PRACTICAL PARSIMONY: Birds

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Birds

Today, Wednesday, when I was doing dishes, I glanced out the kitchen window. A robin was picking berries from the Cherry Laurel in which it landed. Actually, there were two dozen robins, male and female. A blue jay landed in the same tree and looked at me, watching me for a while. Finally, it went to talk with blue jay friends nearby.

Shortly afterwards, I went from the kitchen to the den and saw on the other side of the house cardinals in a tree along with woodpeckers. The cardinals+ didn't surprise me, but I don't recall seeing the others in winter.

Just before that was a murmuration of starlings from several yards on the street. The sound startled me before I saw the birds rise up as one.

It was the wrong time of day for the tiny birds. They flit about by the dozens, so cute.

I feel bad that my chickens are prisoners, never being able to go out into the grass. They should be almost as free as the birds in the trees. Of course, when they have been free lately, they die. There is a predator hiding in the brush. Until the brush is eradicated, they stay locked up or I sit with them.

And my car will not be ready until tomorrow afternoon. I don't think replacing the fuel filter should take so long.

The highs will be in 60s soon. It looks like I can wear sandals this weekend. The Alabama peach crop will suffer if we don't get more cold hours.

Your turn
Are you seeing birds out of season? Whatever your weather, is it going to be unseasonably warm this weekend where you live?

8 comments:

VanessaJanuary 7, 2016 at 12:27 AM
It was so hot here in North Florida on new years that I was sweating in a long skirt. Now I'm wearing a scarf, hat and sweater in my house. Damn you unpredictable weather, pick a side ;)
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Elephant's ChildJanuary 7, 2016 at 1:39 PM
It is going to be HOT here this weekend. It is perfectly seasonable (sigh) but not welcomed by me.
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Anne in the kitchenJanuary 7, 2016 at 6:12 PM
THis yoyo weather we are having is killing my sinuses. Warm up or get cold but this constant change is about to do me in. Anyone know how to get rid of a 2,000 pound head?
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Ur-spoJanuary 7, 2016 at 9:35 PM
quite the contrary here; it is cold/rainy and quite like the pacific northwest. The AZ folks are cranky for it.
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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.

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The Cast

Fancy is my favorite hen. She is one of the three youngest hens I adopted. Because she is so gentle and friendly, she may be the one I rescued when she was being pecked to death after she could no longer stand. She got to live in the house in a box. Sometimes, I let her sit in my lap while she was convalescing. Now, she comes to sit in the swing with me, cuddling up to my body like a cat or dog. She died in February 2012.

Fancy follows me begging, complaining, needing me to do for her. She talks to me in various voices. She allows me to pick her up and carry her. When she became an adult, her head was a darker red and her body was light brown. Around her neck were tips of black feathers. It appeared she had a necklace of jet around her neck. When I showed this characteristic to a friend, he said, "Oh, you have fancy chickens and plain chickens."

Chessie has a broken toe. I broke it! She had a habit of jumping really high and almost sticking. A raccoon ate her in October 2009.

Thelma is the blonde. She is also the largest hen and the alpha hen. I suspect the gigantic eggs are from her. She often squats and presents herself to me. She is top hen, but I suspect she knows she had better be deferent to top feeder of the flock--me.

Louise is the auburn-feathered hen. She looks like the true Rhode Island Reds in pictures. She is almost as large as Thelma. Some days I suspect she is trying to be top chicken. When I got Pepper, I found out Louise is the Alpha hen.

Pepper came here from the same home as the first four. We were discussing putting red pepper on their food, wondering if it really would increase egg production. Pepper is the only name we agreed on. She is terrorized each day by Louise. Even after the worst was over, she was and is still filled with terror and very wary.

Linda is owned by four hens. They allow her to fetch for them. She loves them dearly, so she allows them to boss her around. Linda comes out in the rain to perform chores for them and make sure they have food and water. She begs scraps from all sorts of places to make sure they have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Parsimony is not a vegetable

Parsimony is extreme care in spending money. Stick around and learn about my random thoughts on accomplishing goals economically--dumpster diving aka safari, gleaning, do-it-yourself, sewing tips, recipes, and whatever is happening in my life.

Okay so maybe "parsimony" is not your thing. How about thrift, frugality or just plain saving money? I try not to go the tightwad route as that seems to imply others will suffer from my habits.

Some of my not-spending habits have very much been a part of my lifelong habits. Other habits are newly acquired and are an extension of my lifelong not-spending habits.

I am very imaginative when it comes to substituting or making instead of buying. I will tell you about making a heater for the chickens' water. Not one dime was spent since I had everything I needed right in my basement.

Practicality must rear its head alongside parsimony. For example, I will use the dryer in bad weather or because of allergies in the spring. But, I will not wash clothes in a tub as long as I have a washing machine or can find one.

You may hear more about my four Rhode Island Red hens than you care to hear. They lay delicious brown eggs.

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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Birds

8 comments: