Quiet Life on the Hill

Yesterday was another quiet day with the exception of running the "bird ambulance" out to the deck to rescue a little chickadee who'd flown into the window. He was in the box for quite a while before he started fluttering around but the noise got Chessie's attention and she wanted to know what it was all about. Sorry, little Chessie you can't play with birds. When we took the box outside and opened it, off he flew. We noticed that we now have eight bluebirds coming for dinner. Don't know where the extra one came from but word is out that the Frederick's have great food. LOL!
Paul's tooth seems to be doing well but he did cut off the knot of the stitches because it was irratating to him.
Made a nice homemade pizza and watched the Super Bowl game. Good game.

Today, Monday, I went down to Scranton because with all the appointments of last week I forgot to get my allergy shots. Argh! So, got my three shots and did a little grocery shopping.
Started snowing a little after I got home and everything is covered with a fresh layer of snow again. It's not suppose to amount to anything but we'll see. Ugh, The Groundhog saw his shadow today so Winter isn't over yet.

Kaaaboom

About 3:00 this afternoon I heard a huge thud and ran to the livingroom to see what had happened. I thought Lizzie, who had been watching birds all day in the front window, had knocked off a potted plant, but she was laying there wondering what the noise was too. I opened the front door and didn't see anything, looked around the livingroom and dining room, opened the door to the garage but didn't see anything. It was too loud of a noise not to find out exactly what it was. As I opened the back door a hawk carrying a mourning dove flew away and another dove was laying head first down in the snow. Evidently the hawk spooked two doves, one he got and the other hit the window. The dove who was head down into the snow was a goner I figured but about 45 minutes later I saw he was sitting up on the snow. So Paul got out our "birdie ambulance" (a small box with a rag in it) and I went out to pick it up. Right now the dove is recuperating in the box on a high shelf (wouldn't the girls love to play "cat & bird"?). If the dove lives I'll really be surprised, we'll see, otherwise he's compost tomorrow.
When I put out the peanut butter log this evening we both counted 7 bluebirds. Only 3 seem to come for breakfast but we extras for dinner, which is fine by us.

Another frigid day

Was -4 degrees this morning and the temp never got out of the teens. At least it was sunny for most of the day and we didn't have any new snow.
Didn't post anything yesterday because I took a "Simply Soldering" class at the bead shop. Enjoyed the class but as usual the instructor made it look easy until it was my turn to try it. Shoot even getting the torch going was a challenge but I did make a real nice closed jumpring. LOL!
It was a quiet day of being inside today. First off we made a big mess in the kitchen this morning making a new recipe, Pecan Rum French Toast. It was more work and mess than it was worth. Then we made the peanut marinade/sauce for our pork satay that we're having for dinner tonight. By the time we finished cleaning up Paul decided it was too late and too cold to go out and start any projects. So we worked "The Week" news magazine crossword puzzle together (off & on) all afternoon until it was cocktail hour and time to refill the peanut butter log and give treats to the girls (they know the clicking of ice means treats for everybody!). I counted 6 or 7 bluebirds at the feeder tonight. I definitely wouldn't want to be a little birdie out there in this cold!

Bluebirds

We were so surprised this evening when we refilled our peanut butter log and put it out for the evening feeding of our bluebirds. So far we've only had 3 bluebirds come to the log, 2 males and a female. Tonight we must've had at least 6 bluebirds out there. There were too many to count since they kept flying around. Word must've gotten around about our peanut butter recipe. LOL! It'll be so great if we can keep them all here so they'll have a head start on Spring house hunting. We'll be awash in bluebirds. Hope there's no mealworm shortage like last year. We're going to go broke feeding bluebirds. Wonder if we can get a grant from someplace?

Flying piglets

Brrrr, -8 degrees this morning but at least it's sunny. I feel so sorry for my little birds when it's this cold. They enjoy the morning sun too as they sit all fluffed up in the sun. I usually fill the feeding log around 4 PM so they will have about an hour for one final fill-up of high protein before night. All the little flying piglets have usually licked it clean by noon the next day. And of course there's the other three seed feeders that are kept filled for them too. The cardinal seems to only be around for the morning feeding. He and the mourning doves are about the only ones who don't attack the feeding log. The first photo shows 2 bluebirds and a nuthatch on the log and a bluebird on the railing. The second photo is a bluebird and a dark-eyed juno on the railing. It's hard to get good photos from inside. If you click on the photo it'll show a larger picture.

Brrrrrr

It was 6 degrees with a wind chill temp of -2 this morning. Snowed about an inch last night freshening the white. It's such a pretty bright sunny day.
Paul feeling much better this morning but says his tooth is still draining somewhat. Have to think of "soft" meals for him.
A beautiful, brillant red male cardinal came to the bird feeder this morning. He was so pretty with the white snow background. I doubt he'll hang around long but we put out some saffron seeds for him. I've started calling all my other little feathered friends, "little flying piglets". I fill the feeding log with our peanut butter mixture and they have it emptied in no time. All the little birds just love the stuff even though it's meant for our bluebirds.