Gone

I am sad to report the Blues have made the decision to pass on the new house.  I see them gathering grasses here and there once in a while but they do not go near the house.  :-(

Today we had a really big looking grey squirrel on the rock wall.  

And another visitor that is not welcome at all... the wind!

Mrs. Blue

This morning Mrs. Blue has been here gathering a few (I hope its few and not just one) grasses and putting them into her new house to carpet the floor.  Mr. Blue did not seem to be in attendance today.  Perhaps he is gone on a business trip?

Saga of Bluebirds, continues

So, I asked dh to help me. 

Shouldn't I know better by now?  

Nope, I blindly dived right in. 

 I said "could you do something to make sure the new and improved bird house stays attached to the pole I hung it on?"  This is the cedar post I worked so hard on, digging a hole, going over the hill to the junk pile to find the post, carrying it back, because the yard tractor and trailer has not been started yet this spring so thought it would be easier to just "hoof" it, tamping it into the hole I had dug then trying to nail the house up, not an easy task but I managed to get a couple of nails in,  but it definitely would swing in the wind. I needed help!

 But, as usual, instead of being helpful, dh decided it was "his" project and that of course, it was all wrong and would have to have some major renovations.  But, after some argument, we left it for a while.  Instead of working on attaching the bird house without scaring the birds, he went out, fired up his big tractor, and chased the birds away pulling up the posts from the old houses and a couple of dead bushes that are really close to this new bird abode.   Then, later, still being the "she will never learn" person that I am,  I said "well, I think some bailing wire would do the trick."  Yep, he agreed.  So, I wanted this to happen when the wary birds were off foraging for whatever they look for when away.  But, as usual, nope, had to be done right now because that is what (he, not me nor the birds) wants.  So, he puts the wire on as the birds watch from the antenna.  Then, he decides they need a perch, so he goes to the garage, builds a perch, comes back with perch and battery operated screw driver, goes out the door, scares the poor birds away AGAIN and puts on the perch.  Now, I am not for this perch... not one place I have looked does it mention that blue bird houses should have a perch, and they were going in and out of the house just fine without one!  Well, the result of this all day activity was that we did not see the birds again that day!  I am sad, thinking, well, they have finally given up and decided to move to a less active neighborhood.

But these birds are tenacious!  This morning they are back.  They are going in and out of the house, using the damn perch, which dh has pointed out I don't know how many times this morning, so hopefully, we are back to having tenents again. 

 I think dh's next plans,  however, is to fire up the battery operated hedge trimmer and trim down some grasses, several of which grow right underneath this new condo.  Grrrrr, it just does not do to focus him on anything if you want it left alone!

Better In Time

OK. Today I feel better.  The bluebirds returned this morning and seem to be remodeling the new house to their specifications... in other words adding grasses etc.  They are so cute and perky and fun to watch and I am glad they have moved into the new house.  They look so cute when they are in the house and poke thier little blue heads out the hole!  After feeling so bad about messing up their housing plans yesterday and watching them search for it, today is a major relief!

Ogre

Ok, now I feel like a monster.  I put up the new bird house.  I then tore down the old one.  It did look as if the blue birds were trying to nest there with some grasses and such inside it.  But I tore it down.  Then, just a few minutes after I went into the house, the birds showed up.  They flitted and visited the posts where the torn down house had been.  I could just hear their conversations in my head.  "OMG honey, where is our house?"  " Let me go first dear, I will see about it."  He flitted around on the posts up and down looking at everything that looked like it might be a hole. Finally, flew to a tree.  "I don't know dear, it just isn't there.  I looked and looked!"  She then flew to the posts, and flitted up and down, over to a tree back again, over to another post, back again, looking, looking for her home! "Oh I am so sad, I can't believe it is just gone!"  she said.   I felt so mean!  Finally after about 20 minutes, I guess they decided, yes, indeed, our home is gone, gone forever and off they flew.  I wonder if they will be back, if the new home just a few feet away will meet their standards or if the neighborhood seems too unpredictable to try a new house.  

Mountain Bluebirds

We have a pair of mountain bluebirds that keep eyeing the bird houses which are soon, hopefully tomorrow coming down.  So, this morning I spent a couple of hours building a "real bluebird" abode, sized to specifications in a book, but not what I would call a professional job, lol.  I hope I can get it hung tomorrow!  The reason I am anxious about this as a pair nested in the houses last year and the cats, of course got into them.  We saw the cat running by the big window with the bluebirds attacking her.  They were really mad!  However, sadly,  that ending their nesting in the bird houses.  I am hoping to be able to give them a nesting site in which the cats cannot bother them, and we will be able to enjoy their comings and goings and babies all summer or however long that sort of behavior takes.

My Environs

Grandma's In the Kitchen With...

Oatmeal

I have been reading a self-help book with a group on the net.  It is supposed to help you be more creative! The author gives you all kinds of mini assignments to try.  One that she gave recently was to put on a face mask, and then force it to crack depicting the "cracking of your lost and picked on artist's self armour" so the "new and wonderful free artist" type creativity can "come on down!"  I was not about to buy a face mask, but years ago it was recommended to mix oatmeal with egg whites for oily type skin.  When I was younger, I had oily type skin.  Now, I don't.  But, I mixed up a batch and slapped it on.  Waited a few... and it started to pull here and there and there were some cold spots that were wetter than other places.  Finally, it seem dry, so I touched it to see.  Yikes! It felt like cement on my face.  I gave it a few more minutes, then forced the "cracking" process, lol.  Then, I went in to wash it off.  I washed.  And washed. and washed. And finally, I had to take the fingernail brush to it to get it off!  Oh, man, my face was like RED, when I got done!  Some red came from the scrubbing, and some from embarrassment!  I think the dry skin caused like a "fusion" of some sort here.  The photos are so I will never forget... the passage of an old woman becoming a clown! LMAO!

Pictures Found

I go in spurts of activities.  Here are a few new photos.  The first one is taken from the car on the way home.  Lexus and friend painting ice skates.  Pink of course!
Lexy and sisters painting snow flakes on the pink skates.
More skate painting.
On one of my "art" sites there is a challenge to find alphabet letters from/in nature.  So, Bubs and I went for a walk and I found a B!  
What a cutie!