What I Did Today . . .

This heat (35.5C/95.9F on my thermometer) just saps my energy, I tell you!  I just want to curl up in bed with a good book.  However, that is not likely to happen anytime soon!  So, instead, I headed out to the country property to meet the gas line guy that marked the locations of the gas line on our yard.  We plan to move our driveway in the next couple of weeks and make a new wider one in another location.  Important to know where the gas main is, wouldn't you say?  While there, I hilled our potatoes and felt like someone was watching me.  Well, not really, but these guys had their eyes on me the whole time!

They are so CUTE!  In case you don't recognize them, they are young merlins, a type of falcon.  Their parents made their home in an old crow's nest at the top of one of our evergreen trees right next to the garden.  These babes watch our every move.  I am not completely thrilled that they are making their home on our yard as they are birds of prey and do eat other birds I would rather have on our yard so we will see.  Maybe we will take down the nest in the future or maybe they will be less prone to making a home on that yard once there is more activity.  Right now, it is fairly quiet there.

I came home to see one of my new daylilies blooming - such. a. beauty!  This one is called "Jamaican Me Crazy"!  I love the name and the flower is gorgeous!

Finally, I abandoned all things creative in favor of all things boring and necessary - I was cleaning the house.  I purged -- get this -- 19 pairs of shoes!  19 PAIRS!  WOW!  That is a tonne!  Some went in the garbage, some are going to a friend and a whole pile are going to the thrift store.  It took a bit of time trying on the shoes on the various kids to see if they actually fit anyone, if they were in good shape, and if they were just too cute to part with (those ones are going to a friend).  Yes, a couple pairs were mine.  Yes, I do have a shoe fetish.  Yes, contrary to one of my tank tops, you can have too many shoes!  Hopefully my entrance will be a little easier to maintain now.

Now, I will whip up some to. die. for. hot fudge sauce and lay low with some icecream and that book I mentioned earlier!  I earned it.  Well, maybe not, but the cleaning can always continue tomorrow.  It promises to be even hotter then!  YIKES!

Fledged

I wandered outside this morning, gazing at the lilacs in bloom, watching the butterflies flit from one blossom to the next. I meandered over to the birdhouse that was still holding all those black-capped chickadees yesterday. In fact, I took a photo of them, all growing up and crammed together.

This morning I saw one peeking his head out of the door. I wasn't sure if it was one of the parents or one of the chicks. Without hesitation, it took a jump out the door and started flying. As soon as I saw the wobbly path it took, I knew this was a fledgling! I was watching the chick fly for the very first time. I ran inside to grab my camera and watch nature in action! The first chick I watched fledge was a fairly good flyer, considering this was the first time. It flew from bush to tree to bush and back again. Mom and dad were busy squawking at him/her, though I wasn't sure if it was to cheer it on or out of paranoia! I was certainly nervous for it. We have a neighbour cat that loves to hang out in our yard and I was going to do whatever it took to protect this little flyer.

As soon as that one chick was out of the nest box, another chick made its way to the door. It sat for a long while at the entrance just checking out the world.

Mom/dad would come and feed it little green worms and continue feeding the other chicks that were now scattered throughout the lilac hedge. Finally, this last little chick made the jump and flew/fell in the nearby flower bed.

It was certainly much smaller than its siblings. I watched it for a minute or two hopping around on the ground and determined it was not ready to be out of the safety of the box. I got some gloves and scooped up this adorable little guy and put it back in his nest box. Mom/dad were grateful, I imagine, and continued to feed him. But, he was more determined to leave than I imagined and about 1/2 hour after putting him back, he was out again. Still hopping on the ground. So, I gave the glove to Ali and let her hold this sweet little baby.

After a few pictures, we put it on a branch in the lilac hedge. It was safer there than on the ground. Mom/dad are sure to find it.

I can only think that sometimes this is how the Lord feels about me. Sometimes I take a jump into something I am not ready for. He watches and waits to see what happens then swoops in to protect me from danger. He watches over me like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings (Matthew 27:37) This has certainly become much more vivid today!

Hatchlings!

Remember those black-capped chickadees that made a home in one of my birdhouses? Well, I knew there were eggs in there but today I noticed the mom and dad spending very little time in the house and a tonne of time gathering insects to bring to the house. That could only mean one thing - babies!

If I counted correctly, there are 10 little babies in that tiny nest! How a bird 5 1/4 inches long and weighing only 11 grams manages to lay 10 eggs is beyond me! Just in case you wanted to know, an average brood is 6-8 eggs so our Mrs. Black-Capped Chickadee is a bit of an overachiever!

I just love the tufts of feathers sticking out of the back of their head! So adorable! And, I am guessing, very newly hatched!

New (Feathered) Neighbours

A little more than 2 years ago, I built a couple of birdhouses out of recycled barn board rescued from an old hip-roofed barn at my in-law's place. For 2 years those houses have sat empty and I wondered if they would ever be occupied. This past winter, for the first time in the 8 1/2 years of living here, I saw Black-Capped Chickadees on our yard! I think they have been absent this long since this is a newer development and the trees are still small and few (well, we are trying hard to remedy that on our yard). So, imagine my complete surprise when I saw these friendly little feathered friends entering and exiting my birdhouse with tufts of grass! The neighbours have finally moved in! It has been fun to watch them and talk about them as we were studying birds in the "first semester" this year. The classroom has now entered the outdoors and it makes learning that much more fun! I will be sure to document the nest building, egg laying, hatching and growing of the newest members of our neighbourhood, to the delight of the kids and myself!

According to my limited research, the female is responsible for the building of the nest and does it alone. However, watching the two chickadees coming and going, I can assure you that the male is doing his part to ensure a nice house for his wife! Yes, I say wife, because the kids refer to them as being married! What an absolute delight to watch creation as orchestrated by the Lord! There is little else that speaks to me the way nature can. I will unashamedly sit for hours on end (if allowed!) and watch the birds flit to and fro and be completely mesmerized the whole time! I am so thankful the Lord made birds, big and small!

Minneapolis Trip - Part I

Since I get so many questions about our recent trip to Minneapolis, I thought I would share it with all of you. I will break it down into 3 parts so as to not overwhelm you (or the blog) with too much information or pictures.
So, day one saw us travelling. Really, with the bags of fun activities and the portable DVD player, they travelled really well. I was a little miffed when they pulled us over at the border to do a more complete inspection. Except they didn't. See, you go through customs, answer the normal questions, and, if all goes as planned, you are on your way. NOOO. They wanted us to pull over to really big garage door number 1 and wait. Once they indicated we were to come in, we drove in and turned off the vehicle. They asked us to exit the vehicle, taking our purse and wallet with us. Usually all occupants are supposed to exit so they can search every little corner for . . . stuff. I asked if all the kids had to get out too. They asked how many. We said 5. She then said, in a voice of complete surprise and disbelief, "John, they have 5 kids in there!" Uh, ya, that's what we said when we came. That's why you are holding 5 birth certificates in your hand! Then John, in all his wisdom, asks if they are all buckled in. Ummm. No. We don't use safety measures like seat belts. Their lives aren't that precious to us. Duhhhh! Of course they are buckled in! So, they said they could stay. They opened the side door just so the kids could see us and not freak out. They asked Jay to empty his pockets and asked to look into my purse. They did not. Not once. Look in the van. The van that was packed full. They did not open the back of the van. They did not look in the car top carrier. I ask you - WHAT WAS THE POINT????? If I was going to smuggle something, would I do it in my purse??!! So, after about a 15 minute delay of sheer nonsense, we were on our way. I was a little ticked. What a complete waste of time! The drive down (which is about a 7ish hour drive without kids) was uneventful. We made sure to stop frequently to stretch legs, to eat, and to ensure no potty accidents happened. We arrived at the hotel at about 6:30pm, unpacked, then headed out for supper. It was good to finally arrive at the hotel, turn on the TV and just veg!

Day 2 - Tuesday.

After eating breakfast, we headed to the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America. (One little tip for you travellers - if you know what places you want to go to ahead of time, take the time to search the web for coupons! I found many great coupons that saved us well over $50! Also, don't just take the first coupon you find as they are not all the same!) The kids loved seeing all the swimming creatures including sharks and rays, jelly fish, turtles, sea horses and all kinds of other colorful fish! You walk through this tunnel and the fish are on both sides of you and above you so you get to see all different angles of them. Really cool to see the underside of a ray!!

See that creature in the corner? It is a really, really huge old turtle! He was massive! His name is Brutus and he is an Alligator Snapping Turtle.

I love this picture of Ali pointing! It was so fun to see them look at everything. They really loved being there!

The jelly fish are super cool to watch. I first saw a jelly fish exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California a number years ago so I knew the kids would love it! I love this photo of them!

Sea horses! So. Cool. I love the crazy cool fact that male sea horses give birth to the babies! Our Creator God makes such wonderful creatures!

After the aquarium, we waited FOREVER to get in at the Rainforest Cafe in the mall. We were told to eat there (and I had a coupon) so we did. It was a fun environment but the kids weren't too keen on the fake thunder and lightning storms. RJ is really sensitive to actual storms, calling the thunder and lightning "blinks and booms" so she was especially scared. But, when we explained someone was flicking the lights and it was just fake thunder, she was okay. By the third "storm" she completely ignored it (I wish it would have cured her fear of real storms - alas, it has not!).

After the meal, we wandered a very little bit in the mall checking out Lego Land. The boys love lego so this was especially for them!

Then it was back to the hotel for some sleep for the little ones and swimming for the bigger ones. Since I was not allowed to do any shopping at the mall earlier in the day, Jay took us back there after naps so I could do some shopping in stores that appealed to me! I bought a cute necklace at Francesca's then some "boudoir wear" (wink, wink) at Frederick's of Hollywood. I love lingerie and lingerie stores! And Jay is totally supportive of me shopping at them! 'Nuff said!

Finally, we ate a late supper at IHOP! I would encourage you, if you have young children, to check out mykidseatfree.com where you can find different restaurants that have a "Kids Eat Free" night. I was sure to do this before our vacation so I knew which restaurants to go to on which night. I always love a good breakfast and the kids love pancakes so this restaurant was really loved by all of us. And, the kids ate free!

Day 3 - Wednesday

Ah, Wednesday. The day of the Minnesota Zoo. I think we picked the hottest day of the week to go, it was so very hot! But we were really looking forward to all the animals we would see! And we were not disappointed! It was nice to go from the hot outdoors to air conditioned comfort inside when needed and still find plenty of animals to view. Some of our favorite things to see:

Camels swimming. This just seemed wierd to me. Shouldn't they be trudging through a desert?

A bird show with various different birds.

Seeing the baby dolphin that was born just 4 days earlier! (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Zoo)

More large underwater creatures.

A beaver who seemed to love the attention (Ali really loved the beaver!)

A baby who tried so hard to fight sleep but eventually succumbed!

And a big beautiful bald eagle.

This day really wore us out due to the heat so we spent the rest of the day at the hotel either sleeping or swimming. So, that was the first three days!

Visitors

When we bought the country property, we were well aware it had its ups and downs - literally! Parts of the yard are high and hilly, parts are low and water logged. Jason made mention he heard ducks in the back of the yard so I took a little trip there the other day and this is what I saw:

That's right, a pair of wood ducks! This beautiful couple was swimming in the ditch just at the entrance to our yard! I happen to think the male wood duck is the most beautiful duck I have ever seen! Isn't he a beaut?

Now, when Jay said there was some water standing in the back, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I didn't expect all this!

That is a lot of standing stagnant water. Yet, that water has been hosting 5 pairs of ducks; 2 pairs of wood ducks and 3 pairs of mallards. I went wading through this lovely smelly water with hubs' rubber boots in hopes of finding a nest but alas, I found nothing. Yet those ducks have been there frequently, every time we come so maybe, just maybe, they will stay and nest and we can see some babies! They cannot fly away from me!

Although this water may look lovely, it really is a mess! It stinks, has lots of debris floating in it and it is just yucky! So, thoughts are that we will create a pond in this corner of the yard. This is the very back corner of the yard and from the front opposite corner of the yard runs a "creek". Creek is pushing it; it is more like a meandering trail of water. I could see us creating a dry creek bed in that area just to help the water drain in the spring. Ideally, we would drain the water from the back of the yard to the front but that seems to be against the nature of the property. Whatever. Right now the dreaming is fun and so is sitting on the hill just beside the water and listening to the quacks of the ducks and the croaks of the frogs!

Spring's Symphony!

This morning, as the sun was shining so brightly and the trees were still dripping from the overnight rain, I opened the window and smiled! It had begun! The symphony that announces the arrival of spring has begun! Which symphony, you ask? Why, the symphony played by the birds and conducted by the Lord! There are few sounds that compare to the music of

the red-breasted robins,

the striped killdeer,

the white-breasted dark-eyed juncos,

the melodic trill of the song sparrows,

and the honk of the Canada Geese!

I think it may have been the rain that brought them in or the balmy 17C weather we are experiencing (which allowed us to eat supper on the deck last night - yup, March 30 and we ate outside!). Whatever the case, they have returned to my backyard (well, not the geese but the airspace above our house is a major thoroughfare for them!) and I welcome them with much enthusiasm! Have you taken the time to listen to the symphony?

PS: I will post pictures soon!