Category Archives: birds

Happy Easter!!

 In honor of our twittering friends that are finally returning to our yard I made these little birdies for my kids for Easter. They are felted wool stuffed with wool batting with Barry-engineered copper wire feet.  I also got this book.  It has been hiding in my closet and I can’t keep my hands off of it when the kids are in bed.  It is way, way cool.

happy easter!

Snow has been fluttering down here all day, but still thoughts of rebirth and renewal are at the forefront this weekend.  My mind has been so full of mental clutter.  It seems like the “We’re moving” thoughts are bulky and distracting– taking up so much space, sucking up my time in thoughts of getting the oven fixed, researching carpet prices, finding a match to the white paint on our baseboards and doors.  And while these things are necessary and even exciting in their own way I’m excited for tomorrow, the Sabbath, the most important Sabbath.  I am thankful for the time to focus and reflect on what life is really all about.

It seems the things I read, the lessons I learn from my children, the conversations I have with friends, the sad, painful experiences of loved ones in my family highlight so much what this season of rebirth is all about– love.  Pure, selfless love.  Knowing, believing, seeing that we are all of infinite worth, of infinite potential, full of infinite beauty.  That is what Spring teaches us–and that no matter how bleak and gray and cold the winter is, no matter how dark and deep we are buried, there is rebirth.  The little green shoots will poke their heads up again.  Blossoms will bud, meaning fruit will grow.

There is an infinite source of good, of peace, of renewal, of love.  The sun will always rise, there will be warmth and growth, because the Son did rise.

I hope you have a wonderful Easter!

out the window

I am so ready for spring, but March hasn’t been very spring-y in these parts.

just a week and a half ago

Our favorite window looked like this a couple Saturdays ago. Yikes!!

new visitors

But, things are looking up. We’ve made a new woodpecker friend and Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow are setting up house. It is so funny to see Mr. try to force his head through the little door with his mouth full of sticks and grass.

first robin!!

And today…THE FIRST ROBIN!! He sat and soaked up the rain for a good twenty minutes this morning.

Other things running through my head–

–Did you know Denver boasts 300 sunny days a year?! Good bye gray winter. I will miss green grass and trees, but I will not miss gray skies from November to February March April.

–I had Ian in a disposable diaper this evening and when I went to pick him up and carry him upstairs for bed the whole thing fell out his pant leg. What? How?

–You have to check this out. I am having serious chicken envy.

gourd birdhouses

red paintteamwork

I was so taken with the gourd birdhouses that Courtney made for Christmas.  Then Barry reminded me that we had 2 gourds that had been drying in the garage for a long time.  My yoga teacher gave them to my kids  last growing season (in 2006).  Anyway, the kids painted them and now they’re ready to be lived in.

 gourd seeds DSC_0036.JPG

hung

They were pretty easy to make.  Once they were painted and dry we just drew our 1 1/2 inch circles for the doors where we wanted them.  The we drilled 1/4 inch holes in the middle of the circles and used a little coping saw blade to cut the holes the right size. Hollowing them out was fun.  The stuff was all styrofoamy and the seeds are a crazy shape.  (We saved seeds for future gourd growing.)  I reached in with my fingers to loosen things up, but it mostly just shook out.  Then we found some good perching sticks, drilled holes just smaller than the diameter of the sticks and glued them in.  I’m sure it will be awhile before we have residents, but just the shape and color of these make me smile.