Great stuff! I like that rustic basket and the rake head. Your blue pitcher would make a gorgeous vase. The color would compliment any flower. I like that pear too ... it would make a great totem topper.

You got some pretty cool stuff!! My DH would be ga-ga over that lantern, for sure! Great idea for the cast iron pot too! It's enough to get a person addicted, isn't it? My DH is starting to get the hang of it now, as well. Sometimes he gives me that "you're crazy, woman" look until I show him pictures of what people have made. THEN, he's right in there with me. I love seeing other people's finds!

We have quite a few cardinals as well, though none have been all that cooperative with photo opprtunities. Same goes for our Blue Jays who mainly visit for the bird baths. I don't provide nut-based feed as the squirrels killed my native persimmon tree trying to get to the feeder and the nuts drew in a rather large rat that then went after my worm bin. I figured he was going into it for the veggie scraps, but I no longer have any worms in the bin, so I guess rats like worms too. He met the business end of a trap and was tossed into the field behind me where he became a snack for a turkey vulture. I see Mockingbirds sometimes but they are more likely to be high up in the trees around my house than actually in my yard. We have a breeding pair of Red-shouldered Hawks and sometimes I hear a Red-Tail Hawk. Sometimes the Red-Shouldered Hawks will divebomb the feeder area, but so far they have been un lucky. My neighbors tell me the Red-Shoulder pair often visit the Watering Pool in the morning, but I have yet to see them there. Last week I had two occasions to witness two Bald Eagles in the sky. Their trilling call is unmistakeable. One of the times I saw them it looked like they were getting ready for the 'Courtship Drop', but I was on my way out and couldn't stop to watch for very long. It's quite rare that I hear owls at night and I have yet to see one. As for the pictures, I've started carrying my camera with me as I work in the yard. I got tired of snapping pics with my phone and having them look horrible. My camera isn't too great and lacks the ability to really zoom in, so I have had to cheat here. I adjusted the camera to take pictures in the highest resolution possible. When I upload them to my computer, I copy/paste the images into a 1280x720 template (which is a fair bit smaller than the image itself) and adjust the scale down until only the part I want is in frame. It's a bit more work, but the results are on par with my mother's Nikon w/ Macro Lens.

HTown, don't be too comfortable with them. I've been feeding the ones in our yard off and on for awhile, but I never get too close to them. No matter how "familiar" you may be with them, they still have an instinctive distrust for people and they have the potential to be dangerous. Most people don't like them because they've had bad experiences with them, just like many other types of wildlife that invade or wreak some form of destruction on their property, and that's completely understandable. They can also be aggressive towards pets. I made a point of mentioning to my neighbors that there were raccoons active in our area. If you get to feeding them and slack off, they could move on to another property where they're not as welcome and that could have negative consequences for the neighbor, the raccoon or both. I'm not saying don't feed or enjoy them, but make sure you educate yourself on them before you get into it on a regular or semi-regular basis. Make sure there are no means for them to access your house including the roof and chimney, because once they know where the food is coming from they could try to find an easier way to get to it. It's best not to leave food for them near your house for this reason. One of the first things I did when I knew how much they came around was make sure they couldn't get on our roof from any trees, the area around our deck was sealed, and our chimney cap was secure. I added chicken(Actually smaller gapped fencing than chicken wire) wire around the opening to ensure there was no access.(Something I was going to do anyway to deter the birds that ended up in our living room.) This link I found can cover it a little more indepth. These are just tips, but they can be helpful. Feeding Tips I guess my message is it's fine to enjoy them, but make sure you know what you're getting yourself in for, as there are a few things to consider. :-)