Today in the exceptionally clear air I happened to snap this: These are House Finches. The red-headed one is the male and he’s feeding the female. This, I just read, is courting behavior. There were at least two males and two females around, possibly competing while a Hairy Woodpecker and a Nuthatch looked on. (Here’s …
Author Archives: kaat
We’re Here, Birdwatching
We’re still unpacking boxes, and not the kind that can go down into the basement without being opened. We’re still considering bids for several major appliance changes, like the new boiler, insulation, and a good wood stove. We’ve taken our first stabs at composting and are battling swarms of small, black flies. We’ve assembled the …
Homestead Update
We’re moving ourselves and the rest of our stuff this weekend. Then we need to unpack, figure out which boiler and water heater to buy and who should install it. Then insulation. Then select the wood stove (any suggestions? the choice on the market is overwhelming, but we don’t want to go pellets). And that’s …
Any Good Books about Foxes?
(Choo-Chee the Fox by Galina Kolev, used with kind permission) At the new house we’ll be seeing lots of foxes. I’m looking for a good book about them. It could be a fairytale or a picture story or a more scientific book (not too advanced). As long as it doesn’t reinforce the old stereotype of …
Snails
Amie and I had just read a book about snails when lo and behold! One showed up on our doorstep, literally. That’s our doorstep. Amie was enthralled. We talked about how it carries its house on its back, leaves a trail of mucus, can crawl up vertical surfaces and upside down (try explaining “suction” to …
Moved (for the Most Part)
Almost. 70% of our stuff, perhaps. We’re moving the rest and ourselves on Saturday. Then comes the tedious job of unpacking… But Amie loved “driving” the truck! Not as much as her Mama did, though.
Little Home-Made Animation: Happiness
I made this little animation a long time ago. I found it while clearing out my hard drive. It’s not perfect, but still cute. Click on the image to see the movie.
Gotta Get, no MAKE Us One of Those!
Have you seen the small CNN documentary video about the Dervaes Urban Homesteaders (of Path to Freedom fame)? If you’ve followed the Urban Homesteaders, it won’t show you much that is new, except for that toilet/sin (approx. 2/3 into the video)! The lid of the toilet water tank has been converted into a small sink. …
More Birds
The 4 robins have pretty much outgrown their nest, but I haven’t seen them fly out yet. There are two little woodpeckers like these. Neither has a red spot on the head, so I think they’re both adult females. They’re so small they are probably Downy (not Hairy) Woodpeckers. But the Hairy Woodpecker is probably …
Made Cookies and had Lesson in Grammar
… and as we were eating them, still warm, I said: – You and me made these! Upon which Amie said: – You and I made these!