The story of a girl and 5 birds

A few weeks ago, I was puttering in the yard and thought I saw a weed in the middle of a plant.  I put my hand in to get it and pulled out...a bird's nest.

After closing my mouth  - it was gaping open stupified at the dumb thing I just did.  I shoved the nest back into the plant as best I could.  It had three little spotted eggs in it. 

Anywere from a few days to a week later, I was in the spot checking to see if I had woven it in back in well enough.  Obviously not, because the nest was on its side.  I looked down, and two of the little ones were on the ground.  I'm talking brand new with hardly any fuzz on them.  Now this is in the Dog Yard.  Luckily, I have very lazy dogs that never go out to their yard while I'm at work.  I picked them up, put them back in, and then devised a way to fortify the nest.

Fortified Bird's Nest.  That is garden fabric that rain goes through. 
I stuffed it with straw then put the trail of plant and nest into that approximately where it was built.

Momma or Poppa Bird in the nest with the wee ones.

I felt so bad for disturbing them in the first place!  Since then its been rainy and windy with no ill effects.  Mom and Dad bird take turns feeding, and they have not abondoned the nest.  If I get in a particular spot in the yard, I can see the fuzzbies in there.  All three are still there and are getting fat and sassy.  Definitely more fuzz on them.

Hard Working Duo taking care of the Fuzzbies.

Since it's in the Dog Yard, no cat in their right mind would be back there.  That's a plus.

I feel much better now.  It's a part of the dog yard that I'm in quite a bit and they have gotten very accepting of me being around.  They'll dart back and forth while I'm out there with the bunny.

Here's two pictures of who I believe is the Momma Bird.  I think the one that is male is a little fluffier with a bigger darker spot on its chest.

Mmmmmm....bugs.  It's what's for dinner.

Now that I have a nice picture, I'll re-look up what they are and edit this caption.

Now that they are settled, I hope all three make it to the flight stage.  Live and be well birdies!

A sneak preview of Spring!

What a wonderful day!

Got some bills paid, did a little tech research.  And then something great happened - the sun came out!

I had some errands to run so I did those first.  When I got home I leashed up the girls and took them out for a nice long stroll.

I started a new Ann Rule book on my tablet.  I love the Kindle app.  

The outdoors kept beckoning me.  Out I went and got really muddy.  I pulled some perennial Vinca out of my border and transplanted a dwarf Rhododendron.   When I pulled it out I was really disappointed in the root growth.  It's been in the ground for two years and it popped right out in mostly the same shape that it was planted in.  Which means it was horribly root bound and the roots are probably just still circling in.  I might dig it up again and box cut the roots. 

There were some Lillies that stuck out like a sore thumb after they bloomed last year, so I dug those up and put them behind some bushes so the foliage would be hidden but not the flowers when they bloom.  They came with the house, I'm not sure what kind of Lillies they are.  They were about 4' tall last year.  The corms were huge.  I was able to split one into three sections.  So more Lillies this Summer.

No early fake Spring day is complete without playing in the compost pile.  I have MAJOR wormage.  That's my term for big, fat, multitudes of worms.  

The fish have come out of hibernation and were greeting Sofie and I.  Penny opted to stay in and cuddle by her heat register.

It started to rain a little and I don't work outside in the rain.  I brought my muddy self in and it took a good 10 minutes to get all the mud out of my fingernails, because of course I did not wear gloves.  As if the day could not get any better, I look up and there is a FULL RAINBOW.

Cooked dinner, now I'm sitting on the Sofa with Sofie listening to Jazz and Classical.  With some Trip Hop thrown in.

Bliss.

Yup, it's still Winter here.

I must say I find my Weather Bug notifications amusing.

Every day - "Hey, it's Winter!"  Snow advisory, wind advisory, etc. etc.

In honor of Weather Advisory, I give you Snow Pics.

Sofie and Penny in the backyard having fun:

Penny always walks on the perimeter of the yard.

I took a big pink ball out for Sofie to play with.

"I hear a neighbor - Constant Vigilance!"

Digging - "There's Bunny Pan Mulch down there!"

The Pond in Winter.

We saw a new bird!  The color is off because I had to take these through the window.  If I tried to even squeak the window open it would fly away.

We looked the birdie up last night, and found out it is a Thrush.  Very poofy and LARGE.  When it sat on a small branch to eat the crab apples, the branch would sag.

Thrush in a Crab-Apple Tree

It's great to see a new bird!

Vacation Journal - Getting There

So we get up pretty early on Thursday, because the girls get up pretty darn early.  Every.  Single.  Day.

Head back out on the road for the short leg of the scenic drive.  Once again, Sofie does not use her break time on the road the way we'd like.

Check in is 4pm, but we got there a little early and decided to see if the place was ready.  It was!

UNPACKING TIME!!!!

Checked out the kitchen, made a list and went grocery shopping.

Wulf and Steph were about 2 hours behind us, so we had plenty of time to do the errands and settle in.

When they got here, no one felt like cooking so we went to Nana's Irish Pub a block or two away from their hotel room.  The food was good.  It was a hoppin' place.  Pretty packed.  Service, meh.  Lost a sale on a round of drinks because they never checked on us during the meal.

After dinner, we walked around a bit then stopped at a local watering hole by the Chowder House.  Sand Bar.  Friendly bartender.  Good drinks.

Picture courtesy of Google Street View

Picture courtesy of Steph

Wulf and Steph stayed at The Whaler.  Nice economical rooms with a view.

Tomorrow, all about our Cottage!

Vacation in Newport Part I

I have not seen the Pacific Ocean in 17 years.  I have not seen my friends Steph and Wulf for at least 10.

The vacation gods smiled upon our date choosing, and I was able to do both Aug 1-8.

First, THE DRIVING!

On the way in, we decided to take the scenic route.  84 to 97 through Bend then 20 to Newport.  It was a beautiful drive but a few things did not go as planned of course.

I bought the dogs harnesses and a seatbelt gadget that did not work with a darn.  There is no way they would have been able to sit up with those.  So against what I wanted, we just put up the center divider in the truck and they rode in the back seat.  Heaven help us if we got in a wreck.  I am going to take apart the seatbelt things and redesign them to work for medium to big dogs.  Plus, the way seatbelts stop now, the way they had it was just dumb.  It was too hot for them to ride in the kennels in the back of the truck.  Luckily, they were both mellow and just slept or looked out the window.

Sofie did not understand why we take road breaks.  Penny did.  Penny would do her business right away.  Sofie NEVER did business on the road breaks.  She just held it until after dinner every night.  I can't imagine that's comfortable, but I can't think of a way to MAKE her go.  At least she got to stretch, walk around and sniff everything.

We stayed at a generic Hotel 6 or 8, I can't remember.  It was OK, not great.  But with two dogs, who cares.  It was obviously an old smoking room because it stank.  But it was right by the outside exit.  Since I was taking Sofie out every half hour in the hopes of a dry hotel room, I was thankful for the placement.  She finally went at around 9pm, in the rain of course.

Meals with two people and two dogs is interesting.  Hubby gets his meal, I wait with the dogs.  I go get my meal, he waits with the dogs.  Lots of fast food.  I have never been so eager for a serving of vegetables after 3 meals of fast food eaten in the truck.  Next time, packing a cooler and picnicking.

How Penny spent 90% of the trip:

How Sofie spent 90% of the trip:

Tomorrow:  Arrival at Newport!

Sunflower and Finch Day

I was determined to get some good shots of my garden birds today.  So I sat out in the yard for hours reading an e-book.  I left the camera on and just let it go into standby.  When I heard them, I'd pick up the camera and try to get them.

Success!  Today, Finches and Sunflowers, Tomorrow will be Hummingbird Day.


Finch on top of the Sunflowers - Hello there Birdy!

Sunflowers are about 10' tall.  Volunteers every year.

Sunflowers with a Bee.  I know it's not a Finch, but I liked the picture.

Bzzzz.

Finch taking off

Whhheeeeee!!!

Resting Finch

Looks like a yellow cottonball.

And of course, the most detailed, best close up, is of a bird butt.

Reminds me of a scene from Ace Ventura when he's talking to his friend at the desk.

Garden Update!

The snow peas have been yummy.  Not enough to save for a meal, but the snacking while I work outside is good.  I have to keep Penny away from them though.  She loves snow peas.  The problem is that she doesn't have the opposeable thumb thing going for her, so she tends to tug too hard and harms the plant.  Which is counterproductive to getting new snow peas.

The Lillies are gone.  Larkspur is hanging in there.  The hummingbirds just love them.  I have to regulars that are feeding at the flowers and feeders I put out.

Unsolicited Plug:  http://www.amazon.com/Aspects-429-Hummzinger-Highview-Feeder/dp/B003XL7WZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373042475&sr=8-1&keywords=aspects+hummingbird+feeder

You can buy these little stoppers that go on the inside of the lid to keep bugs out.  It works, and my feeders stay nice and clear.

The "Mighty Maters" are doing GREAT.  So far outgrowing the regular ones by double the size.  We'll see how it goes come production time.

These pictures are just because.  The pond Koi don't get a lot of press on my blog, but they are wonderful.  They beg for their food in the evening, play in the waterfall.

This Koi has my favorite coloring

Here is Sofie, the wonderful big dog that does NOT understand that she has very big paws.  She's always stomping on our feet.

A view from the hill

Have a wonderful weekend out there.