The Front Yard

I enjoy watching the birds in my front yard. While the sparrows are an aggressive bird that periodically run off others, until the cardinal shows. The cardinal pays them no mind and sometimes will leave when he is there.

Now that the snow is melting and the weather is more seasonable for here, they are a little more active. Here are a few shots from this weeks crew.

The sparrows come by the hundreds taking over the feeder and running others off. I am trying some tactics this spring to see if I can pull them to the other side of the yard leaving the main feeder for more interesting birds.

I have a suet feeder out for the woodpeckers and other suet-feeding birds and the Downy visits often.

Other birds often seen are house finches and the nuthatch. The nuthatch with his long beak is a fun bird to watch,

I am looking forward to spring when the Goldfinch returns. Their bright yellow is beautiful. Here are a couple of pictures from last year.

Until spring, we will continue enjoying what we have. In closing, I remind you always of the beauty and power of kindness. It is amazing what a little kindness will do that also helps you.

The Headache of Spam

Is anybody else done with the lucrative industry of Spam? They hit us by email, text and phone and I for one am done. To anyone who reads this and is a pusher of spam, shame on you.

I am retired but work part-time at my church answering the phone. For three weeks now, we have been bombarded with the same company with the same message and I think the same woman. Example:

“Hello. This is ___ Church. This is Anita, how may I help you?”

“Yes, I need to speak to your owner.”

“What? Ma’am this is a church.”

“Yes, I need to speak to your owner.”

“Ma’am, we have no owner. This is a church.”

“Okay, I will just wait for the confirming email.”

“What??” And she hangs up.

The next time she called, we were in a meeting so the answering machine got it. The answering machine even flagged it as spam.

The next time she called and asked to speak with the owner I told her that God was our owner and he was not available by phone. She said she would email him. Good luck with that.

So this weekend I sat down and came up with the silly poem as I know many of us deal with spam, have blockers against them so here I vent my frustration. Thank you for listening.

SPAM

My slamming the phone did me no good

An aggravation that many have understood

They hit us by email, text, and by phone

A vicious intrusion that makes us all moan.

So many are fake, not real companies at all

Their purposeful result pushes us to the wall

Their greed to make money regardless of cost

It matters not to them how many souls get lost

The enemy we refer to is the enemy of Spam

Not to be confused by the can of fake ham

It’s the onslaught of deception to get you confused

Where you spend your money to make them amused

There must be a way to make them STOP – GO AWAY

They prey on those who think they are a good way

For now, just be aware of their lucrative scams

Before they drown us all in the trickery of spam

It is obvious to me that these people do not know the meaning of kindness or else they would not be in this industry. Nevertheless, we are encouraged to be better than them and to always be kind.

Spoiled or Not Spoiled?

While that is a ridiculous question, the answer is all of the above. Daisy, as was all dogs before her, is on one hand spoiled and on one hand just lovingly taken care of. I am rewarded by such care as never being allowed to get too far from sight…

Do you know how hard it is to type with a dog under your arm? She didn’t care, she wasn’t moving. If we go to the sunroom, she gets to be in front of the fire and I don’t have a dog under my arm but I am carefully watched.

This has been a chilly winter – downright cold the last 3 weeks. So the fire feels good to all of us. Last week she had to go for her check-up and get shots. She is always good but gets a little droopy and lethargic afterward. When I realized she was not in the living room I found her in the bedroom…under everything.

Well, it was -10F degrees outside, so fair enough. She slept that way most of the night. I had to move her over to get room for me. Last night she was much better. It is still cold but a normal cold for us, 34F.

Stretching out takes up 3/4 of the sofa. While my dogs get spoiled, I don’t baby them or dress them in clothes. I understand they are dogs. However, as a responsible pet owner, she is well taken care of, even if she is somewhat spoiled more than some dogs. Tonight I chose to work at the dining room table, which she is not happy about, but she is remaining very close.

So we close out the night with a reminder to be kind to most of God creation. I say most because I am not being kind to the slithery creations – not being mean either – just not going near them, even at the zoo.

FOTD, Anthurium

It is a yucky, cloudy, dreary, melty, and foggy day here in the Midwest. Yes, thankfully the 26 inches of snow is finally melting after three weeks. Enough already.

I understand that FOTD is taking a well-deserved break but I needed some color today, so I give you the Anthurium that is growing in my office.

These are supposed to be difficult and fickle plants to grow so we will see how long it takes me to kill them. I really wanted some color in my office and while Poinsettias are wonderful this time of year, I know how fickle those are and the one in my office is really sad. So onward with the adventure.

Hope you enjoyed this splash of red for today. I really liked the one with the green edges.

Remember to always try to be kind. You never know when you smile or kind gesture may just make someone’s day.

Digging Out

I know that many of us live in snow zone areas but what we got here in a 24-hour period missed the record by 1 inch. We got 15.5 inches. That in itself was crazy but it fell on the 8 inches snow from Tuesday which was still on the ground. A bit much for this southern girl.

So, I thought I would share some of the beauty we had because it was beautiful…thank you, Lord, for a warm home. Our current temp here at 8pm is 1 degree Fahrenheit. One, not two or twenty but 1. Tomorrow’s high will be -12F with a wind chill of -32F. Canada we love you but you can have your weather back, not interested. Although I don’t think it’s their fault either. Somebody ticked off Santa as it’s a polar vortex. So bundle up friends, we don’t see above single digits for 10 days and many of those are on the wrong end of the thermometer.

Let’s see some pics and forget the cold…if that is possible.

Then we had to start clearing the sidewalk…

Just for reference, that is a 4-foot-high fence

The strong winds created 3-5 foot drifts.

Street facing south. Thank goodness for snowplows

My neighbors trees were really pretty.

As storm Gerrie moved on past us, I hope you were not hit badly by it. I think the New England States may have a rough time. Be safe and stay warm friends. Try to be kind when you can.

Photo Challenge: Getting Inside

Bushboy gave us a fun challenge and as I am putting away Christmas things, the beauty of my antique keys get a chance to be seen across the world.

This first one is not an antique but shows how electronics have now become keys.

There are many keys that open doors of life and the key of kindness is an essential key we should always use.

Weekend Prompt: Appointment

Sammie Cox has thrown out a challenge that fits right in with a story I am writing, so I thought I would share this snippet.

She fidgeted in the chair waiting for her doctor’s appointment. Her thoughts were rampant on the possibilities of the outcome. Had she not had enough to deal with already with her husband being killed in a car crash last month? What now? How was she going to handle it if her best friend was right? She was alone. How in the world could she raise a child by herself? Is this a dreaded mistake or a blessing? Before we panic, let’s get the results of this appointment.

We never really know what battles people are facing so always be kind.

The Middle of Round 2

The body time clock still goes off at normal time even though you can go nowhere, a good day to sleep in but no the systems are on a timer.

I got out early between the two lines of the snow to get some updated pics in case you are not sure what snow looks like…

I am always amazed at how snow sits on top of fence posts. It doesn’t take much to amaze me. Since I knew the heavy stuff would be here within the hour, I needed to refill the feeder so the birds would have something to get to since we spoil them now in providing their food.

They said thank you as the snow started up again.

The reflections of the Christmas tree are in the window. It comes down today.

The Downy Woodpecker is really enjoying the seedpack.

All in all, this snow is dryer and lighter than what we got on Tuesday, so it should not be difficult to remove. I already cleared the sidewalk once just to keep the weight down.

Hope you all have a good day, a calm weekend, and a continued good year. And as always, remember the value of kindness, especially when things around you are NOT calm.

Preparing for Round 2

As Daisy and I are warmed by the fire

We wait for round 2, not our desire

Round one still leaves us 3″ on the ground

Round two promises to keep us homebound

The joys of winter in the Midwest, or not. Being from the south, I could just pass on this weather thank you very much. But no, the second major storm for the New Year is upon us. I will have to say the wet snow still clings to the buildings and trees making them quite beautiful, well, at least the trees. Not much interest in a column except for the way the wind-blown snow clung to it.

The limbs of those trees are my favorite for catching snow. These are trees that I see from my window at work. And close up you can see their interesting shape.

Once I got home, my Christmas lights that are frozen into the ground are solar-powered and still shining through this bleak dreary weather making me smile.

If you really try, you can always find something that makes you smile. Smiling is an easy way to show kindness as it reflects the beauty of your heart. So smile often to help others smile. It is contagious, like yawning.

Well, We Can’t Complain

Today winter finally showed it’s face. For the last three years it has been relatively mild here in the Midwest – it was in the 50s at Christmas. But today…its here.

Looking at my bird feeders, it looks to be about 5 inches…so far and supposed to snow all day. It is a wet heavy snow with temps at 33 but when that artic air comes in later today, the temps will plummet to single digits. The snow will become dry and powdery and a hazard to those who have to be out in it because we are expecting 20 sustained winds – 40 gusts.

But for now, lets enjoy the beauty of it.

Birds always gotta eat. The cardinal guarding the small feeder.

Love my mourning doves. So for now Daisy and I sit and watch…and think about the huge task at hand. Gotta get the rest of Christmas down…there is a lot! But what fun it was.

Have a great week, stay warm if needed or enjoy you summer conditions while we relax by the fire. And as always, remember to be kind, its a lot easier than you think and twice as rewarding to you.