Saturday, March 8, 2025

Music and birds and kids


I went with the Hub to a bluegrassy kinda jam at Council Rock Brewery a week or so ago. Since I was not a jammer, I was pleased to have one of my Jersey cousins magically show up with her hub and 2 friends.

I was all set to post this (not great) pic of a red-winged blackbird 2 days ago. They showed up on the same day the green grass reappeared, and I wanted to celebrate the first signs of spring. Too late...the snow and ice and too much wind are back again.

Now for the good news—our first 2 kids were born this morning. As we borrowed Black Bart (a LaMancha buck) for only a few weeks, this was the first time that we could actually predict when the kidding would begin.

These 2 kids look just like their dad—mostly black with the little gopher ears of that breed. Our females are a mix of colors, a lot of them white like Rainbow here, and all of them have big ole goat ears. It will be interesting to see what the rest of the kids look like.

Monday, February 17, 2025

Even more wind and snow, no blue

Two tufted titmouses,
one black-capped chickadee
The Adirondack chairs and the bench are disappearing. The fire pit has been gone for weeks. The BirdBuddy is still busy, but the birds have to hang onto it for dear life...kinda like the Tilt-A-Whirl without the seatbelts.

All the inside beings are warm and cozy. It is such a blessing to be retired and not have to worry about venturing out into the snowy wilderness.

Monkey and Martin are still figuring out how to be best buds. That last pic may look like a peaceful chat between the bros, but the thought balloon above Monkey would say "try that again and I will smack you down again". The fur goes flying now and then.

The only one without cabin fever is Jessie. She is outside by choice, since this morning, and even now it is only 19° with winds up to 46 mph. At least she is on the porch, but she still gets a coating of snow with all the wind.

I can only try so many times to bring her in.

Monday, January 27, 2025

Wind and blue


For all my complaints about gray skies, now we have plenty of blue skies—but they come with too much wind. Poor Jessie isn't comfortable with the noise inside or out. She's just not happy. I am talking to the vet about what I can do for her.

Cyrus is happy inside and out. Rolling in the snow is one of his favorite things to do. And Monkey is happy with the peace and quiet inside. (What noise?)

The birds don't care about the weather, just the food—although sometimes it's tough to hang onto a swaying BirdBuddy.




Friday, January 17, 2025

Katzenbirds


It was hard to find a good BirdBuddy photo with a blue sky in the background. There has been a constant few inches of snow on the ground for weeks now, with gray skies, wind, and flurries to top it off.

I had to go back to January 3 to get this photo of a white-breasted nuthatch. He usually sneaks off before the camera can catch him, but this time he struck a pose AND there was a blue sky.

Martin and Monkey truly love watching the birds at the bird feeder right outside the window. It's better than a video for cats because it never ends...until it gets dark dark or when I forget to fill the feeder with sunflower seed.

These boys are still working out their friendship, but I am sure they will make it work soon enough.

Thursday, January 2, 2025

New Jessie, BirdBuddy and cat buddies

Jessie has been reliably coming in in the mornings and evenings for a while now. She sleeps overnight in the cozy spot on the floor next to our bed. 

She also reliably wakes me up at 5:45 am to go out for a pee, but the new Jessie comes back in and stays in the house until about 12:30. That’s a big deal!

And yet she still insists on shivering out there on nasty, cold, windy, snowy days like today, until I convince her to come in when it gets dark and she gets hungry. 

The BirdBuddy has a hard time getting good pics on days like today when the birds have a hard time hanging on long enough to catch a seed or 2. That was a white-breasted nuthatch who succeeded. 

Monkey and Martin are getting better at being buddies. They still have a boxing match at least once a day, but then they act like BFFs. 

And the last pic is what happens when I spend too long writing a post. Even in his sleep, Martin tries to get my attention away from the phone (which was in that hand).