12 Wednesday Feb 2014
Posted in nature, photography
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The little bird liked the peanut butter-smeared, birdseed-sprinkled pine cone we wired to the old branch.
The bird pecks at the seed-encrusted, peanut buttered pine cone.
29 Wednesday Jan 2014
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It started last night and ended last night.
Winter snow always makes the sky an unusual color as the city lights light up the underside of the clouds.
We rarely see snow falling during the day. It was nice waking up to see the snow had not melted!
And yes, this is our Christmas tree. It was in such fine shape that we put it on the corner of the deck to enjoy a little longer. The cats like laying under it too.
I will enjoy this photo after the snow melts and the view out my window turns sullen and gray again. Beautiful snow!
23 Thursday Jan 2014
22 Wednesday Jan 2014
Posted in God, Inspirational, nature, Scripture, Uncategorized
As soon as my son and I heard the thunk, we both said “Was that a bird?”
It was. A tiny Ruby-crowned Kinglet had flown into the sliding glass door and lay on the deck.
What do we do? What can we do?
While we watched, the little bird got to his feet. But he was not well.
The tiny bird sat stunned on the deck.
He wobbled around a bit and panted hard.
Finally, he fluffed up all his feathers and tucked his head in and made himself into a tiny feathered ball.
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet fluffed up his feathers and curled into a little ball.
His breath came in shudders and heaves. We watched in distress.
The tiny Kinglet shuddered so hard I feared he was dying.
It was so cold outside. Would he be ok? We were very glad the cats were inside! Cats love birds so of course Matey purred with glee and wouldn’t take her eyes off the little bird through the glass. We finally put Matey in the basement out of annoyance of her and respect for the bird. He kept his head tucked in, shuddering and quaking and I kept expecting the little feathered ball to fall over.
Alone yet not alone.
We looked up info on what to do. The advice was to carefully lift the bird into a box lined with a towel and wait. So that’s what we did. My son lifted the little feathered ball and placed it in the box, then backed into the house and slid the glass door shut. The bird stood up and balanced and revived in the warm towel-lined box. Then we waited, watching his every move.
The tiny Kinglet stood up and we got a glimpse of his beautiful ruby crown.
The little Kinglet looked around for a couple minutes and without even testing his wings, suddenly flew away.
We were so glad the bird was ok! There’s not much you can do for a bird that crashes into a window and sometimes the bird will be stunned for hours. The little Kinglet was on the deck for barely 20 minutes in all.
I was glad the cats were indoors and shut in the basement.
I was glad we were able to look up info online.
It was good that we had a box and a towel to help warm the stunned bird.
And though we couldn’t do much to help, we hovered over it with concern.
Then I remembered what Jesus said.
“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
If God cares so much for tiny birds that he made sure we kept the cats locked up and provided a warm towel, surely he will hover over us when we are curled up and in need of care.
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
I Peter 5:7
06 Wednesday Nov 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, God, Inspirational, nature
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Lune
16 Monday Sep 2013
Posted in All Sparkled Up, grandkids, nature, sparkling, sunlight, Uncategorized
15 Monday Jul 2013
The figs are juicy, sweet and huge this year!
We were really pleased that the netting kept the birds away.
We put the net over the tree too early though so some of the new tree growth went right through the net. We’ll have to either prune the tree or cut the net to get it off in the fall.
We haven’t hung the bug traps yet so we lost a few figs to beetles and bees.
But there are still so many green, healthy figs.
I hope the traps work for beetles. We didn’t have beetles last year.
It’s disturbing to see how they ravage a fig. But at least they stay on one fig until it is all used up without taking a single bite out of the neighboring fig.
Beetles ravage a ripe fig hanging on the tree.
The basket was heavy with plump figs.
This warm-from-the-tree fig fits my palm!
I remember our first harvest several years ago yielded just one tiny fig that didn’t even fit in a spoon. Look at the size of these. Luscious!
We weren’t sure if the figs were ripe or overripe. This was one of the yellower figs. I thought so much white pith might mean the fig wasn’t ripe. It still tasted delicious and juicy and sweet.
Here is a riper fig, with a darker brown skin next to the golden yellow skinned fig from the same tree for comparison.
When both figs were compared in flavor and texture, they were still almost identical. The riper fig had a slightly larger pink, seeded center. The seeded area should take up more of the fruit but this year the figs are dropping if left much longer on the tree. They still taste delicious.
Figs keep only a day or two and taste better at room temperature so these will sit on the counter for snacking. I cut and ate half of one immediately after picking then ate the other half several hours later. The flavor was better after the fig sat for a bit after picking. I’m not sure what caused it to be sweeter. We are still newbies at growing figs.
02 Tuesday Jul 2013
Posted in nature
15 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in gardening, Uncategorized
Tags
container gardening, gardening, hanging plants, nature, planters, plants, strawberries, strawberry planter, strawberry plants
Honestly though, I’m not optimistic. My husband brought home a box of 20 “Strawberry Plants” from a discount store. Inside were two plastic bags of dirt and not a green leaf in sight. It took me a while to figure out the mass of mulch-looking matter actually contained some roots. I had no idea how the tangled mass was 20 plants so I just played in the dirt a bit until 20 little “pony tails” fell out.
The strawberry plant roots were all tangled together in a mass
Strawberry plant… which end is which?
Good planting soil is shoveled into the hanging strawberry planter.
Here you can see the roots spread out over the soil and the “not root” end sticking out the hole.
A last layer of soil is added to the planter.
The planter is lifted up to the sturdy hook.
It’s not the prettiest addition to our deck, but it is promising.
02 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Inspirational, nature
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It is true. God knows exactly where you are and what you need. You are extraordinarily valuable to him and He is watching over you.
The tiny Tufted Titmouse flitted around our deck gathering bits of cat hair in its beak to feather its nest. Click photo to save a larger desktop size photo.
All Sparkled Up 