Monday January 28

New bird this week is a Red Breasted Nuthatch. He comes to the bird feeder regularly and also like a suet hanger I have in another spot in the yard. I have tried to take his picture on the suet hanger but he is flighty when I get outside. His distinctive markings are the white eyebrow above the dark liner and his long pointed beak. He is small and seems to travel alone although I did not read that.

Todays quote:
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

Have a great week with another warm blast this week can spring be far behind.

More about Bluebirds

My own bluebird quote of the day:

"Bluebird houses (and bird feeders) are like having a premium channel on cable."


These are 2 photos from my summer bluebirds. The first is the female sitting on the food tray. I fed them meal worms and the bluebirds were almost Pavlovian in their response. When I walked out to the birdhouse with the worms they would immediately fly in for the meal. It worked well for showing off "MY" bluebirds. The female is usually a little less vivid in the blue coloring. The second picture is a male on the house. He will scout out the housing for the female and then she gets the final decision, which she makes by starting the nest.

Lets talk Birds

Two years ago Steve bought me a bluebird house for Christmas at the urging of our friend Kathy. We put it up too late to attract bluebirds but it was occupied that first year by tree swallows. We had fun watching them and had a nesting with 5 eggs that all ended up fledging from the nest.

Last year for Christmas I got a bird feeder. We dutifully put it out and narry a bird fed from it last year. Again my knowledgable friend told me sometimes it takes the birds a while to figure out where free food is. And perhaps our mild winter last year affected how much food the birds needed to find.

Last summer the eastern bluebirds found my house and so I was told I now needed another house for the swallows. Off to Loews and a second bird house was erected. The summer was great with a nesting of swallows and bluebirds. And this winter the birds have found the feeder. I have been logging time with the bird identification book and have been sharing this knowledge with AJ. He will know more about birds as a six year old than I did as an adult.

  So my blog readers now you too will get bird lessons this year. This is a picture of the eastern bluebirds on the bird feeder 2 weeks ago when we had snow. The birds do not normally stay in this area but they obviously have this year. I have seen as many as 7 at one time  in the trees around the backyard. I like to think these are the babies that hatched in our bird house last spring.

Tuesday January 15

What an interesting January we have had. The first snow of the season came the day after Christmas and we added a little to that later that week. We got the cross country skis out and managed a few rounds on the golf course. Then last week the typical January thaw occurs and on Saturday the high temp is 60. The golf gods smile and there are more people playing then there were on many of the nice November Saturdays. Steve feels confident it is his only round ever played in Ohio in January.
Several of the guys even wore shorts. It was a little wet but very playable.

Today it feels like January again, cold but clear. And the fact that we are half way through January makes that pretty bearable. No long range storms in the forecast.

January 4, 2013

Friday is always a great day of the week. Today I am finally getting Christmas put away. I played with AJ yesterday. We had a great time but I am ready to put the decorations away and start focusing on 2013. The goal this year will be to make better decisions everyday. We are presented with choices everyday and often I do not think of the options before making a decision. I would like to slow down and think of at least one option before making decisions this year. Of course this would not affect reactions to danger....usually the first instinct there is probbly correct.

I love to post a thought for the day too. When I have the time I will.

Todays thought:

"The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook."

This ties into my thought of taking the time to review the options.

January 2, 2013

The first normal day of the new year. Everyone back to work and we can resume a home schedule. Now on to training for my third half marathon in March. The treadmill and I will be spending some time together unless the Ohio weather gets nicer. Today was the coldest of the winter so far. It was pretty though because the sun was shining.

No pictures today but a thought for the new year is to make someone smile everyday. I did today!

"It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere."

January 1, 2013

New year new start. I miss the blog, my friends miss the blog and my family misses the blog. So why don't I blog? Well we can try again this year. Day one of January 2013 was good. Laid back day with a cross country ski around the golf course and dinner with our friends the Farnsworths. Lots of football in between and a little jigsaw puzzle time too. ( Mikes present to me for Christmas)

May the year 2013 be good one. Health and happiness to all.