Bald Eagles and other wonders
As you know I live in Indiana and there are a lot of different birds here. Did you know that Indiana does have Bald Eagles? At one time the bald eagle was considered an endangered species and I in danger of extinction. A lot of people have seen bald eagles in Indiana, sadly, I am not one of them. I intend to some day. I have seen plenty of hawks and Blue heron, They are truly amazing, But seeing a bald eagle would make me very happy. Even happier if I happen to have my camera with me. Most of them have been in January and February.
Living out in the country, we see a lot of animals, raccoons, deer, turtles, frogs, rabbits, opossum and of course cats horses, cows pigs and lots of chickens. I wouldn’t have it any other way I love animals and would hate to live in a big city where you have to go to the zoo to see any animals. But then again they get to see dolphins, elephants, giraffes, monkeys, camels and other nice animals too. But I don’t have to pay to see them. Sometimes I have to get them out of my trash cans. Or chase them out of my vegetable garden. But that’s o.k.

More prepaing for winter

More preparing for winter today

Well it got real cold last night and we had to use the furnace for the first time, So it seemed like a good idea to finish some of the outside work today around company that showed up unexpectedly. That was fine with us though, we don’t get to see our kids and grandkids enough. The new baby wont be little for long. He’s already 17 days old.

The whole big flower bed is cut down now except for a few mums and a few Autumn Joy Sedum, The birdbaths and birdfeeders are still there, soon the top of the birdbaths will be on their sides so water doesn’t gather and freeze causing them to break. The birds will get water from the snow. Yeah, I said the dreaded word snow. The only time I like to see snow is on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I think snow is pretty but It’s also cold and I hate cold.

I like to decorate for Christmas though. I also have some new Christmas decorations in my store now. I love the stepping stones that are shaped like Christmas light bulbs. And the birdhouse that looks like a tree ornament, I haven’t decided how to decorate this year, but that’s a good start. I like to use some sort of path lights if I can find some. I have to decorate before it gets cold though, because like I said I don‘t go out in the cold unless I absolutely have to. Decorating is important but I still don’t consider that important enough to drag me out into the cold.

I will go out long enough to feed the animals but even that is a pitch and run deal. I get real bad headaches if I’m out in the cold for long. I feel sorry for the animals and birds that are out in the cold. If I was a bird I would have to fly South. Who am I kidding I’d have to move South cause I’d never make it flying, I’m an old bird. The
birdlady

Kid Days

What do you miss most about being a kid?

I don't really have any garden related things to talk about today. So I thought I'd talk about when I was a kid and all the things I miss about the carefree days of a being a kid with no worries at all. I miss laying in the middle of the yard for hours on end looking at the clouds and imagining what they looked like. A monkey or a lion? I miss sitting on my friend Barberas swing staring up into the tree twisting myself up in the swing and letting it unwind, twirling round and round until I was too dizzy to stand up. Now I get dizzy for no reason and don't like it.(Menieres disease) I miss the stupid things we use to talk about when my friends and I slept out in my tent in the woods.I don't miss school that much. But then again who does? I had a bike that I rode almost every day, Of course only country kids know around the block is 4 miles. You had to have a bike. My friend lived just down the road, 1 1/2 miles down the road ,that's 3 miles round trip. Funny I can't even get my daughter to go to the mail box and back. We had chores then too, today kids look at you like you're crazy if you ask them to do anything. When we wanted to ride our bikes to town it was over 5 miles there. Mostly we just hung around the farm down the street and helped them out with the animals. We cleaned the barn and fed the pigs and washed down the cows and brushed the ponies and all kinds of things. I've always loved animals of all kinds. I guess some things don't change. I still love animals, I still have chores, I still get dizzy, It's still a long way to town, I still spend a lot of time doing things for others. But now, if I laid out in my yard for hours staring at the sky they'd probably send either the county coroner or the mental health people to get me.
the birdlady

THE BIRDS

Alfred Hitchcock THE BIRDS

Remember that old Thriller The Birds ? In the movie there were birds everywhere. For the last couple of days in the early evening When I go out the back door, I can hear the constant chatter of hundreds of birds, It's a deafening sound . I look around they have all gathered in the trees it's really strange. There are no birds flying around anywhere they are all pearched in the trees. Every tree is loaded with birds, screaching and chirping away. The swing is idely blowing in the slight breeze. Nothing else is moving,This is creepy. The sun is startng to go down, and there is a chill in the air. They must be gathering to fly south. If I didn't know better I would say this town is about to become the latest victems of Alfred Hitchcocks imagination and we will all soon be pecked to death by hundreds of birds. Stay in and cover the windows. Oh and if I remember right they are smart enough to come down the chimeny. My dog comes around the garage with a big stick in her mouth. Well they didn't get her. I guess I'm safe. I carry a few frogs and a statue to the shed. I need to get out here and finish clearing the chairs and small tables away and cover the bench and wagon and stash the garden swing. It's going to get cold soon and I don't do cold. Then It hits me, No wonder the birds are gathering so fast. Oh No, It's worse than birds, It's horrible, I won't survive!!!!! OH NO IT"S WINTER.

the Birdlady

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Well it's raining in Indiana today. I can't do anything outside today. I have a cart sitting out in the yard with my statues and assorted decorations in it, getting rained on. I'll have to dry them out before I store them in the shed for the winter. It's my own fault, I've beeen awful lazy lately and have started a lot of things but not finished them.

I'm thinking about tying down the birdhouses, especially the ones on the arbor, It gets awful windy here and I don't want the birds homes to blow over if they nest in them over the winter. Last year, I moved them. But the birds like them there.

I hope we don't have a bad winter. I don't mind snow but I don't like it to snow so deep that you can't get where you need to go. I also hate it when the temperature gets real low, I feel so sorry for the animals who are left out in the cold. Have I mentioned that I hate winter? I like my picnic table covered with food not snow. I like my grandkids in my garden swing not a tarp covered snow mound. Most of all, I hate to see a bare yard with no flowers. YUK!

Oh well I guess I have no choice, Winter will come any way it wishes.

birdlady

New Stuff!@ All Gone to the Birds

New Stuff at All Gone to the Birds!



I love it when we get new stuff in. Because I probabbly see it in a different light than most people do .I know it means there's a lot of work to do,Well thats o.k. with me, I don't mind the work. I like to see all the new things because It helps me plan and decide what I'm going to do in my garden next year. Some people plant and figure whew, I'm glad that's done. Not me I think, well O.K. now what do I change or redecorate. That's what I do. I love to change things and make them stand out, or look better. Inside and out, I like an everchanging palette of color and design. Every room needs a theme. My husband doesn't understand that theory, He would put a painting of a victorian Garden with a beautiful fountain and birdhouse with white gingerbread trim, in the same area as a picture of Indians going downstream in a canoe. I'm serious. He would. But then he is a he.(need I say more?) There are a few men out there that have enough taste to decorate,and to the women who have one I say, count your blessings some of us have husbands that still can't pick out their own clothes, let alone decorate a house.



Anyway, We have some new birdhouses, birdfeeders, windchimes and other things you would expect and a few you wouldn't, One that I'm particularly pleased about is a toadhouse. I have been looking for them for a while so I can add them to my inventory, and this one is a start. I am also going to start on some hand painted items soon. It's been a while since I've painted statues but hopefully it's like one of those falling off a bicycle things, Ya think??? I hope. Don't expect much. I'm getting old and some things just don't work like they use to. Oh by the way, I've started a Squidoo and the birdlady was already taken. I'll let you all know later what my lens will be called.
the birdlady By the way the picture is the new toadhouse

Next Years Plan

I already have a general plan for some things to work on in my front flowerbed. I have an area that it very hard to keep the soil loosened up in and there are sprouts from an awful persistant bush that keeps popping up everywhere. Its in the same area as toadtown, where my frogs and toads live. I have alot of statues there, toad houses and a few plants that do o.k. there. Mainly my daylilies. I think I'll try to move all of the plants as they come up. the toads can use more rocks, maybe I'll buy some pea gravel or somthing to decorate that area in rocks and frogs, maybe a fountain, I sell one in my shop that has frogs on it,that would be perfect, but no flowers. unless I can find something that likes that hard, rocky soil. My toad town does need greenery. after all they'll need to be shaded from the hot sun, When they're not swimming in their pool.

I also have plans to take down the arbor and make the flower bed smaller,but I would like to add butterfly feeders and houses .I have plenty of birdfeeders. I do have a lot of flowers that attract the butterflies so maybe they would stay around if I add more things for them. I haven't had time to check into it much,I don't even know what you put in the feeders, but I have a butterfly house I put it out last year and it didn't have any tenants.

Oh well like I said, I haven't checked into the butterfly thing much,but I will. Don't you think this frog fountain would be perfect? I do it's so cute. I'm already looking forward to spring.

the birdlady

Growing Your Own Veggies

Growing your own veggies

I Love to grow things other than flowers. Every year I have had my own vegetable garden.

My family has always grown their own veggies, Even when I was little and we lived in the city My dad was always growing what he could in our yard. He would work on the veggies and my mom would work on the flower beds. I of course had to fill the bird feeders. and I loved to help any where I could in the garden or flowers. I learned a lot from my parents and grandparents about gardening and heirloom plants. There is one heirloom tomato that I love, It is the pineapple tomato, It is a a deep yellow with red running through it. They are a big variety growing to 1 to 1 1/2 pounds each, they have a great flavor and are low in acid so I can usually eat as many as I want without my heartburn flaring up. There is nothing like a Home Grown tomato and my family eat as many as we can while they are in season because you no longer want to eat those store bought tomatoes again. I always grow plenty of plants and have many tomatoes to go around. This year I had problems keeping the birds out of them, Usually I put garden stakes with pie pans tied to them, throughout the garden to keep the birds away, they don't like the reflections when the pans move or the noise they make hitting against each other. But this year, My son used all of the stakes to put a fence around it to keep out our new dog Nikki, She learned how to pull weeds and shake the dirt off the roots, She's real good at it ,But unfortunately she can't tell the weeds from Good plants. I had an owl statue I use to help keep the other birds out, but he needs repainted. Oh well next year I'll have to get out my pie pans.

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Getting Ready For Winter

I'm Clearing away all the garden decorations and cutting down the plants. It's time to take in the hummingbird feeders, You can't leave them out in Indiana because it gets way too cold for the little hummingbirds and they will freeze, They don't have that built in notion to fly south like the other birdsthat can't handle the cold and if they have feeders they will stay. The sugar water would freeze anyway. So to nudge them along you have to take the feeders in. We almost always have snow before Halloween. Sometimes I wonder why I stay here, I hate the cold and I have a built in need to grow things, I'm sure there are better States to live in for gardeners. Why do I stay when the birds even know better. Hey,! There's an answer, I can go South for the winter. Yeah right! I can't even afford the house I live in now, all I need is another one. I would have another yard to plant in too! WOW more gardens to grow and decorate . more birdhouses, more statues and fountains. Wait that also means more grass to cut more weeds to pull. Well maybe I should just stay here and watch the birds through the window with my binoculars and stay in where it's warm. I do have new Christmas Decorationsthat I can put out, New stepping stones, new birdfeeders and birdhouses too. Some of the birds do stay here for the winter and have a hard time finding anything to eat and places to keep warm. Plus,I can start planning out how to redo my front flower bed. Anyone want some well established transplants?

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Toadtown

TOAD TOWN

Every garden needs a toad town. At least out where I live ,I have so many toads sometimes that they have to have a place to belong. So I made them Toad town. It is full of toads and frogs some of which are just statues. They have to have water so I have a big shallow glass bowl that is their swimming pool and another one is just the saucer of a big flower pot painted iridescent blue to look like a swiming pool. A solar light lights up the town. They have several toad houses, some are flower pots that are broken and painted to look like houses, coffee cups and shells, they have their own little garden with a tiny birdbath I made myself from tiny terracotta pots, they even have their own playground and in the very front of it all there is a garden sign that says welcome to toad town U.S.A. home of about 83 toads and frogs plus a few turtles.

They are treated so well because they provide me with a great service, they eat a lot of bugs. I don't have to spray to keep the insect population down. between the toads, frogs ,birds and snakes, I have a lot of help. That allows me to keep my flowers insecticide free for the birds,bees and butterfies.

The frogs and toads sure are noisy at night though. But it really doesn't matter,there are a lot of night noises out here in the country that you have to get use to, but it's still a lot quieter here than in the city. and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

The birdlady

Garden Needs a Facelift
My biggest flowerbed is getting out of hand this year, I have to make it smaller. I have so many different flowerbeds all over the yard and hundreds of plants and even more bulbs, that I can’t keep up with it. Every day I’m reminded that I’m not as young as I use to be. A few years ago I had no problems getting up early and spending the whole day weeding and trimming. Now I sit and weed for about an hour and I feel like I’ve been sat on by sasquatch himself. Smell and look that way too, I waddle to my bench and can’t seem to get up the strength to go any further. I usually give up, put my tools away and go in the house to soak in the tub for a while to soothe my aching muscles. I really hate to make it smaller, But I think I‘ll take out my arbor too, It like me has seen its better days too. I’ll have to find a new place for a lot of birdhousesthat hang and sit on it. But my clematis that grows on it is doing badly too. I don’t think it gets enough sun there, I’ll move it to my side arbor. It already has 2 birdhouses hanging on it but maybe one or two more wont hurt. One birdbath will have to be moved and two birdfeeders,I have a path with stepping stonesrunning the length and width of the whole thing. That will have to be shortened.
There is one thing That I hate about the front flowerbed and that is a bush that keeps spreading by sprouts coming up every where, I don’t know what it is . I call it the bush from hell. I’ve tried several times to kill it and it just keeps getting stronger. Once when we had a small cultivator we had rented to bury some new wiring and piping while we were renovating. We tried to pull it up with that and one of the smaller parts of the bush about pulled that big machine over before the roots gave. And it seemed to like it. It sure didn’t hurt it. If I move my lilies away from there maybe I’ll pour gas on it and burn it. Any one have any suggestions? I’ve tried rock salt, round up max strength, stump killer and brush killer. Nothing has fazed it at all. It is a wicked thing. But it’s got to go.
birdlady

The humble House Wren

Early in the spring, The quiet is interrupted by the loud shrill persistent singing of a male house wren. Where is he, I wonder. I get out my binoculars and begin scanning the large bare area surrounding my house. He's here somewhere. I wish I had a birdfinder. Faithful and persistent my favorite male house wren has returned for the 4th year in a row. He has kept me entertained for 3 years now with his cheery antics. I wasn't sure he would return this year because his lifelong mate didn't reappear last year. I was sad for him, Something must have happened to her. For 3 years in a row she has returned after a long winter to mate with the same male. He is busy checking out the possible nesting areas for the first of two matings of the season. Stopping occasionally to loudly sing his song to attract the female. He is so loud, It's hard to believe thet he is so tiny.

The male has started a nest in the birdhouse on my front trellis, stuffing it full of sticks. It's fun to watch him as he tries repeatedly to cram a stick in that is about 3 times longer than the hole is wide. In the end he wins the battle and the problem stick is in place. He is happy with the nest for now and flies off to start another one. He likes to give his mate several to choose from. I'm pretty sure she'll choose the gourd though she always does for the first batch of babies. She prefers the same gourd for some reason. (Home sweet Home?) He perches on the birdbath for a much earned drink, Singing out his shrill song before taking off to start stuffing the gourd full of sticks too. I hope the female returns this year, She will choose which nest she likes best and start throwing some of the sticks out to make enoguh room, then she finishes the nest herself adding feathers leaves maybe a string or piece of fabric, anything she can find that is soft to line the nest. Sometimes she returns to find a stick he has placed back in the nest only to throw it out again. I think this little wren makes a good mate. He even helps feed the young after they hatch. The babies eat continuously all day long. Most male wrens make the nest, mate, and leave to start another nest for another mate. But not this one ,He is faithful and even hangs around patiently helping the female until she is ready to mate again. Most of the time he is not allowed back in the nest once the eggs hatch, Loudly he anounces his arrival, before stopping in the doorway with his offered tidbit he has in his beak, usually a small cattepillar or juicy beetle. Then he flys off for another. I can sit in my swing and watch these birds all day. They work so hard and are so happy doing it, I knw they sure do cut down on the bug population in my garden, those baby wrens sure eat a lot of bugs.

the birdlady

Fall clean up

Fall is just around the corner, It's inevitable, Winter will be here soon, I hate this time of year, Everything is getting brown, and will soon need cut down and cleared away, some things need covered and some dug up to get ready for winter. No pretty flowers blooming everywhere. No happily singing birds. My birdhouses are in need of cleaning out, The families of baby birds grown and ready to fly south for the winter. Sometimes they get used for the birds that stay here over the winter. My fountains and statues and other things that shouldn't be exposed to the very cold weather we have in Indiana, have to be taken to the shed for storage, My swing and lawn chairs also get put up. My shed is not that big and it usually overflows, the excess getting stuck between the shed and the barn and covered with tarps. Now that's real pretty. The whole process takes me a long time to accomplish and makes my yard look bare and abandoned.

Do all gardeners hate winter? I get depressed and feel like hibernating for the winter. I usually stay in the house, leaving only if I have to, The cold makes my health problems worse, I get a lot of headaches, I start longing for spring. It's a long wait.

The only thing that is good about winter is Christmas time, I get to see more of my family, My sister comes in from Iowa, and I enjoy making gifts for some of them. My indoor hobbies are sewing and crafts, Oh and that's my favorite time to redecorate areas of my house that I get tired of. Last year I redecorated the bigger bathroom. My kitchen is done in birdhouses and it needs to be redone but I don't want to change the birdhouse theme, Maybe I'll just refreshen it.

My husband has been promising to build me a pantry like closet in the laundry room. That would be a great project this year. Maybe we will just hibernate until spring.
the birdlady