For The Birds!

Well, this has been one interesting trip as most of you know!  If you can believe it, we are STILL in Oklahoma.  But our plans (chuckle, chuckle), is to leave in the next few days AGAIN.

In the mean time, we did manage to get a LOT of work done around the house and property including the trimming of hedging and the falling of some dead trees.  After getting most of the mess out of the way, we starting thinking of how to beautify this aging property so that it is more pleasurable to come back to every year.  Now for some reason unknown to me, I decided that putting out a bird feeder would be a good idea.  I have two cockatiels that I have owned for the past 7 years named Bubbles and Pickles......

Meet "Bubbles"....

And "Ms Pickles"......

ok.  So, one would think that having two of my own birds right in my home would be sufficient. For some reason, my love of animals got to me and I decided on this little bird feeder out on our front porch. It was only there a couple of hours before a couple of birds showed up and realized that that "thing" hanging over the bush was not going to eat them...ha.

Then I noticed the bush itself!  Oh dear......

I had to go to breakfast to think about where this adventure might be leading us......haha.  So, we went to a place called "Jimmy's Egg".

I guess this is "Jimmy".....hahaha

I have recently subscribed to a social networking site called "Pinterest" where you....well, pin up your interest.  One of the things I discovered was how to make some bird baths from practically nothing or very cheap.  I figured...Hey, if they eat surely they need something to wash things down with and bath...right?  So, we headed off to Goodwill and some other thrift stores to see what we could come up with to help our feathered friends.  I found these three items; (child's mirror, candle holder, pot top)  for less than 5 dollars and came up with this.......

  

the trick was to somehow secure the pot lid to the candle holder thingee in such a way that when the birds sit on it, it will not tip over.  Scootard took the foam handles of some garden kneeling pad to make it fit more securely together.

Then I thought....Hey!  why not put a bird feeder outside of the kitchen window along with a "makeshift" bird bath?  I took an old plant stand and put a pan from a planter pot on it, put some little rocks in it for weight and presto; a bird bath!  It didn't take much time before they found this one too.  But we also had to look up some other birds that were showing up to see what they were.  the ones you see at the feeder are "house sparrows"

 but we now have two pairs of Doves and some Rose Neck Finches that show up every day as well.  I took this picture off the web of a ring necked dove.  I never seem to have my camera when the two pairs show up in the back yard....

And here is a picture of a male cardinal that comes.  We have also seen a female which has a brown body and a red face....

but these are my favorite ones....the Rose Neck or some call it the "Cut Throat" finch....there are lots of these that come....

 I have seen one or two of these robins hanging around, but I think the others run them off since there is power in numbers!

and this is a shot of the House Sparrow feeder from the kitchen window.  Notice the makeshift bird bath on the left....:-)

 
Part of our beautification process for this old house is to replace a fence in the back that has been repaired twice in the past year.

but of course you cannot (or should not) "replace" a fence without checking with the city first and obtaining permits.  After they come out and locate the lines for cable, gas and internet, they will mark the lines with flags and paint so that they workers will not dig the ground in that area.

Before they came out, we figured there were some things we "could" do without their permission that would not get in the way of any thing.  We decided to put out some solar lights (three of which we have had to return) and we separated some Iris bulbs that had stopped blooming because of over crowding through the years. Hopefully, they will bloom again with a little tender loving care.  This red flag was put there by the telephone and cable company.  It runs the length of the yard from the house out to the alley..

This one is from the gas company and it runs along the back fence all the way to the meter...

  Somewhere in our travels, we turned into "American Pickers" and found our way to another thrift store after eyeballing some beautification options for the backyard.  We found this chair that a lady wanted to charge us $10.00 dollars for.  We managed to get her down to $5.00.  But it does need some help.  So, we picked up some white exterior gloss paint and some brushes to give it a "face lift" of sorts later.  Not bad -eh?

This is a picture of what I hope to accomplish when we return.......

I also managed to snag this child safety fence that I will use "somewhere out there" for a lattice for some trailing roses or some other colorful vine....:-). Right now, the plan is to use it as a cover for a brick grill that is desperate need of repair or rebuild. total price for this fence?...$5.00!

 I am happy to say that our Ficus trees that we whacked back a few weeks ago are starting to give us some new leaves.  I mean they were cut back to virtually nothing.  I wasn't sure it was going to survive!

 

Meanwhile, I decided to take a look at the bird feeder hanging at the kitchen window and this is what I saw!  There was no more room at the feeder so the birds starting lining up on the fence and window sills!  And we had already plowed through 25 pounds of wild bird food!

And then a quick peek out front and they were lined up on the garden border because they wasn't any more room at the feeder.  I moved the bird bath down to the garden and off the porch!  Sheesh....what was I thinking when I started this??.  Scootard is sure that we have over 200 birds showing up now. We have been able to add the Robin Red Breast to the visitors list now but you don't see him in this picture.   oh dear....

and as you can see, we have lined the flower bed with plastic to kill out any grass and weeds and prep the ground for when we return to do some planting.

It was time to buy more food after only 3 days!
This is a 50 pound bag.  haha.  When we pulled up to the co-op, the guys says "I knew you would be back"! haha.  I told him that they were eating us out of house and home...hahaha.  He went on to tell us that some of the farmers have been complaining that the larger birds are pulling the grasses up from the root and causes problems for the horses and cows. He told us that the natural food source for these birds are either dormant or underground for the winter.  So, they depend on humans to keep them supplied.   My family doesn't see how that is possible that the farmers are having such problems since every bird in Oklahoma has gotten the word that there is plenty of food and water at our house!  We haven't seen the larger birds with the exception of the doves though.

I thought, perhaps I need another bird bath to put somewhere.  I found this anchor/hocking dish at the same place I found the chair and gave the lady $4.00 for it.  I found the decorative glass rocks for $1.00 at the Dollar Tree......:-).  cool- eh?.  I think I'd better quit now!

Scootard decided to join the festivities and added two hanging bird baths....

here is the second one....

It is mid day and all of the feeders are empty!  I have cut open the second 50 pound bag.......

We have counted three separate flocks of birds that have to total close to 300 by now!  I'm sure they will find somewhere else to get their daily meals after Scootard and I leave for Canada in a few days....

Wow......what an experience!  hahaha.  Maybe humming birds would be a better choice?  haha

gee whiz!

Slowing down to Catch Up!

Well, it has been several days since my last post.  The reason is we have had to make an unexpected drive back to Oklahoma after taking 6 days to get to San Francisco due to a death in the family of a very dear friend.  

The good thing is before we got the message that this wonderful lady had passed away, I was able to have a long overdue 2 day reunion with my brother who lives in California.  My brother is 11 (or 12) years older than me and left for the Air force when I was very young; perhaps 5 or 6.  I never saw him again until the death of our father in 1976.  I was 17 and he was close to 30.

I didn't recognize him and never had the opportunity to speak to him as he left so suddenly afterward.  So, to be able to reconnect with him after 43 years of a gap was like being in a movie....:-).  We had it set to meet the day before the Super Bowl for lunch.  This is our first look at each other after so many years.....:-).  And the beautiful lady beside him is his wife Susan....:-).  Scootard had the task of capturing as many pictures as he could....:-)

yay!!  We meet again.....:-)  After such a long time....

And I met my niece for the first time.  She is almost an adult and we are just laying eyes on each other for the first time.....:-).  Very cool indeed.

After a few moments of....well, taking in the moments...ha...we headed for lunch.

Scootard and I had never been to this place, but it didn't take long before we connected the name with the place!

I mean how often is a person greeted by safari creatures when they go out to eat?  Cool-eh?

We ordered our food and then made plans to meet again the next day and watch the super bowl together.

 
Needless to say that I didn't sleep that well that night with everything whirling around in my head.  The morning came quickly, but for some reason it seems we got a late start.

Since I was too excited to really think of anything else, Scootard and I decided to make our way to the second largest flea market in the US which is located in San Jose, California to pass some time before the big reunion.

We thought tennis shoes were probably our best bet if we were going to make a whirlwind trip around the market before the reunion....

And as flea markets go, there was something for everyone.....

I tried my best to get a snap shot of this instruments without the people in my shot, but I waited, and waited and waited and although I was standing there poised with my camera, I could not get the shot without these people in it......oh well....:-(.

I'm not sure of what these were.  Everything there had a Hispanic "flare" to it.  Pinatas maybe??

And there were these stove like thingees that could have made a cool outdoor grill depending on what you wanted to cook.

The plan was to meet at my brother's house and then go over to some friends to watch the game.  We didn't have much to eat that morning and decided that we had better grab a little something before heading over there.....

on the way out, we saw that they even had a rock climbing wall set up!  Who does that at a flea market?? haha  Wow!

Farewell, sweet fleas!

  
One of the things that I learned about my brother was that he is a professional race car driver.....:-).  And he even let me sit in his "baby" who was parked  and covered.

Scootard got a chance to sit in it as well......:-).  Although, I don't know how he managed with his long legs.....

It was a tight fit for me, but not because I'm tall!  haha

I saw all of these stickers under the hood and remembered that "Ms Vickey" (my scooter), still didn't have a sticker to cover her "sore" from the tie down straps rubbing against her paint job.......

It was Sunday and time to head over to a friend's house to watch the game...

There was a lot of food being prepared in the kitchen and we didn't want to be in the way.  Scootard and I decided to give ourselves a sort of tour of our new friends backyard.  She was growing a Meyer Lemon tree.  At first glance they look just like oranges.......

 

This is what happens when you bite one!  hahaha......I DID NOT follow suit........for obviously reasons.

Scootard decided that the next thing he would eat should be a cupcake instead! haha.  The cupcake had a football ring sitting on it which Scootard took the opportunity to use as a proposal of marriage to me again......ahhhhhh...:-).  Well, I figured since we were already "hitched", I might as well say yes...again.

I am not a sports person, but enjoy watching other people get their knickers in a twist over their respective teams.  My brother and his friends are 49ers fans.  Needless to say, it was quite "intense" in the room....haha.  I kept telling them to root for whoever was winning.  That way, you can't lose!

 It was a good day and I am glad we had that weekend to spend with my family.  Because the very next day at noon, we were unexpectedly on the road headed back to Oklahoma. We hope to see them once again on our way back to Canada when we leave.