spring flowers and good food

[Handstitched]

7 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

The had learned that the grills and bumpers of cars that have travelled long distances have a gourmet feast of dead bugs on them!

Yeh , these birds love going under our eaves looking for a feed, heaps of bugs under them   . I put some water out, my Dad was getting concerned as its quite hot here now, so I (carefully) put a few  bowls of water out for our guests . What happened next was a little strange, one of the birds, Dad I guess, did a ' twirly' little dance (?) mid flight as I was pouring the water, and then immediately had a drink after I was at a distance, must have been thirsty . ' Mum' has been  in the nest pretty much the whole time   , occasionally leaving the nest. They're more entertaining than TV   

HS

[chuck123wapati]

54 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

Yeh , these birds love going under our eaves looking for a feed, heaps of bugs under them   . I put some water out, my Dad was getting concerned as its quite hot here now, so I (carefully) put a few  bowls of water out for our guests . What happened next was a little strange, one of the birds, Dad I guess, did a ' twirly' little dance (?) mid flight as I was pouring the water, and then immediately had a drink after I was at a distance, must have been thirsty . ' Mum' has been  in the nest pretty much the whole time   , occasionally leaving the nest. They're more entertaining than TV   

HS

The wife  made a bird bath out of a Childs wading pool, its about 4' diameter we had to put large flat rocks in it so the small birds can get in without drowning. They need a good solid surface all the way into the water and a perch or flat area they can land on so they can walk around in the water and out and grasp it with their feet if they fall in. They love to bathe and are a hoot to watch frolicking in the water.

Birds of all sizes and shapes use it now as well as being a watering hole for the neighborhood Deer.

[chuck123wapati]

On 12/2/2023 at 6:55 AM, Handstitched said:

Yeh , these birds love going under our eaves looking for a feed, heaps of bugs under them   . I put some water out, my Dad was getting concerned as its quite hot here now, so I (carefully) put a few  bowls of water out for our guests . What happened next was a little strange, one of the birds, Dad I guess, did a ' twirly' little dance (?) mid flight as I was pouring the water, and then immediately had a drink after I was at a distance, must have been thirsty . ' Mum' has been  in the nest pretty much the whole time   , occasionally leaving the nest. They're more entertaining than TV   

HS

you keep me grounded friend thanks for that.

[Handstitched]

1 hour ago, chuck123wapati said:

you keep me grounded friend thanks for that.

You're welcome friend  That ' twirly little dance mid flight ' that I saw, I think my best interpretation of that was joy, like it wanted a drink. Its people like you and I that notice these things in Nature . 

HS

[Sheilajeanne]

Quote

That ' twirly little dance mid flight ' that I saw, I think my best interpretation of that was joy, like it wanted a drink. 

Did I tell you about the time I got told off by a humming bird?? 

I had just finished cleaning and reassembling the feeder. A female came to check it out. She visited two of the 'flowers', then came and hovered about a foot in front of my face before flying off.

Okay, I thought, that was odd!  I decided I'd better check the feeder. I found I hadn't pushed the flowers far enough down on the 'stems' when reassembling the feeder, and the bird wasn't able to reach the nectar! Sooo, she flew over and complained to the management!  

I was quite impressed with her ability to communicate! 

[Handstitched]

8 hours ago, Sheilajeanne said:

I was quite impressed with her ability to communicate! 

Its those little ' quirks' in Nature that  we notice and love  . On the rarest occasion, a bird came and sat on my shoulder , only for about 5 seconds , must have suddenly realised I'm not a tree , lol , but I quite enjoyed it . 

HS 

[chuck123wapati]

10 hours ago, Handstitched said:

Its those little ' quirks' in Nature that  we notice and love  . On the rarest occasion, a bird came and sat on my shoulder , only for about 5 seconds , must have suddenly realised I'm not a tree , lol , but I quite enjoyed it . 

HS 

i love watching birds of all kinds they each have their own ways  and i look forward to each spring when they start coming back first the Robins then later on the hummers signals spring is here. As i till the garden in the spring the Robins will set on the fence and watch then as soon as I'm gone they are down in the fresh soil pulling worms, then they get in the routine of a morning bath and breakfast when we water and after a while they don't fly unless we get really close.

[Handstitched]

@chuck123wapati

Here ya go Chuck, sticking to the ' good food' ,  now this is a "shrimp" .

Just bagging up some meat for the freezer after shopping Thursday , I bought some West  Aussie   prawns  for Christmas. Dad doesn't eat prawns .....so more for me . I had to sample a couple , of course, taste damn good   

HS

[chuck123wapati]

2 minutes ago, Handstitched said:

@chuck123wapati

Here ya go Chuck, sticking to the ' good food' ,  now this is a "shrimp" .

Just bagging up some meat for the freezer after shopping Thursday , I bought some West  Aussie   prawns  for Christmas. Dad doesn't eat prawns .....so more for me . I had to sample a couple , of course, taste damn good   

HS

Holy cow those are huge!! And very yummy looking from here. they go well with those steaks there in the background lol. Fire up that barbie and grab a brew.

[Sheilajeanne]

Wow, those are HUGE!  Yep, Chuck I could go with that!!

When I was working at a nursery, there was a pair of robins that nested nearby every year. They were smart little cookies - they had discovered that lots of juicy worms like to hide underneath the plant pots, which were resting on the ground. One day, it was my chore to move the pots and weed around them.

The robins followed along just a few feet behind me, grabbing the worms I uncovered. If I turned around, they'd quickly duck behind a pot to hide! 

[Handstitched]

Another beautiful example of Mother Nature doing Her 'dang thang' 

While getting my car serviced today ( in another town)  , I sat in the park, relaxing...woo hoo, quite rare that , Mud Larks were all over the place . These birds are quite special because , according to Wiki: "Magpie-larks (aka Mud Larks ) are one of the 200-odd species of bird around the world that are known to sing in duet; each partner producing about one note a second, but a half-second apart, so that humans find it difficult to tell that there are actually two birds singing, not one. " 

These birds were right in front of me. One would start singing, and another would start, but in  two different tones , but then a few more might join in from the other side of the park . But when they sing, they spread their wings out , in some sort of territorial defense .    I sat there for ages watching these birds, it was quite entertaining.     

 

HS

[chuck123wapati]

On 12/11/2023 at 1:44 AM, Handstitched said:

Another beautiful example of Mother Nature doing Her 'dang thang' 

While getting my car serviced today ( in another town)  , I sat in the park, relaxing...woo hoo, quite rare that , Mud Larks were all over the place . These birds are quite special because , according to Wiki: "Magpie-larks (aka Mud Larks ) are one of the 200-odd species of bird around the world that are known to sing in duet; each partner producing about one note a second, but a half-second apart, so that humans find it difficult to tell that there are actually two birds singing, not one. " 

These birds were right in front of me. One would start singing, and another would start, but in  two different tones , but then a few more might join in from the other side of the park . But when they sing, they spread their wings out , in some sort of territorial defense .    I sat there for ages watching these birds, it was quite entertaining.     

 

HS

beautiful. and interesting, we have magpies here too they look a bit different in marking but hey are black and white too. I didn't know that about their singing.

[Mablung]

On 12/8/2023 at 7:12 AM, chuck123wapati said:

i love watching birds of all kinds they each have their own ways  and i look forward to each spring when they start coming back first the Robins then later on the hummers signals spring is here. As i till the garden in the spring the Robins will set on the fence and watch then as soon as I'm gone they are down in the fresh soil pulling worms, then they get in the routine of a morning bath and breakfast when we water and after a while they don't fly unless we get really close.

I went hunting last Saturday and didn't see a single deer, but I saw and listened to plenty of songbirds.  I used to watch birds avidly, when I was younger, but I haven't had the time to do so in quite a while.  it was a great treat to watch them again.

[chuck123wapati]

On 12/13/2023 at 9:01 AM, Mablung said:

I went hunting last Saturday and didn't see a single deer, but I saw and listened to plenty of songbirds.  I used to watch birds avidly, when I was younger, but I haven't had the time to do so in quite a while.  it was a great treat to watch them again.

I used to bow hunt Antelope from a blind next to a water hole and spent many hours watching birds and all the wildlife.. There was always somethign to watch coming in. It seemed as though the critters just waited their turn lol. 

[Mablung]

18 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said:

I used to bow hunt Antelope from a blind next to a water hole and spent many hours watching birds and all the wildlife.. There was always somethign to watch coming in. It seemed as though the critters just waited their turn lol. 

That's the place to be.  I used to sit on the bluffs overlooking a local lake for hours on end, staring through my spotting scope.

[Handstitched]

Back to food  Just made my very first batch of sausage rolls for Christmas, another  Aussie staple  ( apart from meat pies....for breakfast ).  Not sure if they are that common over there ? I get the sausage meat and the puff pastry and make em up , simple . I freeze them raw, and they are a quick snack or a quick meal to cook up  at Christmas . My Mother would normally make them by the dozen . I watched  Her make them every Christmas  since I was a kid, that and (fruit) mince pies , now its my turn .  Mine won't be as good as her's though . Got a few ' samples'  in the oven as I type, of course. I'll make another batch next weekend.  God Bless Mum for teaching me how to cook  

HS

(Update: they tasted damn good   )

Edited December 16, 2023 by Handstitched

[chuck123wapati]

8 hours ago, Handstitched said:

Back to food  Just made my very first batch of sausage rolls for Christmas, another  Aussie staple  ( apart from meat pies....for breakfast ).  Not sure if they are that common over there ? I get the sausage meat and the puff pastry and make em up , simple . I freeze them raw, and they are a quick snack or a quick meal to cook up  at Christmas . My Mother would normally make them by the dozen . I watched  Her make them every Christmas  since I was a kid, that and (fruit) mince pies , now its my turn .  Mine won't be as good as her's though . Got a few ' samples'  in the oven as I type, of course. I'll make another batch next weekend.  God Bless Mum for teaching me how to cook  

HS

(Update: they tasted damn good   )

closest we have are pigs in a blanket which don't sound nearly as good lol. The US was taken over by processed foods so real goodies like this are hard to find.

Pig in a blanket are wienies, hot dogs or sausages wrapped inside premade biscuit dough.

 God bless your mum for raising a fine man.

[Handstitched]

21 hours ago, chuck123wapati said:

Pig in a blanket are wienies, hot dogs or sausages wrapped inside premade biscuit dough.

Next time I make some up , more likely during the week,  I'll cook a few and  I'll take a pic . 

HS

[MarlinDave]

Hey Chuck, 

How regularly does your US Mail run in bad weather in Wyoming? We had a 4-6 inch snow, a lot here, not much for other areas. Still cold so it can’t melt after about 6 days. Mail is not running at all. I don’t ever remember this happening, and a lot worse snows other places I’ve lived. My uncle was our mailman as a kid, had an old 72 Blazer, nothing stopped him. 

[Sheilajeanne]

When I had rural delivery, they wouldn't deliver my mail unless the mailbox was completely dug out so the postie could pull up right next to it.

But if you've had rural delivery for any length of time, I'm sure you know this already...   And 4 to 6 inches of snow isn't that much for Wyoming and Ontario. Oh wait, you're in Tennessee...everything's probably at a standstill!  

The snowplow took out my mailbox once. I had to pick my mail up at the post office until I could figure out how to make it snowplow-proof! You could probably do the same until things thaw out a bit.

 

Edited January 20, 2024 by Sheilajeanne

[fredk]

I feel privileged that we get our mail pushed through a letter-slot in our main door.  The postie is legally obliged to put the mail through the letter box. Our posties are still wearing shorts and light-weight jackets. My postie this morning was wearing a light waterproof jacket only cos it was teeming down 

[Sheilajeanne]

Rub it in, Fred, rub it in! Last night was the coldest night of the years so far -  minus 18 C ( 0 F.)  And that's nothing compared to temps in the west, where it's been -40 !

Woke to light snow, which has now stopped, and we're actually getting some weak, watery sunlight shining through the gloom. 

[MarlinDave]

I would not care except I have some bills due. If they don't pick up today I need to go get them out of the mailbox and deliver them after the thaw. Bill payments  are taking 8-10 days without weather issues lately to deliver. I ordered a jump drive from Woodcraft that should arrive soon. It has 13 years of digital Woodcraft magazine for $20. Might keep me occupied till the roads clear. 

[MarlinDave]

Spring is back in Tennessee and we are ready. 

[chuck123wapati]

On 1/20/2024 at 6:33 AM, 327fed said:

Hey Chuck, 

How regularly does your US Mail run in bad weather in Wyoming? We had a 4-6 inch snow, a lot here, not much for other areas. Still cold so it can’t melt after about 6 days. Mail is not running at all. I don’t ever remember this happening, and a lot worse snows other places I’ve lived. My uncle was our mailman as a kid, had an old 72 Blazer, nothing stopped him. 

lol as long as the roads are open to get the mail here in town they deliver it. Last year the interstate was closed about 80 days this year only two or three. They use these small jeep looking trucks and put on snow chains when needed.