For The Birds

Tags

bacon, chickadee, downy woodpecker, homeschool nature study, hummingbirds, pine cone feeder, projects with children, snow, winter garden

It’s pretty cold here at Casa Fulton…cold enough to keep me indoors and occupied with things that can be accomplished in front of the fireplace, or at the stove.  We’re expecting snow (a bit of a rarity in our neck of the woods), which—even though it’s not my favorite form of weather—I would actually welcome right now, because it would warm up a bit.  Plus, snow is kinder to the garden than dry and 19 degrees.

Snow is NOT kind to the little birds, however, and because they are accustomed to more hospitable treatment here, I do a little extra for them.  I don’t have water heaters for the bird-baths, so I fill them regularly when it freezes.  I put extra seed out, and bring the hummingbird nectar in at night so it doesn’t turn to a solid chunk of sweet ice.  The hummies come before daylight, so I have to get it back outside early.  I could see them silhouetted in the branches of the magnolia this morning—waiting for me—and they didn’t fly away when I re-hung it.

I hang suet out too, but when the starlings discover it, I have to bring it in, or else they will drive off all of the smaller birds while gobbling all the suet in minutes!   The birds need extra sources of fat for calories and energy, so another thing I put out for them, especially if the starlings have made a surprise raid, are pine cones with fat and seed in them.

These are so simple to make, and they are also a great project to do with your children who are home from school for a ‘snow-day’.   They’re a great way to use extra bacon fat—something I always keep on hand (stored in the fridge) for adding an extra layer of flavor to foods that want it.

You can use peanut butter too, but the birds at our house prefer the bacon fat (who doesn’t like bacon?), so I just use that now.  It’s less expensive as well.

All you need is a pine cone, some fat, and some bird seed.  Oh, and something to hang it with—string, yarn, wire, or the Christmas ornament hanger you pulled out of the carpet last week and threw in the kitchen junk-drawer.

Soften the chilled fat, coat the pine cone in it (your hands will be really soft after, and your dogs and cats will suddenly be very affectionate) and then press the seed in it.  Hang it out on a tree branch, and then wait for word to get out in the avian world that dinner is ready!

Stay warm, and thanks so much for coming to see me!

Lorrie

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Harvest Home

Tags

Autumn, Baking, bougainvillea, chickadee, cooking, Fall, Finch, gardening, junco, knitting, November, rain, red-wing blackbird, ring-neck dove, sparrow, wild geese

“Raise a song of harvest home!  All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin;”

 

I am keenly aware that I am the girl who waits impatiently for the arrival of summer, the one who can get a bit complain-y about April showers, and who frantically tries to wring the last bit of daylight out of summer’s end.  Yes, it’s true–I have Pinterest boards devoted to images of sunnier climes, things that grow in those warm dryer places, and food to eat while basking in all of that summer sun.  The mere sight of a warm stucco wall with a bougainvillea vine trailing over it can keep me happy all day!

On the plus side though, and one of my attributes, is that I don’t hold grudges.  When the last of one season is undeniably packed up and put away, I fall in love with the next, which at the moment, is mid-autumn.  In the early part of autumn, I can still persuade myself  into believing that there’s still some drops of summer remaining.  The sun pours warmly onto the patio more days than not, there is still the pungency of basil and tomatoes in the air, the house wine continues to be crisp and white, and we spend more time outside than the dog does.

It’s not early autumn any longer…not by a long-shot!  But at the moment, I am so enthralled with November that I’m not even missing July or August one little bit. (Talk to me in February or March though—I’ll have had a change of heart by then…)

I’ve been thinking a great deal the last day or so about just what it is that makes this time seem so sweet.  What came to mind was this; for me, this part of the season has a tangible peace and beauty that makes me want to stop and drink it all in…just sit for a moment and absorb everything around me until my mind and heart and soul all feel full.

In November, ‘life’ is quieter.  All of the busyness of the garden, the comings and goings of the household, all of the ‘doing’ that comprises the long hours of shining sun and balmy air—all of that stops.  The birds are quiet—there is no finch or sparrow song, the juncos make only their tiny ‘chit-chit’ sound as they feed, the red-wing blackbirds are gone, and the robins haven’t arrived—there is only the sound of the wild geese as they fly over each day.

There is little traffic going by on the way to the river, and everyone is driven indoors by the rain.  All of the sounds of summer have given way to a different pitch and rhythm—the pop and snap of the logs in the fire place, the hum of the occasional helicopter as it lifts the harvest of Christmas trees out of the surrounding hills, the simmer of soups and sauces on the stove, and rain.  Rain as it patters on the last of the jewel-toned leaves.  Rain as it blows into the stove vent, sounding like little pebbles pinging against the metal pipe.  Rain as it shimmers down the windows in torrents, blown by the storms coming in from the Cascade Mountains in the east, or the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Now I am no longer distracted with the outside chores.  Nothing but the citrus in the greenhouse needs watering.  Any weeding that didn’t get done will have to wait.  There are no projects to do, nothing to plant, and nothing to prune. Anything I didn’t finish (or get to start) will be there when spring comes. 

Yes, I do love summer, but there is so much to love about November as well!

I love that there is still indescribable color everywhere, and how it shines in such bright contrast against the rainy-grey softness of the landscape.

I love that there is time for reading, knitting, cooking and baking.

I love filling the bird-feeders and watching the chickadees and finches stuffing themselves on sunflower seed, while the juncos and ring neck doves clean up below them.  

I love playing board games and cracking nuts in front of the fireplace, and watching football and basketball on the television with my husband.

I love thinking about the approaching holidays with the home-comings of family and the gatherings of friends.

While I am continually working at wearing gratitude as a lifestyle, and not confining it to just one month of the year, November does seem a good time to be still, and really soak in—no, revel in—all of the beautiful, wonderful, life that surrounds me.  I am blessed, and hoping that all of you—my beautiful, wonderful, friends—are too.

Thank you so much for visiting!  Happy November…

Lorrie