Dangling

One of the squirrels has gotten him or her self reacquainted with the suet pellets.  It's a real love affair between squirrel and food.  He (or she) spent most of the afternoon dangling from his (or her) hind feet nibbling away at the suet pellets.  I need to go to the birdseed store for more pellets since the Starlings discovered them yesterday too.

Once again the Starling and the Sparrow bathed together.  Maybe they're pals.  I don't think it's an awkward romance since the Sparrow is half the size of the Starling and is a male.  I think the Starling is a male too.  I think.  They're one of those hard to tell the difference birds.

We had a gray and drizzly day today.  It wasn't very chilly but it wasn't sunny either.

I spent the afternoon finishing the cast sock.  I love the colors of the yarn but it sure doesn't feel nice.  I'm going to put it in to soak tomorrow hoping that a bath will help it feel softer.  I need to find some nicer yarn to knit a preemie hat out of.  This stuff is just too scratchy.

Today's toss was another old WW cookbook.  I haven't made any of the recipes in it in years.

The prompt today asked what superpower you'd like to have.  I said flying.  I love flying in airplanes so I think that I'd like just plain flying.  I could go to KY to see DD and her family and fly to see friends and other relatives.  It'd be fun.  So much better than x-ray vision.

--Barbara

Bird Bath

Today was bath day in the birdbath.  A flock of eight Sparrows started it out, splashing and flapping like mad.  A Mourning Dove landed in the bath and very delicately dipped her breast into the water and wriggled her tail.  A group of four Starlings were taking turns at the suet pellets when one of them evidently felt dirty and flew down for a bath with the last Sparrow in the pool.

I didn't get a picture because he moved so fast but I saw a Goldfinch that has started to change from his drab winter avocado plumage to his bright yellow gold of summer plumage.

The hyacinths closest to the front porch have started blooming.  It must be time to dig up the bulbs and separate them because the flowers are a little thin on the stalks.

The crocuses are still showing off.  I love the waxy golden yellow of them.

And the squills are blooming more every day.  I want to lie down on the dirt and put my face right up to them to see them better but I don't want to give the neighbors anything to talk about.

This afternoon after I wrote a bit (just prompts, no novel scenes, dang it) I started another cast sock.  This pattern is the perfect no-brainer knitting, just knit 2, purl 2 around and around until it gets to four inches whereupon a bit of decreasing happens to close the toe.

Today's toss was an old WW cookbook.  I paged through it and it's the program I started with ages ago and the method of cooking and counting has changed dramatically.

The prompt today asked what your favorite personality trait is.  Kindness, it's kindness.  I try to be kind and appreciate kindness in others.

Rain rolled in this evening and is supposed to hang around all day tomorrow.  I guess it's better than snow.  This afternoon I decided to paint my nails.  I don't know why and I'm terrible at it.  I think seven-year-old LC is better at it than I am.

--Barbara

Poppies!

I went out looking for greenery and found this tuft of poppy leaves hidden under last year's maple leaves.  Now we have to hope for no more freezing temps so that the leaves survive and we've got the rest of March and all of April to get through before we're safe from that.

As for the indoor greenery, the Christmas/Easter cactus flower bud is growing.  It looks like it's about to open too.

I went to visit DS at Zambaldi this morning where he was brewing a batch of IPA so it smelled roasty and citrusy in there today.  I got to sample a bunch of beers today too, three of them, and I liked them all.  The Hazy IPA had a real grapefruit aroma and flavor that I liked a lot and the, uh, I forget the style but it was Key Lime with Vanilla, kind of like dessert in a glass.  We're all anxious for everyone to get their second shots and for the waiting time to be over so that we can exchange hugs when we meet.  It was hard not to leave my mask in the car and just go into the brewery with my face hanging out but it's no time to let down our guards, as tempting as that is.

Today's toss was a Great British Bake-Off cookbook that I paged through and know that I won't be making anything out of.  I'd love to but, since I'm cooking for one, making a cake or a big batch of breadsticks or a pan of brownies is nothing but a bad idea.  I'll keep my eye out for a single cookie at Pick 'n Save again.

The prompt today said that fall is here with its cooler temps, shorter days, and colored leaves.  Are you looking forward to the coming season or longing for summer?  For me winter is a series of gray days and gray moods.  I like the cooler temps of autumn but the sunlight of summer.

--Barbara

Sunday In The Yard

Now that the squirrels have eaten all of the peanuts they've turned to the cob corn in the feeders back by the retaining wall.  They hang from their back feet and nibble off a kernel or two and then either perch on top of the crook or drop to the ground to eat.  Not as many squirrels battle for the kernels as for the peanuts.  No one is paying attention to the suet pellets--yet.

 

This robin sat in the birdbath all plumped up for a while and then went crazy taking a bath.  He spent a long time after his bath preening his feathers and shaking off the water.  I'm surprised that the birds bathe in the cold water.  It was a warm day today--61 degrees--but it was windy which makes it feel colder.

 

Another purple striped crocus bloomed next to the first one.  I'm so tempted to pick them but they're very short in the stem and I fear they'd wilt in a second if I brought them inside.  I'll just have to enjoy them in their natural habitat.

 

I saw the first chipmunk of the season today.  It's small and thin and darted out from under the step to where the birdseed falls under the round feeder.  You can see that it filled its cheek pouches with cracked corn before racing back to the safety of its burrow.

 

 

Today's toss was a couple turtlenecks.  I tried them on and they're way too big.

The prompt today said that it's your last day on Earth.  Who do you spend it with and what do you do?  Cheerful.

--Barbara

It's Spring!

At least, I think it is.  Or maybe it's tomorrow.  Whatever, we had a gorgeous day.  It was sunny and 57 degrees, great for a walk.  I wore a little knitted fleece vest and was just right.  You're right, Aunt B, 57 is warm for us up here in the frozen tundra.  This little purple striped crocus opened today.

And the tiny squills are opening in the lawn.  Well, it should be lawn but it got shaded out by the big shrub that overshadows this part.  Each flower is about the size of my pinkie nail and is white with a faint blue stripe.

Mr. Cardinal came to the feeder more than once this morning.  He visited the birdbath too but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of him there.  This is good but that would have been better.

 

After my walk I worked on the Fire Sock.  I'm through the heel and gusset and into the foot.  Now I knit around and around and around until the bottom of the foot is seven inches from the heel cup before I start the toe.

I forgot to toss something today.  *sigh*  You'd think I'd remember since I've been doing it every day for so long.  Maybe I'll count the bag of trash I collected in the yard again today.

The prompt today said that you're watching a B movie in which sea creatures evolved to rule the world but the film breaks when there's 5 minutes left.  Write the last scene.  In my movie, an octopus is the ruler and is menacing the heroine with his slimy tentacle when the hero comes in, chops off the tentacle, and tips burning oil onto the octopus.  Lame but it was a B movie, after all.

--Barbara

Spring's Coming

 I went out to pick up all of the litter blown into the yard by yesterday's wind and found this purple crocus crouched under the leaves in the front of the house.

Another clump of golden crocuses bloomed under the snow.  It amazes me that those little flowers don't pack it in when the snow covers them but wait until the snow melts and go right on blooming.

After I picked up the litter I filled the birdfeeders and the peanut wreath.  It didn't take long for all of the squirrels to find the peanuts and take turns climbing up for a nut.  I tried to figure out how many different squirrels there were and I think there were three.  Or maybe four.

The Downy Woodpecker came to the suet cakes.  It has to be so much easier to peck at the cakes now that it isn't below freezing in the daytime.  It still gets down below 32 degrees at night but it got up to 50 degrees today.  I took a walk.

It's kind of blurry but I was happy to see the daylily sprouts in the bed behind the house. There's still a little snow back there but now there's green too.  The mint in the garden is sprouting under the leaves too.

Today's toss was a bag of severely freezer burned whole tomatoes that I had every intention of making tomato sauce with but they're ruined.

The prompt today was to think about someone who makes you feel good.  What about their personality makes you feel that way?  I thought of my granddaughter and how good it makes me feel when she talks about missing having Meemaw days.

--Barbara

A Birdie With A Yellow Bill

A robin hopped onto the birdbath this afternoon and sat there looking around and getting all windblown.  It was sunny but really windy and chilly today so I didn't walk.  I have hopes for tomorrow.

I went to Zambaldi to visit DS.  He was making a batch of Good Dog Porter so it smelled good and roasty in the brewery like a bakery with notes of chocolate.  Very nice.  I didn't try to take a picture of the mash because I was afraid I'd drop my phone into the mash tun and because it was so steamy.

Then I went to the grocery at Meijer (big box store) and treated myself to another pair of jeans because I'm loving wearing my smaller jeans and I'm having to launder the daylights out of them so I decided I needed a third pair.  I wore my original jeans until I'd lost almost 50 lbs. so I think these'll fit for a while.  Besides, I wanted them.

Tonight was the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild meeting and the program was the second half of knitting socks two at a time.  I didn't play along so I sat and finished my latest cast sock.  This yarn is a little thicker than usual so the sock turned out a bit bigger which is okay since feet come in all sizes.

Today's toss was an old ring I bought at an estate sale thinking it might be an amethyst but it's just lilac glass.  It never fit me anyway.

Speaking of rings I had to take off my wedding ring.  It's gotten too big and it came off in the dishwater the other day.  That scared me into thinking I might lose it so I put it on the chain with Durwood's and I'll wear them both around my neck until I feel ready to either put them away or have mine sized.

The prompt today asked me to write an advertisement for a glue stick.  Let's see... dries clear, non-toxic, safe for kids.  What more is there to say?  Oh yeah, vegan. Silly.

--Barbara