The babies are about to leave!

For the past couple of weeks, we've been watching a nesting box in our backyard. It's hung on a huge Pine tree, about 4 feet off the ground. Inside the box are 5 baby Bluebirds.

One of the things we loved when we moved here was the fact that our home was surrounded by all sorts of trees. Living on a wooded lot, we've enjoyed all sorts of wildlife everything from tiny Hummingbirds to majestic deer, but the thing we enjoy most of all is when the Bluebirds come. 

Every year, around the end of April, a nest of pine straw begins to form in the nesting boxes we've put out. Slowly and methodically, the mother bird carries bits of straw, twigs, dryer lint, and even hair from recent haircuts. We try to leave a few bits near the base of the trees to help her out. 

Sleepy babies

After the nest is built, she'll sit there and lay her eggs while the male Bluebird brings her worms to eat. We don't disturb her when she's on the eggs. When we see her flying out to go get her own food, we know the babies have either just hatched out or are about to. 

From that point on, we watch and wait. About 2 weeks in, we start closely monitoring the nest. I watch to make sure the parents are away hunting food and gently lift the front door to the nesting box. As I peek in, I can see the growth of the babies and compare it to a chart I have that tells me about how old they are. I snap a quick photo and close the door. From what I've read, Bluebirds don't have a keen sense of smell so I can do this without upsetting them. I never touch the babies or the nest though, just in case.

As the babies grow and change, they begin to get more and more feathers. They start out a dark gray color and eventually start getting a bluish tint. Most of the time the babies are sleeping when I check on them, but occasionally, they'll have their eyes wide open waiting on Mama's latest catch to appear. 

Alert and waiting on Mama to feed them

They're so cute! I really want to pick one up and hold it, but know I can't. 

Bluebirds are only in the nesting box about 19-20 days, so these little ones are just about ready to fledge. Mama bird will come to the front of the nesting box and begin coaxing them out. One by one, they'll ease out and fly down to the ground. After their wings get a little stronger and the baby a little bolder, it will fly up to a low hanging branch and wait for the mother to coax it on its journey. 

I've been able to capture that with past broods and hope to with this one as well. 

It kind of makes me sad to see them go. It feels almost like it did when my kids were growing up. I knew one day they'd leave, but I didn't want them to. I wanted to keep them with me forever, but that's not healthy. Our job is to give them roots and wings. 

I'm on high alert for the rest of today, tomorrow, and the next day. I'm pretty sure I've gotten the timing right and the babies will be leaving no later than Tuesday. I'll keep you posted! 

The first Winter storm of the season

We knew a storm was coming. The weather forecasts had warned us, so we prepared the fireplace, pulled out the antique oil lamps, and made sure we had plenty of food. In our neck of the woods, you never know if a forecasted storm is going to be a big deal or not until stuff starts happening. Usually, when weathermen make a big deal of it, nothing happens and when they don't, everything goes awry. 

As I type this, snow is falling, and the temperatures are dropping. The birds are flitting from tree to tree, doing their best to find food and stay warm. We filled up the feeders yesterday with plenty of sunflower seed. We love our wildlife and try to help take care of them the best we can. 

If the snow continues to fall as the day goes on, we'll probably experience some freezing on powerlines and trees. We're praying our power stays on and no trees fall. We've had enough of falling trees from high winds and tornadoes in the past year to last a lifetime. Right now, in fact, there are 2 large pines leaning toward our house. They're resting on smaller trees and are basically what hunters call "widow makers" because of their precarious angle and potential for falling and killing someone. They're on our neighbor's property and yesterday, when we heard him outside with a chainsaw, we thought he was about to take them down, but that wasn't the case. It's challenging living in a rural area but we love it. 

We'll keep a close watch on the weather. If the roads freeze up and it's too dangerous to get out, hubby will stay home from work tomorrow. Our driveway is super steep and neither of us need to risk going down it. 

The weather, this year, has already been so unpredictable. We heard about a tsunami predicted to hit Hawaii yesterday and then today, as a result of the winter storm, several tornadoes hit the Ft. Meyers area. We're definitely in the end times! The Bible speaks of not being able to tell the seasons during the last days and I believe we're definitely seeing evidence of that now. 

I think I'm going to curl up with a good book now and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. Ya'll be safe! Catch ya on the flip side. 
 

Lovely day, lovely day...

Oh what a lovely day it's been. The sun has been shining, the birds have been singing and all is right in the world...well, in my world anyway! It's rare to have a day when I feel as good as I do today, so I'm going to gloat in it for a bit. I'm extremely thankful for a good day. There's nothing better than feeling good both physically and mentally. It amazes me how much people take good health for granted but as soon as they lose it, they understand how valuable good health really is.


For me, most of the past two years and 7 months have been filled with pain so you can imagine how happy I am when I have a pain free day. In fact, I felt so good today that I washed and folded two loads of laundry, I vacuumed my entire house, I loaded and unloaded my dishwasher, put dinner on in the crockpot, and even put on the backpack blower and ventured outside to blow off the driveway, walkways, and the patio! I read two books, wrote an article for a publication on breast cancer, talked on the phone with 4 friends, texted numerous folks, and even spent a little time on Facebook. I'd say it's been a very productive day!

Thank God for good days! If you've ever struggled with poor health, you know what I'm talking about. Good days cancel out the bad days and help us focus on better things. Spring is just around the corner and I'm looking forward to many more good days. And what could make a good day even better? Why lovely music, of course...thank Bill Withers for groovy tunes. I love his song, Lovely Day and you can listen to it by clicking here.

Hello Sunshine!

A glorious day!

What an absolutely gorgeous day we've had today! The sun was shining, the temperature was in the seventies, and it felt so good, literally. For the past few months, I've been freezing. Wearing long johns has become a daily joke at my house but for me, it's been a necessary evil. Since having my thyroid gland removed in 2005, my body's thermostat is out of whack. The doctors try their best to regulate my thyroid hormones with supplements but it's a roller coaster. If it's within normal range, I feel pretty good and I'm fairly warm. When it's too low, I freeze and am lethargic. Right now, I'm in the freezing zone so I'll be visiting the endocrinologist in a couple of weeks to get things back on an even keel. I know my hubby will be glad to have me back in the normal range because the setting on our thermostat will return to 68 instead of 78.

Yesterday, one of my daughters and I spent most of the day stacking wood. We'd recently purchased firewood from a local dealer and he'd dumped the load on the other side of our driveway.

More wood to stack

It needed to be stacked neatly to keep it dry so guess who got the brilliant idea to do it? Moi! I was feeling good yesterday and had a boost of energy from a couple of cups of green tea but I should have known better. I paid the price for that hair brained idea last night. When it was time for bed, I was hurting so badly I couldn't get comfortable. I tossed and turned all night and finally, at 3 a.m. this morning, got up and took a couple of Benadryl to help me fall asleep. I did finally get to sleep but woke up this morning at 9 feeling groggy. I've felt loopy all day so I don't think I'll do that again.

This is an antique birdhouse I found at a thrift store. I loved it!

Bluebird house

Staying indoors for weeks at a time is not healthy! As a survivor of breast cancer, it's challenging to keep my Vitamin D levels up anyway so when the sun shines, I enjoy sitting outside and basking in its warmth. The sun felt so good on my cheek as I sat on the swing listening to the birds. (We have a very wooded lot and have many species of birds around. By providing different types of bird food and various housing options, we're always blessed with lots of birds.) Today I saw a Tufted Titmouse, a Black Capped Chickadee, a Downy Woodpecker, some Starlings, Goldfinch, Bluebirds, Cardinals and Mourning Doves.

 I love the sounds of country life and don't miss the city at all. Cars and trucks constantly run up and down our street but we have learned to tune those sounds out and tune in the beautiful bird calls and other sounds of nature around us. In the evenings, we enjoy listening to frogs croaking, crickets chirping, and Cicada rubbing their wings together.

Poinsettia from Christmas

Warmer weather allowed me to take my plants back outside, too. We've had them stored in the carport for the past couple of months due to the cold. Hopefully, we'll stay in this warming trend for the next few weeks and my plants can get some much needed sun.

It's been a good day and I am thankful. Good days haven't been plentiful for a while and it feels so nice to have one now and then. The little things mean so much more to me lately than ever before. Life is short and I'm so thankful to be living. The Bible says to "Rejoice in the Lord always" and that's what I'm doing today. God is good, all the time.

My hen and chicks are happy in the sun!