Why I Feed the Birds

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Why you ask do we feed the birds here...
since worms and bugs are all so near.

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The sunflower seeds are needed to lure...
the songbirds closer in order to hear!

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We buy a 40lb. bag...usually one or more.
If the price starts to rise...then it's 3 or 4...
neatly they're stacked on the basement floor...
if we catch a big sale, we even buy more.
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Birds are messy so they drop some seeds...
that grow into flowers among the weeds.





Very tall some grow, maybe six to seven feet





with sunny yellow faces, that are so sweet!



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That's it...end of the poem Marcy!


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We do have several feeders that keep me busy
filling them with the sunflower seeds...and we
do tend to stock up...when it goes on sale.




This one is on a pulley, just off the deck.
Empty, as you can see...blogging is to blame!

These were taken through the window earlier

this summer...the squirrels always manage

to get their share...and so would the raccoon

if not for the stove pipe.

The Cardinals share the feeders with the

Red-bellied woodpeckers...note the deer and

all the piles of leaves...blogging again probably!

This is a small Downy Woodpecker...

and a Goldfinch caught in flight!

This is newly fledged baby Carolina Wrens...

they would sleep overnight on the porch blinds.

Here we have Alivia looking for ants and worms...

which she found!...and I don't even do that!

I found this single locust just out of it's shell

Monday morning...

A Sunflower just before blooming...

These came up together in a planter...possibly

they were stored there by a chipmunk!

Sunflower in full bloom with visitors.

The main reason we buy Sunflower seeds...
other than to feed the birds...

and attract them here...

or have the enjoyment of watching...

dropped seeds grow...

into beautiful sun-like flowers

is to share nature

with grandchildren as they grow.

Alivia...a few years ago!

spreading Sunflower seeds...

...and examining them closer!

That's why I feed the birds!

So Day By Day

No! It does not look like this yet...just wish it did.

The weather goes back and forth...warm to cold.

I want to sit outside everyday and not have to be busy

to stay warm...I want to sit in the swing and read!

.

I'm being a little impatient...but I want to see the

orange of the poppies and the purple of the iris.

.

Although I admit...Saturday's sunrise was beautiful

with it's own shades of orange and purple.

At least there are the golden daffodils...but they look lonely!

Even the green of the Naked Ladies behind them will fade

before actually blooming...they flower later in the season!

All of the lillies have a lot of growing to do before they bloom...

Below are some that were a gift from my Mother.

They need to be sprayed with this 'vile concoction'

to keep from being eaten by deer.

.

That's what I have been doing very carefully...

you don't want to get any on you...not a drop!

I finally managed to pot the gift of pansy flowers also.

This is the wicked plant spray...it isn't harmful...
has garlic and eggs listed as the ingredients...smells like
rotten potatoes are in there too...no lasting odor
to the area...but deer must pick up the smell.



Before we used this vile spray...the deer would even eat
the very tough and sharp Yucca plants. The fibrous
leaves were left very ugly after their snack!




Around noon I picked up Alivia for a small visit.
Alivia is son Rick's youngest daughter.
She was going to help me cook lunch.



She has this thing for olives...just wanted a few first...



So she ate green olives...while I added black olives to
the bulgar wheat.



Then she did some taste testing before we plated the food.



She also sampled the frozen peas before they were cooked.

Lunch is the main meal of the day for us!

On Sunday...when I went outside...I noticed the sky

was already busy with heavy traffic...

and in the field...and later the front yard

was our son Steve...with his metal detector.

Within the hour...

Grant and Andrew came over to ride their dirt bikes.

Grant is daughter Annette's youngest son...

and Andrew is son Steve's oldest son.

Grant on left...Andrew on right.

We feed the birds sunflower seeds...year round.

I had 6 feeders to fill...

The Red-Bellied and the Downey Woodpeckers take

their seeds to a nearby tree to eat.

while the Chickadees and Cardinals stay put...

until the upside down Nut-hatch and Goldfinch take over.

So while the birds ate their sunflower seeds...

we ate a lunch of cheesy tuna macaroni.

So day by day...
...I check on the flowers...feed the birds ...and spray

twice a week with that vile concoction that seems to work.

The flowers are just growing too slow for me...

...but they are growing!

Forgot to mention I finally saw the movie "Twilight"

Annette gave me one to watch!

Still White with Snow

Even with all the sunshine we had yesterday,

most everything is still white with snow from last week's storm.

The storm that gave the grandkids a full week of school closings.

This time of year there isn't much color in the field

besides the red bench and red barn.

The green pine tree has a little red in it sometimes-

and the smoke bush out front sports red sometimes.

Red also shows up on the porch - sometimes.

Then sometimes, Red and Blue show up on the porch together-

along with many others to eat their sunflower seeds,

while we inside eat our-

chocolate cake!