inclemency

caller

calorifacient

Chip got a nifty present from his sister from Alaska:

We finally got around to filling it last week--we knew we'd have to make our own food, which is partly why it took us a while. I had a general idea of how to make our own suet, but decided I needed a refresher. Quick disclaimer: it's called suet if it's beef fat. If you use pork fat (lard), it's not technically suet, but the formula for the bird food is still the same. Here's the generic 'recipe', for your outdoor birds' dining pleasure. You'll need equal parts fat and seed (and extra fat is just fine).

Melt your fat over low heat until rendered.
Add seeds.
Pour the mixture into cake pan and spread to cool.
Once hard, cut into blocks (if you have a square shaped holder).
Wrap 'extras' and put in freezer until ready to refill holder.
Enjoy the birds that come eat the treat!

Because this feeder is various holes, we just let it cool mostly, then filled holes as if it were chunky pb. Then we stuck the perches in the holes and hung it outside! We're still waiting for customers, but sometimes these things take a little time.

feathers

The next Team WIST challenge features one of my favorite things: birds!

I've also been inspired by a few catalog pages (as I have in the past), particularly the recent Pottery Barn issue. I had the WIST challenge in mind when I set out to keep up with my self-imposed challenge. When this:

popped out at me, I knew combining the challenges was conceivable. They'd be a little more generic, as I didn't have people that needed placecards, but that can be added later, too, if someone falls in love with the idea.

The feather pattern I got from Lia Griffith (who has a lot of amazing stuff--if you're on Pinterest, you'll see her quite often). The cards themselves are Distress Inks on watercolor paper, then splatted with water and dried with my heat gun to give the splotchy look.

stoic

dousing

alate

I'm a bird person. 


I tend to geek out a little when certain birds come back to our area. And STAY.


Normally, Balitmore Orieles are just passing through, but the past couple of years have seen a pair or two stick around our neighborhood. I asked Chip if he could fashion me a new orange holder:

I have another orange on the pea pole, and the grape jelly filling is apparently well liked by a certain someone else, too:

And I was super excited to see a Rosebreasted Grosbeak last year--very briefly. So imagine how excited I was to see both male AND female this year! And at our feeder! I only managed to snap a distant side-view of Mrs. Grosbeak:

little birdy

So it's been FOREVER since I've participated, but two things got me moving on this one:

• First, the challenge for Daring Cardmakers this week is birds.
• Second, I just opened up a stamp set that I've had for ages and decided it's necessary to use it.

This card could be an encouraging note to someone who's feeling a little too different. It could be a card for someone who is the life of the party and you want to celebrate it. It could be a card about Halloween costumes! The inside is blank, so do what you will!


The only thing I want to change is to add a little greenery. I just haven't figured out the best way to do that yet.  [grin]


Thanks to The Ribbon Reel for sponsoring this week's dare! You could win prizes--just check out the DCM blog.

lovebird

owlry

passenne

For Christmas, I got a bigger lens for my camera, and have been enjoying its use to capture some of the birds hanging around our yard this summer!


We've had an oriel pair hanging around this year, and I hope they'll be back next year and will learn that the orange sitting in our yard is safe and tasty.


A couple of weeks ago I kept hearing a loud chittering that I didn't recognize. Once I figured out where it was coming from, I grabbed the binoculars, and behold! It was a baby Downey woodpecker. (sorry for blurriness--I had to put it on manual focus and the parents kept jumping around the tree)


The neighbors' cherry tree didn't have a chance with a flock of Cedar Waxwings in the area!

tweetie

The dare this week over at Daring Cardmakers features one of my most favoritist things: birds!


I went with a chickadee, using a wall stencil to paint the bird. Inside is blank, as I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet, but it's so nice and sunny that it probably should be a get well-type card!

shaking

So this at 4:30 this morning, I heard the birds freaking out in their cages, so I went out to investigate. Inga seemed to be just sitting there when I got to them, but Earl was bouncing around like something had bit him. He finally calmed down (I couldn't see anything unusual) and we all went back to bed.

Then I opened up Yahoo this morning and saw this news:
Earthquake in IL

Guess what time that earthquake was?

Yup.

pájaro

We've had some exciting bird years recently--I started a list, in fact, of all the birds we spot around the yard to just keep track of who we see. We also have had lots of nests on and around the house: Eastern Phoebes build them, and then when they're done, someone else takes over. This year, the one by the back door has been overtaken by a couple of house finches. And there are three wren houses scattered about the yard.

During the winter, we have a suction cup feeder we stick to the dining room window, which is mainly visited by chickadees, but the occassional cardinal and nuthatch comes to dine, too. This is very exciting for Earl and Inga, as they love chirping at them, trying to get the wild birds' attention. The parakeets immitate a gold finch very well, but haven't quite mastered the chickadee, though I heard Earl kind of do the 'chick-a-dee-dee-dee' once.

Now that it's spring (well, only technically, as it's been snowing this weekend...), the chickadee feeder is down, and the finch feeder will go up in the backyard. The sunshine brings the birds out more, and it's made our parakeets feisty and ready to explore. The other day, both of them found their way into my craft room all by themselves! And Inga decided to try landing on the top of the cupboards in the kitchen, and I saw Earl in the hallway to our bedroom.

It's interesting to think about how they adapt and respond to change. In a lot of ways, I think they're like humans: at first anything foreign is scary and they want nothing to do with it. Over time, though, they realize maybe it's not that bad, and perhaps, it's even better than the way it used to be! Take Inga, for example, as I bought her a new perch that would be great for her feet and nails. For about 3 or 4 months, she avoided it religiously, but now, you'll catch her on it quite often:

I'm not sure why change is so hard, even when it's good change, and change you know has to happen, else life will stall. I have met a couple of people who thrived on change, but they're pretty rare, and our conversation about that subject didn't delve too deeply (and it was a long time ago, so I only remember having the discussion, not exactly what we talked about), so I don't have answers in that regard. Maybe it has something to do with our focus: God or the world? I don't know. I just know I'm one of those who struggles with change, but will do so, as I don't want to be left behind.

The birds are done molting, finally, and are much perkier!

Book recommendation: Hannah, Divided by Adele Griffin
Recipe recommendation: Pan-Roasted Pear Salad with Watercress, Parmesan and Pecans
Movie recommendation: Vantage Point

Turdus Migratorius

Spring must be here!

This morning I looked out the back window and saw 15 to 20 robins running, flying and digging around in the yard. It was rather impressive to see 5 or 6 clinging to the same branch, as well as several rooting around in the bushes, looking for food, and flocks chasing each other in flight. The chickadees, juncos and even a woodpecker were especially lively today, too.

I've been throwing food on the ground for the juncos (and some sparrows), and lately a squirrel has been visiting, too...I think he likes the corn that's in the mix I sprinkle out there. This also means the neighbor's dog ventures over to sniff the ground...

Photo from a report for Mr. Lancaster's Environmental Science class.

Book recommendation: The Wide Mouthed Frog by Keith Faulkner
Recipe recommendation: Bird Pie (from Roald Dahl's book The Twits)
Game recommendation: Be My Guest