Fickle feathered friends

I get a great pleasure watching the interactions of the birds at the feeders. Which ones will flick the food out onto the ground, the flitting in one at a time and the whoosh of a mass departure.

A couple weeks ago, I had a surprise visit by a small group of starlings; they checked out the food options, then left. Sadly, all the others left too. For a week and a half, not a single bird came by; the feeders swung, full and lonely. Then, two sparrows returned and had the place to themselves for days. Finally, one morning I looked out and everyone was back! Bluejays, finches, woodpeckers, a junco and masses of sparrows. Where did they go? Why do they travel in mixed company?

This morning was quiet on the bird front; even they don't like -13F. I'll be spending as much time inside as possible today. Brrrr.

It only takes a moment

Have you experienced that instant when, just as you do something, you realize it was a mistake? I've only been getting one or two eggs a day so I pop them in my pocket while doing chores. Today I noticed the door hadn't latched properly so I leaned into it while closing and the moment I did I said "Well, that was stupid." Now my coat is hanging in front of the stove so the pocket can dry. Sigh.

I woke up with a headache thanks to the new weather front moving in. Cloudy, temps dropping and snow expected. But if I can just get through today I have the weekend off.

Why is one crabby person more exhausting than a crowd of pleasant people? There weren't many patients last night, but one I would have traded for twenty normal people.

On a cheerful note, I picked up some cabbages on sale at the store last night. There are some very happy chickens in my coop this morning.

Join me down memory lane?

I have a decent dvd selection; nowhere near as extensive as some I've seen simply because I try to limit my purchases to things I'll want to watch again. Even so, I've made some mistakes. For example: I won't watch I, Legend twice because I can't bear to see the dog die, which I should have realized before buying it.

I used to know someone who had hundreds of movies bought and kept on the cloud. He would keep buying even with dozens that he hadn't got around to watching even once. Personally, I prefer to have a physical copy just so I can watch even if the internet is down locally. Technically, I could also watch off the solar batteries if the power was out, but the television tends to be a power hog, so it's doubtful I would make that choice.

This weekend, I went browsing in my dvd library for something to strike my fancy and got the 'aha!' moment when I spotted M*A*S*H. We used to watch it as a family when I was young and it's triggered a lot of memories. Like only having three network channels and PBS to choose from (and only those if the weather was good). We didn't even own a vcr; we had to go to town to rent one. The patience my parents must have had to deal with the choosing the movie to rent debates. Some things you don't really appreciate until you look back after many years.

Now I'm just regretting not having bought more than the first two seasons of the show.

Illness

I was sick yesterday. Funnily enough, my first thought was I must have picked up something while shopping on Saturday; completely ignoring the fact that I'm surrounded by sickness every day at work.

What was fascinating to me was my lack of tolerance for coolness when ill. Covered with throws and at least one cat at all times, the fire roaring, and I was freezing even though the temperature read 70F! In contrast, this morning it was back down to 59F and felt perfectly fine.

I am very glad it was a short illness and I'm sure they will be glad at work too. My evening shift is very hard to fill at the last minute like that.

I learned something interesting while shopping: apparently, the midwest is becoming a popular area for customer service centers because of our lack of accent.

Brrr...owie

This morning the sparrows were scrabbling around on the bathroom window sill; their way of communicating that the feeders were empty? Definitely got the cat's attention.

After doing chores I stayed outside to do a bit of the driveway, only an inch or so of snow, but I'm trying not to pack any down with the car tires. I didn't get much done before I gave in and came inside to warm up. My fingers hurt so much from that short of time. I need to go back out and do more, but I'm dreading it even more now. The sad thing is it's not even that cold out; 7F with a feels like of -11. It's yuck, but it will get much worse. I'm a wimp this year.

I don't understand how some people can stand to dress like it's summertime. I saw a woman yesterday in shorts and a tank top with just the lightest of jackets. Meanwhile, I look like an enormous brown bear when I venture out.

No new possums last night. Hopefully, the five we've dealt with in the last couple weeks were the entire clan.

When the woodpecker peeps from the trees, I like to imagine it's saying thanks for the suet block because bugs are hard to get this time of year. :)

White on white

Yes, the snow has returned. We had the first of two storms coming this week. The drive home last night from work at 11 pm was dreadful. Frustrating because it would have been fine if the plows had kept working but they had stopped hours earlier.

This morning I'm working on the driveway. I'm determined to keep it clear this winter so I don't have a repeat of last year's packed tire tracks that made it unusable. 2/3 scooped and no heart attack yet!

I had two opossums in the chicken coop last weekend. If this keeps up I'll have a mound of dead rodents. They had been stealing eggs and killed one hen.

No pictures because snow is not pretty when it's the enemy.

Spice Shelf Time Capsule

There are very few spices I use enough to need replacing regularly: salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves...that's about it because I don't cook much. I ran out of garlic salt recently and grabbed a replacement from Costco. It was awful! Harsh flavor that didn't agree with me at all, I spent an evening regretting the tiny sprinkle I used on spaghetti.

So, thinking I might just order more of the same brand I had before, I looked online. Apparently, Schillings hasn't been sold since 2002! Which raises the question of just how old my little container was? I will buy some McCormick's brand since they bought out Schillings and hope for the best. I've already told my son he can help himself to whichever spices he wants when he moves out; it only makes sense as he's already a better cook.

Other than that, my cold has moved into my lungs bringing about some coughing. Bleah, I am so ready for this to be over.