Aug 29, 2009 | family, Wildlife |
Look who’s back….not the best picture, unfortunately. I took it through the glass window and it didn’t focus well. This would have been great with all three of them turned facing me and listening. What are they listening too? It happens to be Aspen and Magnolia barking at them…..
This is my neighbors yard across the street. Trudy and John aren’t going to be happy that the deer were eating all their plants yesterday.
I did get a good picture of the mom with one of the babies. The mom would pull up a mouth full and the baby started eating from what was hanging out of her mouth. Cute – don’t you think?
I hope they stay safe. There are some woods behind Trudy’s house but not much and there used to be a small creek – I’m not sure if it still has water in it though. Then more houses on the other side. We are in a large neighborhood that backs up to Corps of Engineer property. There is golf course in our neighborhood and we see a lot of deer in the woods along the course. And then we aren’t too far from a lake.
Have a great weekend! I’ll be posting some stamping projects over the weekend so check back.
Tomorrow (ok today since it is after midnight here now) is Tyler’s 16th birthday! Now I have 2 kids officially old enough to drive. But mine aren’t really interested in driving so it will still be a while before Tyler actually gets his driver’s license – right now he has his learner’s permit. Kyle is finally driving more – now that he is going to Kennesaw State instead of to the high school he has a much longer commute and has to deal with a college campus and parking decks and maybe a little bit of traffic. He only has class 4 days a week though and he likes that and the days he does have class he is home either by 12:30 or by 1:00.
Well it’s late and I’m off to bed.
Aug 19, 2009 | class, Wildlife |
Look who came to visit today – a family of deer – mom and two babies.
They came from behind the house across the street. And this baby started to come up our front hill towards the front door – but Aspen was having an absolute fit over those deer. That was why I looked outside in the first place to see what he was so worked up about. He did the same thing a few days ago and I saw the one deer that day but she was gone before I could get the camera out. Today I was faster – or they were slower.
The other baby came part way over and then they decided to go back – I guess mom called them – not sure how deer communicate but they turned around and started to follow her. They went across to the street to the next house. The babies munched on some plants while mom watched and listened. I guess they have such big ears so they can hear everything. Then they went back down the hill between the houses.
I wonder if they’ll be back again tomorrow.
I need to get out my Forest Friends stamp set and make something with it now.
BTW – Paper shares are ready and I’m finishing the ribbon shares tonight.
My next class is on Friday – one at 10:00 am and again at 7:00 pm. If you live near Woodstock, Georgia you are welcome to come to my class – demos included. This week we will be making a variety of cards from swaps I received a convention. Each of the new In-Colors will be represented on at least one of the cards.
Come join me for a fun stamping class in my Craft Room.
Jun 13, 2009 | family, Wildlife |
Now that the drought is over here in Georgia we can use our sprinklers again. When we were kids we always played in the sprinklers during the summer. My brother sent me these pictures this week of some kids playing in his sprinkler in the back yard…..
Well it wasn’t my niece and nephew! These appear to be two juvenile Red Tailed Hawks that decided to play!
How fun is that!
Have a fun weekend and maybe you can play in the sprinkler too!
May 7, 2009 | Wildlife |
I haven’t written about the birds in awhile so here is an update for you along with some more pictures. The current status of all the babies is that they have grown up! Yes they are all gone, all the nests are empty once again. The Bluebirds must have left early Wednesday morning – they were still in the house late on Tuesday. I think the Chickadees left Tuesday morning – I saw one fly out of the house as we were leaving to go to school and he joined several others that were waiting in a tree and they flew off together as we drove away.
baby bluebird peeking out of the house
Here are the last pictures I have of the Bluebirds –
Mr. Bluebird
Mrs. Bluebird
I could see the babies inside the house when I watched them from the driveway. They were practicing their flying and looking out of the hole alot. I knew they were ready to go and wasn’t surprised at all that they left yesterday morning. I don’t know how well you can see it in this picture but if you look in the hole of the birdhouse one of the babies had his wings out.
flying practice in the house
I watched the houses throughout the day yesterday and never saw any of them return. So today was cleaning day. I took all the nests away and have pictures of those now that they are empty – all four nests are very different.
The robins have been in the yard again – one has been pecking at the windows and then later it appeared they were….well….you know….private stuff in my backyard right outside my window! Maybe they will build their new nest in the same spot unless they already have it done somewhere else.
The yard is full of new life and I’ll keep my eyes open for any new nests that might get built. Normally the bluebirds have two or three broods in that house each year. I’ve cleaned it out so it is ready for the next one.
The Chickadee nest was in one of the houses and it is mostly moss, a little bit of straw and then lined with fur. It was a big nest with a small cup in the corner.
The Bluebird nest was in one of the houses and it is mostly pinestraw. The moss at the bottom is probably what the chickadee brought in when they were both trying to build. This nest was the only one that was messy - but I think they had more babies too - 4 or 5.
The Towhee nest was the one in the bush out front and it is made of twigs, bark, vines and straw - it was all wedged into the center of the bush.
The Robin nest was the one on the downspout from the gutter by the kitchen window. It is pinestraw and some vines and it was held in place with mud.
Here is the mud at the base of the Robin nest that held it in place. There was also mud on the back side where it was next to the house.
Apr 29, 2009 | Circle Scissor Plus, Designer Series Paper, Occasions Mini 2009, SU Buttons, Wildlife |
I am mailing out the Corduroy Button Share today. I had them packaged a couple of days ago but I wanted to make them cute – so I took some time yesterday and came up with a great idea!
I always save all of my little plastic containers that the buttons, brads and other accessories come in. I’m sure they are useful for something. I used up all the Corduroy button containers for sorting the share and then decided to decorate them. I peeled off the labels – some came off easily while others didn’t – so I heat them for a few seconds with the heat tool and then they come off. But if some of the sticky stays that’s ok because I’m covering it back up anyway.
I used the Circle Scissor Plus to cut a 2″ circle from the Pacific Point card stock. Then used my 1-3/4″ circle punch to punch circles from the Good Morning Sunshine Designer Series Paper. I attached those to the lid of the container. Closed it up and tied a piece of Pacific Point striped ribbon around it.
Then I stamped “for you” from the Great Friend stamp set in the Occasions Mini Catalog in Pacific Point ink on Whisper White. Stamp the leaf image in Kiwi Kiss. Then punch out with the Large Oval Punch. I used the new Scallop Oval Punch to punch out Pacific Point card stock and layer behind my large oval. Punch a small hole in one end with the 1/16″ handheld punch and tie a piece of Linen Thread throught to attach it to the ribbon.
You could use these little containers to hold various little treats and gifts and decorate to suit your occasion. If you were part of the share or won my blog candy during the tour yours will be on the way to you shortly.
And a quick bird update – yesterday the Towhee left his nest. I can still hear them calling so they are probably still around. My book says they have 2 broods per year, but I’m not sure if they use the same nest or build a new one. I’ll go back and remove the eggs that didn’t incubate soon.
The robins left this morning. I let Magnolia out earlier and happened to see the 2nd baby perched on the 
downspout ready to fly. The other one had already left the nest earlier this morning. I ran inside to get my camera and take one last picture of this little guy. We were almost late for school – oops! When I got back home he was gone. Robins have 2-3 broods per year. Again I don’t know if they reuse the same nest. I’ll have to figure that out. I want to get a ladder and see if any eggs were left behind.
The bluebirds and chickadees are still feeding. I think they still have a few more days probably over the weekend or the first of next week before they are ready to go.
I have lots to do today – so I’m headed to the craft room now. I’m hoping to get the tutorial for the cracked glass posted tomorrow. So visit me again.
Have a great day!
Apr 28, 2009 | family, Wildlife |
I haven’t posted in several days about my birds – I have been checking on them everyday and have taken pictures several times as well. I’ll fill you in on those in a minute. But first two other animal stories – first happened this morning –
I came back from my Jazzercise class and let the dogs outside in the back – they ran off the deck and as I walked onto the deck I saw some movement by my flower pots – hiding in the corner was a little chipmunk – he was on the high side of the deck and he may be a young chipmunk so was scared to scale down the post to get away. So I walked on out to the yard to keep the dogs occupied (and check the birds) so the chipmunk could get away by going down the stairs. After a few minutes I looked and he was gone. So I walked back on the deck and came inside. I went into the house and I saw movement under my kitchen table! It was the chipmunk! I had left the door cracked and he ran from the far corner of the deck through the door of the screened porch and into my house! Perhaps he got a snack at the dog food bowl while he was inside. I should have grabbed my camera but I didn’t want him to go any further into the house and get lost. I checked to see where the dogs where – on the far side of the yard – good. So I opened the door back up and shooed (probably isn’t spelled that way) him out to the porch. Then I shut the door to the house, check where the dogs where, and shooed him out of the screened porch back to the deck. He ran all the way back to the corner he started in. I closed the door to the screened porch. Now to get him off the deck without the dogs noticing and let him run to safety. That was the hard part – I finally got him headed toward the stairs but by this time the dogs started watching me and realized something was going on! Here I am running across the yard trying to block the dogs while the chipmunk runs for safety and in to one of his holes – Now the dogs pretty much know where all the chipmunk holes are – they keep close tabs on those. Anyway – with enough interefence from me and some running and hiding by the chipmunk he finally got away to a safe place – now he may have had a heart attack after that – and maybe he learned NOT to come visit my deck, screened porch or my kitchen again!
The second much shorter story – yesterday afternoon Tyler cut the grass in the back yard – and forgot to shut the gate – so later when he let the dogs out – guess what happened? They escaped and luckily we had neighobrs that saw them. Magnolia apparently went to visit her friend Rachel and ended up in their garage and Aspen went across the street from Rachel’s house to play with the little boy that lives there – and they picked him up and called. I missed it all because I went to pick up Ryan from tennis. It was a quick escape, a short adventure and speedy recovery by some good neighbors.
Ok bird update and a funny story too –
The Towhee – the baby must have left the nest this morning – yesterday he was still in the bush and mom and dad were nearby and I just checked and he isn’t there now. There are two eggs still in the nest that didn’t hatch.
The Chickadees – There were three babies in the nest when I checked the other day. Mom and dad are feeding them – they are fast, and small and they fly right into the hole of the birdhouse. So if you don’t watch carefully you will not see them.
The Bluebirds – Mom and Dad are busy feeding the babies. I am not opening the house anymore because I don’t want them to come out early. Maybe this weekend or early next week they should be leaving the nest.
bluebird mom bringing food
Bluebird dad at the box
I was able to get a picture of the Red-Headed Woodpecker. I saw him last week and didn’t get a picture and he came back this weekend briefly to the peanut feeder. The Red-Headed Woodpecker has the solid red head and the one that I have most often in the yard is the Red-Bellied Woodpecker which only has a stripe of red on the back of his head. Once you have seen them both they are easy to tell apart.
Red Headed Woodpecker
The Robins – they are nearly ready to go – I watched them yesterday afternoon and here is the funny story along with some pictures. One of the babies was flapping his wings – I guess he is practicing. So yesterday all of sudden he got up and flapped his wings so hard I though for sure he was going to fly right out of the nest. He didn’t. Instead he ended up sitting on top of his brother! (Ok I don’t really know if they are boys or girls but in my story they are boys). In my picture I can just hear the one saying – “Hey, get off of me!” – Sounds just like my boys when they are sitting to close together in the back of the car. Here are pictures of the robins.
robin babies waiting for food
Robin feeding babies
I can so fly!
I hope you enjoy all the pictures. I’ll update you when the next babies leave the nest – I think the robins could be any day now.
The pictures are not going where I want them to go in this post – sorry they are all over the place.
Have a wonderful day!
Stop sitting on me!
