Winter Birds

 This winter has been so very cold!  

We've had an artic blast dipping our temperatures below 0 degrees.  I think -15 was the lowest I saw) with "feels like" temperatures of -27.  Brrr!  We were colder than Wisconsin where my kids live and even colder than Juneau, Alaska!

The Carolina wren in the video is enjoying the suet in this cold weather.  It is helpful to feed the birds in these extremely cold times when they need more energy to survive, when natural seed sources are depleted.  

The downey woodpecker and flicker also enjoy this suet feeder.

The starling is eating it, but this suet isn't his favorite.  I made the mistake of making a home-made concoction filled with peanutbutter and such delicious things that I had about 30 starlings attack it and eat it up in 1 day!!   The one I have now they aren't so fond of but only do so because there is not much choice out there.  

Starlings are a nuisance bird, although I must say I do enjoy the sounds they make.   But they are bullies and destructive to the native birds.  They can also damage crops and transmit diseases.  

Often as starlings gather in the evenings before they roost, they will begin swooping and "dancing" in the sky by the hundreds and thousands.  It is really quite beautiful, and how they do that without crashing into one another is quite amazing!  What a phenomenon!  This is called a murmuration and I found a video above that you can enjoy.  Last August we watched a murmuration of starlings and purple martins in Wichita. 

I have this open feeder that I keep safflower seed in.  The starlings generally will try it but then leave because they don't much care for it.  But other birds enjoy it!

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

Several doves enjoy this feeder also.

The juncos eat seed that falls on the deck or on the ground.

A friend gave me this feeder.  It reminds me of the prayer

    God is great

    God is good

    Let us thank Him for this food

    By His hand we all are fed

    Give us Lord our daily bread.

This was a pricey feeder but it is great for keeping out the big birds and I put choice morsels in there for the finches.

In the winter, male goldfinches tend to become more or olive/brown, losing their vibrant yellow color.  But I noticed this past week that they are turning more yellow!  Spring is on its way!

Here is how gold they get in the spring and summer.

One day, I saw a set of prints going from the big tree out toward the feeder and also to the tree, but no prints connecting them.  I couldn't figure it out.

My husband knew.  The squirrel came from the big tree, jumped onto the rock, then onto the little redbud tree.  He climbed it and jumped across to the bird feeder and tried his hand (or paws) to get into the bird feeder.  But it is squirrel proof, so with no luck, jumped back to the ground and scampered back to the big tree.

Here is a picture of the squirrel trying to get into the feeder in the past.  The little feeder holds nyjer or thistle for the finches, chickadees and downeys.

This past Christmas, my husband purchased me this little feeder that has a camera with it.  I am still trying to figure out how to get crisp, clear pictures.  Someone from a Facebook group says that they have traded out a lense, so I am thinking I will do that.

My Nikon obviously takes much better pictures, but I will try to figure this one out!

In the front of our home, I have this feeder that I fill with sunflower seeds.

I received this puzzle for Christmas from my daughter and son-in-law.  It was so fun, since I have many of these birds that visit me!

What birds are you feeding?

Valentine Party

This past weekend was Valentine's Day. 

Allen bought me some beautiful roses and I got him some chocolate turtles

 (he loves pecans!)

Last weekend we had a Superbowl watch party with friends from church.  The time with them was super fun, although the outcome of the game was disappointing for sure!  But we enjoyed telling stories and sharing laughs with each other!

Boo hoo, Chiefs!!

This past Saturday evening, we had another party at our house; a Valentine's party with our Community Life Group (our small group from church).  Two couples could not come.

When the couples arrived, we pinned names of famous couples on their backs and they had to guess what names they had by asking "Yes" and "No" questions.

Vickie was the first to guess what couple was pinned to her back so she won a little prize.

Following that, we played a game where you try to read lips.  I had written several phrases on paper that the husband or wife would read to their spouse.  Because we were playing loud music in the ear of that spouse, they could not hear it but would have to figure it out by lip reading.

Here are the phrases we came up with:

I love all the adventures we have had together.  Hopefully Covid restrictions won't lock us up!

    God is good!  I know because He gave me you to love and to hold until death do us part.

You take my breath away.  Always!  Pant, pant!

I couldn't ask for a more wonderful (husband, wife) than you!

Wishing the sweetest, happiest day to my forever Valentine!

    Especially today, I hope you feel how much I love you!  XOXOXO

Has it really been (50) years?  I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat!

    I love spoiling you every day!  My heart pitter patters for you!

Bobbie won the prize for this game.

Time for eats! Lots of treats!

The next game we played was a version of Telestrations.   I had cut up copier paper in fourths.  Everyone got 10 sheets of paper (since there were 10 of us).   This game is similar to Telephone where you whisper a phrase and the person next to you tries to figure out what you said and passes it on.  Except with this version, you write out a phrase, pass it on, then the next person draws a picture of what that phrase says.  Phrase...draw...phrase...draw.

Example: I wrote out "going to the store and buying a Valentine card."  Randy drew a picture of some cards at the store.  He drew a symbol of a crown (for Hallmark cards).  But the person he gave that picture to thought it was books burning.  It ended up at the end being a hot dog roast.  When we were done, we marked through the papers so we could use the other side.  You could also staple all the pages, then you wouldn't get mixed up when you play it a 2nd time.

It is a most hilarious game and we just laughed and laughed!  

Lynn won this game; a Valentine necklace that lights up!

The last game we played was a game where you had to stack sweet tarts with chopsticks.  Husband vs. wife.   Who could stack the most in 1 minute.

Each couple received a packet of heart shaped sweet tarts for their participation.

What a fun time we had!   Love our friends!

Goodbyes

 Saying "good-bye" can be hard.  We had said "good-bye" to Mindy and Jason.  Then it was Josh and Staci's turn.

Our "silly wave" good-byes.  

                     We noticed that Al blended in with the garage door!

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good-bye, sayonara!

Little did we know that it could have easily been our last good-byes with Kobi.  (story to follow)

A beautiful sunset!  Good-bye, sun!

We invited Al's brother and sister-in-law to come for dinner and games.

The next morning, we had another good-bye to our Wisconsin kids.

After everyone left, I was cleaning the basement and realized our old sofa downstairs was really beat up.  I had not noticed it before.  Al thought it was time to replace it.  So we took the old one to the dump.  

Good-bye, old sofa!  Hello, new one!

While we were out shopping for this sofa, Jill was calling us about their dog, Kobi.  During the week, he had gotten sicker and sicker.  He wasn't eating, and then he was vomiting - a lot.  It got worse and worse.  A couple of trips to the vet and then being sent to another one in Madison, and they realized he would need surgery to save his life.  We are happy to report we didn't have to say "Good-bye, Kobi!"  They were able to save him!  They found an obstruction in his colon - over 8" of blanket material that would not pass!  No more playing with blankets for this pooch!

One day, we will be saying "good-bye" to this world.  As Christians, we are seeing that the times are drawing near.  The Bible talks about this and we are seeing the signs!  Like the birth pains of a woman in labor, the contractions growing ever closer, we are seeing that the trumpet call is drawing ever closer!  

I listened to a sermon this morning that I would like to pass on for you to listen to.  Listen here. 

Are you waiting for that Day?  One of my friend's grandpa said, 

"I'm standing on my tiptoes!!"

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more
And the morning breaks eternal bright and fair
When the saved diverse shall gather over on the other shore
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there

When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there

Let us lay before the Master from dawn 'til setting sun
Let us talk of all his wondrous love and care
Then when all of life is over and our work on Earth is done
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there

When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder
When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!

"Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." Matthew 24:42