I see a bright and sweaty future for this baby boy…
Won’t Uncle Dane be pleased?
For the Birds
Around here–we get a ton of birds. There are always robins and starlings on the lawn eating all the gnats and worms. If we throw out just the right kind of bread we can even attract seagulls and the occasional wild ducks. They are all fun to watch, but my favorite are—
the seed birds.
A while back, I bought this bird seed bell to entice them to come closer. For some reason, they didn’t really care about it–the darn thing just sat there–until it rained. Then all the seeds got soft and started crumbling off into piles below. Then they noticed and gobbled it up. There must have been something unnatural about their lunch looking like a church bell that disturbed them.
Our birds are much more interested in the regular bird feeder. They flock around it like it’s their one shot at happiness in this life. I’m pretty sure their only complaint is that it isn’t the size of a wheel barrow. I wonder sometimes, if we’d get more birds that way or we’d keep the same ones–only they’d grow to the size of big, fat turkeys. Either way….it’s entertainment at it’s finest.
With our modest feeder, we get camera shy, tiny birds with yellow, orange, or scarlet heads.
Then, we get these, much bolder blue fellows.
Then a mix of red and blue. I don’t really know what type most of them are–but the ad on the seed package is right–you get some really exotic looking birds when you put these different mixes out.
The doves usually wait until the smaller birds have settled down a bit then they pick up whatever scraps are left. Whenever the feeder is empty–I swear–the other birds send the doves to tell us about it. Some days they come right up to the window as if to say, “HEY! We’re outta’ food here!”
Pet Shop Birds
Watching these guys always makes me feel so sorry for the little birds in the pet stores locked up in cages. I just want to wait until no one is looking and unhinge the latches and help them make a break for it.
Can’t you just see the news report? “Ridiculous Woman Leads Budgies To Freedom.” I know, I know. Pretty silly thing for a mother of five to do prison time for.
It’s just a thought.
I suppose it’s safer to stick with the seeds–even if the volume can get kinda pricey. The plus side is that you can always be certain something is a great investment if—
it livens up the yard…
it entertains the kids…
and…
it keeps your mother out of jail.
News at six.
Week 15 Food Storage Prompt: 1 bag of bird seed….just kidding!
5 boxes Macaroni and Cheese.
Baby Bird Haircut
How can they go
from toddler-baby
to itty bitty girl
in a couple of snips
from the hair cutting scissors?
Slow down little dolly.
I’m not ready yet.
S’more Bars
If you love gooey, chocolatey campfire s’mores–well, now you can have them right in your own cool little kitchen–without having to set anything on fire. Big plus.
Ingredients:
1 box Golden Grahams Cereal–the big one
2- 10 oz. marshmallows
1 cube butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Grease a 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle 1/2 cup of chocolate chips on the bottom. Melt butter and marshmallows just like you would do for Rice Krispie Treats–in a saucepan over medium heat. When marshmallows are completely melted, add vanilla and stir. Empty cereal into large bowl and pour marshmallows over and mix well.
Spread into pan on top of chocolate chips. Sprinkle remainder of chocolate chips over the top. Let sit for about 10 minutes or so before cutting into squares. Then…
…watch out for baby sharks.
S'more Bars
Ingredients
- 1 box Golden Grahams Cereal--the big one
- 2- 10 oz. marshmallows
- 1 cube butter
- ½ tsp. vanilla
- 1-1/2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Grease a 9 x 13 pan and sprinkle ½ cup of chocolate chips on the bottom.
- Melt butter and marshmallows just like you would do for Rice Krispie Treats--in a saucepan over medium heat.
- When marshmallows are completely melted, add vanilla and stir.
- Empty cereal into large bowl and pour marshmallows over and mix well.
- Spread into pan on top of chocolate chips.
- Sprinkle remainder of chocolate chips over the top.
- Let sit for about 10 minutes or so before cutting into squares.
Fairy Garden?
Have you seen the movie, “Fairy Tale?”
In it, two little girls discover a raft of fairies down by the river. They build them a tiny house and appease them with fairy cake–a favorite of fairies. Eventually the girls even take photographs of flitting fairies–baffling the whole world.
The movie also mentions that mushrooms and toadstools are magical fairy things. If it’s true–we have a busload of fairy dust floating around our place these days.
With four days of straight rain–toadstools and mushrooms are popping up everywhere–some in the middle of the yard all alone…
…most of them in little clusters.
The bald kid mows them down, and the next day…
They pop right back up—sometimes the size of dinner plates.
These brave souls have even formed themselves into a fairy ring. In case you didn’t know, a fairy ring is “the phenomena resulting from the dancing footsteps of fairies; a hallowed place to magical folk.”
Very cool.
Apparently you can get into big trouble for messing with or mowing down a fairy ring–like being stolen away into the fairy kingdom, never to return–that sort of thing. I told the bald kid to mow around it, you know, just in case. I figured he’d feel pretty bad if they swiped him away to live with the sprites forever. He’s a big guy—Heaven only knows what they’d feed him.
He wasn’t afraid.
He said, “Bring it.”
This generation and their total disregard for things that really matter.
Sheesh.
I believe I shall run and make some cake.