Back to Earth!Hot Air Balloon Ride
Greeting Cards
I'm not working on much of anything EXCEPT cards! Our World Card Making Day event was a success, with 16 ladies creating 240 cards. As I've stated in a previous post, half the cards are going to the Little Rock Ronald McDonald House, and half will be sent to Cards for Soldiers. Below are photos of two of the cards we created during this event.
As if that were not enough, one of my church friends and I have organized a project to create Christmas cards for the inmates of one of Arkansas' prisons. Several members of our church are actively engaged in the "Kairos Prison Ministry" there. Our priest told us of a need for cards for the inmates to send to their families and several ladies have risen to the challenge. We'll be making Christmas cards next week -- several hundred if we work it right.
Why Have All the Birds Gone?
All summer long, my yard was filled with birds: four or five families of cardinals ; a plethora of squawking blue jays; grackles by the dozen; lots of sparrows of different sorts; some randomly visiting chickadees and nuthatches; a family of hummingbirds. I filled my feeders at least twice a day and spent hours watching them. On the first day of Autumn, except for the hummingbirds, the majority of them disappeared, leaving only a few stalwart hangers-on. I've seen only one blue jay in the last three weeks, and not a single grackle. Even the squirrels have deserted me. I suspected that the neighbor's cat, lurking under the trees, had scared them off. I shooed her out of the yard every time I saw her (Maggie's a nice cat, but I don't want her around my birds).
Maggie may be playing a part in their absence, but something else is scaring them off, and today I saw the culprit! A large hawk swooped through the yard and perched in the branches of one of my trees not far from the feeders. I've never before seen a hawk in this neighborhood, much less my own yard! Of course I ran to get my camera but was not quick enough. Just as I was focusing the telephoto lens, off it went!
I watched for quite some time, and finally a brave little nuthatch visited the feeder, soon followed by two cardinal pairs. The hawk must have been long gone for them to come out of hiding. Fortunately, all my trees are still fully leafed, so there are hiding places for them.
* * *
More, later.
I'm not working on much of anything EXCEPT cards! Our World Card Making Day event was a success, with 16 ladies creating 240 cards. As I've stated in a previous post, half the cards are going to the Little Rock Ronald McDonald House, and half will be sent to Cards for Soldiers. Below are photos of two of the cards we created during this event.
As if that were not enough, one of my church friends and I have organized a project to create Christmas cards for the inmates of one of Arkansas' prisons. Several members of our church are actively engaged in the "Kairos Prison Ministry" there. Our priest told us of a need for cards for the inmates to send to their families and several ladies have risen to the challenge. We'll be making Christmas cards next week -- several hundred if we work it right.
Why Have All the Birds Gone?
All summer long, my yard was filled with birds: four or five families of cardinals ; a plethora of squawking blue jays; grackles by the dozen; lots of sparrows of different sorts; some randomly visiting chickadees and nuthatches; a family of hummingbirds. I filled my feeders at least twice a day and spent hours watching them. On the first day of Autumn, except for the hummingbirds, the majority of them disappeared, leaving only a few stalwart hangers-on. I've seen only one blue jay in the last three weeks, and not a single grackle. Even the squirrels have deserted me. I suspected that the neighbor's cat, lurking under the trees, had scared them off. I shooed her out of the yard every time I saw her (Maggie's a nice cat, but I don't want her around my birds).
Maggie may be playing a part in their absence, but something else is scaring them off, and today I saw the culprit! A large hawk swooped through the yard and perched in the branches of one of my trees not far from the feeders. I've never before seen a hawk in this neighborhood, much less my own yard! Of course I ran to get my camera but was not quick enough. Just as I was focusing the telephoto lens, off it went!
I watched for quite some time, and finally a brave little nuthatch visited the feeder, soon followed by two cardinal pairs. The hawk must have been long gone for them to come out of hiding. Fortunately, all my trees are still fully leafed, so there are hiding places for them.
* * *
More, later.
