Archives for May 2019

Throughout the year, I take great care to feed my variety of feathered friends. Summer is the busiest as many different species arrive in the spring and depart in autumn. Below are some ideas on how I have made my yard bird-friendly. I’m not an expert but these applications work for me.

1. An abundance of trees and bushes as birds seek good nesting sites and most species return to the same area year after year.
2. Water and food source
3. Colorful perennials and annuals attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees!
4. Consistency

I fill two bird baths, one in the front yard another in the back. Some weeks in the summer, I’ll rinse the bird baths twice during the day and fill with fresh water.

I keep my feeding station in the same spot, under a pine tree. I’ve had several hanging feeders but  the nocturnal animals such as raccoons tear them down. I’ve given up on that, but I do hang a small suet feeder and it remains in position.

I toss together a songbird country seed mix with black-oil sunflower seeds. I also make my own hummingbird nectar. One part sugar to four parts water, boil then cool, and fill a hanging feeder. Hummingbirds like red so you’ll notice most feeders sport that color. I change the liquid every three to four days and wash the feeder to insure mold doesn’t form. There are times in mid-summer I’m filling the feeder every day.

 

Thistle seed is expensive so just once in a while I’ll purchase a small bag. I find the finches dip into the oriole’s grape jam. I just drop a large spoonful of jam onto an orange lid or plate. Orioles are attracted to that particular color and also love oranges.

Sometimes I treat my feathered friends to my own homemade mixture–old bread dipped in leftover grease from bacon or red meat. I break it up, toss it out in the yard, and it’s quickly retrieved. Since there is an abundance of flowers, fruits, and grains for birds during the growing season, they are well-fed.

In winter months, even after the snowbirds have headed south, I continue to feed my feathered friends. The blue jays and cardinals make a colorful display on a blanket of snow. I have a special fondness for mourning doves. They seem to settle at my place all year.

Tip:  Unsalted peanuts are a favorite of blue jays but watch out for the squirrels as the nuts will disappear quickly.

Sit, relax, and enjoy our feathered friends.

Birds 101 first appeared in 2017 on http://www.amyharkemoore.com

 

 

 

                     This was last year’s Mother’s Day post. I thought it would be nice to run it again.

Ma passed away several years ago at the age of eighty-seven. I never called her mom, mother, mommy–just plain old Ma.

She lived her life with a glass half-full, didn’t complain about not having the luxuries of others, and worked until she was seventy-one. She could plant a seedling and it would shoot to the sky like the Jolly Green Giant. Her instincts for colors and decorating would have put her at the top of an interior design class.

She never had to throw out a meal (like me) because she turned everything into a chef’s delight. Nothing went to waste–ever. Her cakes and desserts were moist to the taste, and a pot of Maxwell House Coffee sat hot waiting for the next visitor.

Ma taught us children about loving God, sharing, putting the needs of others first, and how to penny pinch. Being frugal was a lifestyle, wastefulness a no-no, and living by principles the only way to survive.

She called most every night before her bedtime to make sure the family was safe. This went on until she passed away.

Ma would stop by with flower shoots, decorating tips, and usually something we needed.

One year, she gave me some buttercup flowers to plant. For those who don’t know, they spread like wildfires. But I dare anyone to remove a buttercup from my yard.

This Mother’s Day I look upward to thank Ma for instilling the right stuff into our lives. And, maybe, we can view the world through her eyes.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Her children rise up and call her blessed.

Mom’s buttercups.