Saturday, May 19, 2012

I'm a 'Bird Watcher'





For the last few years of his life, my husband had birds.
He had two parakeets and two finches.

All but one passed before he got so sick...but the male finch
'hung' in there...actually about a year past the normal life
expectancy of finches.

Even as sick as he was, my husband insisted on being the one
to feed, water and clean the cage until he went
into the hospital for the last time.
(For one thing...I couldn't stick my hand in the cage...
the bird(s) always made me jump when they started fluttering around.)
He could stick his hand in and they'd just jump on it
like it was part of their environment.

Anyway...I always enjoyed watching the birds...
so I picked up a feeder
a few years ago and hung it in my back yard.

Since moving to this house, the feeder is actually close enough
to the back door, that I can sit there and watch them
without scaring them off.

Skittles doesn't chase them either...which is a good thing.
I get all kinds of birds coming to feed...and it's so cool to watch
them grab up a Multi-Grain Cheerio and carry it off
somewhere to eat it in peace.

Yes...the birds are CRAZY about the Multi-Grain Cheerios.

I'd always fed them bread crumbs...along with the wild bird seed...
which they gobble right up.

One day...as I was fixing to toss some stale cereal...I realized I
was low on bird seed and bread crumbs...
so I tossed some Kix cereal into the tray and they went wild!

But...the Multi-Grain Cheerios are by far their favorite!

This morning I tossed a handful in the tray and within five
minutes it looked like a scene from
Alfred Hitchcock's
'The Birds'.

They flew in from every direction...crowding their way onto the tray...at one
point I had seven of the little finch, wrens and sparrows
on the tray.

But they are quick.
They grab a piece of cereal and take off with it.

So...the best I could do...since I'm not exactly
'Speedy Gonzales'
with the camera...was to get one picture
with three birds...though the one
is obscured by the feeder tube.

Starting my day watching the birds feed...is something I wished I'd done
years ago.
It is so peaceful and relaxing...

Having my morning coffee with the birds is the best!!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Sometimes I visit the Forums


I usually don't go to the forums....unfortunately, I tend to find
more negativity there than I care to call into my day.
But...occasionally, I find a need to visit there.

Last week, I visited a learned there was a big 'scandal' of sorts...
if you don't already know about it...
here is the info.

Well...now this is has somewhat escalated into
which has also spawned some Facebook pages
and the such.

One of the things being asked of Etsy Sellers...
is to change their avatars
to something with hands...to show their
support to keep Etsy the place to shop handmade...or...to be more
forthcoming about what is and is not allowed on Etsy.
Many of the Sellers have also opted to place their Etsy
Shops on vacation on May 10th...in Protest.

I still have not decided what to think about all of this...on one hand...
it doesn't really affect me...
on the other hand...maybe it does.

I was selling art, very briskly, on eBay, at a time that numerous
artists were SERIOUSLY selling five figures a month, EVERY month...
we only did that a couple of times...but it was thrilling.
We didn't think too much about all the changes they began to make..
until it was too late and our business was pretty much
knocked out from under us.
I don't really want to taste that bitter pill again!

But...on a lighter note...
I also found something very wonderful in the forums...
right next to the angry posts about the protest...
it was a 'thread' about the Love of one
Seller towards another...even though neither has ever
met the other in person.
It brought tears to my eyes...and I have been
blessed to have exchanged numerous emails with Trudy
throughout this evening...
you can read more about this truly beautiful person

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Some Days....


Most days I have a 'plan'...I know what I'm going
to do with my day and I get on with it.
Occasionally though...
everything gets thrown out of 'whack'.

I'm not only experiencing one of 'those days'...
I have been for several days in a row now.

Perhaps it's that I have been suffering the worse case of
head stuffiness I can remember...
I have been so congested...
but the worse part of it all...
I can't hear a thing!

I have the TV volume turned up as loud as it will
go and I still have to turn on 'closed captioning'
just to be able to follow what is going on.

I am self medicating with over the counter
remedies..
and this morning I awoke
far less stuffy headed...
even my chest feels better...
but
alas
I still Can't Hear!