Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Are We There Yet?

Went to work this morning, knowing that I would only be at it for 4 hours--then off to my PT then off to my mother's to take her to the county offices.

Quite a day of running, actually, which exhausted me, and once home, I decided that I needed a little nap.

Two hours later, and I'm up and at the computer, smelling something very noxious. It actually smells like someone left something to rot over here, and I'm going to have to investigate. You never know--it could be a cucumber--that's what it smells like anyway.

Have had a bird at the feeder recently. Sparrow body, but black and white stripes on the head. Very striking bird, and far too pretty to be a sparrow.

The goldfinches have lost their vibrant yellows, trading for dark grey green and black and white stripes on the wings. The titmouses have returned, and such cute little bodies. A woodpecker has been visiting the suet cake, along with a couple of chickadees. The feeder is busy much of the day!

The socks are going slowly still, and the spinning too. I have dyed a pound of white roving into a deep grape color, and can't wait to get my hands on it for spinning.

The bird with the white stripes on its head is a White Crowned Sparrow. I have two of them. They are migratory--which means that it's likely that they are just passing through, but if I keep the feeder full, they might stay. That would be rather cool, because they are VERY pretty, and I'd like to see more of them. The woodpecker is, I believe, a Downy Woodpecker--common in this area, year round, but the red patch on my woodpecker's head is longer across the top of the head. I could not find anything closer than a Downy--surprisingly, there are several varieties of woodpecker that have yellow patches on their heads. I'm excited about this website--I can now look up birds that I'm not familiar with as they stop by my feeders. I've always found birding an interesting hobby, but have never pursued it formally. Maybe it's time to do so!

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