Found the Cutest Bird Feeder!

I was looking for a hummingbird feeder, but came across a different, adorable bird feeder and I really want to buy this one! What do you think? Hummingbirds or regular songbirds?

I just liked the idea of a tree having a window with an angel or fairy looking out the window at the birds. I think I would have a fairy in the window instead of an angel, but I can switch that out myself if I buy it.

I already have two beautiful, glass hummingbird feeders, but I was thinking that if I bought one or two more that I might attract more hummingbirds to my yard. I have two in the Dogwood tree, where I can see it from my living room window.

I was thinking about putting a new one in the oak tree by my kitchen window. But maybe I’ll do one for the songbirds, instead. My only concern about feeding songbirds is that it attracts squirrels. I don’t like to encourage squirrels in my yard, because they are so destructive. I had a lot of trouble with them getting into my attic and chewing through some electrical wires. That cost me several hundred dollars to pay an electrician to come fix that, plus they could have started a fire!

Lightning Bug Season

Tonight I went for a short walk with my dog around the block. When I got to the hill, I looked across and saw something bright. At first I thought it was the eyes of an animal. We have skunks roaming our neighborhood at night, and I was worried that a skunk would come after my dog. So I stopped and looked a little harder. Turns out it was not a skunk and not the eyes of anything critter. It was a lightning bug! And then another one lit up near the first one, and then the yard seemed to explode with little twinkles of light. It was pretty magical and I was so grateful that it was not a skunk!

What is Your Special Treat?

Every night, some time between dinner and bedtime, I get a craving a small treat. I don’t think it has to do with hunger or a diabetes type of sugar craving. It is probably more an emotional craving of just a little something to soothe the savage beast and get me to relax.

Most nights I just want one or two cookies, a thin slice of pie, or maybe a couple bites of chocolate along with a hot cup of tea. The hot tea is soothing to me and the caffeine in it does not seem to bother me with keeping me awake. For some reason the tea caffeine has no effect, but if I drink a cup of coffee at night I am wide awake for hours.

The sugar does not seem to boost my metabolism, either. I know chocolate has caffeine in it, but that does not bother me. I do need a cup of coffee in the morning. That wakes me up and gets me going. People tell me that I am not human until I have been awake long enough to drink a full cup of coffee. They say that smart people will leave me alone and not even talk to me until after I have had my coffee.

Lately my favorite treat at night has been a cup of hot tea and one or two Golden Oreo cookies. I usually take two of the cookies with me, but I break off small parts of the second one and share that with my dog. You cannot give chocolate to dogs, so the Golden Oreo is the perfect treat for both of us.

Baking Up a Storm in the Kitchen

When the weather turns cold and rainy, it drives me into the kitchen and I start baking up a storm. I love to cook, and I especially love to bake. I think that cookies are my specialty, but I make a fantastic cake – from scratch! – and a pretty tasty fruit pie, too!

I am going to try some recipes today that call for buttermilk. I have not used buttermilk before, but you see it featured on a lot of boxes at the store as something special: buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk waffles, etc. So I am going to make some pancakes and then a recipe that I found calling for buttermilk and fresh berries.

If it is still cold and rainy tomorrow, I will be back in the kitchen working on some cookies. I have a few things in mind that I have not tried yet and if they turn out well then I can take a couple dozen to my vet’s office and share them. I love my vet and doing something nice like baking cookies is a great way to show your appreciation to the staff there!

Have You Been to a Dog Park?

Most days I take my dog for a short walk in my own yard every morning. Then, in the afternoon we walk up and down the street in my neighborhood. That’s the only safe place I know and that all the exercise we get. I’ve never taken him to a dog park. In fact, I don’t think there are any dog parks anywhere around this area. I think there is one about an hour from here, but that is awfully far to go for a walk in the park with my dog.

Oddly enough, there was a movie on cable last night called, “Dog Park.” It’s about several people in California who have dogs and develop romantic relationships because they meet at the dog park or dog obedience classes or they work together. I admit that I did not watch the entire movie, but watch I did watch was awful. It is a really lame story line, the sound track sucks, and the actors are pathetic. I have no idea how this movie even got made. Do not waste your time watching this awful movie, even if you are sick in bed with the flu and can’t find the remote control to change the channel. The dogs in the movie are the only interesting characters, especially the two Boxers.

My Dog Loves Bacon!

There’s a long running commercial about a dog that loves bacon. He runs into the kitchen yelling, “Bacon! Bacon! Bacon!” but he gets fooled with a fake bacon dog treat that is supposed to be so good that dogs think it is bacon. My dog is too smart to fall for that. In fact, my dog loves bacon but hates those particular dog treats. When I opened the bag and gave the contents of the fake treats a big sniff, I expected to smell bacon but I sure didn’t. It smelled AWFUL and NOTHING like bacon.

Early Tick Season

My poor dog was getting so shabby looking because I haven’t taken him to the groomer for a couple of months. His fur was getting too long and raggedy, and matted up, too. So I finally scraped enough money together to take him to the groomers yesterday.

Of course, the price has gone up again – it cost me $50 to give him a “day at the doggie spa” at the local groomers. They do a really good job, though. They cut his nails, brush his teeth, give his a good bath and then cut his hair really nice.

I was shocked when I picked himup and they told me that they found 4 ticks on him. OMG! I had no idea that we had ticks out yet! And my backyard is not all that wooded, either. His hair was so long that I couldn’t even see the ticks! I’m so glad I took him to the groomers – and very glad that they took care of those nasty ticks – I hate taking ticks off a dog.