The Birds, The Birds!!

I have never really understood the fascination some people have with birds and watching them intently.  My mind conjures up binoculars and safari hat attached to a badly camouflaged middle aged person in a tree.  Never got it that is,  until we moved out into the wild (Compared to living in Milwaukee for years, we live in the wild now.  Trust me.)  Plus, I really got scared from that Hitchcock movie.  You know the one.

Now, I keep my field guide of Wisconsin birds next to the deck window.  We have food for birds of all shapes and sizes, and they seem to love us for it.  We've got cardinals, blue jays, indigo buntings, hummingbirds, mourning doves, orioles (as they pass through...very exciting!), chickadees, and so many more.

Because of the sassy raccoon who likes to climb up at night to our second-story deck to wreak havoc (and cause Rob to wonder aloud if it will get in and kill us all in our beds), I bring in the feeders each night.  This is what has become of me:  I tend to get up before 5 a.m. (woken by the chaos of bird sounds) to take out the feeders, lest they find another place to flutter and perch.  So, I might not quite be the safari-hatted, binoculars-wearing, middle-aged yahoo....but I am closer to that little horror than I used to be, that's for sure.  That's ok.  It's worth it.

P.S.  Don't repeat this, but Rob's a little leary about the deer out here possibly attacking too.  Poor thing.

Quite Fancy

Delaney Jane has her first "high heels."  In reality, the heel is roughly one inch.  She loves them for their clickety-clack.  Yesterday she wore them after playing baseball with her shorts and t-shirt.  Ah, I love my big little girl.

Ouch!

Poor Aidan!  Sleeping too close to the edge of the bed + power outage in the middle of the night = disaster for him.  Luckily, it looks worse than it is.  It was a very active night, and we are all starting sleepier than usual. 

My Little Boy

He is getting so big.  When he asked me to knit this, I balked for a minute.  Then I realized that one of my children had (unprovoked) asked me to knit him a sweater (without being bribed in the least).  I knitted it with stitch-over letters so they could be removed later and with sleeves and body length that could be expanded with growth.  Today, he wore it to school.  It is unseasonable chilly, and I told him it would be like wearing a hug from his mom all day.  I realize the days of him enjoying the thought of his mother hugging him all day at school are numbered.  I plan to wring out every minute of it until then.

Peace in Pie

Yesterday, I really wanted to talk with my mom, to just sit down and talk about everything and nothing.  I had a dream the night before that we had talked about knitting or the weather or the kids or something.  I don't remember.  When I woke in the morning, I still had the warm feeling of having talked with her.  I decided that I needed to find a way to feel close to her during my awake time.  This pie recipe was something she'd always been proud of creating.  There is no crust recipe, just filling.  The crust is only mentioned briefly, and it is to be assumed that it is to be bought, unwrapped, thawed, and used.  Mine has a homemade crust, but the filling is what makes it homey.  The act of working from the recipe in my mom's handwriting is why I baked it.  I really miss her.  I will take her a slice to eat tomorrow, and watching her enjoy what she created will have to be enough.  

I am grateful for all the years of recipes and conversation, laughter and planning, wisdom and teaching, vacationing and gardening.  I was really quite lucky to have landed her for a mother.  I hope to pay it forward.

Decisions

Sometimes the big decisions aren't the ones that wear me down.  It's the multitude of littler things that intimidate me.  The act of getting started has been my toughest hurtle.  Knowing when it's time to make the plans, to sign the papers, to announce what's going on...that's my downfall.  This spring will bring some big hurtles that need to be cleared.  It won't be fun but necessary, nonetheless.  There is comfort in facing the inevitable.  There is peace in meeting the future head on.

Lucky enough (on St. Patrick's Day as a person with some Irish descent) to see this beauty near Lake Geneva, WI.  It was a full rainbow, actually a double, with the top of the arc disappearing in storm clouds and reappearing out the other side.  Significant, I'd say.