A ‘plus’ from a mild winter: lots of new birds at feeder
This New Year comes with a lot of plusses and a lot of minuses for many of us.
Sad that we lost several (or many) family and friends last year, although glad that none were Covid-related.
Glad that those of our friends and relatives who were diagnosed with Covid all came through it well. Several called their experience like “the flu on steroids!”
We didn’t mind having no heavy frosts so far this winter, but it occurred to me yesterday that one negative of that is we’ll likely have more slugs and other critters that survived!
A big plus for me is the many little “winter birds” that have come to our feeders this year, including a few we’ve never seen before. Some I’m still trying to identify. I check Peterson’s bird book, and say the head looks like this, but the body doesn’t… Hubby says maybe there’s been some cross-mating and this is a new species! ‘I doubt it,’ is my standard response, and I’ll check on the online sites and perhaps ask a friend who knows birds. I try for a photo, but they move so fast I get a blur!
This year, I decided to make my own suet block. Easy, right? First direction is melt the suet. It melted, and melted, then (of course while I turned my back) the unmelted suet burned black, and I had to air out the house to get rid of the smoke!!!
However, I moved on, mixed everything together, put it into pans the right size and stuck them in the refrigerator.
Next day, I pulled them out to pack into the freezer and discovered the stuff I’d added to the suet was mostly in one half and the other half was basically all suet! Ah, well, freeze it and wait until I need to set some out.
After thawing for a day in the refrigerator, the feeder was empty, and we put the new suet in. It was apparently still too cold for the birds!
However the next day they were checking it out. Can you imagine four little birds at one suet feeder at once, and a few more nearby hoping for a turn! Sweet success! But although now I can say I did it successfully, the smoke and the time involved determined that I’ll just buy it from now on — much cheaper in time and money.
One of the biggest negatives for me this past year was being unable to see so many family members, especially the newest great-grandchildren. I love the fact that one parent uses Tiny Beans and three use Facebook for photos, so we can keep up somewhat, but it’s difficult.
The one especially high point was the kids from California came two weeks early, so by Christmas they felt acclimated, and we were able to see, play with and even hold that 9½-month-old great-grandson!
And politics! Plusses and minuses, some big ones, some minor. We are fortunate that we don’t live in the big cities where all the rioting, looting, etc. occurred. We’re also pleased that of our friends who may not agree with us politically, none are the loud argumentative type. We’re also glad we don’t have TV, but can read and hear about topics that interest us in print or online.
There are actions that have been taken online we don’t agree with, but we’re pleased to be able to choose what we want to see and hear, and make up our own minds rather than being told we have to believe a certain way.
We hope this year will have more plusses and fewer minuses for all!