Chickadees like to excavate their own holes however if you want to put something inside the box for them to take out it would not be sawdust, a few tiny woodchips yes, sawdust no. Plus filling it to the hole would probably discourage anything from nesting there. I have heard that some Dees will not readily nest in a box with a 1 1/8 inch hole. Some start with a 1 1/2 hole and add a reducer once the Dee is committed to the box. Dees do prefer the nestboxes to be by trees vs in the open where Blues boxes usually are. I would worry about squirrels though. Oh and yes raccoons can jump. I have the wobbling stovepipe baffles and they do work for raccoons. Good luck! The Dees by me prefer to excavate old woodpecker holes to my nestboxes, crazy little birds!! Donna

The deer eat me out of house and home during this time of year. Why wouldn't they? The snow is several feet deep with a hard icy crust on top, and it's still well below freezing all the time. They have already eaten all the berries they can reach from the crabapples, they've already cleaned all the sunflower heads from the fields. Here is food, easy to get to (as long as the dogs are in the house), and tasty. We put out sunflower seeds and corn for the deer, the resident herd (about a dozen deer) can eat it in ten minutes. We feed the birds, the birds and deer empty 10 feeders in two days. To me, it's part of life in the country. I love watching both birds and deer and I take a deep breath and go buy more food. The newspaper recently had an article that February and March are the most critical times for the deer - they are running out of accessible food. If eating my bird food helps even a few of them get through the winter, good for them! There are those who say we should not feed the deer - it spreads disease, and there are too many deer anyway. The disease issue seems to be significant only where large numbers are feeding in a very small area. As for numbers, the hunters do their best to take care of that problem in the fall. As for eating my garden plants in summer - for the most part they stay out of the yard in summer - there's food in the fields and there's dogs in the yard. But, they do eat some of my flowering plants. Again, that's life in the country. I learn what they like less and plant more of that. Or I spray my roses with a repellent. So, another vote for feed the deer. And enjoy them. Look at this lady's beautiful eyes, how could you resist?

Jane, I'm glad that my simple words gave you comfort. The approaching evening might be a difficult time for you -- it often is for those recently (within years) bereaved. And with dusk, those birdies leave for the night -- except, do you ever notice how the cardinals are often the last to call it a day? And in the summer, those hummingbirds also come after dusk as well. Hold on, Jane. Take all the time you need and grieve how you need. Be gentle with yourself on this awful rollercoaster trip. Time does temper the heartache, but before that, it seems to take forever to find release from the crushing loss. (A friend once described the pain of grief as being also physical pain for its intensity.) But, even if someone has a miracle pill, it wouldn't really help hasten what needs to take time, reflection, remembering and tears. But remember that you are not alone in many other ways. Words are inadequate, but it's all many of us can offer. We need to offer as much as you might need to receive. Claire, I meant to tell you how much I loved those turkey shots. Beautiful. I used to have turkeys milling about, but not so much in the past couple of years. I'm curious what they are looking for on the ground (to eat?). Do you put corn or seed out for them? I just love wild turkeys. Seeing them feels like "everything's gonna be just fine" even if the world seems crazy from one week to the next. One late afternoon I got to watch a group of them fly up into a tall oak and settle in. I don't know if they stayed there all night or only until Leno was over. Susan, love those goldfinches, but you're are so yellow only their hairdresser knows for sure.

Not sure about BIG graph paper, but I still have two pads of the 8.5x11 stuff that saw me through the early stages of my remodel planning. And somewhere, I have a bigger graph page pad too, but not sure if the squares on it are larger. I would like to see some graphs that are 1/2 inch squares, now THAT would be helpful. In our old house that was killed in Hurricane Katrina, we had the 1950s era real blueprints all rolled up, and countless notes about how they built it. But these days, the blueprint industry is a lot different. Nothing "blue" about it. Moving pieces of paper around is a big improvement over trial and error moving of pieces of furniture. I like to draw a floor plan. Then I like to draw the ELEVATION of all four walls in each room. It helps me to see how well the room is balanced. No "heavy" corners, no light-weight spots, so i don't feel like my "marbles' will roll to one side of the room. I think achieving a balanced feel in a room gives me a sense of comfort. And, I know that making the most of a view, taking advantage of a natural view, or maybe screening a disturbing view out the windows, makes me feel happy and content. While I lived at MoccasinLanding, I had a neighbor who parked a real Greyhound bus (yes indeed) right next to our shared property line. (I saw that bus the other day and it was totally covered by mildew in a parking lot!) so I put in a privacy fence along that line, and then I planted a living screen. I also put in some wind chimes and hanging baskets, to keep my eye close-focused, and not allow it to range across the fence. In my back bedroom, I had a view of the small bayou, and I kept that long look down the bayou open, not blocked, because it was so pretty. In those days I was home only 63 days a year, 21 days x 3 times each year, because I was working in south Texas or south Louisiana. I took pictures of the views from each window and then while I was a safe distance away, I indulged all sorts of imaginative plans mentally, which kept me from making the worst mistakes when I came home. But when I was headed home, I knew my mission and hit the ground running when I arrived. Until you put your hand on a shovel or a paint brush or a saw, no harm done to let your imagination run wild! :)