Random thoughts…

I’m on a crusade of sorts to help the Monarch butterfly.  I didn’t know this until about a year ago, but Monarchs are dependent on milkweed to live.  So if you see a plant in your yard that looks like this...

...please don’t cut it down.  Leave it and keep your fingers crossed that a Monarch will find it and lay a few eggs.  They need our help and this is an easy way to help.  Other butterflies like it, too, so there is a good chance you’ll see some beauties like these Great Spangled Fritillaries even if the Monarchs don’t find you.

Olive and I are living like bachelorettes this week.  Greg is off on a motorcycle trip and we have enough sense not to have anything to do with that.  We’ve been staying up late watching British mysteries, which Greg will watch, but I think he prefers not to.  So we are doing him a favor…or favour.  Here’s Olive trying to stay awake after our late night as she searches for her spot.  She’s a trooper!

One day a couple weeks ago, I went out to stand under our Crabapple tree.  I like standing there because I don’t think I can be seen when I’m inside and under of the branches.  I’m sure that’s illusory on my part, but I do it anyway.  Don’t ask me why.  I just think it’s cool.  So anyhow, I ventured into the tree one day and a bird flew at me and out of the tree.  It was a robin and there was the nest sitting on a branch just slightly above my head.  I hadn’t seen it in there from the outside.

  I tried to stay away so that the family could have some privacy, but I was curious so I had Greg, who is a bit taller than I am, look to see if there was anything still inside the nest.  He thought he could see two eggs.  Well, we left them on their own for the most part and, sure enough, at least two babies emerged.  Now they have flown the coup and I can look more closely at what I think is the most elegant of bird nests.  I couldn’t get a good photo because of all the leaves and branches in the way, but I love those tendrils.  Isn’t it beautiful?

Here you can see two little ones in the nest.  It’s also a pretty poor photo.  It is in situations like this that I really wish I were taller but nothing can be done about that in this lifetime.  At least I got to see the little buggers.  I hope they live long and prosper.

What is it with Blogger lately?  I keep getting these white lines that I have a heck of a time getting rid of.  Well, there are more pressing things I have to think about now...like what the heck are Olive and I going to watch tonight.

Random!

1)  There are many things I like about winter in New England.  We get snow, but we also get a lot of sunny days here.  Today is a notable exception, however.  It’s foggy and drizzly.  But on those days that are sunny, the sky is BLUE.  It is bluer in the winter than it ever is in the summer and that blue may just be my favorite color.

2)  The icicles this year have been really amazing.  I managed to catch a few photos of them before they began to drip out of existence.  While I’ve seen larger ones that I didn’t manage to capture, I think a one-story icicle is still pretty impressive.

I titled this "Sick of Winter."  This is the public library in Brookfield, Massachusetts.

3)  I’ve seen a lot of American Robins around in our yard this winter.  To me, that seems like a new phenomenon, but I have a friend who claims that Robins have always been around in the winter, they just change their habits and spend more time in the woods where they have more natural shelter and food and spend less time out in the open.  I truly believe Dianne because she tends to know about such things, but it still seems strange to me to see them wandering around the yard throughout the winter.  I grew up thinking of them as harbingers of spring.  These days they don’t really bring any good news with them.  Still, I must admit, they are nice little flashes of color when they are around.

4)  Yep.  It’s a foggy, drizzly and generally ugly day today in Central Massachusetts...a reminder that we aren’t really that far away from Mud Season.

5)  I am an exceptionally messy cook.  I definitely need an apron.  I used to have one.  What the heck ever happened to that thing??  Anyhow, I was perusing Crate and Barrel the other day and they happened to have one on sale.  I bit and ordered it.  Here it is.  I love it.  The fabric is a Vera design.  I think it might make me want to cook more vegetables and even if it doesn't, it will help save my clothes.

LINKING TO A RURAL JOURNAL'S

RANDOM 5 FRIDAY!

Variety is the spice of life...

It’s cold here.  Not as cold as in the upper Midwest, but pretty darn cold.  It is also very bright and beautiful out.  It seems like the birds are extra active in weather like this.  They have been coming and going with great frequency to the feeder.  Now and then they have to rest though and when they do, I have been trying to grab my camera.  Here are the birds who have visited us lately.

The official state bird of Massachusetts:  the Black-capped Chickadee.  He looks official, doesn't he?

The cardinals are not as apt to hang around near the house.  If you look closely in this photo, you will see this dashing male's wife sitting on a branch behind him.

This little Junco looks curious, but the Juncos are very skittish so I don't think he knows I'm there.

Of course, the Wild Turkeys have to stop in the yard on their way through the neighborhood.  I got a kick out of watching them jump off the ground trying to grab the leftover crab apples off the tree.  Sort of the opposite of bobbing for apples.

This morning, there are American Robins in the yard.  We've noticed that they  have been sticking around during the winter the last few years.  So much for them being the heralds of spring.