When you are really attuned to nature,you can see so many things..big and little. I feed the raccoons so know they eat first,right when the sun goes down and then they make a tour of the property. Last night they took their coffee can full of cat food with them and dropped it right by the bird feeder when they climbed up to get the sunflower seeds. Greedy little buggers. We have big old toad who by day stays in one of the 12 terra cotta flower pots of geraniums lining my stairs. Trouble is,I forget about him from time to time and water his head. We have a wren who is nesting somewhere in our garage but I haven't a clue where the nest is. I always lock up the garage at night so the raccoons will stay out of there. My greenhouse is attached to the garage and right as rain every morning Ms. wren is in there yelling at me to let her out which of course I do. Ever try to argue with a wren? It's a lost cause. I could go on forever about the 2 red tailed hawks who are in our yard every day,the red fox who darts through the woods but is pretty elusive, and the roughly 25 wild turkeys who tromp through here every morning around 7. I am so used to all the critter noises that when I hear a new one my ears always perk up. A family whose property borders on the same woods as ours has started raising alpacas and they make the funniest little noises. Kind of neat.

OK, I finally did the video for days 16 and 17. It was a hard one to do. Again this morning I have seen the parents take mealworms into the trees, way up high. Now I'm counting the days till Daddy brings them back. Here's the last video. I've had the phrase 'up into the high trees' and I think I know why: "Somewhere over the rainbow Way up high, There's a land that I heard of Once in a lullaby. " Bluebird blessings, Linda... Here is a link that might be useful: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Nancy - congrats and well wishes for another nesting this season. Lisa - Don't count your chickens yet - with the birdy "Day of Our Lives" going on in your backyard, I'd be surprised at nothing. I was sure my pair would head out after they fledged batch #2 - I had to leave on vacation for a week and stopped putting out mealie. But, surprise! When I got home, Momma had a lovely third nest built and had already filled it with four eggs. I'll cross my fingers for you - your girly bird is a Hussy-Mom, afterall...

First of all, she's going to college, not moving away. She'll probably be coming home for visits--holidays, summers, etc. Secondly--it's quite common these days--for children to 'boomerang'. The first 'leaving', from my experience, rarely takes. Most seem to pop back home for a shorter or longer time at some point. All my dd's friends have been back to live home for a while. Especially when they're starting their entry-level jobs, they need an economical place to stay--where better than Mom's Famous Boarding House, right? Second--as a teacher, you know that the whole point of teaching or raising a child is to give them the knowledge, confidence, self-sufficiency to get by on their own. So Kudos for doing your job well! My dd is 26--just this weekend she moved out for good. Oh, she went away to school for a semester, then returned home to finish her education and get her career started. Now, she's finally in a position to buy her own home. In all honesty, it was a lot tougher seeing her leave this weekend (to move 8 miles away), than it was when she was 18 and going about 600 miles away to school. Why? By the time you survive those teen years (and they talk about the terrible 2's?)--you're ready for a break. Even the BEST teen leaves drama and exhaustion in their wake, don't they? But now? At age 26, my dd has turned into a truly lovely person who I would enjoy spending time with even if we weren't related. I'm going to miss our nightly 'catch up' sessions, seeing her dashing around in the mornings trying to get to work on time (although, I'm planning on enjoying having the bathroom to myself then--YIPPPEEEEE!). But under it all? I'm just so thrilled that she was able to buy her own house, that she is doing a great job handling the financial details, setting it up, etc. And guess what? We're invited for lunch at her place today. I'm really curious about what she's going to serve--we don't all like the same foods, she doesn't cook, and has a complicated new range to figure out. But it's going to be an interesting experience. Point here? you're starting a whole new adventure with your daughter--sit back, relax and enjoy it as you both grow and achieve a new stage of life. Oh, understand, though, I spent a good bit of Sat. morning--first morning I woke up and she wasn't here--fighting back tears. We're entitled to that. It's a passage for us all. But a good one, in the end, I think, so we'll survive and be proud of them.