In the garden....

These late beets would have made it to the table by now if we'd had any rain.  This was an experiment anyhow, and it continues.  Will the beets grow after the rain we just got, even though we've had two hard freezes?  

The lettuce is just fine, still tasty.  Lettuce is not afraid of cold weather.  The late-planted carrots, on the left, also seem undaunted by the cold.  I pulled one, washed it off, and ate it; it was small, but good.  We'll see if the carrots go dormant for winter and then start growing in spring.  

This cabbage plant is actually making a head.  Notice the holes in the leaves?  What sort of bug or worm would be alive in this cold weather?  

The pasture Cliff seeded behind the house is green again.  Amazing, with so little rain.  When it was first planted we got gully-washers, so there are a lot of ditches washed in it.  

Cliff's sand-blasting stuff he intends to paint, later on.  Outside my window, sparrows and bluebirds avail themselves of the birdbath.  I love seeing the bluebirds; last year it was rare to see even one.  Now I sometimes see five at once bathing.  I think it must be the ones that used the bluebird house this summer.  
I'd think they'd freeze to death getting wet when the temperature is in the 30's.  

Enjoying the birds

Why do they call them "red-bellied woodpeckers" when their bellies aren't red?

There's a female cardinal at the feeder with the house finches, and a male cardinal on the ground.

Birds

I think that must be a female cardinal on the left, dining peacefully with a couple of goldfinches.

The goldfinches made themselves scarce for a couple of months, but they're back in full force now, along with the house finches.

The cardinals and woodpeckers only show up a couple of times daily. There are still some juncos around, but thank goodness not as many as there were.

There are some ugly, ungainly birds that seem to hang out in a flock; one of them occasionally visits the feeder, and when he shows up, the other birds leave. I've been trying for days to get a picture so my readers could perhaps tell me what sort of bird it is; I'll keep trying. These birds are easily twice the size of the finches.

You might have noticed I deleted a couple of recent entries. I didn't like the searches that were leading people here. I can see now I should have kept my fingers off the keyboard and kept my nose out of something that wasn't my business. Don't get me wrong, I haven't received any flak for the entries.

Sometimes when I find something that interests me, I refer my readers to it thinking they might also be interested. This time, I should not have done so.

I'm noticing birds, these days

Until we moved back here in the pasture, I wasn't much of one to notice birds, unless they were brightly-colored. Seeing gray birds at a distance, I always assumed they were sparrows; I didn't really care what they were.

After I put a feeder out, and then a birdbath, I began trying to figure out what kinds of birds were visiting me.

The bird that most commonly shows up at my feeder is the house finch. I thoroughly enjoy them. In summer they coexist with their cousins, the goldfinches. The bird seed I buy is mostly finch-friendly, so that probably has much to do with what varieties of birds I see.

This winter I still have my house finches, and I think I may have seen one or two dull-colored goldfinches.

But these are far outnumbered by a bird I had never noticed before in my life, the Junco. (Pardon the poor quality of the little video.) Often I see eight or ten of them on the ground when I look out the window. Thanks to Google, I learned that this is "south" to them, and in spring they'll travel north to Canada. In my reading about them, I saw it mentioned that a brush pile might make them feel safer, so I dragged my poor old dry Christmas tree out to the bottom of the feeder pole. Indeed, they do seem to enjoy hopping under it and perching on it.

This is the strangest thing: I was just getting ready to tell my readers that I don't see cardinals back here, since they like lots of trees and our trees are only young, small ones. Before I could get two words typed, a female cardinal showed up and made my day. She spent at least a half-hour here. It would be nice if she'd bring one of her bright-colored boy friends along.

This just goes to show that you can still find new things to enjoy when you're past sixty: At my age, it's nice to once again find something that amazes me. Thank God for the birds.

Shades of Alfred Hitchcock

Looking out my computer room window, I saw black birds (probably starlilngs) totally taking over our pasture. They spent about ten minutes here; at the very end, you'll see the horses spook and run off. Had I known they were doing that, I would have kept the camera running for about ten seconds longer.

Goodbye, garden

The forecast is for a low of 34 tonight and 30… possibly 27… for tomorrow night. The bell pepper plants are loaded with peppers that will never see maturity. I went and picked all of them that felt firm and ready.

There are dozens and dozens more; the real shame is that after this weekend it's going to stay above freezing for awhile. I may throw an old blanket over a couple of the plants, just to see if I could save them for another week or two.

Cliff and I still hope to go to Arkansas one more time before winter, but it seems to be raining there almost every weekend. Cliff mentioned waiting until the leaves change color, but I told him if we get a time that the weather is good, we'd better go for it and not worry about the leaves.

I haven't seen hummingbirds for several days, so I guess they've moved on. I have the goldfinch feeder out, but haven't seen a single finch for a long time; everything I've read about them assures me they will return to spend the winter. Right now, things are pretty dead in my back yard, as far as bird activity. Before February, I want to get a bluebird house and a martin house. I read online that if you get two birdhouses and put them ten feet apart, sparrows will use one and leave the other for bluebirds. Both sparrows and bluebirds are territorial, and won't nest too close to their own kind. I sure do hate to think about providing housing for a nasty old sparrow, though.

Name that bird!

Are any of my readers bird-wise? Cliff and I have racked our brains and can't figure out what it might be... dark gray back with white breast. I have typed that into Google so many times my fingers are tired, and have yet to find anything that looks like this bird. It's a little larger than a sparrow.

Sorry about the small pictures, but I couldn't get close; so I cropped my pictures hoping to be able to see him better.

We're seeing more hummingbirds the last few days than ever before; it's almost dangerous to step outside. You never know when you're going to step right in the middle of a hummingbird war! Two of my feeders hold about one cup of nectar each, and they're being emptied about every twenty-four hours.

Cliff spent his morning planting a permanent pasture mix of grasses: timothy, orchard grass, and I forget what else. He also got some clover seed that he'll sow on the plot this winter, hopefully after a snowfall. So, finally that ground that has been disked so many times since last fall will be producing again, verdant and lovely. The down side of this is that the hay-field directly behind the house is going to be disked up, played with for a year, and replanted.

*sigh*

Outside the house

In the garden...

There are blooms on the bush beans.


Peppers on the pepper plants.

Hundreds of tomatoes on the vines.

Yesterday we did indeed visit the Wild Bird Center in Independence, as planned. The people who work there are so helpful and knowledgeable. Cliff hadn't been in the store before, and he was pretty amazed at some of the items they sell there.

I looked at bluebird houses and martin houses, but after talking to the proprietor and finding out it's too late in the season for those to attract any inhabitants, I decided to hold off on buying them.

I did buy a hummingbird feeder to attach to the window beside my computer desk. The tiny birds have found it, but so far they notice my movement when I try to take a picture. I'll keep trying, of course. When they're feeding and fighting at this feeder, they're about three feet away from me.


Ever since I saw an oriole at my hummingbird feeder a few weeks ago, I've longed to see more of those beautiful birds. So I invested in an Oriole feeder.

There's a place to put half an orange; little cupped spots to hold grape jelly; and the bottom holds nectar. So far I've only see hummingbirds checking it out, but I'm hoping! It could be that this is another thing that needs to be put out early in the season, because I found this online: "It is important to have the oranges available just as the orioles arrive, which is around April 1st in the South and April 15th to May 1st in the northern half of the country." That information came from THIS WEBSITE.

As for the martins and bluebirds, the lady informed me that sparrows are the biggest problems with trying to make homes for them. Cliff and I checked out some sparrow traps online after we got home. I think I'll deal with one type of bird at a time here, learning as I go.

Boy, I sure would love to see some orioles!

Wild Bird Store

Yesterday Cliff and I made what turned out to be, for him, an ill-fated trip to the city. He had received a Harbor Freight circular in the mail with some hot coupons for boring man-stuff. You know, ratchets and paint shakers and such.

When we pulled into the parking lot, I scanned the surrounding stores desperately for some refuge, anything that would keep me out of Harbor Freight. I chose The Wild Bird Store, figuring that should keep me entertained. I'd never heard of it before.

There were all sorts of bird houses and feeders and birdbaths. I was engrossed in all these wonderful items when I sensed movement at my feet.

Looking down, I saw a quite pompous cat; my shoes were actually touching him. It's a wonder I hadn't stepped on him! He wasn't about to give an inch, though. He refused to acknowledge my presence.

A lady entered the store and asked the proprietor if he had any Oriole feeders; he responded that he'd sold the last one, but that there should be more coming in later.

"I really sell a lot of those," he told her.

You might recall me seeing an oriole at a hummingbird feeder some time back and getting all excited about it. I didn't even know what it was at the time.

So I struck up a conversation with the lady: "Do you have a lot of orioles?"

"Oh yes, we have a pair that always stays around."

She went on to tell of the other birds she sees in her yard, near Blue Springs. I mentioned that I have lots of goldfinches.

"Oh, we love those," she said. "The only trouble with them is that they leave in April to go north to nest, and don't return until almost winter,"

"Really? I counted eight of them outside my window just yesterday."

Even as I type this, I see two at the feeder and four on the fence.

So I'm wondering why that lady's finches leave and mine don't. What do I have that she doesn't?

She also gave me a lot of information about Orioles. So now, of course, I'm in the market for an Oriole feeder. They like oranges and grape jelly.

I never thought I'd be grocery-shopping for birds.

We saw these huge tires on the way home from the city. I was impressed. But then, I'm easily impressed.

Speaking of tires, Cliff's project today has been to get the wheels of his newly-acquired tractor ready to paint the proper color. They were John Deere yellow; we can't have that on an Oliver tractor. They'll soon be what's known as "clover white".

I'm here. Really!

There just hasn't been much interesting activity around here worth blogging about. The weather outside is uncomfortably hot. I've spent a lot of time pulling weeds in my flowerbeds and in the garden. I don't take heat well these days; yesterday I came in from weeding, sat down at the computer, got on Facebook, and typed in these words after my name: "is hot".

Good grief, I might have known I was setting myself up. Even one of the grandson's best buds made a comment on that one. Oh well, at least he agreed I was hot.

Friday, I honestly did have a heat spell while working in the garden, and Cliff decided I need a straw hat for outdoor summertime work. We'll be shopping for that today, I imagine, since we're heading to Higginsville to get paint for the "new" tractor. Not for the whole tractor, but for the front wheels, which are at present sporting "John Deere yellow". What a sacrilege! Eventually Cliff will paint the entire body of the Oliver, but he has other things to attend to first.

Five goldfinches enjoy their feeding time while a robin watches from the fence.

The bird activity continues outside my window. You might recall that the chief reason I wanted a birdbath was to attract bluebirds. Yesterday evening, I finally saw a pair of bluebirds availing themselves of the facilities. I wanted a picture, but I've moved everything so close to the computer-room window that the birds often notice me moving toward them from inside and fly away.

Bonnie, the heifer, is showing her pregnancy more every day. I expect before this month is over, we'll have a new baby to show off. God willing, of course. Every three weeks Bonnie has to put up with Secret's being in heat and jumping on her all the time, poor thing. When she seems to be close to giving birth, depending on the timing of Secret's cycle, I may have to separate them for the good of all concerned.

Cliff, as you might imagine, has been spending time playing with working on his newly acquired toy tractor.

He isn't one to leave tractors, mowers, or other vehicles sitting unprotected from the elements, so he spent much of Sunday trying to find a space into which the Ollie would fit. Bigger toys require big toy-boxes, and for a few tense moments I thought we might have to build a new shop especially for the 1855.

Cliff thought the shop door was tall enough for anything he might ever need to put inside.

Oh, it was a tight fit, all right.

Especially getting the tall pipe (stack? muffler? Cliff's still in bed, so I can't ask him) to clear the light fixture. It just happens Cliff had cut one of the lights down a little, so Ollie made it inside the shop.

Home sweet home.

We're looking forward to our son's annual visit soon, and I'm sure there will be plenty of activity then.

I'm loving my birds

Last summer I discovered the joy to be found watching hummingbirds.

Now I'm enjoying goldfinches (Daddy used to call them "wild canaries). I found out what sort of feeder they like, and what kind of seed (thistle). I can see a goldfinch at the feeder almost anytime I look out my window; there are three of them there at this very minute. I intend to move the feeder closer to my window before long.

It's the neatest thing, seeing those flashes of bright yellow in my back yard.

Every once in awhile I see a bluebird on the fence or hopping along on the ground; I want more of those around, too. I went to Google to see what steps I might take to attract bluebirds. The first suggestion given is to get some birdhouses for them. Sounds great, but I'm afraid I'd end up providing housing for sparrows. Another suggestion was to provide meal worms for them to eat; sorry, I'm not going to buy live meal worms to feed any sort of bird. I've gotten them in my cabinets a time or two, and I'd just as soon never see them again.

A birdbath is also suggested; again, I wonder if I'd end up seeing only sparrows bathing at my facilities.

Maybe I'll just settle for seeing the occasional bluebird sitting on the fence.

Birds, birds, birds

A while ago I looked out the window next to my computer and saw four goldfinches perched on a post that holds a hummingbird feeder. Excited, I ran in the living room hollering at Cliff, "Look out the window! Look at all those goldfinches!"

Then I thought of my camera, located it, and came back in the computer room to take a picture out the window. When I aimed the camera, they were there. When I snapped and looked up, they were gone; obviously they saw the movement at the window and left.

This is rather like a fisherman telling about "the one that got away", isn't it?

Someone on Youtube commented on my pathetic hummingbird video from the other day, and suggested I look at her videos. Now folks, this woman has hummingbirds. Lots of them. This is NOT my video, I want to stress that. I don't know what part of the country she lives in, but I've never seen that many hummers around my feeder, ever.

The peace of the country

This is an aerial view of our property, before we got the mobile home. (Don't you just love Google Earth?) The highest spot on our property is right behind the barn (the gray-metal roof), the furthest building to the north. Our mobile home is now about fifty feet behind that barn. The elevation here is 883 feet.

At the back of the property, where you see railroad tracks winding by, elevation is 732 feet, a difference in elevation of 151 feet. Just so you know what a climb it is up out of there.

I'd already been for my regular walk with Cliff today, but I took a notion to stroll to the back of our place. Sadie can always use an extra dose of exercise. I heard a couple of birds carrying on a conversation and decided to share. Turn up your sound and see if you can tell me what kind of birds they are, because I don't have a clue.





This is almost at the back of our place. You can see the railroad tracks on the other side of the trees.

I like the way the white of the sycamore tree shows up against the sky.

Oops. A huge dead tree trunk has fallen on the fence. No worries, though: the horses never come back here unless somebody is riding them. Cliff will get it fixed before long.

That truck, owned by the railroad, is equipped to travel on pavement or on a railroad track, as it's doing here. I had hoped to see a train pass by, but this is as close as I got.

This is the entrance to the valley where I'll start my gradual climb back up to civilization.

There's the other end of the valley. I usually stop and rest awhile, going up that hill.

Ummm, Sadie? Don't you think that stick is a little long?

Oh, and just a note to say I will reach the age of 65 this coming summer, and I've decided my age gives me the license to never, ever make another New Year's resolution.