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I finally did it! The leaves were ankle deep on my deck, the pugs almost got lost out there! And the bird feeders all needed to be cleaned out good before filling. And I would have to get up on my step ladder — all the way up on the top step to hang the second feeder from the right! Scary! — and I’ve been putting it off for weeks because it was all such a big job but it’s mid-December and I need to feed my wildlings.
Today I charged out there with the leaf blower (scaring the pugs no end!) and blew off the whole deck and the benches all the way around, cleaned all the bird feeders and filled them, and yes drug the step ladder out there and climbed up again and again to hang the feeders. The three middle ones are especially big and hold a LOT of seed, and yes, that’s seed all along the bricks just under the windows for the squirrels — all my feeders are squirrel proof but they’ve got to have something to eat too! I feed the squirrels and the birds all winter long (and usually all year long because I like their company. These are windows looking out from my studio on the deck side, once the birds find them again we will have quite a crew coming and going out there and squirrels aplenty. And f.y.i. I get my birdseed at Costco, a really big, 25# bag of seed for $16, and it’s really nice seed. At this price I can afford to feed them year round and I love that. This is the first year since the fire that I have all of my feeders up and I am just delighted. I will keep them going now.
Like finally decorating again for Christmas it really makes a house a home to have bird feeders out to feed the little ones, even if you just do it through the winter. You can see my studio Christmas tree through the windows, and I can sit here at my work table and watch the birds coming and going. Watching the birds while I’m having my morning coffee is one of my favorite things to do. I cherish those first sips of coffee while watching all types of birds come. And I think it’s time to get some suet cakes to hang from the other side of the deck. Yes, my deck is a big feeding station for all of my wild friends. It is a miracle and a blessing to have them here. In spring I often see cardinals at the feeders with their babies, teaching them about the big world, and there is nothing cuter.
And this was my deck before the fire. In the spring I hope to start my pot garden out there again. And yes, the deck was bright flamingo pink before the fire. I miss that.
It is after 5 now and it is getting dark. There will be no birds at the feeder tonight. I hope they come back soon. I hope tomorrow they’ll return. I’ll be on the lookout for them and I will be over the moon happy when they are here in the mornings again as I sip my coffee and start the day with birdsong and pug snores. I am engaging with the world more now, even here at my little Dragonfly Cottage. I wonder what 2018 will bring?
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
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I am so happy to hear the joy in your word and the happiness coming in each statement in the blog. Dragon Fly Cottage is coming back to life a rebirth of sorts. I love the Flamingo Pick Deck you had. Did the Deck get rebuilt after the fire. I took a drive the other day to Sonoma where over 3000 homes burned during the Napa fires. Devastating to say the least It is just unimaginable that fire leaves Nothing, but nothing in it’s path. I gave Thanks as I drove through the area that my home was untouched and saved from the devastation. And I thought about all those family’s starting over from scratch. These fires were determined started from PGE Pacific Gas and Electric down power lines so I am sure these family’s will be in a fight to get compensation which does nothing to replace family airloom and pets and things that were lost. I did think of you as well as I drove past this area and Thankful that you are finding ways to be reborn. Hugs….JIM
Thank you so much Jim and yes I truly loved my pink deck. In putting out the fire everything on the deck was knocked over, all the plants died, the big lamp in the middle was knocked over and broken, everything was in a shambles and the deck was black from all the potting soil all over it for months and soot from the fire. They didn’t have to rebuild the deck but they did clean it and paint it again, this time a sage green. They only wanted to use a special heavy duty deck paint (which does NOT come in hot pink! or any really pretty colors at all, the green was the best I could do in choosing the color.)There’s so much to do here I just feel overwhelmed. But blowing off the deck and getting all the bird feeders cleaned and filled and up was big for me today. And now I have chicken in the oven and did a massive! cleanup in the kitchen. I am inching along.
I feel so badly for all the people in California both in your area and now southern California. I’m telling you living through a fire is such a horror. And it’s not just the loss of all the things, and the heartbreak of losing several beloved parrots, but when you come back and the house is rebuilt it doesn’t look anything like it once did, it’s hard to feel at home, and it’s hard to feel safe. I know a lot of people think “Good grief, isn’t she over it by now?” No, and most people aren’t. I STILL, nearly 4 years later, remember things all of a sudden that I used to have that I lost. I have bad dreams about that night still and it isn’t, as you know, until very recently that I’ve begun to feel at home at all here. But I am making baby steps, and the Christmas decorations and the bird feeders filled and up are huge for me. There is no way to recover from these losses quickly, my therapist told me it takes years and still it will stay with you. So I pray for all the people in California and other areas of the country who lost homes to hurricanes and flooding and more. I pray all will recover with time, even as I go step by step, and day by day, finding my way.
Thanks for being there dear Jim, thanks for listening. It means more than you know…
Love,
Maitri
thanks so much for writing about the bird feeders. i’ve had one outside my study window for years. The string holding it up broke, and I re-strung it in a different way and the birds DO NOT like it. Maybe it swings too much when they land on it. It makes me sad not to see the birdies coming to my window.. A few days ago I thought, oh i could ask my family for a new bird feeder for the holidays, and then i forgot. So since tom and alana are here, i the kitchen, making latkes for the 5th night of chanukah, after reading your blog I went in and told my daughter … “I want a bird feeder!” I will be so excited to hang it and watch the birds flock to it, now that the air is so cold, I know they are hungry….
You did, in jewish terminology, a “mitzvah” (good deed) in writing about bird feeders today. so THANKS honey!!! xo ka
Oh Katya honey I’m just delighted! You will have to take a picture of your new feeder, when you get it, through your study window! I’d love to see! And oh I love the picture in my mind of you and Tom and Alana in the kitchen making latkes. I’m not Jewish but I always imagine Chanukah to be such a beautiful thing to celebrate. I love menorahs. Such rich traditions.
And oh! I love that I did a mitzvah for you re the bird feeders! What a lovely thought. I’m so glad we could share this. We’ll have to share pictures of our birds at our feeders over the winter! 🙂
Love you honey, and my love to Tom and Alana,
Maitri xo
We love our bird feeder in the back — it’s mainly full of black oil sunflower seeds.
At this time of year, it’s a happening place, full of chickadees, titmice, blue jays, cardinals, and the occasional woodpeckers (red-bellied and downies). Not to mention the doves, too, who enjoy the seeds as wel.
Oh Lisa, aren’t the birds such a delight? I get all the birds you mention here. I am especially fond of the little chickadees! And the wee titmice. All of them of course but something about the tiny determined ones that just warm my heart. Enjoy your wildlings, they are such a blessing when they visit! 🙂