Hope You Aren't Sick of Bird Pictures

I have been under the weather this week, and did little driving around. 

So, we have more feeding-area pictures, until we can get back on the road. 

First, before we start... we are praying for those of you on the east coast... 

I can't even imagine what you are going through, and I'm sorry for it. 

Before we get to the birds, here are some petunias I stuck in this 

planter of geraniums last summer... still blooming!  They have bloomed 

two or three times since I brought them in. The red geraniums were 

blooming at Christmas! 

That's a three or four year old geranium at this point.  Once I went to 

an estate sale, and there was a gigantic geranium in a pot that 

I would have bought had I had someone to help me lug it to the car. 

I was told it was 40 years old! 

I know this is far away, and if the weather clears up a little, 

I am going to get the big lens out this week. 

This is the reason that I sometimes look out and see scores of birds 

up on the lines.  This hawk was in back of us, and advanced up the poles to the east.  

The little birds were ready to take off, and were not eating while it was hanging around. 

The dogs and I walked yesterday, and you can literally see Jester's footprints from two days before in the snow. (He's walking in the same place he walked Wednesday)  The only other people who had walked had a very big dog (you can't see the prints right here).  I also just realized that this picture shows something for which  Lilly will be seeing Dogtor Tom this week... those are her prints on the right, from two days before.  Do you see what's happening?  Her left rear leg has begun dragging.  I want him to check her hip and the leg itself. 

It dragged yesterday, too... and though I wanted to walk them around again, I started to worry about her and decided to take them home.  It was still pretty cold, too, about 30 degrees. 

Today it didn't get about 25, and is windy, so we stayed in. 

The park is pretty lonely these days. 

This is the pond area outside our patio.  

I let the grass grow long over the little pond area all last summer, and I left it up in the fall. 

Sometimes I look down and see ten to twelve birds sheltering in it. 

The cotton rats run in there if Lilly comes along. 

All that un-eaten casserole I threw out was eaten by starlings within 30 minutes. 

They are getting cornbread tomorrow. 

The goldfinches ate on the ground today. 

It hasn't all been bird-watching.  I got this seed 

catalog in the mail this week, and I took time to sit down and look at it for a while. 

I am undecided as to whether to start any seeds this year... I have so many saved 

from last year's seeds that I have plenty to start my planters, and we could not 

give away tomatoes by the end of the summer.  So... I am still thinking. 

This is a lovely catalog, and not a bit expensive, about on a par with 

other major seed catalogs.  This one features NO GMO seed. 

As an aside, it's located in Lawrence, Kansas, about 30 miles from us, a family there is the exclusive distributor for an old Italian seed firm.  Very interesting, and they carry gardening 

supplies and flower seeds, as well. 

Tacos for dinner, if Keith ever gets home from the store!