been kept up nicely and is in perfect condition. Even though it is a little more than we wanted to pay, we eventually decided it was a great buy.
We still have to wait about 6 weeks before we can move in, so that part will be tough, but we are very excited to move into such a nice home. I probably won't want my old furniture to go into it, but there isn't anything we can do about that - until later.

Related living is more popular in some other countries where it is probably more of a necessity. It seems like a good idea for family members to pool their incomes in order to have a better place to live. I've heard that families did that a lot in our own country's history, and some obviously still do since I saw houses listed as such. It keeps the family support system close at hand. I imagine it also teaches patience and tolerance.

Well, I will be busy clearing out all the stuff I don't want to pack so I don't end up storing things in our new house that I haven't used in years. After 30 years in a house and 34 years of marriage, we have plenty of stuff that we can live without, which haven't seen light in almost as many years.
I won't be blogging much for a while, but I hope you will still check in on me from time to time. I will try to make an occasional post until I can get back to normal after we get settled in a couple of months. We'll have fun putting our personal touches into that huge yard, too.

Have You Forgotten

It's not politically correct to remember, but I've never been able to understand politics anyway.

Awwwww

When Deliverance and Josh moved into an apartment for a while, there were no pets allowed, so I get to have their rabbits parked on my back porch. It's very convenient whenever I get an urge for cuddling something cute and soft. Ceilidh and Lady Grey are irresistible, and so sweet you could get a toothache!

They also have a play yard to jump around in. Stevie stopped by on his way to the car to pet them. He still works at the cinema 2 evenings a week and has made friends with his co-workers who watch out for him.
Bunnies are natural prey for our dog Scooby, so we keep them away from each other. Even though he's a gentle dog I don't want to take the chance.

The bottles of frozen water can cool them on a hot day if they want to cuddle up to it.

Angelic Eyes

Steve often experimented his photography techniques on our daughter Deliverance, when she was little. Which resulted in some of my favorites still today.

Ultimate Percussion

Some people enjoy a nice symphonic concert, but I'll choose a precision drum corps routine any day.
Top Secret Drum Corps from Switzerland

River Of Life

Stevie and I were gone for 4 days to see my family outside the Detroit area. It takes just over 4 hours to drive there if I make no stops, which is easy if I have some interesting tapes to listen to.

Steve goes with us a couple of times a year, and he doesn't mind me going extra times so I can see them more often. I wait til he has some time off work, that's easier for both of us.

For at least 12 years my parents have put up a tree "snake" of Impatiens in their front yard by the street. Mom calls it a river of life, it looks like it flows out of the tree. Dad puts a soaker hose along it so it doesn't dry out and stays full and showy. It makes for a pretty photo when we get our pictures taken by it.

The top picture is with the one they made last year when it became a little sparse, so you may be able to see how the flowers are planted into the snake.
For some reason the photos appear fuzzy, but you can click on some of them to see them clearly and bigger.

It is quite a job to do each year but the display all summer is well worth it. Mom always used to make the "snake" then dad would tie it to the tree and place the soaker hose, then she'd plant the flowers in each hole. This year my sister Sue (pictured at top), her daughter Nichole and dad did the job.

The materials are landscape cloth, a 2" chicken wire, hot glue (to make the cloth into a sack), a "soil" made of pearlite and coconut bark, something to tie it to the tree and a black soaker hose. Depending on your tree size you make it as skinny or wide as you want, and as long or short. Theirs took 5 flats of Impatiens. If anyone has questions about specifics just leave a comment.

Wouldn't we all love to have this beauty in our own yard? Maybe someday I'll have the enthusiasm to attempt it. Mom says it wasn't difficult, especially if you have someone to help it go faster.