Misc Monday...

Water sustains all.
(Thales of Miletus, 600 B.C.)
In answer to the questions on my winter water setup I took a few shots this morning. I use a heated dog water dish that I bought at a farm supply store but I think most discount stores have them in their pet departments too. They are much cheaper than heated bird baths, and I like them because they are deeper and I don't have to brave the cold to fill it as often. Because it is a little deeper I do put a rock in the dish that barely breaks the water surface when filled. The smaller birds like the chickadees stand on the rock to get their drink and the larger ones stand around the rim. Because I don't want to look at a bright blue dish all winter I set a couple of old wreaths around it to give it a more natural look.
The birds are not the only ones that use it.
Our yard is filled with pine siskins these days. Today, I noticed all the sunflower & thistle seed feeders were filled with them. This little guy staked out his own feeding dish and was quite agressive when another would attempt to share his sunflower kernels.
They are also more agressive on the thistle sacks scaring off the goldies but this one stood his territory and stayed.
Have a wonderful Monday!

Brrrrrrr...

Throughout the day yesterday the fountain started to freeze up so I knew we better shut it down before we dealt with frozen lines. I watched to see the last birdie coming for a drink before dark and this years honor goes to the pine siskin. You can barely see him on the dark rock...
They were also the first birds at the feeders this morning.
Since I set this up in the dark last night, I have lots of adjustments (leveling & perches) to make but I at least wanted the birds to be able to get a drink this morning. It is only 3 degrees outside so even the watering dish is frosty. A chickadee took the honor of the first to drink but I was on the phone and missed the shot. It didn't take long for a bluejay to arrive though.

Discovery...

Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.
(Albert Szent-Gyorgyi)
Except for the photo above all of these shots were taken through my dirty windows so I apologize in advance for the blurry shots. With that said and in the spirit of fun, this pesky little squirrel takes you along on his discovery tour of my garden this morning...

Wow, this garden is filled with lots of interesting things besides the bird feeders I love to raid. This clematis tower is the perfect spot to survey it all.
I love that she has bird houses on top of the feeder poles, it gives me a chance to sit comfortably while I much on a mouthful of seeds...
and mice moved into this cowboy boot house. I discovered by chewing a hole through the toe, I can get at all of the seeds they stockpiled in there.
There are birdhouses all over this tree stump, I think I'll pose for her at this flamingo one. Don't I look like a gentleman with my hand on the branch?
Not only are there lots of birdhouses and feeders but this place has fake birds, I had to make sure this one was really fake...
and who is she kidding with this eagle? It doesn't scare me.
They even welded scrap iron on shovels and called them cranes...I just think they are playground equipment put in to entertain me.
This place even has houses for toads, but personally I have never seen anyone use it. I like to tip it over occasionally just to make sure.
This fall they moved a shiny gazing ball high up in the pine tree. It was great thinking, a perfect place to check if I have something stuck in my teeth.
The tour ends with the fleur de lis on the gazebo and a tip to all my squirrel buddies...you don't want to try sitting othat thing!

Wordless Wednesday...

Myself...

I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know;
I want to be able as days go by
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don't want to stand with the setting sun
And hate myself for the things I've done.
I can never hide myself from me,
I see what others may never see,
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself - and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.
(Edgar Guest)

It was fun to catch the shot of this little junco and his reflection.

When looking through my poems for a good quote, I loved "Myself".

It is a good reminder...

Walking on Sunshine...

It was a fun filled weekend of 80's music so I'm glad I set the alarm to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" because "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". So Jeff said "Get Outta My Dreams, (Get Into My Car)" and we drove up to Barnesville to go "Walking on Sunshine" and to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" with our nephew, Zach, "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and neice, Emily, who is no "Material Girl".
Every November, these "Kids in America" get "Footloose" and "Believe It Or Not" they put on a fantastic musical. Once it starts the cast gets "Lost in Your Eyes" and have a "Total Exlipse of the Heart" for "Nothing's Going To Stop Us Now". The "Man in the Mirror" sang "Centerfold" and the girls sang, "M-i-c-k-e-y (Hey, Mickey)" and did you know "Video Killed The Radio Star"? "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)" thankful I didn't have to walk 500 miles to have "The Time of My Life". It was another wonderful time and bittersweet that Zach is a senior and this will be his last musical but we have several years to go watch Emily before the three younger siblings get up on stage. A look back to their productions of Grease and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
PS: I also believe Zach is probably the only kid that can talk and sing and solve the rubik's cube at the same time in front of a packed audience :-)

November wind...

The wind that makes music in November corn is in a hurry. The stalks hum,
the loose husks whisk skyward in half-playing swirls, and the wind hurries on....A tree tries to argue, bare limbs waving, but there is no detaining the wind." (Aldo Leopold)
Tonight, I'm listening to the November winds bring in another cold front following three nice days in a row. I had big plans to do a thorough cleaning of the house today but around noon I caught a flash of red out the window. I looked and saw two of these birds and ran to grab the camera. Of course the focus was on auto and I only fired off one shot before they flew off leaving me a shot of a fake bird in focus and this beauty in fuzz! Between my memory and this out of focus shot I think I have another lifer...a white winged crossbill!
These two were a much brighter red color than the red crossbills I saw on Halloween. I was so excited I spent the rest of the afternoon looking out the window every few minutes but I guess one drink was all they needed today. I sure hope to spot these again and get good photos.

Winter garden...

"Most people, early in November, take last looks at their gardens, and are then prepared to ignore them until the spring. I am quite sure that a garden doesn't like to be ignored like this. It doesn't like to be covered in dust sheets, as though it were an old room which you had shut up during the winter. Especially since a garden knows how gay and delightful it can be, even in the very frozen heart of the winter, if you only give it a chance."
(Beverley Nichols)
With two days of 40 degree temps, I got most of my "winter garden" chores done. All but a few small fish are spending their time swimming circles in the tank in the garage. Again this year, it looks like I lost quite a few to racoons, snakes and/or herons. Thankfully they reproduce enough that I caught lots of little ones.

The front planters and one in the back have their "winter garden" look. In this climate you have to put any Christmas decorations that require staking in the ground up before the ground freezes so I also set up candy cane lane and the bird's christmas tree. One more nice day and I'll have the rest done.
I couldn't bear to shut down the rock fountain yet, so I'll leave it running until the water starts to freeze near the pump box. After I came in, I watched this bluejay take a cold bath.






When he was finished, he gave me a good scolding for watching!
I also spotted this fox sparrow searching out a drink on the side of the pond.

Wordless Wednesday...

time crunched....

Time is what we want most, but... what we use worst.
(Willaim Penn)

Sorry for the lack of updates, but my dsl was out for 4 days. Yes, I'm feeling "time crunched", if there is such a word. Winter has arrived in MN and with taking an autumn vacation and being sick for a whole week, I did not get my garden chores done. The temperature is supposed to be 43 tomorrow, so I have hoses to thaw out and take in, patio furniture to put away, trees to wrap and lots of fish to catch.
For my newer readers that asked if the new blog banner is my garden..yes, that is the backyard in July. The above shot is this morning and as you can see, my fish net is frozen in the ice. I left it in the water hoping some fish would be dumb enough to swim into and stay there making my job easier :-)

Counting Raindrops...

Let's count the raindrops
as they pour:
one million, two million,
three million, four.
(Alan Benjamin)
Counting raindrops is about all I have the energy for this week. I got hit with a doozy of a cold/sore throat and since I can't hold the camera with a kleenex in both hands I'll show you more photos of the majestic looking elk we saw in Colorado last month.



Those beautiful crossbills I showed last Friday must have just been passing through and needed a cool drink of water. I have had lots of time to look out the window this week and haven't spotted them again. Hopefully, this rain quits soon as I have to get the fish netted and in their winter home before the cold spell we are predicted to get this weekend ices over the pond. In the meantime, I'll sit with my box of Kleenexes and count raindrops...

Updated: since I wasn't getting much done but sitting around, I updated my blog with links to some of my favorite blogs. I follow lots of blogs (nature, food and general ones) and wanted to share some of the ones I admire most with you. Today, I ask you to say a prayer for Cari at Undomestic. She is a fellow MN blogger (whom I have never met but pray for daily) who was diagnosed one year ago with breast cancer and it has now metasized to her brain and spine.

Backyard happenings...

The frogs are moving rather slowly these days and this one found warmth in the floating grass island.
There are still a few white throated sparrows around as well as Harris and fox sparrows.
The juncos are active scavenging for fallen garden seeds as well as keeping clean on the rock.

More characters...

The tricks and treating lasted two days at our house...

Tina Fey (aka Sarah Palin) could see Russia from her porch and Fiona the French made were all smiles...and of course Sarah had her "Maverick"...
while Fiona brought Dr. Ben Dover,
and a pair of blue jeans were spotted.
Saturday brought out a Black Widow wannabe and Kelly from Saved by the Bell...
and there's always at least one "hot dog" in the bunch!
We had a fun weekend with family and friends...I'm thankful for my garden of life.