Life With The Crew

Attack of the Starlings

For the past couple of weeks, the little babe and I have woke to the pleasant soft chirping sounds of the House Sparrows that live in our shed.  However, yesterday morning I was awakened by a loud raucous cacophony of bird noises.  I know "raucous cacophony" is quite the mouthful, but this was quite the earful that I was hearing!  I looked out the window and saw the House Sparrows flitting here and there looking all up in arms.  Then I saw the problem - a Starling was trying to fly into their nesting area.  They were being invaded by one Starling on the front of the shed and then another Starling appeared and flew towards the nest on the back corner of the shed.  The House Sparrows, both males and females, were very upset and were doing their best to drive the Starlings away, which they eventually did.

The nests are permanent fixtures under the shed eaves.  I really noticed them for the first time last year and was amazed at the variety of materials used in their construction.  I don't think that there are any eggs in the nests yet, since I see both the males and females every morning, not sitting on a nest.  Last year I found several eggs on top of our chicken coop, which is right next to the shed.  I was puzzled by the mystery and thought that Brown-headed Cowbirds might be the culprits, but now I know that it wasn't anything so exotic sounding.  Just plain old invasive European Starlings.  While I don't like seeing the House Sparrows so distressed, apparently they are also not the nicest of birds.  However, I will not remove their nests, as some bird experts advise you to do.

Despite the fact that they are invasive species, watching them is a great learning experience for the little babe.  (And myself!)  To hear a two year old say "House Sparrow" is pretty darn cute.  As the Spring mating and nesting season progresses, I'll keep an eye out for more Starling carnage.

I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series.  As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day.  Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.

I shared this post on The Self Sufficient HomeAcre for The HomeAcre Hop.

 

 

Thankful Tuesday - On A Spring Hunt

Today I am thankful for...

my husband being back home with us.  He left cold and snowy Pennsylvania and for a week was somewhere hot and sunny - in fact, he came home with a sunburned peeling nose!  Meanwhile, the little babe and I were keeping the fire cranking, chipping away at ice, and bundling up under our mountain of blankets.  However, I won't hold a grudge against him because it seems like he has brought a bit of warm weather back home.  There is still plenty of snow on the ground, but it is definitely melting.  In the shade, the snow has a thick crust of hard ice on top, but if you step into a sunny spot, you'll sink in up to your calves.  On Sunday, we were going to take a stroll around one of the local parks, but the walking paths were still covered with snow.  So we headed to the woods, just to see what the trails were like.  They appeared to be packed down enough for walking and we happened to have the sled in the car, so away we went.  No dogs to keep us busy, just the three of us on a leisurely morning hike, looking for signs of Spring.  

We started on the Black Bear trail, but did not see any signs of bears yet.  A big stick was required just in case.

We postholed across the field, breaking through the snow with every other step.  The beauty of the wide open field under the bright blue sky was motivation to keep going.

We saw a lot of springtails, which look like fleas in the snow.  They live in the soil and when the snow begins to thaw, they come to the surface and are very easy to see.  

I've noticed over the past couple of weeks that someone has been slowly constructing some sort of fort/deer blind/hide-out.  It kind of creeps me out.

We crossed the sunny field and headed toward the wood again.

We went up some hills and down some hills.

The verdict?  Spring is not here yet.  But our fingers weren't hurting from the cold, our smiles weren't hidden behind balaclavas and cowls, and we were sweating while only wearing two layers instead of four.  Spring is almost here and we're enjoying what we've got.

What are you thankful for today?

 

 

A Bit More About Me

Ing over at Tread Kindly has nominated me as one of the bloggers to pass along the Liebster Award.  The Liebster Award is an award given to a blogger by a fellow blogger.  It shares the blogland love and helps draw attention to smaller blogs.  Ing is a fellow vegetarian and animal rights supporter and always has good information to share.  I appreciate the nomination, but I am going to break the rules and only answer the questions.  (I know that is bad and probably says I don't deserve the nomination.  I truly appreciate that Ing thought of me though, so please do stop over and check out her blog!)

1.  What is your favorite song to boogie to?  Well, I don't really dance, but listening to Paul Simon while I bake is one of my favorite things to do.  

2.  Who would be your ideal dinner guests at a dinner for four?  To be honest, since my husband and I have not had a nice dinner out by ourselves since the little babe was born, I'd just like to have that.  I don't need two other people, but the time to actually enjoy two glasses of wine would be nice.

3.  What is your greatest phobia?  I am a major scaredy cat about camping.  My overactive imagination tends to get a bit out of hand.  (My husband swears the psycho outside the tent was just a skunk.  Still scary.)

4.  Which online or real shop would you head to to buy a housewarming present for a good friend?  Etsy.

5.  Favorite series you've watched?  The Office.  And since we got rid of the television and I'm not into watching shows on the computer, that probably won't ever change.

6.  Favorite restaurant or cafe anywhere?  Flatbread Pizza.  Nothing fancy, but uses local ingredients and oh so good.  We love the one in Portland, ME, but I'm thinking the one in Maui might be nice too.

7.  Have you ever seen or experienced anything which would make you believe in life after death?  No.  I am too practical.

8.  Best way to get out of a cranky mood?  Realize that I'm in a cranky mood and just need to stop being a *itch.  Or my husband can bring me a chai.  Or listen to Paul Simon.

9.  Most coveted job?  I don't covet any job.  What I do now is what I want to be doing, though I don't like to call being a stay-at-home Mom a job.

10.  Do you think the world will be a better or worse place to live in 100 years from now?  Definitely worse.  I just finished reading Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver.  I believed in global warming before - now I am even more disgusted and saddened at how we are ruining our planet.

Pop over to Ing's blog to learn more about her.  As her blog name suggests, she is a tad kinder than cynical me!

 

 

A Quiet Week

I know I've been wordy this week, when normally this blog tends to be picture heavy.  But it has been a bit of a quiet week around here and the camera has not seen much action.  While visiting my parents last week, the little babe and I managed to pick up a stomach bug.  She was sick for less than 24 hours and has been announcing that she is "all better" ever since.  The "all better" normally precedes something that she wants to eat - booby milk, the ice cream that we had to pick up when we were getting milk, and the pb cup I found in the pantry.  However, the nasty little stomach bug hit me harder than her and I have been nursing what feels like a queasy bruised stomach all week.  Not that we could have done much adventuring even if I felt like it, because the weather has been pretty rough.  We've had snow, sleet, maybe even a bit of plain rain, and now more snow planned for today.  To top it all off, my husband was away for several days, so I have been focusing on the essentials - fuel for the fire, food for the little babe (thank goodness she is still nursing and I haven't had to prep much), and caring for the furry and feathered.  

My husband is normally the wood hauler and main wood stove man, so I have been working hard to fill his shoes (or leather fire gloves in this case.)  I think it makes me appreciate the fire a bit more when I am doing all of the work.  Down East magazine had a really good article about Mainers and their wood stoves in January's issue.  It covered everything from types of stoves and ways of stacking (I had no idea there were so many variations - some people apparently even get decorative with their wood piles!), but the best part was asking Mainers why they heat with wood and what it means to them.  Most people here in the United States do not heat with wood because they have to.  It is a choice that can be based on several factors - money, environmental concerns, aesthetics, availability, tradition, and lifestyle values.  We started heating with wood because we could not afford to heat with oil, we did not want to support the oil industry more than we had to, we lived in a location that had plenty of wood available, and it just felt like the right thing for us to do.  Despite the mess, hassle, and lack of warmth that we deal with, it is part of our life.  I cannot imagine living in a house where we simply flip a switch for instant heat (though we do have a heat pump for back-up heat if we travel in Winter).  To me, it seems like baking a cake from scratch versus opening the box of Betty Crocker.  The end result might be the same, but there is a satisfaction and appreciation that is gained when you have more of a hand in the process. 

I've spent most of my time this week either sitting on the sofa with the little babe and a pile of books or lying in bed with the little babe and a book for me (Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, which I'm loving).  So I only have quiet, boring photos to share.  Hopefully next week the weather and our bodies will cooperate and we'll be able to venture outside again.

How about you?  Are you a wood stove lover?  Barbara Kingsolver fan?  

I shared this post on The Self Sufficient HomeAcre for The HomeAcre Hop.

Waxing Poetic Over A Waxing Gibbous

The little babe LOVES looking at the Moon.  I doubt that her excitement about the Moon is because of that book (literary masterpiece that it may be.)  I refused to read Good Night Moon to her for a long time for the selfish reason that I just did not like it.  The illustrations did not appeal to me.  "Goodnight nobody?"  What is the point of that?  And as for the little old lady whispering hush?  She is a creepy looking rabbit.  I have come to accept the book and we do enjoy reading it, but she likes looking for the mouse and does not focus on the Moon.

No, I think she is fascinated with the Moon because it is something that she can so easily observe and point out to us.  I think she feels a sense of pride when she can show her Momma the Moon and her Momma can be truly amazed because she had actually not noticed it yet.  As we were getting into the car last night, I was caught up in the chore of buckling a buttoned up toddler into a car seat while wearing thick gloves - not an easy task as all parents know.  We were out late (for us in Winter, that only means 7:30 pm) and she pointed over my shoulder and said "Moon."  Yes, there was the Moon.  Almost full.  So on the drive home, I heard that phrase repeated multiple times - "Moon, almost full."  Yes, my dear, "almost full." 

When I dragged myself out from under the warm covers around 1 am and entered the main house to add more wood to the fire, the moonlight was streaming through the windows.  The wood stove was cranking and the only noise was the whirring of the fan that sits on top and spins as fast as the rising heat can spin it.  The dogs, cats, and even the rabbit were peacefully sleeping.  No night light was needed - without curtains on our windows, every room was illuminated by the moonlight.  The snow outside had a bluish tint to it and was covered with long dark shadows, quite a contrast to the harsh bright glare of the Sun on snow.  Inevitably, I had to let two of the dogs outside while stoking the fire and I watched one Corgi shadow waddle along the paw packed snow paths and another move with a faster more agile gait.  They both were filled with determination and I would like to be able to wonder about what they were seeing, smelling, sensing, out there in the almost Full Moon snow, but unfortunately I know them too well.  We'll just leave it at this - don't ever let one of my dogs give you a kiss.

The "almost full" Moon that the little babe saw was in a Waxing Gibbous phase.  During this phase, the Moon is more than 50% full, but not quite a Full Moon.  When the little babe pointed it out, it was 91% full.  What is that saying - "You learn something new everyday?"  My inspiration for learning something new is so that I can teach my child something new every day.  

If you wondered whether I was correct in capitalizing the Moon, this is an interesting article.

I shared this post on The Self Sufficient HomeAcre for The HomeAcre Hop.

Thankful Tuesday - A World of Brown and White

As I drove along the Susquehanna River last Friday, heading home from my parent's house, it was hard not to notice that the world was pretty much devoid of color except for shades of brown and white.  The only spots of bright color were from the vehicles and roadside billboards, which isn't the kind of color that is pleasing to the eye.  Instead of being dull and depressing though, I found that the monotone color palette made the details of shapes and textures so much more apparent and even enjoyable.  It was a relaxing quiet ride home with the little babe fast asleep in the backseat.  I could tell which direction I was heading by which side of the road still had snow on it - snow on the shaded left side of the highway, with bare brown ground soaking up the sun on the right - I was heading West.  The river was white, covered with what looked like a thick sheet of opaque ice dusted with snow, but then in spots it opened up to clear dark water, running surprisingly fast.  I even saw a couple of brave ducks floating in an eddy.  They also were brown and white.  

Pennsylvania is covered with deciduous forest, so at this time of year, most of the trees are bare, with branches in various shades of brown and gray.  So the sycamore trees that follow the route along the river were a welcome sight to see.  Large trees with wide canopies, shining white in the strong late-Winter/almost-Spring sunshine, I think the word stately describes them well.  Tree bark has to stretch to accommodate growth, but the sycamore's bark is not as elastic and so it sloughs off in big patches instead.  The areas left behind are gray and brown, so even they received the memo about the color scheme.  

The leafless forest puts everything on display and I saw several hawks flying and perched in trees.  They were probably Red-tailed Hawks, though I am not a birder and cannot identify them just from a glimpse at 65 mph as good birders can.  However, I did see a Bald Eagle, perched high up at the top of a tree, keeping watch over the river.  I don't remember ever spotting Bald Eagles before this past year, but in the past several months we have had several sightings on this stretch of highway.

Those of you living in cold Northern climates who are itching for Spring and a change in color:  Don't despair, it is coming.  The sun is shining stronger each day, warm enough to start melting the weekend's snowstorm before the plows had our road cleared yesterday morning.  The House Sparrows that live in our shed have been chirping up a storm, with much more activity in the past several weeks.  I even saw grass on the edge of the sidewalk, with the dogs all vying for a spot.  Some of you might be tired of shoveling snow; they're tired of peeing on it.

I'm thankful for all that I have right now and I'm not going to waste time hoping for what I know will come naturally in its own good time.

What are you thankful for today?

Sunrise from the chicken yard.  The brightest color at this time of year appears early and only lasts for a couple of minutes.

Instructions for March

I woke up this morning to the sound of the birdhouse gourds hitting the side of the house.  The trellis that they hang on has slowly been falling backwards over the past couple of months and when the wind blows, the gourds drum against the house right outside the bedroom window.  I swear every time they wake me up that today is going to be the day that I move them, but then I forget about them as soon as I leave the bedroom and start my routine.  Today they were louder than usual - bang, bang instead of thud, thud - and I could hear the wind whipping outside.  Yesterday we received another 4-5 inches of snow, so I'd say that "March is coming in like a lion" so we'll see if it stays true to the saying and "goes out like a lamb".  Did you learn that rhyme in elementary school?  Do we only learn it here in the Northeastern US?  I guess all of those construction paper lamb and lion masks were worth something - now I supposedly know what to expect in March, though with global warming, these weather sayings might not apply like they used to.

So here we are in March already.  

 

-Try something new.  You might have a lot of fun.  (Or you might learn that making snow angels is colder than it looks in a book!)

-Notice the details.  Isn't it marvelous how those little teeny tiny tendrils can twist and turn? 

-Have more patience.  (I know that several inches of snow on March 1st might be pushing some people a bit - don't fret, Spring will come.)

 -Hug more.  

-Choose a moment to simply cherish instead of capture. 

I'll be working on these, especially my patience.  I've found that with my little babe, it is related to hugging.  If I hug instead of yell, it makes me feel better and hopefully her, and diffuses the bad energy of the moment.