Birds, birds, birds !

Wake up and get your cup of java- I want to talk birds today !

Wow my yard has became a bird sanctuary !! I have all different kinds this year, some I have no clue what they are. BUT I have got the meanest blackbirds ever !! I have asked Rick to set outside with the BB gun and fire away. ( maybe I'll post that next week as well as my scavenger hunt topic ) They have started tormenting my bluebirds.

I definitely don't want to scare the little blues away. They don't bother a thing. maybe I need to keep my suet feeders full on the other side of our property and that will keep them away. So I feed at least one suet block a week ! Yep, a week. Many thanks to my HUGE red-headed woodpecker. As many of you know when my suet feeder is empty he hangs out at the hummingbird feeder.

Anyway, I decided to make homemade suet. Man did I have a mess in the kitchen and when I washed up the dishes, I like to have never got rid of all that bacon grease ! Recipe follows for homemade suet.

I’m including this recipe from the 10,000 Birds blog. It’s perfect for making cake sized batches that fit nicely in those square suet feeders.
Homemade Peanut Butter Suet
Melt 1 cup shortening (Crisco or bacon fat). Add 16-20 ounces of crunchy peanut butter. Heat and stir until melted.
Add 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of black oil sunflower seeds, 6 cups of cornmeal and 4 cups of flour.
Spoon into a 13X9 pan. Chill until it is hard. Cut into chunks for suet feeders (or stuff into cracks and crevices in logs).

The birds are going nuts over this suet, who knew it would be such a hit. Bam ! just started saving $5.00 a month.

My flower give-away is approaching and I only have 4 entries, what are ya' waiting for ? I will be drawing on Wednesday the 20th. I picked up the packet of flower seeds, oh wow are you goin' love them. Sorry can't tell you what they are it's a surprise. Some of the entries so far are - iris' ( old-timey ones) , barges on the Mississippi ( this would be fun ! ) blooming apple trees ( a little late for that here Maryann - this ain't NY, we are ahead of you in seasons ) Get some more good ideas in there the clock is ticking !

We are getting ready to go on vacation so a lot of work to be done around home first. Y'all know how that goes. Mow the grass, pull weeds, clean up the house really good, water indoor plants, etc. Well I decided to tackle another major project- clean the attic. After 30 trips up and down the stairs and 15 bags of un-used stuff went to the garage I am ready for a vacation. I had went to tan before my days activity and the lady there said maybe you'll find a treasure and I did $7.00 in a pair of shirts from last year. (tip for the pizza man !! )

This has to be a short post for the day 'cause I'm headed to Nauvoo for some picture takin', who knows as I cross the Mississippi I may see some barges ! ( thanks Julie for the idea, love it )

Oh yeah, I alomst forgot - I won in the Access Energy calendar again !! One of my Eagle pictures will be posted in July !! Yay me, 50 bucks is a nice addition to the vacation funds !

Buzzing About Today

I'm giving flowers away ( details in the end of this blog ) !!









This was surely a busy weekend, birthday, yard sale, baby shower , crafting, shopping, and bee keeper !!

Let's start with the bee-keeping. Last Friday was exciting for Rick and I'm sure somewhat nerve-racking. He helped a friend of his move bee hives to pollinate an apple orchard. They had to do this real early in the morning while the bees were asleep. Oh my, Rick's alarm went off ( on his day off ) and up out of the bed he popped ! Now if you know Rick, he's not a morning person. He was off to Dave's to start "buzzing' for the day. While I was finishing up getting ready to go to work my cell phone started ringing. All I could think was who is texting me at 5:30 AM. It was a message from Rick, a picture of him all suited up with a thumbs up signal. He was ready to go !
When I got home he told me all about it. He said he knows why you have to move them early because once the sun rose they were swarming all around, including trying to get to his face. Luckily he was completely covered.

My Cricut came so I've been experimenting !! My first project is going to be my picture frame window. I had ordered the lettering from Uppercase Living BUT it was huge - so I will utilize that somewhere else. Maybe my bedroom wall under vacationing pictures, uh good idea !


This thing can do so much. I will post pictures next week of the projects I've done.
Since I'm on the crafting subject I think I'm going to clean out the attic and see what I can find up there. I know I have an old screen door that could be of some use somewhere. Thanks to Jessica for some great ideas, but I don't have a pantry. I just have to find a use for it! Does anybody have an ideas ?
For my birthday Rick and I went to the casino and shopping. Needless to say both broke me! Thank goodness we only go to the casino a couple times a year. I asked Rick to get me fence panels for my birthday and that is what he did, now we just have to get them up. I called 811 to see where I can and can NOT dig. I'm going to put them on one side around my pool. This will keep the peepers going up the road from seeing me when I'm lounging :) Plus it will work for a nice backdrop for pictures. I'm going to be adding some flowers on the inside and will get pictures up as soon as I'm done. I'm ready to open the pool !!


I cleaned out my little water garden pond



and disposed of a dead mouse, one mole and a ton of worms !! What's up with that, did they think it was the burial grounds ? YUCK !! And to think I'm making 2 more water features in my yard. One of them is going to be really cool. It consists of several wine bottles with the dimples in the bottom. So come on people drink that wine and pass the bottle on. Here's a start of the project, as you can see I've hit some roots !




























A completed picture will be blogged next week. See this is what happens when Rick has to go to Farm King every time we are in Burlington. He goes to the hunting section and I head towards the garden stuff and they have great project books !!
My yard is starting to look more beautiful each day. I can't wait till the flowers start popping and I have fresh bouquets on the table each week. We are going to til up a small garden spot to plant some corn. I have to grow it tall because I'm entering a contest. If you are from Iowa and have not subscribed to the magazine "Our Iowa" , you need to do that now ! They are having a contest and IF you can grow the tallest corn ( they provide the seeds ) you can win - $200 of pork, $200 of beef and a $100 gas card. Yeah Iowa !! This corn is a tropical type imported in and can reach 15-16 feet tall and with the help from the neighbors cattle maybe taller ( I hope ) !! Oh yes, pictures will be posted monthly.
The 365 project is coming along good. I do find it hard some days to think of what I can take a picture of then a bird seems to land somewhere close, snap ! Picture for the day. I do need to get more creative so look out for some self portraits coming soon. I think I will go a little wild with editing too, like this couple. If anyone has any ides let me know.
I have noticed that people give freebies as a way to draw to their blog. Well, I've decided to do the same. I want to go on a scavenger hunt and you can be the guide ! Here's what you need to do- since the flowers are headed in full force now, I will be giving away 5 red Canna roots, these can be planted now and are absolutely gorgeous when they bloom PLUS you will get a packet of flower seeds of my choice ( surprise). Now 5 Canna's don't sound like much but at the end of the season ( if you're in a cold climate like me ) and you dig these up, you will have 15-25 for next year, so let's get started. To be qualified to win all you need to do is comment on this post,one per person. In the comment tell me something you would like to see blogged about. I want a challenge SO, I'm going to look for it ( within reason) take a picture and blog next week about your topic. Now this could be anything from a Golden Finch, red-headed woodpecker, blooming trees, old barn, windmill,river,waterfall, whatever !!! Send me on a mission !! I will pick a winner at 5:00 am ( CST) May 20th and mail out your prize that day. To comment - all you do is click the word comment and type away. If you don't have a google or blogger account you can check anonymous but remember to sign your name. I will need your mailing address so please send that to randt@iowatelecom.net and put scavenger hunt in the subject so I can watch my spam box.
Thanks and good luck !!