There are many of us who enjoy watching our birds. We learn which foods bring which birds and how to keep squirrels out of your feeders…but when you have a platform feeder, that brings on other challenges. Below you can see that George is non too happy that Chippy is in his feeder.
I am not sure a slinky works in this instance.
The Slinkies work great on the pole feeders. I put one on the feeder at the church and have not seen a squirrel since. If you are having squirrel issues, try adding a slinky to the pole. A lot cheaper than those weighted feeders.
Wish I had seen how Chippy climbed up the concrete blocks but I didn’t. I let him eat for a few minutes and then let Daisy out.
Look how full his fat cheeks are.
Since I lost the majority of my sunflowers in the storm on Saturday, The flowers that had already gone to seed I laid out for the birds. They are messy little critters but I am glad they are enjoying them still.
My favorite visitor to those seeds are the Goldfinches. Their bright yellow color with the sunflowers is amazing.
I am not that great of a photographer but my phone does at least give me pictures to make me smile. So I encourage you to enjoy your birds…and non birds. They are all part of God’s creation and meant for us to enjoy.
And as always, remember to be kind. It blesses your heart as much as the receiver of kindness.
While I do agree with Cee on the beauty of nature, but it can also has a fun whimsical side. My case in point, I give you the story of the potato family members where mother potato refused to let any of her children go out on their own. This family was pulled this morning from the community garden of my church.
The balancing act mom had to do did not bode very well so she used my juice glass from this morning to help stabilize herself. Even her other children stuck close to protect the baby in the center…
All in all, they are a very loving family. They must have been watching how elephants come in close to always protect the younger ones in the herd. And I am sure they will be tasty with my string beans tonight. 😊. Always remember the beauty of nature even when it looks funny.
Thank you for stopping by for a moment of silliness. I hope it made you smile. Remember that smiles are contagious so share them often.
Life can be frustrating, confusing and down right hard. So today we are throwing in a little silliness to bring a smile and possibly a chuckle to the day. I give you Daisy…
Hello, My name is Daisy. Some have seen me before but today I give you my official duties. Its not all love and cuddles. I am the chief protector of the home. The sofa is my favorite perch to look out. The softness of the arm is comfy on my bottom and allows quick jumping to the window to warn anybody of my presence…if they didn’t know already.
I love going outside. The yard is fenced in so no one else is allowed in my yard and I protect it with a vengeance. But sometimes I wonder what’s going on inside , so I go look in the window to see what my mom is doing. She watches a lot of TV.
My most favorite place to snooze is also on the sofa…the whole sofa. I am long and stretch out to the fullest. Preferable on my back. I like hanging my head over too…it stretches out my neck.
I kind of shadow my mom…wherever she goes…you can never tell what may go on in the bathroom…the shower is in there. That’s a bad place.
So hello, my name is Daisy and it was nice talking to you.
And like we all need to remember, animals like kindness too. So be kind to everything.
While we in Iowa are not suffering from Ida, we are having the typical summer rainy day. I am not complaining as we needed it badly. I was able to do my chore for the day before it started which was laying out some repair sidewalk pavers from a plumbing catastrophe from this spring. But since about 11:00am it has been softly to occasionally raining hard. I was thoroughly entertained by watching my birds. First it was the daddy cardinal that was still somewhat in molt. He looked even more stressed as what feathers he had regrown were not wet making him look like what we call down south “a drowned cat”. I found an example for you on the internet…
Now this cat is obviously getting a bath but you can tell how much he hates water. He just looks bedraggled, like the bird I saw. But I was very touched by this daddy bird. He was trying to train one of his fledglings how to eat from the feeder. He would show him, then he would feed him to make sure he understood the process. It was interesting and made me smile as all creation understand kindness. Mankind was the one that broke the system…in Eden…but that another story for another day. Today we are smiling.
The birds that were the most fascinating on this rainy day were the hummers. They were unfazed by the rain, sitting out on top of the other feeder hooks as it rained down on top of them with only occasional shaking of their feathers. My hummingbird feeder hangs under the eaves of the house so it is somewhat protected from the rain.
They usually always feed from the outer hole where she is about to land but as the rain would roll around the edge of the gutters above, it would drip right on her head. Boink! This young female would look up at the gutter and you could hear her say “What the hey!”
The wind and rain come up the hill from the river below and blow between mine and my neighbors house and that can sometimes create a strong tunnel of wind. After a few minutes she caught on and moved to the inside feeder hole giving me a better chance of closer pictures. They have gotten use to me always being there so they don’t shy away too often. Especially when I put out fresh food, like I did today.
All of nature is so fascinating and I have really gotten into the backyard birdwatching, well actually this is my front yard but you get the idea. So I post this so that even on a dreary day, if you look hard enough, you can find something to smile about. Maybe its nature, or a good book or what ever you desire is, just let more smiles out. I promise it will make your day brighter.
And as always, I remind you to be kind. It will make you feel more like smiling which makes you beautiful.
Finally today the sun is shinning after a week of steady rain. I am not really complaining, we needed it badly. I pray that the Pacific coast gets some rain soon or at least relief from the fires. Yet still the south is reeling from the floods of hurricanes – 2 within a couple of days and we here in the midwest are still cleaning up from last month’s Derecho, an inland hurricane, where massive decades old trees were knocked over like toothpicks.Â
Trees don’t go across streets..with car light behind them…
Weather, whether we like it or not, affects us all, sometimes good, sometimes bad. But today I am relaxing in the sun and tolerable temperatures and taking some fun pictures of the few remaining flowers as cool temperatures start leaning their lives toward their winter’s sleep. It’s hard to think of it that way since its just mid-September but last year it snowed on Halloween so…
I am just not ready for the grayness of winter…
As much as we would like to think we are in control…we really aren’t, but how we allow life to affect us as it swirls around us, plays an important role in how we survive or not and how those around us thrive or not. So for now I chose to let the sun shine in, smile with the flowers and hopefully spread some smiles in your direction.
Ring of light proof of surrounding love
My sincerest prayers is for all to be happy, encouraged and have the ability to enjoy the life surrounding you. Where there are troubles surrounding you, may they be short lived and may you feel the peace of Christ flow about you.
Flowers and nature make me smile so I share with you the smiles I had today.
And as always remember the beauty of kindness. All of nature understands this gift as it is from God, and we just forget to share that sometimes.
It’s Monday and I need some cheering up so I am posting fun from my yard this week. I don’t think Heaven’s Sunshine does the Macro Monday but I am listing it that way because it is a macro, plus it can be for Cee’sFlower of the day. Flowers make me smile so here is a big ole smile courtesy of google to go with the flower…
A red Moss Rose, appox. size is about 2 inches
I could not get a good shot of his legs to show they were covered in pollen. As you enjoy the beauty of nature, I hope you smile. When you smile, people wonder what you are thinking. Keep them guessing…and remember to be kind.
Recently we started a new out-reach with our church to do evening encouragements. Normally people do morning encouragements to help get your day going but with Covid still among us and seeming growing for a second wave, we felt like all of our members could use some encouragement at the end of the day so yesterday we rolled out the Nightly Encouragements. The pictures are not mine but found on Christian websites that matched the message of encouragement I am trying to share. Tonight we are discussing the value of laughter. My hope is that if you decide to read on, that you are in some way encouraged to stand firm for another day.
In a time such as this, where we are weighed down with life around us…we need some laughter. We have been told laughter is the best medicine but laughter has many documented medical benefits as well.
But better than that, the bible tells us laughter is good medicine…
The benefits of laughter make us glad….brings us joy…and make us smile..
When we are filled with joy, we are kinder people. When we are filled with joy, we reflect the love of Christ. So, let us always be filled with Christ and reflect His grace.
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Even when times are tough, things look bad, you can’t see a way out…remember God is always there. He is our rock that we stand on, our hope that we cling to and our peace that knows no other understanding except Christ alone. I leave you with this prayer in hoping a bountiful measure of blessing gets poured on you and your family.
Maybe in two weeks I can really start playing with flowers as hopefully by then the yard project will be complete. fencing in the front so dogs can be off the chains.
But I did get a few hanging baskets and a few things in my planter. Hopefully this cold weekend will not be enough to do damage to what is already planted.
Daisy checking out the angel’s flowers. She loves plants.
Close up to see the beauty of these blooms
These are Calibrachoa, and a favorite flower as they are hardy and come in several colors. This color is called Tropical Sunrise, and I can see why.
Cee’s prompt for FOTD keeps us looking for that every colorful flower. Flowers make me smile, which reminds me to be kind. So I remind you to try to find ways of showing kindness in these no so easy times. Every ripple counts.
For the Love of 