Picture Me...

A woman's work is never done, especially if you're never doing it because you always feel like this.

p.s. this is no-one I know, just an internet photo

BUMBLEBEE!!!

We got our first NEW car ever. It was such a great deal it would have been foolish not to this time.
Anyway, Stevies favorite movie is Transformers but he couldn't find BumbleBee anywhere (yellow Camero). Then when we needed to come back in to the dealership, not only did they have one on the floor, but it had the Transformers logo on it - as you can see Stevie pointing to. To him this meant it was the real Bumblebee. That made his day!

A Trip To See Family

My family is in eastern Michigan, a 4 1/2 - 5 hr trip for us. We usually stay a few days. It's always a nice time of reconnecting.
(Stevie with mom & dad, and his aunt Sue, me with them, my niece Nicci and her grampa, mom & dad's back yard)

Happy Birthday Son

Stevie picked a steak dinner at Chili's for his birthday meal.

He informed me not to call him Honey anymore. I tried Sonny, but that didn't go over to good either.

Buddies and Berries

Stevie and Shawn didn't get together all that often before we moved, and since we've moved even further away it's even less. That means it's the same for Shawn's mom (Bonnie) and I, too. That won't affect our friendship though, we can't afford to lose good Christian friends.
During our first summer here I picked and froze a lot of our wild black raspberries anticipating Bonnie helping me make some jam. She has a big garden and cans lots of stuff.
The kids played Wii while we canned and had a good time. Thanks Bonnie!

Summer On The Deck

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby

Happy Birthday to my college sweetheart, hubby, and best friend of 35 yrs, and you will always be.

Steve doesn't like his picture on the internet so I put up his favorite dog star Petey from the Little Rascals, because he is the same breed as our dog Scooby, Pit Bull.
I chose this song for him this time because he always tells me how much he loves me and needs me.

You are the love of my youth and my old age honey! IOU

Finch Feeder

I moved the bird feeders off of the deck because of the mess they make. That is except for the humming bird feeder and one of the finch feeders, because they are just so pretty to watch.

Maybe since they are little birds they won't make too much of a mess???


We get gold finches and house finches.

Black Raspberries

Our thicket has dried up. The last time I picked, a week ago, I got about 2 handsfull of berries. I'm still learning how to prune them for a better yield and maybe next year I can learn how to keep the bugs from sucking so may of them dry. I heard that a heavy rain we had during the harvest period interfered with the yield also. They are a blessing, and everytime I picked a couple of quarts I thanked God for the gift He was giving us. I have enough in the freezer to make a few jars of jam and maybe some ice cream topping.

Visiting Amish Land

Stevie and I went with my friends Pat and Linda to visit an Amish tourist site near here (though no Amish live on these particular grounds). It was a nice calming retreat to yesteryear, and the tour guide was very informative. Most Amish no longer live in the old style houses that we saw and are allowed more conveniences than they used to, but many of them do still have farms to tend without some of the modern machinery. You can find out more about the Amish here.


We watched a film explaining Amish history, took a walking tour through the various buildings and a wagon tour of the grounds. Stevie wasn't thrilled at all to go see the inside of the school house, he thought graduation was the end of having to go to school.


We then indulged in the Harvest Meal they offer, Stevie's only goal for the trip. The food just kept coming, but we could pick only one dessert from such a big assortment. Needless to say we had to make up for it the rest of the week, but it was worth it.


They are famous for their cinnamon-y apple butter, which we smothered all over their homemade bread and rolls.

After the meal I went straight to their store and bought a jar to take home.

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 these are male and female Ruby Throated Hummingbirds. We get more than one pair.

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.
If I'm real still sometimes they will fly up to my face to check me out before they decide it's alright to go to the feeder or the flowers nearby. They are precious.

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.