Yikes, a Big Egg

I collected four eggs today. One egg was painfully large. Yikes. No chickens were limping so I guess they're okay. The egg was so large I couldn't even shut the lid on the egg carton. I don't know if the pictures really show the size. Sometimes I wonder what the chickens think. They get excited when they see me coming because they hope I will let them out of the coop to stretch their wings and run around a little. But what do they think? "Why does this lady leave some of our body waste in here for 2 weeks at a time but other body waste she picks up with her bare hands and thanks us for it?"

Project Feeder Watch

Results for this weekend: White breasted nuthatch - 2, Black-capped chickadee-5, Downy Woodpecker - 1, American Robin-1, Dark eyed junco - 2
These nuthatches have an amazing ability to bend their neck. They can look up when their bodies are aligned head down on a tree trunk or on a suet feeder. If I see a bird walking head down on a tree, I know it's a nuthatch.

A Chicken Walking on Water

The weather was cold this morning when I let the chickens out for some exercise. Water had frozen in their water dish. I put some whey (left over from making ricotta cheese) into one water dish and fresh water in the other dish. As I worked I saw Meredith walk over to the pond. I have a small plastic pond in the back yard. It's about 3 feet deep and I grow water hyacinth in the summer. Last month I made the pond ready for winter by tying a rope to a brick and the other end of the rope to a milk jug partially filled with sand. The weight of the sand keeps the jug semi-submerged in the water. This allows the expansion of the ice to crush the milk jug instead of cracking the plastic of my pond. Meredith stood on the limestone rocks to get a drink. I could hear her beak click at the ice. I wondered if that hurt as she unexpectedly hit a hard icy surface with her beak instead of the water she was expecting. I walked over there to get a better view of this. Meredith tried pecking at the ice at another spot before she put one foot tentatively on the ice. She walked across the pond to where the milk jug sat. There was a tiny rim of open water next to the jug. As she walked, the ice cap on the pond tilted down on her side. Ice came up to her left and water poured in around her ankles. She looked down. I think she was confused by the icy foot bath. She just stood there as the water got deeper and deeper. Can chickens swim? I wasn't sure and I didn't want to have to rescue Meredith from this cold water. I yelled, "Meredith! I don't think you can swim!" She became alarmed at my yelling and tried to scoot back to shore. Her blue-green feet slipped on the ice twice before she flew up and over the rocks back to safety on the grass. She walked over to the water dish with the whey and drank that. I think all the chickens enjoy drinking the whey. Overall the chickens are doing good lately. On Thanksgiving Day we collected 4 eggs. I had picked out two in the morning and the kids found 2 more in the afternoon. That was the first day I ever got more than 2 eggs in a single day. On Friday I found 2 eggs. This morning I found 4 eggs in the coop. Egg production is up lately. Let me know if you need some.

Too Many Holiday Sweets

Benjamin Franklin Exhibit at MN Historical Museum

Today we went to see the opening of the new Benjamen Franklin exhibit at the History Museum in downtown St. Paul. We saw some of his his books, his chair, his china bowl, his silver spoon, the huge bible he gave to his daughter upon her marriage, and copies of his newspaper. He's an interesting guy. When I was a child, my Grandparents had a bank account at the Ben Franklin bank on Wabasha in St. Paul. I was given a Ben Franklin bank. My bank is a coppery looking bust of old Ben and there is money in it that must be from the 1960's. I've been intrigued by Ben Franklin for a long time. A couple years ago Offspring #1 gave me a biography of Franklin that was very interesting. He was a vegetarian, like me. He was curious, practical, and he tried to make the world a better place. He was an inventor, a free-thinker, patriotic, and a slave-holding womanizer. We watched an actor portray Franklin in a 40 minute speech. Some parts were interesting and others were too long. There was one point in the speech when Ben looked up at the audience, taking our measure, and spoke about how they tried to write the constitution so that we, their progeny, would proper and thrive. For a second, I could actually believe this was the real Ben from the past observing and evaluating the citizens from the future. Beside the Ben Franklin exhibit, there are other exhibits to walk through. We especially liked the "Greatest Generation," the Minnesota 150, and the weather exhibit. One of my favorite things at this museum is Princes' purple jacket. Now they have headphones next to the jacket and you can listen to Purple Rain, Raspberry Beret, or other hits. The History Museum is a great place to spend an afternoon. We got there at 2 and the museum closes at 5. I wish we had another hour to spend there.

Happy Thanksgiving

Alphabetically, this is what we're thankful for:

Alex Technical College, Blankets, Chickens, Dirt and David, Etigin (eating?), Family and Friends, Grandparents, House, Insurance for health care, Jensen, Koalas, Life and Love and Mom, Money and Matt, Not mattresses (?), Orginized crime (organized crime), People to talk to, Quiet, Ruby (a deceased pet golden retriever), Sue, TV, Unicorns, Violets, Wedo (another deceased pet golden retriever), X-rays, You, and Zebras. That is a lot. We're a grateful family.

Here is a photo of the Andriondak Blue mashed potatoes. We did a taste test. They appear purple but taste the same as the russet and yukon gold potatoes. I made cloverleaf rolls from scratch. They didn't rise as much as I had hoped but they were still good. Someone referred to them as molar biscuits.

Bird Nest

The other day I was searching for my injured chicken, Phyllis. I found this bird nest on the side of the driveway right at eye level. How had I missed it before? I went to look at it closely. The sides were intertwined with a blue material that I first thought were pieces of blue plastic. Closer inspection revealed the nest is partially made from lint; lots of blue lint. I don't think it's my blue lint. I dry my clothes on the line. From what little clothes I dry in the dryer, I keep the lint to use as kindling for fires. What kind of bird nest is this? It's too big for a hummingbird. I think it's too small for a blue jay or crow. I know it's not an oriole nest because I've seen those before and they are whiter and tear drop shaped. It's not a woodpecker nest because they use tree cavities. Maybe it's a chickadee, indigo bunting or goldfinch nest. I'm not really sure. In my birding classes students have asked the teachers about nest identification and we're always told it's too hard to tell the nests apart. I see purplish buds on the tree branch. I guess the warm November weather is confusing this tree.

Living History

I just finished Hilary Clinton's book called "Living History." Wow, she really has lived history. She comes across as a hardworking and reasonable woman with a passion for human rights, a fierce love for her daughter Chelsea, and a broken heart. I tell you what, Bill had better watch himself because Hilary is not a doormat and he may find himself out of the house. I really enjoyed her story. I am glad I had the chance to vote for her. I hope I have a chance to vote for her again.

Project Feeder Watch

Downy woodpecker - 1, Cedar Waxwings - 7, Black capped chickadee - 5, Dark eyed junco - 1 I read that downy woodpeckers are the smallest and most common woodpeckers on our continent.

Walnuts

This weekend I started working on my black walnuts again. I had gathered these nuts in September. I peeled the husks off in October. I washed them and let them cure in a cool, dry place for 3 weeks. On Friday night I gathered the walnuts and set them in a bucket. I covered them with very hot water and let them soak for 24 hours. I drained the walnuts and soaked them again in very hot water for 2 hours. I let them drip dry for a short time. Then it was time to crack these babies open. I got a pan and a nutcracker and set to work. Oh, how foolishly naive I was. There is no way to open these nuts with a nutcracker. I don't know how the squirrels do it. They must have little dremel teeth. Hey, maybe a dremel would work. I might try that next year if I do it again. I set up a work station in the garage on my work bench. I have a cloth to hold things from rolling off the table when I pound my hammer on the nutshells. I used a clamp to protect my fingers. I used a hammer to bang on the shells. I used a sharp nail to dig the meat out of the shell. And sometimes I used a nutcracker if I had half a shell that needed widening. My first walnut took 25 blows to break the shell. With 274 walnuts left to go, this was going to be a long process. At first the walnuts were taking between 10 and 60 blows to break. The walnuts are not as round as the typical walnuts you can buy at the store. The sides are flattened on these. There is a definite top and bottom to them. Walnuts have an equator on them. I was striking at the equator line. After the first 50 walnuts I started pounding on the side of the walnut. This is much easier. Now it was taking an average of 8 blows to break a walnut. I thought this would be a great job to do if I felt angry. You could really release some anger by smashing walnuts with a hammer. After yesterday's escapade with Peanut, the red min-pin who attacked Phyllis, I tried to be angry about that. "Peanut," I said as I smashed a walnut. "Peanut!" "Peanut!" But I wasn't really angry at Peanut. He was just acting like the dog he was. Eventually I decided I was grateful I had no reason to be angry and went back to work. Some of the nut meat got smashed by the blows. On some walnuts I could pull out large chunks of meat. I threw the shells into the trash and kept the nut meat in a pan. After cracking walnuts for an hour on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday, I have about 5 cups of walnuts and still another hundred or so to open. I baked the nutmeat for 15 minutes at 250 degrees. Is this a total waste of time? Can't I buy a bag of walnuts for just a couple bucks at the store. Wouldn't that be a lot easier? This is all true. I may never do this again. But there are worse ways to waste time than standing in your garage striking walnuts. I'm sure the pioneers and Native Americans struggled with the same task. There is something rewarding about using the natural bounty your maker has given you.

Tough Day for Phyllis

Phyllis, the hen, had a tough day. She and the other hens were enjoying the balmy weather outside. They especially like to scratch at the leaves under the bird feeder and eat any leftover sunflowers seeds. Scratch with the left leg, scratch with the right leg, peck and peck again. Scratch, scratch, peck, peck. Repeat. I was in the garage pounding black walnuts with a hammer on the workbench. I heard the chickens squawk. Sometimes they do that when danger arrives. Sometimes they do that when ovulating. Sometimes they do that for no discernible reason. I had both garage doors open and out of the corner of my eye I saw the chickens had run completely around the house. To me, this meant real danger. I rushed out the side door to see a red streak with a tail running after one of the chickens, chasing it toward my tin shed. A fox! The chicken was screaming bloody murder. I ran. Normally I don't run but this was an emergency. I'm sure I look pretty funny running with a limp. I yelled too. Everything was so blurry when I ran. Was I running so fast to make the passing scenery a blur? No, it was my magnifying drugstore glasses I put on to work on the walnuts. I couldn't see a thing with those glasses on. I tripped over a branch and fell. The chicken was still struggling. I thought it was funny that a fox wouldn't have left by now. I got up and pushed my glasses up on my head. I moved ahead and was close enough to see the fox had my chicken by it's right drumstick. Then I saw the red leash. I thought it was funny that a fox had a leash. My mind isn't so quick in a crisis. I pulled the leash. The fox had a red collar. It wasn't a fox. It was a dog. And who would put a green leash with a red collar? That color combination is good only a couple days of the year and it's not even Thanksgiving yet. I spied a dog tag on the collar. The owner of this dog was going to catch it from me! Just then I hear a woman say, "Is Peanut bothering your chicken?" There, approaching across the back yard, are my nice neighbors, the owners of Peanut, the 9 pound min-pin. My mind struggles to put this together. This is Peanut? Why, he looked like a fox just a minute ago. He looked a lot bigger when his jaws were on my chicken. I felt guilty for being angry at them because they are the nicest neighbors. They were a big support to me when Blunder died. They've offered to mow my lawn when I decided to let it go wild. We looked at the chicken. She asked if it was the same one I lost. I couldn't tell yet. We could see her hiding under a fallen down tree trunk. She was moving a little. We could tell she was breathing. The neighbors felt terrible that Peanut attacked my chicken. They offered to pay for it. I try to be nice. I tell them not to worry about it. Peanut was only acting like a dog. I even petted Peanut who was in my neighbor's arms even though Peanut still had his eyes on my chicken. I told them my dogs had gotten away on me before too. I showed my neighbors my walnut stash before they took their dogs and went home. I went back to whacking walnuts. I stopped to check on the chicken after an hour. It hadn't moved. The other three hens weren't around either. The yard was silent. I walked around the yard looking for them but couldn't find them anywhere. I went back to whacking walnuts. After another hour the three hens, like teenagers, came into the garage to say they were home and took off again. I saw Pamela, Meredith and Kelly. For a while the three hens squawked loudly. Were they calling for their sister Phyllis? By now it was getting dark. I walked past the shed and into the woods between the driveway to where I last saw her. I spent five minutes looking for her. Her feathers blend in well with tree bark. Finally I found her. She was tucked in tight beneath some branches. I moved some smaller branches out of the way to get at her. I had to bend forward at the waist to reach her. This was very poor body mechanics but there was no easy way to get her. I petted her back. She made some noise but did not move. She was wedged in there so tight I wouldn't be able to lift her. I nudged her hindquarters and she moved forward enough for me to lift her up and out of the tangle of branches. I cradled her in my arms. She was very still. I petted her and talked to her as I walked her back to her coop. Her head perked up when she saw the coop. I set her in there gently thinking she would rest for a time. She stood right up and left the coop to walk around with her sisters. She has some feathers missing on her right leg but she's fine; no limping. Phyllis doesn't even seem upset. I guess chickens forget quickly. She had a tough day but she's over it.

Oh, Deer

The Minnesota DNR says the deer harvest was a little less than average this year. A rainy October left corn standing in the field that normally would have been harvested by now. The deer could hide from hunters in the corn fields. Our state has 1.2 million deer. Taking 200,000 deer from the state herd would be great. I'd much rather a deer hunter harvested a deer, fed her or his family, and contributed to the hunting economy that me hitting a deer with my car. I learned in my nature class that the average doe ranges 1 square mile. A white tail buck ranges 5 miles. That makes me wonder how many deer we have in our neighborhood. I've seen as many as seven in the yard. All the does I saw this spring had twins. I've heard other deer observers mention seeing twins as well. I believe the number of fawns born is dependent on the winter weather. I am going to try to pay more attention to the deer this winter. I know we have one doe with a black face but otherwise I haven't distinguished them. My ultimate goal is to find a deer shed - some antlers in the woods. If I could come upon a set of antlers, I would definitely do a happy dance. Beginning in late January through early March, I'll have a reason to tromp through the woods.

Magnets Attract

I don't want to clutter up the new Amana refrigerator. Which magnets do I keep and which magnets do I throw or find another place for? Some of these magnets have sentimental value. They tell a history of our family. This is the Pillsbury Dough Boy and the usually unknown Pillsbury Dough Girl. Gotta keep these. They need a bath and they're good as new.

I think this is Snorlax, one of the Pokemon group. He is large and sleepy. Actually the magnet is less than an inch and kinda cute. I'm undecided whether to keep it or toss it.

This one is Alf, an alien puppet character in an otherwise human sit com aired from 1986-1990. This could be a collector's item? Throw or toss? Uncertain.

This one is from an insurance agent back in the early 1980's. We were in good hands then. Throw it.

This one is from a job I had in the late 1970's at Cardiac Pacemakers. I packaged pacemakers in a clean room. I wore a white coat, booties, and a hair net. When I first started that job and we went to break I couldn't recognize any of my coworkers without their hair nets. That job wasn't my niche and I was on to other things within six months. The bar to the magnet got lost so I use a can opener to complete the circuit. It's handy for keeping a can opener around. I think this is a keeper.

This one is from Offspring #1's long running Star Trek phase. Keep or toss, it's hard to tell.

This one is from Girl Scout Troop #631. Look at that art work. Oh, this one could be converted into a tree ornament. It's a keeper.

I think this one was made at Girl Scout day camp. I believe Blunder left some teeth marks on the butterfly wing. I think this one can go.

The Dinosaur Finally Died

When we moved into this house almost 20 years ago, we acquired a large, electricity sucking, gold, side-by-side, behemoth of a refrigerator. It was larger than life and I thought it would die any moment. This giant gold refrigerator was over 20 years old 20 years ago. These days refrigerators last only 7 to 10 years. The gold color really dated our kitchen so I covered that up with artwork, refrigerator magnets (more on those tomorrow), newborn baby pictures (of kids that are now in school), a certificate from a whorehouse in Arkansas (yeah, that was a strange tourist museum), postcards from Europe, dog photos, recipes, coupons, dog obedience certificates, school photos, and anything else I could stick on there to cover up the gold. My photo shows what the refrigerator looked like minus the clutter. The refrigerator, although old, ran very well. Ice cream stayed frozen to just the right consistency. Milk stayed cold. Vegetables did not freeze. Shelves on the doors were broken, the door gasket hung to the floor but the refrigerator refrigerated so I didn't replace it. Why replace something that is not broken? Because it sucked electricity? Well, that is a good point but I just couldn't throw away an appliance that still worked. And if I had thrown it away, I might have had to replace it more than once by now. I always hoped that the refrigerator would not die in the middle of summer. I wanted to be able to use the cold garage to store things temporarily. This week the dinosaur finally started to die. Although things were cold, they weren't cold enough. My sugar free Popsicle sticks pulled out of the Popsicles forcing me to eat them from the plastic sleeve and get an ice-cream headache. I don't have a refrigerator thermometer but I would guess things were about 10 degrees warmer than usual. So I decided to replace the refrigerator. Now I could have gone and gotten a new refrigerator at one of the big box stores but I didn't. I just don't like the service at those places. Instead I chose a small, local, Christian appliance store. Christian you ask? Yes, Christian. Bible verses adorn their sign on the road and their bills of sale. My produce is now blessed. I chose a much smaller, freezer on top, white, energy efficient refrigerator. I got a good price on it too. As my salesperson was writing up my bill of sale, I was contemplating how different an experience this as compared to Best Buy, Home Depot or any other big box store. I was sitting in a small office next to an old fashioned desk. The walls were covered with fake wood paneling. The salesperson used a calculator to total up my bill. While she worked another employee came in and asked, "Would you like a hot dog or a cookie?" It struck me funny and I laughed out loud. She raised an eyebrow. I apologized for laughing, "I'm sorry, that struck me funny, but it was VERY GENEROUS of you to offer, no thanks." She responded, "I also have chips!" I just don't expect a free lunch when shopping for appliances but that is what happens when you don't go to a big box store. The next day my refrigerator was delivered (no charge) and the dinosaur was hauled away (again, no charge). For the first time since I've lived here, the dishwasher, stove, and refrigerator are all the same color. The whole room looks different. My broccoli, vegie burgers, milk and oranges are cooling in my Christian refrigerator and all is well. I expect my electric bill will go way down. But in a way, I'll miss that gold dinosaur. It had seen a lot of living in it's 40 plus years of service.

Graduation Night

Tonight is graduation night. I've been taking another Master Naturalist class for the past 5 weeks. My previous class was called Big Woods Big Rivers. This one is Northwoods Great Lakes. I gotta tell you, classes twice a week plus homework plus two 8 hour field trips on Saturdays has worn me out. Sometimes I get up at 5 a.m. and when class is over at 9 p.m. that makes for a l 0 0 o n g day. I've enjoyed the learning and the fellowship and I think I will miss that. In case you aren't aware, the mission of the Master Naturalist program are to increase knowledge of Minnesota's natural and cultural history, develop ability to convey the knowledge to a variety of audiences, promote ability to serve as a steward of the land, help you become more concerned and proactive about the natural environment, support growth as a life-long and self-directed learner. All good things, don't you agree? This takes 40 hours of classroom instruction on ecology and systems. We are expected to complete a capstone project. This time I am working with 3 other women to improve the appearance of the garden area at the entrance to the Wildlife Science Center in Columbus Township, near Forest Lake. We are going to add some shade loving wildflowers and shrubs. We will remove some non-native species. We'll try to get some more wood chips for the path. And we're going to try and disguise the appearance of a large white propane tank. The propane tank disguise will be difficult. We aren't allowed to cover it with a tarp, fabric, paint, or extra large tea cozy. We don't expect to finish our project until May of 2010. I'm glad I will get a chance to work with these three women in the future. The people in the class are really fascinating; tree huggers, each and every one of us.

Pot On a Wall

Here is a picture of my pot on a garden wall in September.

Here it the same pot in November. I took the annuals out and stuck some spruce branches, red twigged dogwood branches, some red eucalyptus branches, and some fake holly. I just stuck them into the soil so they fanned out. I watered the soil to anchor the branches. They will stay in there through snowstorms and winter gales until I pull them out in the spring.

Bar Joke

A “C,” an “E-flat,” and a “G” go into a bar. The bartender says: “Sorry, but we don’t serve minors.”
So the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished and the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough.

A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, “Excuse me. I’ll just be a second.”
Then an A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor.
Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims, “Get out now. You’re the seventh minor I’ve found in this bar tonight.”

The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says, “You’re looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development.” This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au natural.

Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he’s under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility.

On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless. The bartender decides, however, that since he’s only had tenor so patrons, with the sopranout in the bathroom, and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest, and closes the bar.

Project Feeder Watch Update

Black capped chickadee-5, White Breasted Nuthatch-3, Dark eyed Junco-1, Downy Woodpecker-1, Blue Jay-1,

A Perfect Match

I recently learned that an old friend of mine is donating a kidney to her husband on Monday. She was a perfect match with him. I've known her fairly well. She is one of the kindest people I have ever met. I met her husband a handful of times. I think it is highly romantic that she is the perfect match for him. A kidney is a bigger gift than any engagement ring. Do you agree this is romantic? Or do you, as others, think this will be something she can hold over his head for the rest of their lives and the kidney topic will be raised in every argument? Whatever your opinion, if you are a praying type of person, please say one a prayer for this perfectly matched couple on Monday. Thanks!

Good News For All You Future Astronauts

Did you hear NASA sent a rocket to the moon and it made a splash? There is water up there. This is huge! The job market for astronauts will explode! People will be able to live up there in space stations. This is great news for the daring and the bold.

Murder on Astor Place

Many people in my book club like mystery novels. I'm not a big fan myself. So when it was time to read this book, I started by reading the last 10 pages and then going to the beginning. "Murder on Astor Place" by Victoria Thompson is a story in turn of the century New York City. A woman from the upper class is breaking tradition by working as a midwife. She runs into a police officer investigating a murder and she immediately dislikes him and he dislikes her. By the end of the book they like each other and readers wonder if their relationship will continue in the upcoming series. Taking their relationship to the next level seems likely but a long, drawn out relationship will sell more books. And this book is meant to sell more books. The premise of the story was offered by a publisher. The publisher asked for submissions for a story written in turn of the century New York City involving a midwife. Victoria Thompson's entry was selected and that is how the series got started. This process reminds me of the Spice Girls. A music producer wanted a pop girl band and held auditions. Scary Spice, Baby Spice, Sporty Spice, Posh Spice and Ginger Spice auditioned and were chosen. The Spice Girls made some good music. Who can forget "If You Want To Be My Lover?" If you like mysteries, you might like "Murder on Astor Place" too.

I Just Can't Stop Loving You

Saw "This Is It" with a friend from work tonight after work. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. MJ is a genius. Did I tell you I loved it? We're thinking of going again. It's impossible to it still through this movie. Next time we'll sit in the back row so we can dance.

The Hour I First Believed

I listened to this book on CD. I've been doing a lot of driving because of my night classes and even with all that, it was a struggle to get the book listened in 3 weeks. "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb has put Wally into my list of favorite authors. Normally I don't get emotional about books. If I read something funny I might smile but not laugh out loud. One day I went into my job with tears streaming down my face. A friend asked me what was wrong. I answered, "Nothing. It's just a book I'm listening to - it made me cry." The recent shootings at Ford Hood made this book all the more poignant because a big part of it takes place at Columbine High School. The book really describes what it was like to be in that school as the two students went through the library taunting people before murdering them. The main character, Caelum Quirk, is no angel. He has serious anger issues. But his love of his wife, Maureen, is something tragic yet beautiful to witness. I really liked Lamb's style of depicting his characters. Two thumbs up for "The Hour I First Believed."

Project Feeder Watch

Yeah! It's Project Feederwatch time again. I can spend time looking at birds out the window and feel like I'm still accomplishing something. Last year I saw a total of 14 species (Canada Goose, Red-Tailed Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal and Purple Finch. The most birds I saw in a viewing period was 45 and the fewest was 3.

The results for this week were good: Black capped Chickadee-5, White-breasted Nuthatch-2, Cedar Waxwings-14 (gobbling up crabapples), Downy Woodpecker-1, Pileated Woodpeckers - 2 (just flying through), and American Crow-1

Hawk and Owl

Photo credit goes to my friend, Jon. Maybe you can't tell because of the sunglasses but I am 100% intimidated by this red tailed hawk. Even though I had watched at least a dozen people hold the hawk before my turn, I am scared to death. Notice how I am leaning away from the bird? Yeah, that is after the instructor pushed my body upright because I was WAY back before. The hawk is looking at me right in the eye, giving me the evil eye. I'm trying not to pee my pants. I enjoyed watching the other students hold the bird. As soon as they had the bird on their arm, the men and the women would get this beautiful awestruck expression on their faces. I enjoyed watching their faces change as much as I enjoyed watching the hawk.

This is the long-eared owl and I. Except for the face, the owl looks exactly like tree bark. It would be hard to find one of these in the wild. This bird has a feisty reputation but was not nearly as intimidating as the hawk.

Change of Address

Today I moved the chicken coop to the winter location. I wanted it on the south side of the house where it will be protected from north winds. The sun will shine on them here and the house will block the wind. It's close to the electrical outlet. I hooked up a 60 watt light bulb with reflective shield in the coop to keep them warm and to keep them laying. Chickens won't lay when they don't get enough light. I used my two wheeled dolly to move the coop and the run. I cleaned it out and laid down fresh bedding. I hooked up the light. I filled up their mash bucket. My chickens have mash available to them all the time. Yet they get all excited when they hear me move the metal bucket. I was kneeling on the ground with my upper torso inside the coop trying to hang the bucket back on the hook when they wanted to barge into the coop. My body blocked them. One enterprising chicken named Pamela who has NO social boundaries jumped on my back. My sweatshirt had pulled up a little leaving some bare skin showing. Pamela walked back and forth on my bare back while I struggled. I told her to get off me but she probably couldn't hear me very well because my head was inside the coop. The poultry massage was not a pleasant feeling but not painful either. I took a long, hot, soapy shower to get all the chicken germs off of me. When twilight came, I wondered if they would know where to go. I was in a hurry when I tried to get them into the coop because I had lemon bars in the oven. The four hens were on the east side of the house where the coop used to be walking around in circles and looking confused. I told them the house was over here now but did they listen? No, they did not. They did not appreciate being driven that way with a stick either. So I tried to think like a chicken. I went and unhooked the food bucket again and brought it over to the east side of the house. I set it down and let them eat a little bit before carrying it over to the coop. All four hens followed me at a trot. Meredith, Kelly, and Phyllis went into the coop to eat. Pamela got confused. She went to the wrong side of the coop, where there is no door, and paced back and forth. I told her I had to get back to my lemon bars but she didn't listen. I prodded her gently with a stick and she got all emotional and took off for the east side of the house again. She stayed there while I went inside to take care of my lemon bars. I came out later and she was under the deck. I opened the door to the coop so she could see her home and Meredith wanted to come out. I scolded Meredith and chased her into the run so I could hold the door open long enough for Pamela to come home to roost. I think it might take them a few days to get used to their new location. I hope they eat some of the many boxelder bugs there.

Class Field Trip

As part of my second master naturalist class, I attended anther field trip today. We had a busy outdoor day planned from 9 until almost 5:30. I loaded fresh batteries in my camera before I left and then forgot it on the kitchen counter. I'll be getting photos from my classmates and when I do, I'll post some of them. We looked at wolves. I saw 55+ wolves today. We studied them. We ate lunch by them. We saw them fed. We made plaster casts of their paw prints. We saw them sleeping and eating and playing and pacing and rubbing their sides against the chain link fence. We saw some charge after a fresh deer heart while others stood back and let the more aggressive animals have it. I've never seen a wolf in the wild and hope I do get that chance someday. We saw cougar, lynx, bobcat, coyote, gray and red fox, porcupines, raccoons, and 8 black bear. We saw red foxes that were red but others were orange, gold, black and even white. Did you know the word for a group of porcupine? A group of porcupine is called a prickle. Porcupine are the second largest rodents in our state and generally don't hang out in prickles. They're more solitary. Babies are born with quills but the quills don't harden until an hour after birth. Otherwise, ouch! Baby porcupines are called porcupets and are ready to climb a tree an hour after birth. We fed the bears. The bears had a lucky day as we fed them carbs. A bakery donated excess product. We threw bread, cinnamon rolls, bread sticks, chocolate covered doughnuts and powdered sugar doughnuts over the fence. The bear inhaled the powdered sugar doughnuts first and left the bread for last. I first came to admire bears when I was pregnant. I was jealous of their ability to give birth while sleeping through the winter. I found out today that the average female bear, weighing 200-300 pounds, gives birth to a cub a half pound in weight. The small size of the newborn cubs really surprised me. Not only do they get to give birth while hibernating, but their babies are so much smaller than ours. That is totally not fair. We watched a deer necropsy. At first we couldn't tell what had killed the deer but once it was opened to the area above the diaphragm, we could see a lot of blood pooled around the heart and lungs. It had been hit by a car in the chest area. We also got a close look at some raptors including a red tailed hawk, screech owl, long-eared owl, peregrine falcon, and rough legged hawk. We got to hold some of the birds. I held a red tailed hawk and a long-eared owl-what a tremendous thrill. I had to pay $200 to take this class but today was totally worth the cost.

Artsy Fartsy

A friend and I went to visit the Northrup King Building in old "nordeast" last night. This old building used to be a seed factory. The Northrup King building has four "L" shaped stories and is about a block long. As we walked up the stairs, the door had automatic closers on them consisting of a chain, a counter weight and a pulley. The automatic door closers still worked and I think it's cool that they kept them. Pictures on the wall showed workers filling bags of seed corn (not genetically modified, I'm sure) and rows of typists seated at desks in an open room. Now the building houses art studios. My friend and I focused on textile arts. We looked at looms and rugs and wall hangings. Some rugs were made from rags, old jeans, sparkly threads, organic hand dyed yarns, and cord. We looked over the rugs and tried to figure out how they were made. Some of those looms were very complicated. A couple looms had computers on them to help with complicated patterns. On most rugs, the pattern comes from what is woven back and forth. In one studio, that pattern was in the warp- the vertical threads that run the length of the rug. The look of the rugs was very different but it took us non-weavers a long time to figure out why they looked so different. One room had rugs made in Peru. The colors were bright tangerine, red, turquoise, yellow, purple, green and blue - that was my favorite room. Some of the images had depth and were tapestry more than rugs. They also made pillow covers, table runners, place mats and purses. I looked at all their rugs. The prices on the clearance table were too high for me. Besides, the rugs were too beautiful to put on the floor. I don't think I could walk on something so pretty. We saw some woven clothing that was very attractive. We saw some unusual children's hats made to look like knights from the round table, queens complete with crowns and long braids, a fish, and a hen sitting on a nest. Beside the textiles, we were drawn into some other rooms. One room had kinetic sculptures that moved back and forth in a comforting motion and made sounds. These sculptures were huge - the size of a SUV. One had pipes that moved up and down and reminded me of my grandparent's well house on the farm. Another room had mosaics that were fantastic to look at. Some mosaics were made of glass but most were made of hand-made ceramic tile that incorporated sliced agates, pieces of quartz, river rocks, and even some fossils. By 9 p.m. we were overwhelmed by all we had seen and had to go home to relax.

My Squirrels Have A Granite Countertop

I have a landscape pink granite boulder in my yard. The red squirrel uses it to peel the black walnuts.

I wish they'd clean up after themselves.

Sarah's Key

I chose this book off the shelf at the library knowing nothing about it. I just didn't see any other books on CD that looked interesting. I didn't think it would be as good as it turned out to be. This novel, written by Tatiana de Rosnay, is based in France during world war two. The story talks about the French police rounding up Jewish families, bringing them to a large sports facility where bicycle races were held, keeping them there for days without enough food or water, and sending them to death camps using public buses and trains. The description of the stay in the bicycle stadium reminded me of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. The round-up was known as the Vel d'Hiv. As I listened to the story I got curious. I googled Vel d'Hiv and learned that this really happened. The French government was asked by the Nazi's to round up Jewish adults. France was occupied by the Germans at the time. The Nazi's, not wanting to publicize the fact that they were exterminating people, asked only for adults knowing it would look suspicious to be taking children. But the French police took the children anyway. Sarah, the girl in the story with the key, was one of the children rounded up that day. This story was moving. It's true there were some sad parts but it is a very good book.

No Cavities!!

I've been shopping for a new dentist for about 2 years and I think I finally found a clinic that I am willing to stay with. A couple years ago I was at a really big clinic that rhymes with Bark. This mega clinic kept ordering things or procedures that cost me out of pocket. They were sly about how they told me the costs. When I questioned them on it, they said I had signed a statement saying I knew what the costs would be. When I said I didn't want these extra, expensive procedures, they said my insurance company insisted on it. I called my insurance company to find out of that was true. It wasn't. I wasted no time in getting copies of my x-rays and finding anther clinic. I asked around. This time I tried a smaller practice. One dentist ran this clinic and she must have had input on the decor because it was a VERY feminine clinic. Everything was powder blue with baskets of flowers sitting on tables and hanging off the walls. This dentist was a talker. My first appointment was 2 hours long and I didn't even get a cleaning. She asked where I worked. She had other patients who worked at the same place and she told me all about them. She told me that my supervisor was in this very chair yesterday for two hours. Ewwww! I did not want to know that. My biggest beef with her was her gossiping. I knew if I stayed that she would talk about me just as much as I heard about others. She was breaking privacy laws right and left. Again, I asked for copies of my x-rays and left. On I went to the third clinic. This time I was satisfied. My first appointment went well. I had a cleaning and was out of there in about an hour. No gossiping. No breaking privacy laws. No trying to talk me into extra procedures. I met someone in the lobby that I knew from Girl Scouts. She told me that a couple of other people I know have been coming here for years. It's all good at the new dentist. It pays to shop around.

Who Is Hobson and What Were His Choices?

I got an email today that said in part, ". . . or leave well enough alone and pray you are not faced with a Hobson's choice." Have you heard of a Hobson's choice? I had to look it up. Hobson was in the horse business. He rented horses in England in the turn of the 16th century. He wanted to rotate the 40 horses in his livery so he told his customers they could rent the horse nearest the door or rent no horse at all.

Birds Vs Window Glass

Last weekend I had 3 birds crash into the windows on the south side of my house. This weekend I had another two birds fly into the glass. What is up with these bird accidents? Is it because the woods are bare of trees and the sunlight can pierce the woods and reflect off the glass? Are the birds getting drunk from eating fermented berries or apples? Here is a picture of a little black capped chickadee on my deck. It's hanging onto a maple leaf. I didn't think the picture was very dignified. I hope no one takes my picture unconscious, on my back, with legs splayed apart.

I picked up the maple leaf so I could get a better picture. That bird had a death grip on that leaf with it's left foot. I picked up the leaf. The chickadee is so light he or she came up with the leaf without me noticing. I dropped the leaf and the poor bird flumped on the deck. Poor thing had it's bell rung twice. Ten minutes later the chickadee sat up, shook it's head, and flew off.