Bird Shots

Sitting on a stool inside the 5th wheel, I snapped these shots through the open screen door slider...

Flying seeds

House Finch all fluffed up

 Can any of my birding bloggy friends tell what the following bird is?

???

Goldfinch playing peek-a-boo

Eurasion Collared Dove

These are the pigs birds that frequent my feeder that I have to fill on a daily basis!

The goldfinches are a recent new visitor.  I hope they will stick around.  I also hope a few more various types of birds will stop by as the days get warmer and longer.

And, speaking of birds, they are letting me know that they are ready for their breakfast, lunch & dinner!

Till next time,

A New, Rather Large, Visitor

Yesterday the singing and chirping of the birds at the feeder suddenly ceased.

CountryBoy looked outside and saw the reason why...

A hawk wanting some dinner of its own.

I believe this is a Cooper's Hawk.

Later in the day, my sister-in-law (who lives next door) called to let me know that he was there again.

We knew every time the birds were quiet outside that the hawk was back, sitting in the tree just above the feeder.

These are the birds Mr. Cooper Hawk was wanting to feast on...

House Finches.

Incoming...

I don't know if the hawk went away full or hungry.

I don't want to even think about it even though I know that it's the way of nature and the circle of life.

I mean, surely there is plenty on the buffet a few yards away in the desert that the hawk could eat.  Like snakes and spiders?  Right?!  

Till next time,

Feeling Human Again

I woke up this morning feeling human again, yay!

I spent yesterday fighting a headache.

I didn't do much other than some reading, a bit of crocheting, helped a friend figure out what to do with some new yarn she bought and I made some homemade tomato soup for dinner (which was delicious except that next time I will cut back on the amount of black pepper it calls for.  Mercy, it was spicy!)

But, for most of the day, I felt out of sorts and unable to get motivated.

This was the weather yesterday...

gray skies with little bits of drizzly rain.

Even the birds spent some time chilling yesterday!

It's good to chill out every now and then.  We all need it.

Maybe that's why we have days that we feel puny and not 100% so that we can slow down and just chill.  Because when we feel good there's usually too much to do or too much we want to do and we don't take the time to chill.

I definitely chilled yesterday but am happy that I'm feeling better today!

I have to show y'all some of what happens in the 5th wheel with the animals.

Hunter and LizzieBelle are both the jealous type when it comes to me.

If Hunter is on my lap or getting attention from me poor LizzieBelle can't stand it and vice versa.

The other evening I was sitting on the couch and LizzieBelle was on my lap while I was crocheting.  Hunter sees this so he jumps on the couch, as well, and proceeds to get in LizzieBelle's bed and lays down.  Too funny!

Hunter obviously doesn't care that he's in a pink bed with a pink and white polka dotted blanket over him. It's the fact that he's in that pesky dog's bed and that's that!

LizzieBelle looked at him but didn't care that he was in her bed since she was on Momma's lap!

Silly animals!

Do your pets have any silly antics?

Till next time,

Steady Visitors & A Thrift Shop Find

When I came to visit CountryBoy for our anniversary and Thanksgiving last November we bought a bird feeder and hung it in one of the trees that can be seen from our living room (and now from my sewing table as well).

Although we had quite a few visitors those first few months a full feeder would last a couple of days.

Now, I'm lucky if a full feeder lasts for two hours.

I kid you not.

Steady visitors until it's gone.

I've added a small bird bath which these desert birds have thoroughly enjoyed.

The weather is getting nicer outside so maybe I can get some shots of them in the bird bath.

~~~~~

Last Saturday, CountryBoy and I stopped to check out the Goodwill store in town.

I really like the way they organized the clothes by color.

I don't know about you but I tend to gravitate toward the same colors when shopping and having my favorite colors all in one area just seems to make it easier to shop.

But, I wasn't shopping for clothes.  (There's only so much closet space in a 5th wheel!)  We were just browsing.

As of late, whenever I'm in a thrift store, I've been finding myself in the craft and fabric section of the store.  (Imagine that!)  I've found some deals on yarn, knitting needles and fabric.  (Speaking of, I still need to make use of those needles and learn how to knit.)

While CountryBoy was looking for anything that might could even possibly be used as a pan for panning gold (yes, working at the mine, and not the one we just visited, has given him the gold rush fever, ha!) I was checking out the linens.

Look what I found...

 

Two beautiful napkins!  These napkins are so me... I love the colors, the pattern, the texture and the leaves on them!

And the best part?  I paid .49 cents for both of them.  That's right... I said BOTH of them, woohoo!

Do you have a thrift store find that you've been thrilled with?

Till next time,

What In The World Is Going On Around Here?

My apologies for being MIA the last several weeks and for the hit or miss posts as of late.

My excuse for the last several weeks... I joined Country Boy out West to celebrate 13 years of marital bliss and partake in a Thanksgiving feast in the Mojave Desert with family and a few of his coworkers!  We had a WONDERFUL time and I have way too many photos to share with you (so consider yourself forewarned!).

Nevada

Apologies also for the miscellaneous nature of my posts this year.

When I began this blog over a year ago, my intent was to share my city girl gone country adventures with y'all along with my love of photography.

All was going as planned and I was never at a loss for content for blog posts.  We were working towards creating a small farm on our piece of land and striving to be more self-sufficient.  There was also never a dull moment for some reason with us!  We always had a project or two in the works.

Then, times got tough.  Prices for necessities skyrocketed and Country Boy had not received a raise in over four years.  We began the process of eliminating luxuries like satellite TV, expensive cell phone service, no more deliciously, yummy, over-priced lattes for me when I'm in town, etc.  All that helped yet we were still barely surviving let alone able to proceed with any of our plans for the farm/homestead due to cost.

At the same time, we felt the Lord telling us that we were to be debt-free by the end of this year.  Say WHAT?  We're barely surviving paying for the basics let alone being able to add anything extra to chip away at the bills.  And a savings account?  We had one but every time we managed to get a decent amount, something would come up or some one would need money.  So, in other words, we had no idea how we would manage to be debt-free by the end of the year but we chugged along doing the best we could with what we had and praying for some answers.

The answer came in March when Country Boy was offered a job in his original field of industrial construction working as a Millwright.  The drawback?  The job was in Idaho.  As these jobs go, they may last a couple of months or a couple of years but he gave his two week notice as an EMT and we began prepping our 5th wheel and packing his tools.

Knowing this job was only for a few months and not knowing if he would get hired on for another job, we made the decision that I would stay here and maintain the 'farm' that we were working towards... the garden, the chickens and ducks and of course, the cats! 

Now enter sporadic blog posts because of all the extra work, loss of content for blog posts due to missing my cohort and for safety concerns.

Country Boy finished that job in Idaho and did, indeed, get called for another job in California which has the possibility of lasting a couple of years.  Now it's a whole different ball game.

We have made the decision that I will join him in a couple of weeks.  Yay!  I miss him terribly...

Funny how my desire to purge and live simply is coming to fruition in a way that I never imagined!  When living in a 5th wheel one is forced to live simply!

I have found a place that is finding homes for six of our eight cats and I'm in the process of selling the ducks and chickens.  I will not lie.  I am going to miss them all but this is just for a season.  One day, we'll have our farm!

And that, my friends,  is why we're on this traveling adventure right now.  It is our gift to get out of debt and to save up for our dream farm and farmhouse!

I hope that you will stick with me as my blog content will change to more of a traveling nature and that of life in an RV park but I will always have photos to share with you.

And, speaking of photos, I have few more for you.  This will be our home for a bit...

The view from our comfy lounge chairs...

We bought the bird feeder while I was out there last week.  It only took the birds a day to find it and then it was swarmed from then on!

What a joy to watch and photograph them!

I am back home for a couple of weeks wrapping things up before heading West.  I have Christmas gifts to make, a Christmas cantata to direct at church, more items need to be gathered for another garage sale, other items need to be packed to take with me, friends to see before leaving, etc.  Just a few things to do, ha!

So, that's what's going on around here.  Stay tuned cuz it's sure to get interesting 'round here!

Oh, and as I said earlier, I have way too many photos from my trip out West to share with you also.

Till next time,

John's Pass III

This post is 'for the birds' of John's Pass!  I took lots of photos of the various birds that were hanging around the boardwalk and beach.  So let's get this show on the road up in the air!

Pelicans are so large and bulky that it amazes me that they can fly!

A commercial fishing boat recently docked and was in the process of cleaning the fish.  Look who all showed up for dinner...!

Here's looking at you, baby!

Are ya' still with me?  Hello!  Anyone out there?  Oh good, we're almost finished!

That's another look at John's Pass in a nutshell clam shell!  I hope you enjoyed it!  And, if you're ever in the Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida area make sure and check out John's Pass Village and Boardwalk in Madeira Beach!  You'll be glad you did!

Till next time,