Birdseed

attracts more than the birds!


If I fill it up in the evenings, they are here within the next 10-20 minutes. I think they hide in the woods and wait for me!

They pretend like they're afraid, but they don't run away. They just keep coming out of the woods.

Some pretend not to see me.

Some keep a close eye on me while they steal peanuts, sunflower seeds and corn.

They're just a little spoiled and I love having them in my backyard!

Don't forget about the BIG SPRING GIVE AWAY!

Spring Give Away!!!

Biscuit is very disappointed in me for not getting this up earlier but here it is, finally! I was going to call this my "Spring is in the Air" Give Away but since it's still COLD here, I'm going to call it my "Wishing for Spring" Give Away!

Here's the loot!

I couldn't help it! I just kept putting Springy things into my cart!!!
First, I found these!

I have two of these in my kitchen window. I also gave one to a friend for her birthday (Hi Candy! She has started reading my blog and wants to come to my house and can this summer...yeah!) and I picked up 2 more to share with one lucky reader.
Sticking with the Spring theme, I found the latest edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac Garden Guide.

Don't tell, but I bought one of those for myself also!
How can you have Spring without seeds, seeds and

more seeds???

There's everything from cosmos to sunflowers to morning glories in here!
Then, I found these adorable little blue glass votive cups that look like flower pots! There's 4 of them in all!

Cute! Cute! Cute!
And when you're done gardening for the day, you can come inside and write down all the things you planted in this cute little Springy journal and make sticky notes of things that still need to be done!

Relax and light a pineapple scented candle...

(I added this cute little Spring graphic that I got from PCCrafter.com © Laurie Furnell. I just love her stuff!)
Then, take a long, hot soak in the tub with some English Lavender soap.

When you're done soaking, you can get all dressed up and wear this pretty pink pendent out to dinner! Dragonflies are so cool! I have two boys, I have to like bugs!

Well, at least that's what I would do with all this stuff! You can do whatever you want with all the goodies if you win!

Julie over at Cliff Circle Views (link to her giveaway is at the top under ANNOUNCEMENTS!) had an excellent idea when she decided to keep it simple! One entry per person. You don't have to be a follower (but I would love it if you decided to be), you don't have to share the link (of course, that would be awesome if you wanted to share it because you're just one of those sharing kind of people, but it's not necessary). You don't have to do anything EXCEPT post that you want the loot and make sure I have a way of getting in touch with you if you win, like leaving your name/username instead of anonymous. There's always a few of those. You can't win if I don't know who you are!! If you have a blogger dashboard and your username is a clickable link to your blog or email address then you're good! No worries, I'll find ya; otherwise, tell me where I can find you in case you win!

The first day of Spring is March 20th but I won't make you wait that long! I want you to have your goodies by then! So deadline is in 1 week! March 5th, 2010! Winner will be announced Saturday, March 6th!

New Ladies in the Coop!

I am in love with Ameraucanas! My grandmother had Ameraucana hens. I called them fuzzy faces when I was little, they are also nicknamed "Easter Eggers". I bought 3, what I thought were, pullets from an Amish neighbor. Turns out one of them is a rooster! Yep, this guy was posing as an impostor pullet!

Yep, he snuck (or is it sneaked? or did sneak? whichever!) he got in and made himself right at home! He didn't have these tail feathers when I brought him and he wasn't crowing yet!

So what does that mean??
It means I need more Ameraucana hens so I can raise fuzzy faced chicks!!
I checked at 3 Amish farms over the weekend with chickens for sale and they all directed me back to a man who lives about 3 miles from me. I called him up and YES, he had lots of them.
He had white ones.

and brownish-speckled ones

and BLUE ones! I love the color of these little gals. I got 4 of them.

I picked out 6 Ameraucanas and loaded them in my chicken crate. As I turned to go, I saw these beautiful orange ladies. They looked just like Pumpkin! (You can also see the impostor in the Pumpkin link too). I had to have some Pumpkin ladies! I talked the guy into selling me 2 of these fluffy butt gals also. Can you tell that Pumpkin is a happy man?

Everyone seems to be getting along just great

and I have already gotten 4 blue/green eggs!

Biscuit said to tell you all to check back tomorrow! We're having a give away but we're not telling what it is! You can find out in the morning!!

Pretty Kitty

I don't know if anyone here remembers but several months ago I blogged about moving 27 bales of hay to get to a meowing and obviously stranded one-day old baby kitten. The mother had them on top of the hay in the barn loft and the little gal had fallen in a hole. I couldn't just leave her in there crying like that! So here she is.....all grown up....well sort of.....she's not very big!

This is Midge.

She's such a pretty gal and as sweet as can be. She has two brothers and she's only half the size of them. Not really sure why she turned out to be so little but she's one heck of a mouser! She can catch a mouse before the other two even realize it's running through the feed room in the barn.

She has one of those smooshed up little faces that make her look like a purebred but she's just a beautiful little barn cat and I wanted to share her cute little face with you!

I Won! I Won!

I entered a photo contest on Facebook sponsored by Clark Color Labs, the company where I get my Christmas cards and other photo gifts printed.

They do great work and have lots of products to choose from. I am so excited to have been one of the top 5 out of the first 100 photos submitted.

It was this Winter Fun shot that won! Of course, the boys are loving it that they won a photo contest!

The prize is my choice of photo products so I picked their fleece collage blanket. I bought 5 of these for Christmas gifts fully intending to keep one for myself because I already had a gift bought for my mom but when she saw it, she LOVED it and I couldn't tell her it wasn't for her!!!

Go check them out. They are offering 40 free 4 x 6 prints with your first order if you sign up now! You can also find Clark Color Labs on Facebook!

And on a side note...today is my Dad's 68th birthday! Happy Birthday Dad (and Papaw!) We love you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I got beautiful roses from my wonderful husband!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with love!

So what did you get?

Meet Boo!

I want to introduce you to BOO! Boo is a Cochin Bantum pullet. Her Dad and Mom are Stud and Bootsie. Bootsie has always been my little surrogate mother and taken all the babies (or eggs) that I wanted her to take care of. Last year she laid eight little eggs of her own and I decided to let her sit on them and see what we would get. One egg hatched! One out of eight and it hatched on Halloween. She was tiny!

Hatching on Halloween, shortening the name Bootsie and the fact that she was as black as a spooky little Halloween kitty got her the name Boo!

She's grown up to be a beautiful young lady!

She looks like her Dad...

but she's just as sweet as her mother is

and she loves to pose and show off her feathery little boots

and talk to you in that sweet little hen cluck!

They make such a cute little family and they have the run of the new pen since I have moved all the new pullets/hens in with my older hens now that they are laying.

Speaking of older hens laying....

I got pecked a couple of times getting these....

but at least they are finally laying again!

And let me know about the new font size...keep it or go back to the smaller?

Granny Cake

Well my Granny didn't make this, but she would have loved it. If you're a health nut, step away now! If you're dieting...don't look! This one is bad....very bad! I got this recipe from my mom yesterday after eating a piece of this granny cake at her house. It's so easy and I already had everything I needed right in my pantry. I bet you do too!


GRANNY CAKE
1 - 20 oz. can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. self-rising flour

Mix together and pour into greased 9 x 13-inch pan.

1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix together and sprinkle on top of batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

While cake is baking, mix the following ingredients in saucepan:
1 cup evaporated milk
1 stick margarine
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Bring to boil, boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for a couple more minutes. Stirring occasionally. When cake is done baking, punch holes in top with wooden spoon handle and pour boiled mixture over top while cake is still hot.

I had to eat a piece right away, I couldn't wait, but you are supposed to wait until the cake cools and the "icing" will thicken and make a gooey delicious mixture of cake and icing. This cake is very rich. I like to serve it with vanilla ice cream while it's still a little warm but starting to get gooey!

Enjoy!!!

Cardinalfest 2010

SENDING OUT A BIG WELCOME TO ALL MY NEW FOLLOWERS!

I love to blog about Northern Cardinals, also called red birds and known to birders as the Cardinalis cardinalis, because they are such beautiful birds!

I forgot to fill the feeders yesterday evening and we got about 4 inches of snow during the night. I went out this morning and filled them for my little feathered friends. By the time I made my rounds to all the feeders and got back inside, the cardinals had found the gazebo feeder out back. The deer broke the Plexiglas in this feeder pushing on it with their noses trying to get to the birdseed so now I use it as a platform feeder and the roof keeps my seeds dry.

I always have several cardinals at my feeders but this morning I got a special treat. I think they all showed up and brought their relatives!


I love that splash of red against the white snow!

I had them on the feeder....

and patiently waiting their turn in the trees.

They are so much more refined than those grackles, starlings and cowbirds who fight and push and shove and squawk at each other trying to get a bite of food!

Of course, this little guy doesn't care how many show up as long as they leave his feeder alone!

Don't forget to feed the birds! I'm making up a big batch of my suet this afternoon. All my homemade suet feeders are empty!

Snowy Weekend Fun

This is the first snow big enough for the boys to really get out and play in that they can remember and they made the most of it.

Slipping, sliding and sledding









Jake only rolled off a thousand times!

Luke was like a rock. He didn't roll off once!
Then we built a snowman ummmm woman!



She was a happy gal!

Luke had a long talk with her. Wonder what they were discussing?



We made snow angels!

and had a snowball fight...
Jake was mad at me in this pic.

But he got over it when he hit me in the head with a snowball.


And while other critters were out braving the snow, eating a little corn.....



The puppies had done their time in the snow, did their bathroom duties, chased the boys around the house and were ready to come back inside and get their big fat paws warm. I came in to check on them a little later and found them like this..................snoring.

Now they know how to spend a cold snow day!