Birds in the Backyard

At any given time both in summer and winter, we have birds in our backyard forest. Our winter friends include the usual goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, Carolina Wrens, woodpeckers, and the occasional Cardinal.

Sometimes we take these birds for granted as we seek to find unusual migrating birds. So this post is to honor our "bread-and-butter" birds. The faithful ones we can always count on. Even in the coldest weather, they come to see us and sit puffed up on the bare tree limbs.

So, continue to enjoy the migrants. Continue to chase after exotics and rare birds seen in your area. Continue to travel for birdwatching trips. But also look around you and be thankful for your winter birds. Dull as they are compared to summer plumage, they bring lightness and joy on the most dreary of days.

Critter in the Garage

Or...how I discovered I really am a blogger.

My husband was taking the dogs out at 10:00 pm. Suddenly he re-opened the door and shouted, "C-A-R-O-L-Y-N! We've got something in the garage! Come out here. H-U-R-R-Y!"

I ran out to find him standing near the door, holding the leashes tightly so the girls wouldn't move. Without saying anything, he was pointing to the workbench. And that's when I saw the little critter.

That's also when I discovered I really am a blogger. My first thought was not, "We've got to get this thing out of here." Oh, no. It was "I've got to try to get a picture for my blog." What a difference a few months can make.

"Put the girls in a sit/stay and don't move a muscle," I whispered. I ran back into the house and quickly grabbed the camera.

And this is what I saw: a very small opossum climbing out of the boxes holding the bird feeders.

Oops! Busted

He crept to the edge of the workbench.

I gotta get out of here.

He made his way down the same way he had come up.

Take it slow and steady. They are not chasing you.

He took a final glance at me.

All right, lady. I'm going. Just keep those dogs still.

At that point, my husband eased the dogs out of the garage on the opposite side. I put the camera down to make certain our little visitor actually left the garage. There are lots of places to hide in a garage and I didn't want him to spend the night.

-----I didn't get a photograph of the dogs, but they sat absolutely still, totally fascinated by this little critter. They clearly did not care to go after him and didn't even make a muffled "woof" much less bark. I'm not sure why. But when they came back, Lucy had to be pulled away from the area. She also checked out that corner the next morning.

-----We always bring the bird feeders inside the garage at sunset. We have too many nocturnal animals who would otherwise feast on our deck. What we have not previously done, is to close the garage door as soon as we bring in the feeders. Well, lesson learned. We not only close the garage door, we check the garage before taking the girls out at night.

-----This time the visitor was a 'possum. He was a very little one at that and I do worry about his size in the approaching winter. A little 'possum is one thing...a skunk, racoon, or (gulp) a black bear is another.

Fridays are Golden

We were extremely fortunate when we moved from Wisconsin to North Carolina. A dear friend who is also a dog trainer, kept the girls in her home for two weeks and then drove them down to North Carolina. By coincidence and lucky for us, she and her husband had planned a trip here near the time of our move. We will never forget her kindness.

The girls had not spent a night away from us since our move. We have a dog walker who will come over and take them out during the day, but we haven't been away overnight.

We interviewed several dog sitters "just in case" and found one that we really liked. We took the girls over to see the place (and for the sitter to see them) and the visit went well. The sleeping area was spacious and the two of them would be together. The grounds and yard are lovely, and the sitter has several dogs of her own. Lucy and Ellie got along well with the sitter's own dogs.

So we felt as comfortable as one can feel when leaving pets in someone else's care. When we picked them up, they were clearly happy and healthy, although they were just as clearly glad to be home.

The sitter sent us some pictures of the girls. She thought it funny that every time she got the camera out, Ellie immediately sat and posed while Lucy approached to find out how to work the camera. That is so typical.

We took the girls for a long run and they settled down, pretty exhausted. Lucy plopped down on the bed Ellie was using, but seemed determined to stay awake and watch the goings-on.

She tried so hard to stay alert, but actually fell asleep with her head up.

The next morning, the girls were really frisky. The weather much to their liking, (about 16 degrees) they had really enjoyed their walk and then romp in our woods. They sprinted up the stairs to greet me. Then, they heard my husband putting food in their dishes and remembered they hadn't eaten breakfast. So they scurried down the stairs again.

One of the most rewarding things about having dogs is the way they greet you when you come home. This applies whether you have been gone for 10 minutes or 10 hours. For the first day after we got home, the girls followed us from room to room more than usual, but things are back to normal now. They did well, and we truly enjoyed our vacation. But I can't tell you how often my husband and I mentioned the dogs while we were away.

Friday again, coming so quickly. It's only a week until Thanksgiving if you can believe that. It gets dark at 5:00 and we all look forward to December 22, when the daylight hours will increase in miniscule increments. It's the thought of it that counts. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. It may be the last quiet weekend you have until the holidays are over. Enjoy it and stay safe and happy.

Shelley's Other Blog

Did you know that the marvelous bird charmer, photographer extrordinaire Shelley (AKA the Loon Ranger) http://birdinginmichigan.blogspot.com/ also has a blog titled Building a Log Cabin http://logcabininmichigan.blogspot.com/.

And on the Log Cabin blog, she has a giveaway. The prize? A loaf of cranberry pecan bread from a marvelous deli called Zingermans.

So, please go check out Shelley's other blog. Read the archives and enjoy. Just DON'T ENTER THE CONTEST! I'm really wanting this loaf all to myself. I'm giving you the address to get "bonus" points, NOT to encourage you to enter the contest yourself.

So remember, read the blog (it's great) and comment, but (I repeat myself here) DO NOT ENTER THE CONTEST AND REDUCE MY CHANCES!!! It's really cold here and I can just taste that wonderful bread. I can almost smell it with my morning coffee.

Back Home Again

The weather was terrible. We drove the nine hours from here to Indianapolis in the rain, with high winds and occasional snowflakes. The weather was no different when we arrived, except that it might have been a little bit colder.

Never mind. At the end of the trip we were welcomed by our son and daughter-in-law and suddenly the weather didn't matter anymore. Our son had planned a lot of outdoor activities, but the weather decided differently. We did some sightseeing from comfort of the car, and did more indoor activities.

We visited the Indianapolis Art Museum to see the special exhibit on the Ming Dynasty. The museum's photograph policy basically indicates that one cannot take a photograph of anything interesting inside the museum. But we could take unlimited photographs outside.

The ubiquitous "LOVE" quadrangle is one of the prized outdoor exhibits. Robert Clark (who later changed his name to Robert Indiana), created the LOVE for a Christmas card for the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in the 1960s. Interestingly enough, the artwork was never copyrighted, and immediately became public domain and an instant art hit around the world.

Despite the rain, we photographed the fountain in front of the museum. There were some remaining leaves on the sheltered trees around the fountain.

The numbers scupture, another Robert Indiana creation, is often used by couples to make "Save the date" cards for upcoming weddings, or birthday parties.

There seems to be a "mother and child" sculture at every museum. I especially liked this one.

The most important place we visited? The house my son and DIL bought. It is a perfect house, one that will meet their needs for as long as they remain in Indianapolis. They have cleverly decorated the traditional house with some non-traditional ideas that enhance rather than detract from the beauty. They bought old church pews and joined them together to make a lovely bench for the dining room. They upholstered the pews and even covered one wall with the same material. Not only comfortable, the pews are quite attractive. The drop-leaf table can be reduced in size and the entire area opened up for guests.

Our son is a great cook and we enjoyed some really good meals here. Isn't it nice to have someone else do all the cooking and cleaning?

-----We did have one indoor activity. My husband and I were introduced to the Wii. We bowled, played golf, even boxing. The thing is totally addicting!

-----What a wonderful and relaxing time we had. We sat by the fireside and chatted about old times and plans for the future. I can't wait to visit again.

-----The drive home was a bit harrowing with cold wind and bits of snow. We left very early in the morning so we could get home in the afternoon. We arrived in time to pick up the Golden Girls. Much as we totally enjoyed the visit, it was nice to be home again, sleeping in our own bed.

And I have some wonderful blogs to read. I've missed all of you.

Hike to the Base of the Falls

[NOTE: We're going on a short vacation, so I will be offline for a week or so. I will miss reading your blogs and promise to catch up when I return. Look for a new post from me on Wednesday or so.]

As regular readers know, our community is full of wonderful hiking trails. One of our favorites is the Amakola Trail which leads to the base of Lower Batson Falls at the confluence with the larger and more impressive Connestee Falls. The trail declines steeply and runs along Batson Creek with three waterfalls and some lovely cascades on the way.

These photographs were from a mid-October hike, so the foliage does not represent the bare trees we see outside today. Enjoy the hike. You are lucky. You don't even have to make that climb back up.

This is the reward for the steep hike. Connestee Falls, a cascading waterfall with a 100-foot drop. (If you click on the picture, you will see the woman near the railing. That gives you some size perspective.) We have to take a breath and a drink of water before heading back up.

Honoring Veterans

Today is Veteran's Day in the United States. Previously called "Armistice Day," Novemer 11, 1918 is the day the Germans signed the Armistice, ending World War I. Our friends in other countries call this day "Remembrance Day." It is one of the few Federal holidays not celebrated on Monday. It is celebrated on November 11 unless the date falls on a weekend.

Regardless of our feelings about our current wars, we still honor those who fought, especially those who died or returned injured.

Reflect on this day and give thought to the men and women still fighting under the American Flag. We honor and salute them today.

If you have three minutes, listen to today's edition of NPR's Morning Edition, "A Soldier's Refrain: Going Home." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96828169