~and nature feels happy too~

 Mike and I love nature and we have found that it abounds here in our new part of the world.  In particular, we love to watch birds as we gaze out the kitchen window.  Our backyard is starting to fill up rather quickly with bird feeders and birdhouses and how wonderful it is to see and hear the many different types of birds that have found us.  There's something about free food and plenty of it that entices those feathered friends to show up each and every day. 

We can't identify all of them yet but are starting to become more accustomed to their being here.  It's fun to to feed them and relaxing to sit and see them devour each and every morsel that we have left for them.

Hey, it's cheap entertainment as long as stocks in birdseed don't go sky high.

I used to not get all that excited about watching them but as I have grown older, my tastes have changed.  A few years back, I bought a couple of books to help me to identify them and that helped quite a bit.  With all the ones that have joined us in our backyard, I guess it's time to get that book out once again.  This part of the country is teeming with doves and normally that is the type of bird that I enjoy eating.  For now though, I'd rather watch them than eat them so they pretty much get a free pass in our backyard.  It's better that way.

We've worked like crazy in both the front and back yards as we try to make this house our home.  Flowers seem to go into the ground every single day around here with the promise of more to come.  A person can't really have too many of them.  We try to be very mindful of the watering situation, realizing that the drought that left a year ago in May can return in the future.  It's best to keep that in mind and practice water conservation everywhere that we can. Remembering to do so will make it all that easier in the years when water is lean.  

A gentle rain has just given the outdoors a quick bath and the smell of it all is quite calming.  From the window here in the spare bedroom, I can see several birds on the branches of the pine trees just outside.  The songs that they sing are ones of contentment and when I hear their voices, I feel happy.  What a beautiful day this has been and by the sounds of it, one thing is for sure.

Nature feels happy too.

We love this old birdhouse made from someone's gourd harvest.  We hope to grow our own gourds this summer and make more of them to use.

Lots of different birds are attracted to the colorful flowers in the front yard.  We try to get a variety of shades and kinds.  By the looks of it, we are attracted to lots of purples and yellows so far.

An empty bird feeder at the end of the day means that we had visitors while we were gone.  Finally we gave up buying the small bags of seed and went with the more economical 10 pound version.

The doves love this feeder with sometimes as many as three or four of them vying for a spot at the supper table.

So glad that we have a good start on things now.  Perennials will hopefully grow and thrive this first year and come back to life again when the springtime returns in 2017.  

Life is good.