Little Fish

Just a comment on these little fish....Don't you just love them? I LOVE them! If you wiggle your arrow near them, they'll follow you and if you click on the pond you can feed them. Genius!

Sunday Morning

Greetings from Mr. Beachy and me! We've had a busy Sunday morning and now we are settling down to relax and enjoy the day. It has been raining cats, dogs, bicycles, and trucks. so much rain that Noah's Ark would be afloat by now. Mr. Beachy and I spent the early morning sweeping the water off the porch and then trying to sweep away a huge lake that was growing by the back door. We had to take down one of the bird feeders, because it was full of water. The seeds had filled up the drainage system and it was disgusting!

We had to towel Blue off 3 times before 9AM because of course she had to be right in the middle of our outdoor activities. Now she is curled up at my feet, smelling meatballs cooking in the pan. They are "grandma's famous meatballs" for spaghetti, loved by short people especially. Thought I'd make some up to put aside in case I have any dinner guest of short stature this week.

And we decided it's time for an Irish Coffee, so that is brewing, as well.

We've gotten quite addicted to bird watching since the January second bird count. I'm posting some of the photos I was able to take. Unfortunately I don't know the technique needed to arrange or label the pictures, so they'll all be in a group and you'll just have to guess which bird I'm talking about.

It seems that some days we have tons of birds passing through in flocks, and somedays we see and hear no one. One day it was pouring rain and a flock of starlings and a flock of robins were busily hunting for worms. They covered the front lawns like sheep grazing on a hill. I took a photo of one bird that was among the group of robins. It might have been a juvenile, but I think it was another type of bird just hanging out with the robins. My camera slipped, just as I clicked, and so the picture's blurry and his head is missing, but I thought it's worth while to post it in case someone can tell what it is.

The hummingbirds come to the feeder so much lately that I think they may have started nesting in the nearby laurel hedge. I'm trying to take pictures of them to see if I can start telling them apart. They are called Anna's Hummingbirds. I'm not sure if they stay here year round, or if they fly up to Alaska in the summer.

I'm hoping to become a little brown bird expert, but I'm not getting there fast. I still haven't captured my elusive little brown bird on film - the ones that are living in my brush pile and run through the grass so quickly that I think they are mice at first glance. They might be Pacific Wrens, but I have to get one to hold still for a second to study them better.

The Brushtits are here and a pair of red-bellied sapsuckers. They all came for some suet we put out. It is suet mixed with peanuts and hot sauce. I think they like the hot spices because they didn't flock to the other suet I've had in past years. Of course we've seen many English Sparrows, House Finches, Chickadees, and Juncos; so their photos are included here if I have any clear ones.

Wishing all a day of rest.

New Year, New Plans

Already nine days into the new year and Mr. Beachy and I are trying to organize our lives enough to make new plans. Yesterday and today we had time to be quiet and watch the birds while planning out our activities for the new year. The Jeep's "check engine" light is on and won't fit into the mechanic's schedule until Tuesday. That is keeping us trapped so to speak. Very good for us, because we both have a tendency to just leave the house and not come back until dark. Well, I must say, going "out" is more an addiction than a tendency. Today our only venture outside was to church and to fill the bird feeders. It is wet and chilly here, so it's been nice to have a soft chair in the corner of the kitchen from whence to anchor our activities. And it was a treat to see a flock of bush-tits enjoying the suet we put out. They are the cutest birds. Remember the one that got separated from the flock one year and stayed the winter? I wonder if he was among the flock this morning. One garden project that we'd like to do now is to build a small stone wall along the walkway where the rain water runs off. This could shore up a shade garden, plus keep the soil from eroding onto the walkway everytime it rains. I guess it will take measuring and carrying stones from somewhere down on Johnson Creek. We also want to buckle down and get serious about a play structure and sand box to use this summer out back - even more important than planting a garden because flowers and plants return every year, but children grow up and soon disappear.