Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Happy Family Day!
Good morning all! I imagine most of you have never heard of Family Day, but it is a holiday here in Ontario and some other provinces as well, though they don’t all refer to it as Family Day. I must admit to being a bit confused by this particular holiday. I admit I’m single, no kids, therefore no family. Maybe that is why I’m confused. Of course, I do get confused rather easily anyway. However, it just seems a bit odd that there needs to be a holiday to remind people that they need to spend time with their family. I mean, shouldn’t that just be kind of automatic? You know, more than once a year sort of thing. Or maybe I’m just missing something. But I guess it’s like Valentine’s Day. I mean, do people really need to be reminded? Honestly? Hard to believe. But maybe it’s because I’m single. Some things I just don’t understand.
Actually…
There are a lot of things I don’t understand. Like blue Monday. Well, okay, that I understand. It certainly started out that way for me today. But things started to get better when Muffin jumped on my lap and curled up purring away. Hard to stay down when there is a cat purring on your lap!
And then…
Since it wasn’t too cold out today and the sun was sort of shining, there was some clouds around too, I decided to go out and try to get some pics of my birds.
When I went outside there was 4 deer out back here looking for seeds dropped by the pine siskins. Those little critters go through the sunflower seeds looking for ones that are already shelled and they toss the ones they don’t want. Sigh. Still, with their small beaks I guess it is understandable. They have a terrible time breaking open those seeds. They can’t peck it open like the chickadees, they just don’t have the right kind of bill for that.
Birds…
Are sometimes cooperative, and sometimes not. Sigh.
But I did get some nice pics anyway which I am sharing today. Yesterday things went even better. It was a bit milder too which made it easier on my fingers than today. Plus there were more birds around. While I was standing there taking pics one of the pine siskins looked over at me and then came hopping over and jumped on my camera! He looked it over real good and then stood right on top looking at me. So I talked to him for a bit and then he went back over to the feeder. Just a couple minutes later a female redpoll looked at me and came hopping over and jumped onto the camera, doing exactly what the siskin did. Guess they were trying to figure out what I was up to. It would have made such a great picture. Sigh. A little hard to do though. I just love the antics of these birds, it’s just great! They can be quite comical at times.
I would like to show a pic of Mama deer and I, but that one will have to stay private unfortunately.
I could hardly believe…
What I was seeing. It was LB, my very nasty little squirrel that chased all the other squirrels away from here. There he was yesterday and today…with another squirrel! He actually found a mate. Hard to believe. Love got to him after all. Well, their kind of love anyway. They were running around, jumping through the snow, having lots of fun together! Amazing things happen sometimes. It was nice to see though. Maybe now he will settle down and be normal.
Here I sit…
Enjoying a nice hot cup of mint tea. No, I didn’t make this myself, it’s bought from the store stuff. Fresh, grow it yourself mint, is best though. And it can be dried like the raspberry leaves to keep through the winter. Still, this isn’t bad.
Howling…
At the moon. Or something. A dog was howling last night. All night. I know. I was awake enough and heard it. Sigh. Must admit it was getting a bit irritating. I don’t think it enjoyed being left outside. I didn’t enjoy it much either. And I wasn’t outside. Sigh. But the moon is looking nice right now. Just wish my pics had turned out better. But it had cooled off quite a bit and I was a shivering a little. Oh well. Maybe next time. If it was always easy there would be no challenge and that would get boring. Just makes us try harder. Or it should.
Yes, I know…
Next time we will be on another adventurous adventure! Okay, bad grammar. That’s normal for me though. I think. Yes I do. Sometimes. Though it usually makes my head hurt. Which reminds me. Oh, wait, it’s time to quit for another day. Sorry it wasn’t very exciting today, my brain just isn’t working too good. Come to think of it, that’s kind of normal too. Sigh.
Don’t forget to check through the rest of the stuff on my site, you just might find something else you like! Anyway, enjoy the next few days and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod
Sunny Days!
Good morning everyone whatever time of day it is for you! Yes, I know. It’s not morning here either. But it just sounds so nice. It was a beautiful sunny day! And we just have not been getting many of those this winter. And it wasn’t too cold. Kind of nice after getting all that extra snow yesterday. Sigh. So I was outside for a while getting some new pics. I know you are probably tired of looking at the same birds all the time, but there really isn’t a huge variety this time of year.
Unfortunately the little redpolls were once again not cooperating with me. There was several of them out there as I watched out the window. So I grabbed my camera and out I went. They were gone. Rats, gnats and blueberry bats. Another time. Which came a few hours later. Great! Grabbed my camera and out I went. They were still there! Just as I got them in view…big blue landed in the apple tree and scared them away. I know he didn’t mean to, but, sigh. So I took his pic instead, but, just as I clicked…well, the result is my featured image.
Speaking of…
Visitors to my deck. I added another new one the other night. I heard something out on the feeder outside my window. I mean the board sitting on boxes outside my window. Have to be careful what I say. Feeders are not supposed to be like that. Anyway, Muffin was looking intently so I knew it must be something different. Sure enough, a flying squirrel. Now, flying squirrels don’t fly, they soar. Incredibly. And fast. I have watched them soar from tree to tree. I have had them at my feeders in other places I have lived. At one place they became very friendly, just like the red squirrels. By the way, red squirrels are not red, they are brown. In the summer we have gray tree frogs. They are a bright green. And purple finches that are bright red. I often wonder who names these critters.
Back to…
The flying squirrels. This one family kept coming to my feeder and they became very friendly. They would even sit on my hand while they ate. Including the 2 young ones that were not quite half the size of the mother. Both the young would sit on my hand at the same time. The fur on these squirrels is very thick and ultra soft. I would pet them, rub their tummies. Their tails are very thick and bushy. I imagine they stay very warm. They lived in one of the bird houses I had put up for woodpeckers.
Spring…
Is coming, I think. But today I heard the chickadees singing their spring song. Did that ever sound nice. First time I have heard it this year. Their was several of them singing out their this morning. Maybe they know something. Right. They do this every year, sometimes they start earlier than this. But it doesn’t mean an early spring. Still, it does sound nice. And I can dream…sigh.
Why me?
It was snowing yesterday, so naturally when I come in from outside some of that snow sticks to my boots. And comes off on the mat by the door. That’s okay. But my bedroom door is right there also. So I came out of my bedroom and forgot that the mat was wet. Now my socks were wet. I don’t like wet socks. Especially in the winter. This floor is cold. So I go back in the bedroom and change socks. Fine. Then I went back outside to shovel snow. Got snow in my boot. My sock was now wet. I don’t like wet socks. I changed them when I got back inside. A little while later I was washing dishes. A pot slipped out of my hand. And dumped water on the floor. And on my feet. Soaked. I don’t like wet socks. But this time I just started laughing. Couldn’t help it. It was just too hard to believe. Poor Muffin. She came to check on me to make sure I was okay. Guess I woke her up.
And also…
That same day I managed to hit my head twice, the second time gave me a headache. That second time my ear kind of split open a bit and started bleeding, a lot. Sigh. I also hit my knee on a stool. Don’t ask. And I dropped a pile of papers on the floor that I had been trying to sort out. I was nearly finished. Had to start over. I am always surprised at how far papers can spread out across the floor when dropped like that. They never just drop straight down. Never. Sigh. And that’s just one day.
But today…
Was a nice sunny day. It felt so nice and warm as it streamed in through the window. Not long ago the birds were all gone to bed by 4:30 pm. Now they stay until 5:20 pm. The days are getting longer. And I am dreaming of warmer sunny spring days ahead. And as I sit here writing and dreaming I am sipping a hot cup of raspberry leaf tea.
But for now…
It is time to say good bye from Muffin and I until next week. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
© 2019 Steve McLeod
Steve`s Country 