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!!

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

Protesty,

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

here.

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!