Scattered Seed

I grew up and attended school in a much less complicated time.    I grew up in the B.C. era (Before Calculators).

Back then we had two holidays in February.   One on February 12th to celebrate Abe Lincoln’s birthday,  and another on the 22nd to celebrate George Washington’s.    Now we have the third Monday in February to celebrate these presidents (or is it all presidents?)  or shop the President’s Day sales.    We chose to skip the stores,  and headed out for another day with nature.     I don’t get a holiday or open spaces often enough,  and the fresh air and birdsong was just what I needed,  and I think the Presidents would approve.

Despite an overnight snowfall and overcast skies,  we saw some beautiful scenery.

After many roads-less-traveled and hills climbed,  we neared the Keuka Lake area.    This farm sat on the road below us,  and I could see the stone fence ran from one end of the property to the other.

We drove down for a closer look,  and marveled at the work that must have been involved to collect the stones and lay the fence.

George,  always on the lookout for something unusual,  spotted this turkey down the road,  probably a victim of a car collision.

After about three hours of meandering,  we finally arrived at the Keuka Lake shore.

We saw these common goldeneye,  several mallards,  buffleheads and Canada geese just off shore.

After a stop in Bath for lunch, George felt like continuing on,  so we took some more backways,  along the Canisteo River and the rail line there,  on into Addison,  and finally on home.

It wasn’t a good bird-photographing day,  but we did see quite a bit.     Chickadees,  juncos,  downy woodpeckers,  robins,  blue jays, crows, cardinals,  rock pigeons,  red-tailed hawks,  eastern bluebirds,  a red-bellied woodpecker, a hairy woodpecker,  goldfinches,  and an American tree sparrow.

It was a very pleasant holiday.      Thank you George (my George),  George,  and Abe.

Someone tapped us on the shoulder recently, and selected us to be economic stimulaters for the month of February.    Just think of the good we’re going to do for the country.

Two weeks ago, I cracked a tooth.  I made an appointment with the dentist, and he began work on a crown.
The evening I came in from my dental appointment, George announced that he had broken a tooth……he made an appointment for next week.

A couple of week’s ago, the check-engine light came on in the Miata. It needs to pass inspection soon, so that went into the shop today.   It has to go back next week for more diagnostics and new parts.

And, not having quite enough funds going out on our behalf, the compressor on the refrigerator bit the dust this week. First we packed in some bags of ice, then headed out this evening to buy a new appliance.

I really think we have done our part…..it’s someone else’s turn now.

After reaching a temperature of 50 degrees yesterday, the wind was howling this morning, and the temp was in the 30’s again. I was glad that we had our outing yesterday.

George made up a couple of batches of dog biscuits, trying different combinations of ingredients.   They went in the oven after our dinner came out,  and now they are hardening.    Martha was quite interested in the whole process, and she will be the final judge!

I headed down to the basement to do the weekend laundry, and this is what I discovered.

I had forgotten that I put my pot of bulbs down there, hidden behind the box of furnace filters. When George used the last filter yesterday, he took away the box, and lo and behold, the sprouts have started.     I remember what a treat it was to watch the daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths open last year as I waited for spring.

There was a lot of paperwork to catch up on, and grocery shopping to do.   And, of course, I did my weekend count for Feederwatch.

I had today off from work to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and spent much of it watching events in Washington, DC, including an airing of the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech from 1963.  Mid-afternoon Morgan called.   She drove down to DC yesterday afternoon with friends, to stay until after the inauguration. She was out walking amongst the crowds, and I could hear one of the commentators both on television, and through the phone at one point, although I couldn’t spot Morgan. She told me that she plans to get out on the mall around 4 a.m. tomorrow morning when it will be opened for the day’s events.   What an exciting day for her,  and for all of us!

On the homefront, I wanted to keep busy and make the best of this at-home day.

I made buckwheat pancakes for our breakfast.  Any other weekday it is cold cereal for me. Lesson learned….the box of buckwheat flour from the grocery store currently sells for $3.80/lb. and a bag of the same from the Mennonite bulk food store sells for .72/lb. I’m still using up what’s left in the box, so those were pretty expensive pancakes!

I threaded a string of peanuts for the titmice and chickadees and George hung that outside the back door.

My sewing project was a new bed for Martha. I bought the fuzzy material for the outer layer at Christmas, and she has been very patient using just that for the past few weeks. Today I created the inner pillow, stuffed with cedar, and she seems to like being nestled in.

Finally, I mixed up a batch of homemade laundry detergent. It’s something I have wanted to try to do for awhile,  so we’ll see how that works out.   I’ve always hated all those plastic detergent bottles as they cycle from manufacturing to my grocery store to my laundry area and then into the bin.

And through the day there were the birds, always faithful, always putting a bright spot on my day.

That is the word I decided upon to describe today, rather than “dreadfully cold”.   There was a windchill of -11 when George headed off to work this morning and I pulled the covers up around me for a little longer sleep.   I had the day off, and waited till the temperature rose to its high of 9 degrees before heading out on my errands.   Long johns were definitely the order of the day.

Before I left the house,  I put in a full morning of cleaning and organizing,  getting things in order so that we can have a smooth departure in the morning.    I set up the tripod at the kitchen window,  and photographed the bird visitors as they came and went.  They enjoyed the offerings I had put out,  and I enjoyed their company on this winter’s day.

Here is a hairy woodpecker,  swinging from a block of George’s homemade suet

and here again,   checking out the same recipe,  but closer to the house

A little downy showed up as soon as the hairy left.   One pecked a nice hole in our deck rail last year,  which seems like something this one is contemplating.

The juncos were looking through all the nooks and crannies for seeds.   This one disappeared from view several times as the hole (my bootprint) was quite deep.

I counted thirty mourning doves in the yard at one point,  but sometimes I miss one or two that are well-camouflaged in the willow branches.

I even felt sorry for the starling who came looking for food,  and seemed to shiver as he (or she) rested.

Tonight the temperature is Zero……windchill -11,   as it was when the day started.    My bed buddy has been warmed in the microwave,  and I’m headed to tuck it under the covers,  and hope for a warm night’s sleep.

It’s so very cold, and we don’t venture out after work. Up before daylight, and off to work as the sun rises. Home as the sun sets, and in from the chill. Tonight it is supposed to dip to 4 degrees. Tomorrow and Friday will be even colder. It is encouraging at least, to have the daylight hours increasing ever so slightly each day now. I think we’re all getting tired of the winter, barely one month into it.

Saturday morning,  before the storm……a Carolina wren

goldfinch,  as the first flakes fall…..

a squirrel looking for sustenance

and finding the suet….

snow-capped feeder,   Saturday night…..

our Christmas tree,  strapped to the nest box post…..

Sunday morning…..five inches of new snow to clear…..

looking for friends……

only one blue jay came,  though I bought a fresh supply of peanuts….

mourning doves contemplate the snowy scene……

and one achieves perfect balance…..

a field of deer,  not far from home…..

not quite trusting us,  and ready to run.

It was a nice weekend.

It’s been a week, though only part of one already. I found out Monday that the company I work for, which is family-owned, will be taken over by a corporation. So many questions fill my workplace and my own mind……how will things be different? Will my benefits stay the same? Will I have to work more hours? Will I have to go back to working weekends? Will I even have a job when all is said and done?

Garrett and I were discussing recently how “the only thing constant in life is change”. You just never know what is down the road.

I hold on to the ultimate decision…..to retire (from that line of work anyway).    I’m not sure how we would handle that, but it’s been moved more closely into the realm of possibility. Time will tell. The handover process is supposed to take most of this year.

I feel like the house sparrow held tight in the claws of this hawk. Maybe I’ll get off a little easier than he did!

It was a good bird-count day, better than last weekend when temperatures were milder and the snow was gone. Today we have a couple of inches on the ground remaining from the New Year’s Eve winter storm.

George gets credit for this photo of the elusive tufted titmouse.   He said there were actually several that showed up yesterday,  but only one showed up to be counted today.

We moved this suet closer to the house,  so we can see the downies when they show up.

The blue jays only love me for the peanuts.   They don’t even stop by when there are none.

Somehow I got lucky and captured this finch’s burst of red.

We had a brief starling invasion,  suet being the main attraction.   They never stay long…..just long enough to scatter all the other birds.

Feederwatch is never complete without a squirrel.   Until I started feeding the birds,  we had never seen a squirrel in our neighborhood.   The first year we had one squirrel,  the second we had two, the third we had three,   this fourth year we’ve had as many as five……They’re not too good at the math!

Despite having my eyes focused out the back window much of the day,  I feel like it was a productive day.    The Christmas decorations are gathered on the diningroom table waiting for the boxes to come up from the basement.  Laundry is caught up,   my kitchen is clean and tidy.    I made some whole-grain crackers and lentil soup for lunch,  and George put some ribs in the oven and cooked them ever so slowly for our dinner.    So very good.   My clean kitchen floor has some slobber spots now,  where Martha couldn’t help but drool….

Our fourth winter weather advisory has been issued for the month of December.   Number 3 on Sunday didn’t amount to much,  so maybe this one won’t either.  After work tonight I headed out to fill the bird feeders.   Ice and freezing rain is due to move into our area around midnight,  and I wanted to have seed out in case the deck is a dangerous place to be in the morning.

I wish for safe journeys for all holiday travelers,  and especially for Garrett, as he drives down from the outskirts of Buffalo tomorrow.

It was bitter cold today,  beginning with a 4 degree reading when I first got up this morning.   Now the temperatures are supposed to start rising,  and I wonder if we really will have a white Christmas after all.

Awake at 5 a.m.  with much on my mind,  it seems that it has been a very long day.  George again took care of the errands,  and cooked our dinner,  so that I could kick my shoes off and relax a little bit tonight.  That is the best present ever!

Tomorrow I go in to work an hour early in hopes of being able to leave a little earlier than usual.   At least that is the plan.  Once my workday is over,  I will get my second wind,  and the holiday can begin.