Purling Oaks

Baby Bluebirds

There are really five baby birds in the nest, one was shy for the photographer (my DH).  DH has been monitoring the bluebird nesting activities this Spring and his actions have resulted in me feeling that home could almost be called "Bluebird Central Hatchery."  He's placed a number of bird houses suitable for bluebirds on the property and dealt with the evil sparrows.  (Did you know sparrows have pecked baby bluebirds and swallows to death?!)   

Saturday's egg count was 15 eggs and at least these five babies.  That's only the "in process" birds!  A cycle of eggs and fledging has all ready occurred this year.  And yes, bluebirds like the number "5" for family size.

Happy Bluebird Sunday!

 

Anything down that well?

Let's see.   What to type?  I think it will have to be various and sundry topics.  I'm trying to reprime the blogging well.  Here goes.....

I'm waiting on the final rise for two loaves of bread made with a sponge starter as described in the New Joy of Cooking.  (Not the new New Joy, just the old New Joy.)  The bread rose the first time in the fridge overnight because I started the starter yesterday afternoon.  The type of starter and a slow rise usually result in a very tasty bread.  We'll see tonight if that's still so.

Wow, on the feeder there are several goldfinches that look almost olive today along with a few of the muted winter yellow.  

I've been grazing the Internet regarding growing hair long or longer.  One interesting hair-related item I found was that for some people, use of shampoos containing sulfates can result in an itchy scalp.  I believe it relates to the sebum on the scalp and clogging of pores but then again I may have that a bit off.  Anyway.....I found that I am one of those people.  I switched to a sulfate-free shampoo and conditioner and my scalp is so much happier.  No wonder the dandruff shampoo was not working.  

Also hair-related, as I'm growing my hair, I have also decided (at least for now) to forgo the highlighting at the salon.  This holiday season I got a really good look at my gray hair.  I must say it has been a bit of a mental adjustment seeing the gray.  (Yes, that is an understatement.)  However, I am beginning to really like it.  I'm maybe ten to twenty percent gray.  Of course, the growing out of the highlighting may be challenging if I'm also trying to increase the length of my hair.  /sigh

There has been knitting.   This is an "old" photo; I've actually knit a few more inches on this sock but I'm too lazy to document it right now.  Maybe when I show you the bread, I'll give you a new view of the sock.  This is a restart of socks using yarn I won from Joan many moons ago.  I'm using magic loop on a US 1 addi turbo.  It is a nice thinner fabric.

There's also been spinning.  I met with the/my local spinning group again this past Monday.  It was really nice.  

I've been having dinner with my husband every night this week.  Work night dinners with my husband.  Nice.  

Happy Friday.  Be well.

A Bluebird and Enchiladas

Mr. Bluebird - Saturday Morning

I had a pretty good week overall, despite completely forgetting about the humidity levels in DC and having the worse "hair" week of the last decade.  This was my first week of a year-long detail in DC and I'm having the opportunity of experiencing what it is like to have my own office....with a door.  No exterior window, so don't get too excited for me.  Normally, for work I get to sit at a folding or conference room table in chairs ranging from folding chairs to kitchen chairs to pretty decent office chairs, so a "real" office is a treat.  My hotel is about 12 blocks from the office so I did get a lot of walking in....and also more showers.  I'm going to have to strategize (is *so* a word!) my day so I don't feel like a wrung-out rag when I arrive for work in the morning.  I am such a walking wimp since I really hate being sweaty in work clothes.  *whine*  On the other hand, I am happy with the exercise I got this week.  I've found there is a work-out room in the building so I may be able to include it in my campaign quest to be more fit.

I definitely got behind in personal email answering and blog reading and commenting this week on the road.  When flying, I can't carry everything I would normally just chuck into the Jeep, so I'm minus my MacBook.   I may be in the market for one of those little net books things but I'm really waiting for the rumored Apple netbook of early 2010.  My telephone and some blog comment applications like those for Joan's and Carrie's blogs, to name just a couple, do not play together at all.  On top of that I just don't like typing long sentences on a micro-keyboard.  Access to blogs via work is just not the thing to do with my employer.  So, I'm working on it.  Please don't forget about me.  :D 

Wilson and I don't really have the "yard beautiful" thing going on but sometimes stuff just needs to be trimmed.  A new gardening tool arrived this week that I ordered from Amazon and I'm very pleased with it.  It is a cordless Black & Decker 18V string trimmer.  It is light enough for me to use easily in the yard compared to the stinky gas models.  Wilson charged the batteries for me during the week so I could play with it Saturday.  I trimmed just about everything using the first battery (it comes with two rechargeables) yesterday afternoon.  It also is far less noisy than the gas model.  We have an electric model but an extension cord only goes so far around here.  On top of it all, this is going to be an excellent upper-body strength builder based on the way my arms feel this morning.  Ouch.  (I am such a weakling.) 

Besides trimming, laundry, and errands, I also cooked!  Really.  I was browsing in the cookbook bookcase and came across Jane Butel's book and decided pork and green chile enchiladas, New Mexico style sounded great.  The recipe was inspired by Jane but isn't in the book, exactly. 

Now, I'm just taking Jane's word that this are really New Mexico-style enchiladas since I didn't research them the one time I visited in Roswell.  (I'm hoping to amend that this October in Taos.)  However, these were yummy even if they were just Angie-style.  I also made some tomatillo salsa from last summer's frozen tomatillos.  I collapsed in my armchair the rest of the evening.  :D

fun but sassy

Best laid plans....often get side-tracked.  A nice post about my visit to San Francisco will be arriving in this space this week.  Later this week.  Between the laundry monster, catching up on sleep, administering worm medicine (to cats), packing for working in Milwaukee, and a sassy Wii Fit, I lost the ability to compose a good SF post today tonight. 

Yes, the Wii Fit asked me if I stumbled a lot, too, Stacey.  Sassy.  However, it redeemed itself by being fun.  Too bad it doesn't travel easily. 

If you look closely, there is last week's bluebird on the corner of the roof.  The trees are showing a bit more green today than last week.  Have a great Monday!

Thursday's plans

Whew!  Those three days of work this week seemed long when I was looking forward to today and the next couple of days.  First I'm going to run around the house picking up the stuff I didn't pick up last night, pack clothes and crafts, and dose the cats with hairball medicine.  Yes, here at Chez Purling Oaks, what is usually called Spring by most folks is called hairball season.   One of these years, I'm going to save the combings and spin myself enough yarn for a blanket.  Each time I comb Blue there's enough fur for new kitten.  Really.  Well, not that we need another cat around here.

Then, I'm off to get a massage and see if Gabrielle can convince my back muscles to relax.  I feel as if my left shoulder is up to my ear.  After whatever miracles that can happen on the massage table happen, I'm off to Chicago to meet my blogless friend, Charlynn, for the Quilt Festival.  Whoop!   The weather should be very nice for driving and we're planning on finding a deep dish pizza one night, for sure.   There will be plenty of shopping opportunities and it is always inspiring to view the quilts and other creations presented at the Festival.

I just saw a bluebird sitting on top of the bird feeder in the back yard.  That's an unusual sight since they are bug eaters.  Usually I see them flitting around in the front field, but at afar, so this closer view was nice.  ETA:  What is even more interesting is that the bluebird keeps landing on the top of the shepherd's crook that holds feeders right next to the house and he's looking at me!  O.o

Random photo from my walk in the woods last week. 

I better go start my to-do list!  Happy Thursday!

Sunday's Backyard View

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This photo was taken a little after 9 AM this morning.  I love how the finch feeder is full of birds and, if you look closely, you can see a squirrel tail on the far feeder.  It started raining early this morning but, as you can see, the snow has started. 

Mom's flight from California made it into Detroit just fine this morning but her flight to Appleton was canceled.  Now, she is on a flight to Minneapolis with hopes of arriving home on a third flight this afternoon.  Good travel thoughts for Mom are much appreciated.

Yesterday, I rented the wallpaper steamer machine from our local hardware store at noon.  DH brought it back at 4:30 PM after we removed the wallpaper from our basement bathroom.  I was afraid this would be a beast of a job but only a normal amount of effort was expended.  One hint for those of you applying wallpaper....remember to prime the surface first, even if it is only a patch.  If you don't prime, the wallpaper will stick, stick, stick when you want it to release should you or someone else ever want to remove the paper.  DH has all ready removed the vanity and replaced the toilet from the old blue (yes, 1970's blue) ceramic.  Now, to research what flooring to install.  Vinyl or Ceramic (on concrete) or some other option?

Spirit renewal and feathers

It is raining today and the air smells clean and woodsy. I stood on our front porch and drew in several big breaths, filling my lungs with the goodness. I love this smell of the pines and earth and rain. The rain is renewing--cleansing the air and engaging my spirit. I wish I was more of a wordsmith so I could give you the same feeling.

Living in the country has challenges and rewards. Today is a reward.

Here is the view from my seat at the dining room table this morning.

I bought the long thistle feeder this October with our Jung dollars, kind of as a joke. It has turned out to be very entertaining and we've seen birds covering the feeder just after filling it.

These are gold finches with their drab winter garb. In Spring, we will see more sunny yellow feathers.

Just after taking these photos, there were some more visitors to the backyard.......

We tried to count the turkeys and agreed that there are over 40 birds, but we couldn't settle on a grand total because they were in constant motion. I heard the turkeys this morning from the front porch and spied them through the trees in the field to my west. They must have made their way into the woods and then out into the yard.

We have a quiet New Year's Eve celebration planned for tonight. Dinner will be venison tenderloins, probably pan-fried with a little garlic, little red potatoes, and something green (I'm still deciding) with a bottle of cabernet sauvignon that was a holiday gift from friends who know wine, so it should be very nice. Oh, yes, and we will be watching the Packer game and crossing our fingers for a good result. I enjoy the games but this wild card game selection is for the birds. :-) Have a safe and happy New Year celebration!