"I need a new drug".....

one that won't make me act like this!

(remember Huey Lewis's song?)

I have a disease...

there I have said it...

I confess..

I am a sick person...

I am completely obsessed with birdwatching!!

Is there a pill for that?

Can't they treat...OCD? (hahaha not the good type of OCD)

Flight of ideas?

ADD?....not ADHD (nothing hyper about me)

how about "procrastination"? Is that a disease?

But....how darned cute is he?

I can't help myself!

I am sure that Danny had no idea what sort of

monster he has made out of me!

When he made this very frugal bird feeder!

Yep that's when it all got started.

I have to have someone to blame it on

and

'everything' is his fault!!!

Always!!

He is such an enabler.

Websters def. ~ enabler ~ to make able or feasible

{wings that enable one to fly}

LOL!!!

Isn't that a great feeder?

PVC pipe can be used for so many things....kinda like duct tape!!

He put them a little tin roof on it to keep the feed dry and keep squirrels and cats away!

He's so smart!

Of course it's hung in the dogwood tree (Bluebirds favorite trees!!)

by a bright shiny yellow rope....urgh...but it keeps it at a distance from the cats!

Looks like a stuffed bird!! hahaha



Now this one is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!

The dogwood tree had bluebirds for the first time today.

How many do you count?

It's like 12 I think!

Don't miss the one on the very tip top of the tree!

While I was taking this picture about 25 more bluebirds flew over!!!!!

Do you think they will come back?

Oh don't worry I will be sure and post pictures of them

cause I told you I am obsessed!

Unless Danny finds that drug today and slips it in my sweet tea tonight

wink wink wink

I love this dogwood tree too!

I have had a Wisteria vine for 8 years now. They say that it takes 7 years for them to bloom.

I had to move it from it's original home by the front porch pergola several years ago when we covered the porch, so I was afraid that it would take 7 more years to get a bloom.

We replanted it beside this dogwood tree and it bloomed last year!!!!! It is now all the way at the top of the tree!

It was beautiful and had blooms that were about 15" long.

Do you believe that I never got a picture of it in bloom? At least I don't remember it if I did.

I guess I was on some sort of drug at that time too!!!

~

Now on to reality...yes, there are some "Real" things that happen around here!!

I am on a mission to be a better employee.

My job as a stay at home mom/ housewife is being threatened.

My employer hasn't said anything but I can really read his non verbal body language.....you know the eye rolling, shoulder raises, huffs etc etc etc...... LOL!!!

I am so afraid too, that he will catch me embezzling money to support my habits.

So I am on a mission to try and earn some money to support my own habits.....do I need to mention those habits? No they don't include drugs but if they did I may not have this blog or any of those other bad habits..LOLOLOL!!!!

I may never make any money but at least I will feel better about embezzling money from my employer if I have actually done my part!!

I do not sit on the sofa watching TV all day eating bon bons......couldn't look at me and believe it but I really don't. I almost NEVER turn on the TV unless I am in my sewing studio.

I have started this week .......

locking myself in my office

doing taxes...........do you know how hard it is on my dear husband this time of the year?

Just ask him or the girls!!

Or I am locked in my sewing studio working on quilts....

Or I am cleaning my house in a mad fury while supper is on the stove.......however that multitasking didn't work out too well yesterday when I had supper on the stove and decided to call our accountant with a very much dreaded question that has been haunting me. I was afraid of his answer....afraid for my bank account......but he had good news!!! wooowoooo!!!

But while he was giving me the lowdown

I burnt supper!!!!

I had a pot of macaroni burnt to almost the point of smoking!!

If the smoke alarm would have went off I guess I would have passed out!!!!

This lock down for me includes....

having everything I need with me to be able to concentrate on the task at hand.

It also includes NOT having anything close by that keeps me from concentrating on the task at hand......ie. telephone........I hate to talk on the telephone anyway. Who would of thunk it?

I used to love to talk on the phone for hours and hours every day.

I still have friends and family who love to talk for hours and hours every day.

Those said people all have email and facebook and I check both of those several times each day.

I don't mind emailing at all...facebook is good to send quick messages too.

If any of these peeps need to get in touch with me they can find me. It better be important though, at least until taxes are finished and I sell my first quilt!!!!!!! hahaha!!!

Now if I didn't have the distraction of a big window in my office with a great bird feeder right outside.......!!!!

I was up at 5AM this morning totally rearranging my office so that I could just glance up at the window and see my birds while still working on the books. Of course there were a few Kodak moments in there that kinda sidetracked me temporarily.

So friends and family......if you want me to be able to remain a stay at home mom please bear with me in this time of my absence! I promise I will be back maybe for a month in the late spring when we are experiencing April showers and it is too wet for me to be outside in the garden

;-))))))))

I must be doing something right!!

I have got the Eastern Bluebirds coming in flocks now!!!

I have become obsessed with this new habit. I mean my heart hasn't danced a jig like this since my new quilting machine a couple weeks ago ;-)

The new has almost wore off of it already.......just kidding and don't tell my husband that one......I have just not had any time to sew like I have wanted to.

I have been running errands, shoveling snow, cooking

eating, getting fattened up myself, dreaming of summer

planning to get my plants started indoors

and bird watching!!!

Do you think I could get a contract for photography with John Deere?

I would like to see pictures of a John Deere Gator attracting Eastern Bluebirds maybe in a Country Woman magazine!!....hum???? There's a thought!!

Please click to enlarge these pictures so you can really join in the excitement with me!!

I counted at least 14 outside my window!!!


The gator was shoveled out and moved by my dear farmboy and then he pulled it right back where it was.


I have had an adventure that's for sure to try to get these babies back.....



Danny made me a feeder and hung it on Sunday...of course there has been no one dining there as of yet! I mean it's an alien looking thing to them.

Yesterday I braved the elements and went out there and threw down birdseed on the ground so maybe they would find the feeder sooner.
Remember now I am trying to keep my cats from getting to the birds too.
As I was approaching the feeder with my head down to watch my step in the ice and snow, I heard a fluttering over my head and I looked up and there went 2 bluebirds flying away from the feeder.
I scared them away myself!!

I did see 4 bluebirds in the crabapple tree yesterday morning
so I made a couple suet filled grapefruit halves and hung them up for their breakfast while I was out scareing the ones away from the feeder.


Then............
the dearest farmboy left our big extension ladder propped up on the side of the house and we are experiencing
about 75 mph wind gusts here this morning and the ladder was rocking back and forth so I was afraid it
would fall over and bust a window....a little too chilly for me to have a busted window this morning.............

so I garbed up to brave the elements again and move this ladder.............remember no sightings of a bluebird this morning............
just as I got to the ladder I spotted 2 on the ground eating the seed that I threw out yesterday...............
I am worse than my stupid cats to scare my own bluebirds off!!!!


I came back inside and finished straightening up the house and getting ready to go upstairs and lock myself in my studio for the day

when

I peeped out my window and my little crabapple tree was just coated with blue feathers!!!
Yep my heart sang!!!!!



FYI~ No crows or barn cats have been killed in the making of this backyard habitat for bluebirds!

Eastern Bluebirds outside my window!!

I love having birds come into my yard and garden but my cats also love them to come here too!!!

I have 3 outdoor barn cats and NO THANKS I DO NOT WANT ANYMORE!!!! These have all been fixed and I hope they live forever cause they keep down the mice, moles and squirrels (which I like for squirrels to be around but the cats keep them at bay) and unfortunately an occasional beautiful songbird also falls prey to them.

Then of course we have crows. Lots of crows.

Many big huge noisy crows that love to eat my birdfeed

so I stopped feeding the songbirds several years ago.

Too expensive to feed my chickens that actually give me food back let alone the crows who just take whatever they can from me!

This winter has been so bad here with all the snow and ice and there is nothing out there for any of the wildlife to eat. It has just broke my heart that I did not have a feeder for the birds.

Yesterday Danny looked out my office window and yelled for me to come and look at what was in my crabapple tree......it was 6 bluebirds! I have never had these birds at my feeders, bluejays yes but not these. See the beautiful blue coat he has on? Well this was a horrible picture but in real life he/she was gorgeous!!!!
not the best picture


They were all so dagum pretty!! I cried!!
Danny asked me why I stopped putting feed out for the poor little fellows? When I reminded him he said "Oh well we can put a stop to the crows and the cats getting the feed!" wink wink wink
"Humanely", I said!!!!!

So we went out to the hardware store....cabin fever anyway...and a good trip to the fabric store thrown in too =)))).........and he got the makings for 2 birdfeeders!!! He has one almost finished and I'll post pictures asap.
I can't wait for them to come back and eat outside my window again!!
Darn barn cats beware!!!!!! Danny'll get ya!!

Crows beware!!! Becky's gotta gun!!
The last time I shot a crow out my kitchen window that was eating the garden, I wrecked on the way to work. I was hit by a tractor trailer and I vowed never to kill anything like that again.
I may have to eat those words!!!


Like I said these birds have never been spotted here so I had to look them up online. I think these are in fact Eastern Bluebirds. If they aren't would someone tell me what they really are. I think bird watching could be my new habit/hobby!! I needed another one!! hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

What will I do?

If I need to move my car tonight?

Nothing!
It is buried and will be until about June
by the looks of things.
It is under many many many inches of snow left on the ground from
from last week , sleet, freezing rain and more snow.
It has been coming down since 1AM when I came home from the concert
and it is still coming down!
I have no idea how deep it is. Very very deep in places because of drifts.
I think it is supposed to continue thru tomorrow
then another storm is coming thru I think on Tuesday
and Wednesday!!
All I know is that I am sooooo Thankful
that I am not working outside the home right now and
having to travel in this mess.
Also I don't think the grandkids will get to play on the boat
this summer because they will be in school all summer long!!
Sorry kids, quit doing your snow dance!!

Mr Luke Bryan............

likes me! See he wrote my name!!

He signed his name again and this was on my chest......giggle, giggle!!!

Oh!



Me!

Oh My!!!!!!!

Ouch!!!

Hhhhhhhooooooooottttttt!!!

Sweet!!

I really liked this one so I posted it twice!!!

Yummy!

Yum!

Oooohhhhh!! Be still my heart! He smelled sooooo good!!

Look at those pearly whites!!

I need to find his dentist!!

Just a little starstruck are we Morgan?

and Colton will never be the same!

He is now a genuine country music junkie!!!

Luke even signed his VT cap!!!

Leslie couldn't even speak with out stuttering!!

Just kidding!

She asked for his phone number!!!

I think we made one little 15 year olds night or maybe her year with these tickets and back stage passes!











Now meet Mr Jason Aldean!!

Cool!

Wow!!

Sizzle!

I just love country boys! Don't you?

Mmmmmeeeooowwww!!

Many many thanks go out to Dana and Robin and Luke Bryan for a night us crazy girls will never forget! The concert was just awesome and we loved both guys, but Luke was by far our favorite. He put on such a good show and he just smelled so dagone good!!!

And yes Luke sang "Country Man" just for me last night!!!

Free tickets and back stage passes.......

to see Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean

in Salem Va

this Thursday night!!!

It's all in who you know!

I know my daughter Robin....

and she knows Luke's Aunt!!!

Luke's Aunt likes Robin and Robin likes me!!!!

Thank You Robin and Luke's Aunt!!!

Now will someone talk to Old Man Winter

and discuss this with him

and see if the 30" of snow can wait until Friday, Please!!!!

I feel like a teenager again!!

I love both these guys!

Luke is going to sing Country Man

and

Jason is going to sing Big Green Tractor just for me!

I'll keep you posted!!

Old Goats.......

live here.

Well not here as in the photo above, but here in the home that houses this laptop!

I have been vacuuming my house for the past almost 4 hours.......seriously, from ceiling to floors, baseboards underneath, behind, around, between, near and inside of everything that I can reach in each room..........and I am still not finished.

We put that big ole outdoor woodfurnace in 3 years ago like maybe this week in Feb.

We were told that our dust level would be soooooo much better after that was installed and we also put in a heatpump (like we will ever be able to run that again in our lifetime due to the outrageous power bills that we have here in our area) but it is supposed to filter the air, isn't it? That's what we were told anyway. The blower for the heatpump blows the heat in our house and through the filter. Still it is so dusty in here.

I admit it was one week ago that I vacuumed the whole house but it looked to be a couple months ago.

Of course we have been sitting here under another blanket of snow. Snow=mud, mud=dust in the house. It is really sunny and sorta warm today and some of that snow is melting nicely too. I even have a window cracked to let some fresh air in the house......dreaming of spring!!

Then the stupid man on the stupid radio told me that we are going to get ...."A WINTERY MIX TONIGHT AND IT WILL TAPER OFF TOMORROW AFTERNOON"!!!!! WHAT?????

My poor foyer looks as if a bunch of old goats live in the house now. I sure wish it looked like the one in the photo above! I was thinking/ well planning to mop the floors after vacuuming today..................now I am just pouting....I can do some serious pouting incase no one has told you that about me, I wrote the book on pouting!! No mopping today!!!!!!!!!!!!

~

Since I am discussing Old Goats here, I will tell you a story of my first experience that I can ever remember about goats......... I was prompted to do this after reading a post over at

Hickery Hollow yesterday! If you have not been there please go over and read some of her hilarious stories about being a southern girl!!

When I was a wee little tot...all of maybe 3 years old, my brother and I were at home one night with my Grandma Goldie...remember she was my favorite person in the world? Our parents were out somewhere and it was getting late. We heard a knock on the door and I, being the nosy person that I was then and still am for that matter...hehehe......went and grabbed the front door and flung it open..........................................OMG I just about fell over dead!! I was scared to death. All I found when that door flew open was a couple big ugly goats standing there looking thru the screen door at me.....I was face to face with the brutes and I just screamed and jumped in my Grandma arms and then my mom stood up on one side and dad on the other side of these goats laughing hysterically.

They had each ducked down beside the goats where I could not see them and all I could see was 2 goats. I remember wondering how these goats knew how to knock on a door!!!!!!

My parents had decided for some strange reason that we needed a couple goats. Best I can remember we named the mother goat Nanny and her son Billy!!! How original was that?

Daddy tied them to our swingset for a few days but I wouldn't go near them so he moved them and tied them to an old pickup camper top so they would have a shelter underneath. They soon had all the windows busted out of this camper and stood on it daily. I don't remember what happened to those 2 goats but I didn't really care. I was so scared of them!

Who would have ever believed that I would grow up and actually raise goats?