Life According to Plan

When we were young Mr. Wonderful and I lived 

the Big City life and it was great.  But we learned

after a few years that it was not what we wanted

forever.

We didn't write up a plan that sitting on the deck 

or in the gazebo of our back garden while enjoying

an iced coffee was going to make us happy but that

style of living was certainly part of the plan.

It has turned out that those little things in life have 

made us so happy.  Enjoying nature in our garden

can make us giddy with joy.

The happiness we get from watching the antics

of the birds in our garden is incredible.

We fill up the feeders and the show begins.

Melissa, do you remember this behemoth of 

a feeder from your visit all those years ago?

It is still in use, though a bit worse for wear...

We do have a thief though.  Some fairly large

animal is raiding the feeders at night.  He crushed 

one of our purple cone flowers.

And smashed this sedum autumn joy.  What can 

this animal be?  I think we will have to do a 

night watch to see.

The working side of our back garden is our little

farm.  It is so nice to run out and grab some fresh

veggies for dinner.  When I travel on trains in Europe

I can see little veggie patches in all the back yards.

What has happened in our country that so many 

people never do this anymore?  When I was young

it seemed like everyone had a little garden out back.

We love sharing our photos and stories on

facebook with other nature lovers.  This

simple life has brought us so much joy!

Orioles at Avalon!

This is one of those amazing things that happen 

in my life ~ little things that let me know I am

taking the right path.

Each summer I decide on a theme for the season,

things like the Summer of Pie or the Summer of Fun.

This year I am calling the Summer of Home.

Our kids will be home this summer, BB will be arrive

next weekend and KK leaves for Spain next week but 

will come home to spend the summer with us in June.

KK starts her Senior year next year and BB plans to 

be studying abroad so this may be the last summer

 we will all be together at home before they head out

to their own apartments and beyond.

The past two summers have flown by, I have done 

nothing but work and though it has all been very

exciting, I need a bit more balance in my life.  I want

to enjoy my home and my gardens and have time to

watch the birds in my yard.

Mr. Wonderful was headed out to the home improvement

store this afternoon and I asked him to pick up a few 

thistle feeders because we love our finches.  I then said

we should think about getting an Oriole feeder this year

because I'd love to be able to attract Orioles, which we 

have never seen in our yard in the 20 years we have

lived here.

I went up to the kitchen to get a photo of the

Irish Tea Bread I made today.

I spotted a Cardinal at the platform feeder in the

crab apple tree and had to take a picture.

As I was looking through the view finder of

the camera I saw a flash of orange and thought 

it must be a Robin.  Then I looked out into the 

back of the yard and saw the brilliant flash of

orange that belongs to a Baltimore Oriole.

At first I thought I was going a bit nuts since I

had just had the Oriole feeder conversation within

the last hour.  But no, it really was a Baltimore 

Oriole ~ in my yard!

The only other time I have ever seen an Oriole was

back in June of 1996.  I wrote it down in my birding 

book.  We had friends that lived about 30 minutes 

from us and Orioles spent the summer on their 

acreage.

Mr. Oriole was thirsty and stopped for a 

drink in the birdbath by the lilac.

Someone is saying stop hogging the feeder

Mr. Cardinal!

There were five Baltimore Orioles all together

though I could only get three of them in the

picture at one time.

I called my sister and she could see them from 

her deck, after they flew into the woods, my sister

got her bird song book and we kept playing the

call for the Oriole and they would answer back.

It was so much fun!

I have definitely taken this as a sign that this 

Summer is perfect for the Summer of Home...

Inspiration

Sometimes inspiration can be found in

your own backyard.  Need some color

or pattern inspo ~ look to nature.

Here are a few visitors to Avalon 

today, they inspire me all the time.

Polar Vortex ~ Day 2

We are in day 2 of a Polar Vortex.  Simply put, 

a polar vortex is when the freezing arctic air 

decides to head south for a while and thus sends

us into a state of cold that we rarely experience.

Thankfully, we are in a warm house that is well

stocked with food.  We have a bit of cabin fever

but have watched marathons of The Tudors and

Law & Order SVU.  When we send Mia the Wonder

Dog outside she starts to limp after a few minutes.

We feel so sorry for the poor animals who have to

suffer in the bitter cold and wind.  We give them food 

and hope they can keep warm enough to survive.  The 

photo above is of one of our birds who has fluffed up 

his feathers to conserve body heat.  

Looking forward to a warm up!

Winter Storm Ion

 

It snowed ALL day yesterday, it was very

pretty and nice to be able to have the house

stocked up with food and water and have no

worries about having to leave the house.

 

 

I was able to get outside and take some

pictures and enjoy the lovely quiet of

 a snowy day.

 

 

We make sure our birds have plenty

to eat in the winter.  The cardinals

are especially beautiful against the snow.

 

 

Late last night the winds started blowing

and the temperature dropped.  This morning

we woke up to a winter wonderland and cold

like we haven't felt in years.  The wind chill

temperature was -40 F this morning. 

 

 

The birds have fluffed their feathers

to conserve their body heat.  We will

have another cold night tonight, we

are hoping the power stays on.

 

 

 

 

My Fine Feathered Friends

I love having birds be a part of my

American Homestead so I try to attract

them to my yard with feeders, houses

and birdbaths.

Today this Red Bellied Woodpecker

came to one of the suet feeders.

I think he looks especially great

against the snow.

Nesting

Spring in the Country

The birds are nesting in

our backyard.  Here is  Papa

Robin protecting the nest.

Here is the first hatchling.  You can

see a hole in one of the other eggs.

This nest is quite low to the ground

in an evergreen tree, we think it

is too close to the ground and have

been worrying about our Robin family.

We noticed the shell was gone and

found out from our bird expert that

the parents remove the shells so the

scent does not attract predators.

Sadly on Mother's Day we found a dead

baby robin in another part of the yard.

We were heartbroken.

Now there is just one baby

left in the nest and Momma and

Papa Robin are taking great care

of their baby.  You can see the wings

forming now.  We are keeping our

eyes on the nest too.

When we have nice weather

I love to hang the laundry to

dry outside.  We have had a

long Winter and then a rainy

Spring so nothing has been

hung outside for a while.

Today was lovely so I took

the laundry outside and reached

in the pin bag....

...and found this!

I guess I'll have to buy a

new bag and pins, I don't

want to ruin this nest that

must have taken so much

time to build.

For the Birds

Party at Avalon!

The birds that live here at Avalon are very lucky, they had a great Christmas.

A new sunflower feeder.

A new thistle feeder.

A new wild birdseed feeder.

A lost feather in the snow.

The Purple Martin House that only sparrows use.

The Butterfly Garden.

We love our feathered friends and feed them to bring them into our yard.

I am often distracted from work by the beautiful birds that come to visit us.