The Egret's Nest

New Home

2008-04-21T06:33:00.000-07:00

Not sure how the old posting on this topic got lost but it did somehow. Please join me at my new home . . . It's Just Me.

Pop Culture Revue

2007-03-07T06:27:00.000-08:00

I forgot to get a Mega Millions ticket yesterday. I hear that two people won the $370 million. We bought one when it was $256 million. I think a dollar for a dream is a bargain. Greg and I talked a little bit about what we would do. We've played this game so often that we don't even need to talk about what we'd do for US -- we found ourselves talking about what we'd do for others. Getting our sisters established in their own homes. Making sure that our parents were retired in comfort. Setting up a foundation for public education for the schools in our community. Funding the pipe dream real estate project for a friend that we believe in and have helped with his project for 3 years. Heck, that would barely put a dent in it. Fun to dream about what we'd do if money truly were no object! (Which is not to say that I don't have deep, dark fears about what that sort of money would do to me and my offspring as well.)

I forgot to watch American Idol last night. AHHHHH! Greg is out of town and my whole schedule is out-of-whack. I don't sleep well when he's away. Both kids are sick anyway so I wouldn't have wanted them staying up late. I avoid the mainstream media for the most part so it was news to me that Antonella Barba has some trashy pictures circulating the internet. I have to say in all the hype that I read last night, I kept thinking about her parents and how sad they must be to see their daughter selling herself so cheaply by allowing pictures like that to exist. I don't think the girl can sing well enough and I don't think she should still be on the show but I feel really badly for her parents. Also, in the course of my late night surfing, I stumbled onto the existence of a website called Vote for the Worst. They pick the one or two singers they think are the worst on AI and encourage people to vote for them to up the drama on the show. Antonella is their pick right now. All that aside, I didn't care for her attitude. It seems very clear -- from the way she interacts with the judges -- that she thinks she's doing just great and doesn't need to do anything different. Now, maybe that's a brave front and I'm misjudging her (remember that I haven't seen last night's show -- yay for TiVO) but add all this together and she is not someone that I care to watch much more of this season.

Blogger vs. WordPress. In my avoidance of work, surfing the internet to avoid missing my husband, blur last night, I decided to play with WordPress and see what I thought of it. I kind of like it. There are a few features that I like a lot better than Blogger. The most important to me is the ability to see your recent comments -- I'm forever stumbling back through posts to see if I missed any comments -- but I didn't like getting emailed everytime I got a comment either. So, that's a big one for me that would be useful. I'm impressed with how easy it was to set up and import all my old blogger posts. I think I could even import my really old posts from back when I used TypePad with no difficulty which would include my really, really old Blogger posts and give a complete history back for several years. That would be nice -- just for me, not for anyone else, probably. Anyway, my question is this . . . what do you like about the platform you are using? What do you like or dislike about reading blogs on the other platform?

Oh, and you can see what I've done so far -- should you have nothing better to do:

Egret's Nest
Chickadee Chatter

Quick child update . . . Gage is responding well to the antibiotics -- yay! Ruthie's cough is getting worse -- boo! And, I woke up with one eye gummed shut this morning -- boo! I hope we can hang on to some semblance of health well enough to get through this week. Fingers crossed!

Ruby Tuesday: Happy Birthday To Me!

2007-03-06T06:29:00.000-08:00

Quick Birthday Report and then it's "all Ruby; all the time."

It's a good thing my day on Sunday was wonderful because Monday wasn't that great a birthday. The kids woke up in foul moods (okay, okay, they are both sick but still . . . ). Gage has an ear infection and was one miserable kid. Ruth just didn't want to go to school and I was gonna pay for it. Sigh. My scale was not kind to me (subject for another post). No one wished my happy birthday until I was already wracked with Mommy-Guilt about Gage's ear and how much trouble it was going to be for him to stay home go to the doctor. Sigh. But things got better once I was at work. They know how to party at a school. Half-the-staff (only a slight exaggeration) are Pisces and so we had a lot of birthdays smashed together to celebrate but they picked Monday to celebrate so I got to feel a little extra special. Singing. Cake. Lots of well-wishing. Being told I was too young to complain about my age. That's all it takes! :) Even my 4th grade math class sang to me -- so sweet! Met Greg and Gage at the doctor's office. We're treating the ear with OTC but I have a prescription if I need it. Greg had to go run his errands after school so off he went. He suggested chinese food so I didn't have to cook which was FINE with me. We had a nice chinese dinner in front of TV. And then I got Greg packed for his trip (he leaves today for Boston) and then I got very indulgent and played computer games (we're setting up an older Mac for the kids with a bunch of fun, older games that they are finally old enough to play). At around midnight, Gage came in with a sore ear again -- bad enough to wake him up. Meds, meds, meds and a round of sitting on Mom's lap before he could get to sleep again. I'm going to fill the prescription today. Poor kidlet.

Now, on to Ruby.

Ruthie took this photo -- cute, huh?

Ruby is such a delight. Here's what I like about her and her breed.

She's mellow around the house. Her favorite thing to do is curl up in a ball on your lap. Woe be unto those who disturb her princess-ness, baleful glances will come your way.
She's playful. She's feeling comfy at our house now and with the kids and she is playful and silly. She LOVES balls. We got her a teeny-tiny tennis ball and she loves to chase it around the house. Ruth played with her for a good 1/2 hour last night and they both had a blast.
She's naughty! She can. not. stop. getting. tissues. out. of. the. trash. But when caught, she immediately rolls over submissively and shows her belly, all but whimpering how wrong she is -- but five minutes later, back in the trash again. Naughty thing!
She's finally chillin' about the kids. Kids scared her but she's gotten used to mine now. Hey, they scare me sometimes too! :) She'll still chose Greg or me to sit with first but if we tell her no thanks, she'll go jump up with Ruthie as a distant third -- two weeks ago, that would have been impossible.
She's hell on squirrels. I have four of the fattest, sassiest squirrels you've ever seen. They plant themselves on my feeders and chow down. They eat SO much and then cart even more off and bury it. They keep the birds away. They'll rip feeders down and destroy them. Rotten little hoodlums. But no more. Ruby is on the job. It's amazing. She watches for them. She's absolutely silent on the hunt. Thankfully, they always have a 5 or more foot head start on her because she gets so close to catching them. She is absolutely serious about these squirrels. Instincts are amazing and powerful.
Oh, yea, and she's really cute and she loves to give kisses!

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday!

Moving along the project

2007-03-04T16:07:00.001-08:00

P1040222.JPG
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

This morning, Greg asked me what I wanted to do about my birthday. His gift to me is still my camera! :) But he wanted to help the kids get something for me. My mind was still on the painting I did yesterday and I suggested getting the wine barrels set up. So, we did.

Of course, the kids had to tell me that they were going to give me some stinky, old, used socks for my birthday first. Aren't I raising little angels?

We went off together -- all of us, including Ruby. In one of the nearby towns, there is a nursery that sells wine barrels -- 2 for $40. I have been coveting them for years. Well, today was my day. We got two barrels, three big bags of soil, and some geraniums.

Fresh burst of spring color!

The barrels are real wine barrels -- the ones we got had red wine in them. They are fresh from the winery and just cut in half. That's it. So, there is still a strong red wine smell to them and they are full of mold and mildew that's been growing on them. But they are huge and beautiful. When we got home, Greg moved them to the backyard and I hosed them out and then bleached them and hosed them out again. They looked great but I must say the aroma of red wine and bleach is an interesting one.

I'm sparing y'all the picture with the green mold in the water!

The next step was drilling holes in the bottom of the barrels for drainage. Needless to say, I called on my big, strong, burly, manly men and told them to bring power tools. They came running!

Greg did the drilling. Gage tried to turn the barrel over for me. Not gonna happen. They are HEAVY!

Next, I filled them with the soil and called the kids to help me plant. We dug and planted the beautiful little geraniums (really pelargoniums rather than scented geraniums) and watered them in.

Throughout the day, I kept getting distracted by the birds. They could care less that I was out in the yard -- or even standing within arms reach of the feeders. The feeders are outside my kitchen window and therefore are very close to our deck and back door. These brave little birds were coming and visiting and chirping at me despite my proximity.

Ruby also stayed with me for the entire project -- Ruthie took this picture of her. She's wonderful company!

A great early birthday present for me. (Ruthie took this picture)
Tomorrow . . . 43 years old.

I love the Internet

2007-03-03T21:33:00.001-08:00

Chickadee by Paula
Originally uploaded by momma_pajama_art.

So, I'm checking the responses to my latest poems on Chickadee Chatter and a woman writes that she thinks I'll like her latest painting . . . it's of a chickadee. And, I do like it, don't you? Her blog -- Momma Pajama -- is in my Bird Blog roll now. Her other bird paintings were just as charming!

I had a good day today. We did a lot of nothing much and I got a few projects done. The first one was to paint the ugly shed in the backyard.

Before:

After:

Thankfully, this was only phase one of beautifying this ugly shed. Phase two will be to get some wine barrels and some climbing guides and plant something pretty and climbing to hide most of it. The green is just to be a better backdrop than the ugly faded beige was. I hate spray painting though. It gets everywhere. Blech.

Still, it feels good to get a project done! The other one was somewhat less satisfying . . . we went shopping for some new pants for Greg. He's going on a business trip on Tuesday and I realized that he really doesn't have what he needs clothing-wise. We had fun though -- it's so nice doing trips like this with the kids now that they are older. When they were little we always had to plan around naps and moods and take strollers and diaper bags and . . . ahhhhh! I'm so over that now!

So, a quiet Saturday. I saw some great birds in the backyard -- nothing special just noisy, silly Chickadees, brave Juncos, California Towhees, and a Pygmy Nuthatch. So cute!

Meme: Book List

2007-03-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

Look at the list of books below:

Bold the ones you’ve read
Italicize the ones you want to read
If you are reading this (and haven't participated yet), tag, you’re it! (But only if you want to be it!)
If there are any books on this list that I didn't italicize and you think I should read, let me know in comments.
(FYI, I cleaned this list up a LOT -- alphabetized it and added the entire author's name for all the books)

1984 (George Orwell)
I hated and despised this book. I was forced to read it in high school and other than a great ad for a new computer and some great anti-government catch phrases, I see little good that came out of it.
A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
Reading Literature (capital L intended to connote a fancy upper crust snobby accent) is one of my "before I die" goals
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
I'm fairly sure I read this one but I'm not positive
Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
I may have already read it -- I know I've heard McCourt interviewed on NPR so I have heard alot about the book.
Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
No, thank you. Depressing and too long. I'll pass.
Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
The Fountainhead was enough Rand for me.
Blindness (Jose Saramago)
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Bridget Jones’ Diary (Helen Fielding)
Read it and the sequels.
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
Read it about 400,000 times. Still cry at the end.
Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
(See note above on Anna Karenina)
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Read it, read the sequels, saw all the movies. Snore. I really didn't like these but read them because my husband did and loved them. I kept waiting for them to get better! :)
East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
Emma (Jane Austen)
Love all the Austen, Bronte Sisters stuff!
Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
Read it about 100,000 times. Great book. Loved it so much I tried to read the Mitchell Family approved sequel but quit in the middle (if I even made it that far) and decided that the Mitchell Family were greedy and needed a good slappping.
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
Love Harry Potty and all the other books in the series. I'm a series fan. I love reading series books. But, why is this series here in all its glory and other series authors only have one book listed. Strange list to be sure!
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
In The Skin Of A Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
Read it because it was the thing to do. Anne Rice is interesting and quite honestly I prefer her erotica to her vampire/creepy things that go bump/ books.
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
All time favorite book. I'm waiting anxiously for Ruthie to be old enough to read this book and share the glory and tissue box with me.
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
See note on 1984 and multiply by 1,000 to come close to my hatred for this book.
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel García Márquez)
Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
Of Mice And Men (John Steinbeck)
One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
I would like to read some Marquez and this one seems a good one to start with.
Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
Now, see, this is what I'm talking about. All the Rowlings book but only one Gabaldon book. Her books are amazing -- everyone I've ever recommended them to loves them -- including my father-in-law who is notoriously difficult to please in terms of books and movies and couldn't be more different from my personal aesthetic in terms of reading material.
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
I loved this book so much that I even read the ridiculous sequel that came out about 10 years ago.
She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
Shogun (James Clavell)
I may have read this one but I'm not sure.
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
The Bible
Well, I've read parts of it.
The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
Pretty sure I read this one prior to seeing the movie.
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
See early notes on The Lord of the Flies and reduce loathing by about 80%.
The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
Yes. Read it, loved it, read all the sequels. Own them in hard back.
The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
Haven't read it, don't intend to, but must say, I love the sandwich!
The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
Yes. Read it and loved it. Unashamed of my love for the ideas behind this book.
The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
Want to read it and see the movie.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
My husband is an architect and therefore this book is required reading. It's good and I'm glad I read it but I was so done with it that I've never read another Rand book and don't intend to -- some authors can only be taken in small doses!
The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
Another small doses author. We live near Steinbeck country but I'm not a fan.
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Loved Gatsby.
The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
Hated this book. Oh, don't get me wrong -- it was excellent but so dark and depressing that I found it hard to get through and it left a black cloud over me for a long time.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
Loved it and all the series. Totally fun.
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Fantastic book. Plan to read it to the kids this summer.
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
Loved it and all the series. Have read most of the series to the kids.
The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
Great book. Loved it. Have read it multiple times. Totally don't get it.
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Loved it and the entire series.
The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
Haven't read this one but I did read Message in a Bottle. Thought it was predictable and boring and didn't bother to see the movie.
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
Required high school reading (not by the teachers, by classmates)
The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
Loved this book. Read it because of Greg's career again but it was awesome.
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
I've read everything I could by her. It's awesome. She's reputed to be an ancestress of mine. But, as my mother says, my grandmother (whose maiden name is Burnett) would like to think that every famous Burnett is a relative -- Hi Cousin Carol!
The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
The Stand (Stephen King)
Why is this the book for King on this list? Why not Carrie or The Shining? I think I read this book because my sister liked it and told me too. But, I'm pretty sure I didn't like it.
The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
It was good and I saw the entire mini-series but didn't like it enough to read anything else by McCullough.
The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
Loved this book. Will re-read at some point.
The World According to Garp (John Irving)
Read it. Liked it. Saw the movie. Decided the whole thing was just too weird for me. :)
To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Loved it. Awesome.
Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
Ulysses (James Joyce)
My stepfather's favorite book. I don't get Joyce and don't really want to. Probably a held-over teenage rebellion of some sort.
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
Watership Down (Richard Adams)
Read it. Liked it.
White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
Read it. Loved it. Read most of the series. But I was also reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and they had so many similarities that I decided I didn't need to read both of them. Wheel of Time required such an investment of time and energy that I decided to stick with that one. To be honest though, Jordan really ought to offer someone a degree of some sort for reading the entire series and sticking it out. :)
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
See earlier note about Bronte sisters and my adoration for their works.

Now, books I think should be added to this list:

I think some genre books should be added to make the list more complete:

what about anything by Agatha Christie? Or some other great mystery writers?
what about some great romance works? Think that's an oxymoron well I disagree! I enjoy many romances -- some are truly drek but some are wonderful. If someone wants to read something that is well written as well as being romantic and sexy, then I'd start with Nora Roberts and LaVryle Spencer. The classic bodice ripper book that really took Romances to where they are now is Kathleen Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower. I also highly recommend J.D. Robb's crossover scifi/mystery/romance In Death series. (J.D. Robb is really Nora Roberts writing under a nom de plume).
We've got fantasy in there but what about Science Fiction? There are some amazing Sci Fi authors out there. Heinlein, McCaffrey's Ship Series or Planet Pirates series are some of my favs but there are hardcore SciFi authors that I don't enjoy who are critically acclaimed.
Heck, if you are going to do a comprehensive list of books, don't you think a western should be on the list? How about Louis L'Amour or Larry McMurtry?

An exhausting day

2007-03-01T16:46:00.000-08:00

I love my job. I am a teacher. I work part-time at the same school my children go to as the Math Coordinator. That is a fancy way of saying that I do math tutoring for students who are struggling in math. My job is complicated and satisfying. I don't get paid enough but I still love my job. Because I make no effort whatever to hide my identity, I can't talk about my job a lot. Talking about my job would truly be telling tales out of school in a most unprofessional way.

I came to teaching elementary school students later in life. I just finished my teaching credential in December. I am still a novice teacher. Becoming a teacher when I was already experienced at work and teaching (adults) as well as already being a mother to my own children has given me an interesting perspective, I think. And, I have learned a LOT from this process.

My respect for teachers has grown exponentially since I've been doing the job. Today was the day at my school that we hold meetings about students who are struggling. The parents come in and meet with a team from the school including our Resource Specialist, Literacy Specialist, a lower grade teacher, an upper grade teacher, the District's psychologist, the student's classroom teacher and any other professionals who may be valuable to the process. And, that's where I come into the meetings. When the classroom teacher requests it, I make myself available to attend the meeting for the students I work with. The process is a very healthy and respectful one but it is still painful. We definitely keep tissue on hand for the parents. Their anxiety is palpable during these meetings. It is never easy being told that something is wrong with your child or simply that something isn't working for your child. So, the parents are always very stressed about this process. As a professional who works with these children, we care about them deeply. This is a small school and we watch kids grow and change from year to year and we care about them.

Our hope is that these meetings result in positive changes for the children. I've been to a few of these meetings and I've been very pleased with the results. But, it's a hard, exhausting day. I came home today and put on comfy clothes and watched mindless tv for awhile. My brain needed a break!

On a birdy note, the ravens are so present at school right now. Spring is in the air and they are loving on each other. A 2nd grader was telling me that she noticed how a raven was kissing his wife raven! I loved it. We also saw a raven on the roof of one of the classrooms doing a public service for the school. The kids regularly kick balls on the roofs and this raven took a small football and dropped it off the roof. The kids were amazed!

Don't you love this silly raven? He's skipping out to play at recess!

A dark and stormy night

2007-02-27T21:29:00.001-08:00

A dark and stormy night
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Yup. That's what it was. Cold, too. (Well, for us anyway!)

I know that picture is hard to see but that's the creek behind my house and all that stuff in the air is rain so thick it's hard to see through it. I ran out and took this picture -- it wasn't that dark but using the flash gave it that very surreal effect.

Anyway, I came back in the house and I kept hearing this strange squeaking noise. I finally realized it was coming from the front porch. I carefully opened the door and saw two Chickadees. One had the prime location and the other was NOT happy at being left out. My front porch is covered in wisteria vines and the chickadees regularly roost there. But it was so cold and rainy that they were really hunkering down. I went and got my camera and one of them was still there . . .

I like this last shot of it though looking out at the rain like he's thinking, "Will it never end?"

I love Chickadees though. There he (she?) is on the porch, sheltered from the storm. I come out onto the porch with my camera, snapping shots with flash going off and the chickadee is like, "Whatever . . . just don't make me go out in that rain!"

No worries! You are welcome to stay! It's dry, if not warm!

Snow level is due down to 1500 ft tonight. We live at 800 so I think we're safe. The kids will be so disappointed. I have to say that waking up to a dusting of snow would be a nice surprise for me too!

"Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!"

Ruby Tuesday

2007-02-27T07:54:00.001-08:00

Ruby's doing great!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We couldn't blame Ruby when she didn't want to go out in the rain yesterday -- it's been awful! A little dog in all that rain . . . she could drown! So, what's a little girl to do but find a cozy spot and curl up. What do you mean I'm only allowed on the furniture when I'm invited up? Do you not realize that it is RAINING out there? Don't be ridiculous! I must stay warm and dry and lovely!

Ruby would much rather curl up in a cozy chair than go out in that nasty old rain. Blech.

"Oh, wait a minute! Did someone say SQUIRREL?" Ruby is on that job. Squirrel at Mama's feeder? I will eliminate it! She's awesome on the squirrel patrol! She's taken to it with a ferocity that makes me worry just a little bit that she'll develop a squirrel obsession that will require Cesar Milan to sort out. But, for now, it's a good thing. The squirrels have developed a healthy fear of her and watch for her now as well as for me. She hasn't even gotten close to getting one but she does know which trees they like best and will check each tree when she goes outside!

She's very photogenic . . . even when she's sleeping . . .

. . . or pretending to sleep!

And don't get me started on her new naughty ways . . . she chewed up a pencil the other day! A pencil! Silly, naughty puppy! Oh well, she's getting along great with the kids now -- huge improvements daily so all is forgiven! But, stick with your toys! That's a good girl!

We'll just keep trying to stay dry here in soggy Boulder Creek. Feel free to remind me that just a couple of weeks ago, I was lamenting the lack of rain.

But, that was before this happened. I stop at the grocery store in Ben Lomond to pick up some chocolate -- medicinal chocolate -- life-saving, my family may survive this week, chocolate. It's raining but I'm right by the door so I just run in without my jacket. I come back to the car and some -- oh, I'll just say it -- idiot!!! has parked so close to my car that I can't open the driver's side door. It is now torrential downpour rain and I'm soaked to the skin before I can figure out what to do. She's looking at me through the rain-streamed windows and making that "what?" gesture with her hands. I can't stand around and wait for her to figure it out. I run around my car, climb in the passenger door, climb over the seats and the center console, and sit down in the driver's seat unsure whether I'm going to laugh or rage. Then -- and this is my favorite part -- then, she starts the engine and moves her car to another parking spot. Uh, . . . thanks? But it's a little late now that I'm soaked to the skin already! Oh, yea, I'm loving me some rain!

Wish Lists

2007-02-26T18:10:00.001-08:00

Cedar Waxwings
Originally uploaded by hearman.

Birders are great for making lists. It's undoubtedly one of the things that draws me to this hobby. I love lists. So, I suppose every birder has a wish list of birds they'd love to see. For some that list is a secret one in their hearts and others make lists on paper and make great efforts to turn their wish list birds into life list birds.

For me, these lovely birds are high on that list. I did not, of course, take this picture, as Cedar Waxwings are still on my wish list. I find that the website Flickr is more than just a great place to store my photos. I learn so much there -- it's a resource for information about birds, about photography, about crafting, about Rat Terriers. I have learned about what makes a good photograph by viewing good photographs. I learned to hold my pictures and photography to a higher standard by comparing my pictures to those of others. I have learned to use my camera by seeing what others with the same camera can do. I have learned that I am improving by reading the comments that others leave on my pictures.

My Birding Wish List isn't written out but there are some secret birds of my hear that I hope to move to my life list some day. Chief among them:

California Condor
Cedar Waxwing
Burrowing Owl
Eastern Bluebird
Green Jay

Cuban Tody
Originally uploaded by Fatasbanfum.

The most exotic bird I hope to see one day is this one --
Cuban Tody (Todus multicolor)

Although, I must say that the odds of my going to Cuba are exceedingly slim but I suppose that's what a Wish List is for. Holding out the hope that someday, I'll be in the right time and place to see that amazing little dollop of candy colored feathers.

So, what's on your Wish List?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
PS. For some reason the photo credits are not showing up as they should when I view this post. So, I want to make sure the photographers are given due credit.

Cedar Waxwings
Originally uploaded by hearman.

Cuban Tody
Originally uploaded by Fatasbanfum

Feel free to click the images to see them on Flickr and see more of the great photos by these photgraophers!

Birding Luck

2007-02-25T17:43:00.001-08:00

Snowy Egret
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Some days you have bad luck -- I'm thinking back to my pictures of where the cormorant was last week -- and other days, you stumble onto cooperative, thoughtful birds who pose beautifully for you and make you look skilled in bird photography even when you are birding with your mother-in-law carrying a large, colorful umbrella, your 8-1/2 year old daughter, and your silly Rat Terrier puppy. Some days you couldn't take a wrong picture if you tried because the birds are just there, demanding that you take their photograph, insisting that it be as beautiful as they are. Some days, you are lucky and the birds are as photogenic as they are beautiful. Some days it is all crystal-clear why you love your camera so much!

At the little pond in my in-laws' community, I found the requisite ducks but also saw this beautiful Snowy Egret with juvenile legs but the plummage of a breeding adult. It's hard to be an adolescent in any species, I guess.

Trying out a punk 'do for the effect on the ladies (only there weren't any)

When he flew away, my camera didn't focus fast enough but still . . .

I like where he ended up even better. Look at that reflection.

And then the Double-crested Cormorant was also enticing me to photograph him.

In an effort to make up for last week's diving photos, he put on this display for me . . .

Feel free to click on the images to see the larger versions on Flickr.

This female hummingbird is probably an Allen's Hummingbird. She's smaller than an Anna's with a thicker bill. She could be a Rufous but is probably an Allen's. Whatever she was, she's incrediably lovely.

Some days you don't even mind it when the birds stick their tongues out at you because you saw it, you had your camera, and you got the shot. "Nyah-nyah-nyah back at you birdie!"

A piece of my life

2007-02-24T09:03:00.001-08:00

My bulletin board
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

This is my bulletin board in my office. I made it several years ago -- I actually made two but only have room for one in my tiny little "office". It has been filled with things that are important to me but in a random and haphazard way.

Click on the picture and go to the Flickr page for it -- you'll see "notes" about its contents that I shared.

One that I wanted to share with you guys specifically is this one:

I found this feather under my hummingbird feeder but I'm quite sure it didn't come from a hummingbird! I don't know what sort of bird it did come from but isn't it beautiful? I love the colors and the soft downy bits at the bottom. Utterly lovely!

Anyone else care to share a piece of your life?

It's been raining . . .

2007-02-22T21:21:00.001-08:00

Boulder Creek . . . the creek
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

. . . for a few days now and it snowed on the mountains above us. Finally our creek looks like it should look in the winter. We're due for rain through the weekend. Not great but a normal winter . . . hurray!

Saw this at Hasty Brook . . .

Things You Don't Know About Me

My birthstone is aquamarine.
I was an Air Force brat.
I did not have braces on my teeth.
I married my high school sweetheart.
I have lost 32 lbs in the last 3 years.
I was 34 when I had my first child.
I started bird watching with my stepfather when I was in High School for a Science project. It didn't stick as a hobby but I was always interested.
I used to do theater in high school and college. I won a Best Actress award in my high school.
I used to be on a Ski Race Team when I was in 7th and 8th grades. I wasn't very good but I loved doing it.
I have a trophy for playing volleyball in 8th grade.
I have a tattoo -- I got it on my 40th birthday.

Anyone else want to play?

Liza's Bird Photography Rules #3

2007-02-21T23:02:00.001-08:00

Varied Thrush
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Gentle Readers,

When one takes a bad picture through a car window when one should have gotten out of the car and taken a better picture, one can salvage the situation by claiming the picture is artistic and that one wanted that effect. It's so much better than admitting to laziness!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, Ruby is doing well. She's adjusting to life in our crazy home. She still finds the kids a trifle intimidating but, as you can see, is starting to see some benefit to them as well. I'm also glad to see her being a little naughty -- she is a puppy, after all. Today, she got toys out of their rooms and started chewing on them. Fortunately, I found her before any damage was done -- but she had gotten 5 stuffed dogs out of Ruthie's room and one from Gage's!

My girls: Ruby and Ruthie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't forget to check out another I and the Bird!

Great Backyard Bird Count Report

2007-02-21T07:02:00.000-08:00

Having a little shower!

Day 1:

at school, I counted 16 Ravens (but did not see any Varied or Hermit Thrushes!)

Day 2:
at home, I counted:
Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird - 1
Steller's Jay - 1
Common Raven - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 5
Dark-eyed Junco - 4

Day 3:
at my inlaws' pond, I counted:
Mallard - 3
Bufflehead - 2
Common Merganser - 4
Double-crested Cormorant - 1
Green Heron - 1
Common Raven - 2

Day 4:
at home, I counted:
Steller's Jay - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 6
Pygmy Nuthatch - 2
Fox Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 4

And, a new Bird Photography Rule:

Where the Double-crested Cormorant was

Liza's Bird Photography Rule #2 --
When photographing Diving Ducks, one should not dither while focusing. Photos of where the bird was are never as interesting of where the bird is.

Quiet tonight and tomorrow

2007-02-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

In our house, the heirarchy in computers starts with Greg. He brings home the bacon using his computers -- he is an architect and does all his drafting on the computer and the other half of his business is web development -- which, of course, means more computer time. So, we spend money on HIS computers! And, we did that about a month ago. He needed reliability and speed. So, we got him a new MacBook -- so he has a Mac and a PC in one little black box. Very cool!

I inherited his old PC laptop which has some quirky -- uh -- features too it. It won't start up with the powercord in but won't hold a charge either. So, you have to sit and watch it carefully during start up and plug it in at JUST the right moment. Then it works fine. Hey, that works okay for me but it was a bit of a problem when Greg was in meetings with clients telling them what a computer expert he was and he can't get his laptop to boot. Hmmmmm.

His G4 is the Mac I'll be getting and I'm thrilled with that. It's an improvement over my old pink iMac. Nothing major but a bit faster and a bit more powerful. So, that'll be good.

Why, on earth, do I need two computers? Much less a PC and a Mac? Well, the first answer is habit. I used to do a ton of web publishing when I worked at Stanford as a trainer/documentation writer and it was just way easier to work on one computer and view what you were doing on another. The other reason is a bit less serious.

Toontown. My family plays ToonTown Online. This is Disney's MMPG (Massively Multi-Player Game). We've played it for 5 years and we love it. It has always just run on the PC platform so I had a PC on my desk solely to play ToonTown (me and the kids). Now it runs on the Mac but not on either my old iMac or even Greg's G4 so I still need the laptop for the game. Silly but true.

So, I'm moving all my files (pictures, music, documents) over to Greg's old computer right now. The computer has come down significantly over it's early estimates of 2400 hours to do the job and is now thinking it'll be done in 6 hours. Hey, I have a LOT of pictures! :)

Getting this computer move done was quite silly. In order to do it, I had to clean up my desk but I couldn't clean up my desk until I cleaned up my office which is really the laundry/craft room (and no bigger than a poorly designed closet without enough right angles to function properly). In order to clean up the laundry/craft room, I had to clean up three of the big storage cabinets in Greg's office. In order to clean up the cabinets, I had to clear out a section of Greg's office. In order to clear out the office, I had to get Greg to help me. I spent all freakin' day doing this job. I don't tend to do well at this kind of work -- particularly when I realized that I had an entire cabinet filled with craft projects that I've bought all the materials for and never started. How insane is that? I have a couple of years worth of projects ready to go. Guess I know what I'll be working on in my copious free time from now on. I also found three boxes of stuff that I'd decided to sell on eBay and then it got buried in Greg's office (not to imply that Greg is a slob -- he's not at all but his office is a bit of a dumping ground for the house). I put those front and center in my office in an inconvenient place so that I've GOT to do something with them.

It's been a long day and I don't have much to show for it yet. I couldn't even get the laundry done -- even though I was working in the laundry room all day. My sad old washing machine (which is only 6 years old) is so LOUD that you can't have it on and be in the same room with it.

The computer still thinks it needs 6 more hours so I'm going to do the dishes, take a shower, and turn on the washer and the dishwasher and go to bed. The end of a long weekend and I think I need a vacation before I go back to work tomorrow!

Ruby's Home!

2007-02-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

Ruby
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Here's our petite darling.

On our way to pick her up, we went to two petshops getting supplies. We didn't need much. We all picked out a toy for her then I needed a type of dog food that our local store didn't carry. We'll start her on it and then transition to something they do carry slowly. I also got a new Flexi leash (these are long retractable leashes that are good for letting dogs run around in a park or other open area to have some freedom with no risk of getting away from you). My old one was just too big. :) Oh, and we got her a new tag with her name and our phone number on it.

She -- and the others -- were glad to see us. In fact, Gabby -- the litter's mom -- jumped in Greg's open window and onto his lap when we arrived. Too cute! Ruby was still nervous with the kids but they didn't care because the puppies were out and about and so much fun. There were puppy buyers there and we finished the business side of things quickly. Ruby and Nancy said sad goodbyes and we left.

Ruby rode on my lap all the way home. She was curious about the kids but didn't quite want to go back there and check them out. The way we drive home from San Jose is a very windy road called Bear Creek Road. Ruby got a little carsick on it and was drooling like crazy. I had brought a towel to rub all over her former packmates so I had that on my lap and we did fine. Thankfully, she's like Ruth and I in the carsickness department -- she get miserable but never to the throwing up stage!

Many dogs who haven't traveled a lot firmly believe that they should only pee, poop, and eat at home. Ruby is among that group. She didn't want to go potty although nervously explored our front and back yards. She wasn't interested in water or food either. Hmmmmm.

We had some quiet bonding time with the kids on the couch. She's very nervous around them so we did some work on getting her used to them. We are devotees of The Dog Whisperer and used his advice that patience pays off in these situations. Both kids were sitting next to her and quietly petting her before we got ready to go to my inlaws.

It was just us and my inlaws last night (my sister-in-law's family was at their cabin in the mountains for the weekend) and Ruby loved it. She really gained confidence as the evening wore on.

Gage beating Gramma at checkers

Ruthie getting to know Ruby

Ruby and I took a long walk. She's a great companion and when she learns a few commands, will be a fantastic bird watching companion -- no really. She's very quiet and well-behaved. She needs to learn to walk on the leash without pulling but I know we'll get there. We saw a lot of lovely birds. Two of them were life birds!

Double-crested Cormorant

Green Heron

You can see my other pictures in my Flickr photostream {click}.

It was a delightful evening although Greg's parents beat us soundly at Canasta -- they even let us think we were winning for two hands before teaching us our lesson! :) We came home and the kids went to bed. Ruby was feeling confident enough to jump up on Ruthie's bed to say good night. Ruthie is hoping that Ruby will sleep with her eventually!

After a quiet evening, Greg and I went to bed. Ruby slept in a crate (oversized Labrador crate!) with a pillow, the smelly towel, and a big soft sheet. She wasn't feeling super secure yet but did great.

This morning, she greeted me with her normal happy demeanor, went potty in the backyard, ate a little bit of breakfast, and even greeted the kids politely. Hurrah! We have a dog again!

A long day but a sweet reward

2007-02-17T22:05:00.001-08:00

I'm exhausted! We spent the day working HARD. So, it's the good, satisfying, I-accomplished-something kind of exhausted.

We worked on Ruby-proofing the backyard. There are still two areas that need attention but we worked on the most important ones. I cleaned out the dog run, powerwashed everything, and we put a 1/2 yard of gravel in it -- nice and clean . . . see:

She'll only be in there when we are gone for a long enough time that we can't leave her in the house (like if Greg's out of town and I'm at work all day) The dog house is WAY too huge for her but we'll make do for awhile. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to go get a nice bale of pine shavings to fill the bottom of the dog house with to make it cozy for her if she has to be out there when its raining.

Greg fixed one gate that was broken and cut wood for the bottom of our deck (the one over the creek!) because the gap was fine for labs but Ruby could go right under it. I stained the wood and he'll put it up tomorrow morning.

Gosh, when I put it in a list, it doesn't seem like much but it was and it took all day -- well, just shoveling the gravel is a ton of work! (almost literally!).

Allens/Rufous Hummingbird
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

When I was cleaning up and Greg was taking his shower, I saw this new friend at my feeder. We get Allens and/or Rufous Hummingbirds cruising through in late January and February. They are smaller than our normal Anna's hummers and have a bronzey-orange color to them. Utterly gorgeous. This one was VERY hungry -- he kept coming back and eating even though it was getting pretty dark. There was another hummer chirping at him from a tree nearby -- I couldn't see if it was another A/R hummer or if it was an Anna's who was miffed. But, from the size, I think it was an A/R. It's not a great picture but I was so excited to get it.

The kids had sleepovers with friends tonight so Greg and I went out and got Chinese food from our local, awesome Chinese restaurant. It's soooooo good! I order it online and we run down 20 minutes later and it's waiting for us and still hot when we get home. We watched National Treasure tonight (We love Netflix) and after we were done eating, we had drinks and popcorn. I figure after the amazing labor my body did today a martini is only fair!

And now to bed. Tomorrow is a big day and Greg and I are gonna be SORE!

Hope of Spring

2007-02-16T13:04:00.001-08:00

Hope of Spring
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our first daffodil -- a bright, sunny reminder that drier, warmer days are coming! Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons.

I wrote a poem about the flowers and spring {click}.

Hope you get a chance to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count {click} this year! I plan to do so this weekend while we are preparing our yard for a smaller dog (ooooo, a lab can't fit through that hole but a rattie could!). Tonight, I'm making up fresh batches of suet dough and hummingbird juice to lure the little darlings in droves!

Decision made

2007-02-15T01:30:00.000-08:00

Ruby
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We visited two Rat Terrier breeders on the way home from our camping trip. It was educational -- to say the least. I had extensive emails with both breeders, visited their websites, and spoke with both of them on the phone. But, the experience of visiting them was so different.

One was -- well, there aren't really words to describe it. Appalling, terrible, filthy, rural poverty at its worst, these words come close but it was truly awful. It was all I could do to be polite while we were there and keep it as brief as possible. Needless to say, we scratched that breeder off my list. I am still feeling troubled by the whole thing.

The other one was great. A small ranchette with a bunch of ratties. Sweet dogs with great personalities. Two of them were rowdy 16 week old boys who were a hoot! Even Gage found them to be fun and he doesn't like rowdy dogs. This breeder had a 2 year old girl named Jordy that we needed to consider.

Ruby

So, all the way home, all that night and the next day, we thought and talked and debated. We finally came up with a plan of action -- I needed some more information from Ruby's breeder and then we'd decide. She emailed me back immediately and we made our decision very quickly.

On Sunday, Ruby is going to become our dog! I'm so excited! Ruthie is bouncing off the walls excited. Gage is really excited too. Even Greg is getting into the act!

So, it was a long journey from losing two dogs in a month to being dogless to meeting a Rat Terrier to thinking that maybe someday we'd get a Rattie to meeting a Rattie breeder to meeting Ruby to getting Ruby. Whew!

I feel pretty confident that we are making the right decision. Remind me of that when we go through the inevitable growing and settling in pains involved in getting a new dog!

But isn't she CUTE???

More pictures

Happy Valentine's Day!

2007-02-14T23:49:00.001-08:00

My Roses
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our day was mellow. Gage woke up and sat bolt up in bed and said enthusiastically, "Happy Valentine's Day, Mom!"

Both kids had cards and chocolates at their breakfast places. Greg had a mushy card and chocolate on his keyboard!

When I got home from work at lunchtime, these were waiting for me on the dining room table. He also included 3 scratchers for the California Lottery and we won $3. Wheee! Break even deal! Still, it was fun to play pretend and think how fun it would be to win $50 or $15,000 or a chance at the Big Spin on TV where you win way more. So, I think that's pretty cool . . . roses and a dream! What a great guy!

Why I love camping . . .

2007-02-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

Reason #1: Our FMC motorhome. A true home away from home! Traveling in this is so much better than traveling in our truck and 5th Wheel!

Reason #2: Chances for the kids to do and experience different things! Here they are climbing on rocks that were exposed during hydrologic mining in Columbia, California.

Reason #3: Chances for educational experiences. Ruthie is trying on the 1850's clothing that a girl her age would have worn during the Gold Rush. Gage is learning about the hydrolic mining equipment. (Okay, okay, he's saying, "WOW! A cannon!"

Reason #4: Roughing it is good for the soul (NOT!) which is why we have our evening martinis in stainless steel martini glasses and I have figured out how to make a reasonable facsimile of my morning mochas.

Reason #5: Wildlife encounters!

Reason #6: Family walks which result in lessons in skipping rocks and biggest splash contests along with the requisite muddy shoes and hands!

Camping Weekend Bird Report

2007-02-13T22:13:00.001-08:00

California Towhee
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

What a great weekend for birding! I didn't get enough of it -- of course -- but still, it was so great. We were camped at a reservoir in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The river was dammed and has backed up to fill many, many valleys and canyons with water. We were camped on the top of a hill that juts out into the water. It is oak tree country and grassy. Utterly beautiful. I took as many pictures as I could but the light was not great and my skills are not great and so many did not turn out. Mostly, they were just so that when I washed them out and zoomed in, I could see enough detail to ID the bird. I did get a bunch of life birds but I haven't entered them into eBird yet to see how many I got.

This California Towhee posed beautifully for me in this bramble at Columbia, California -- an historic Gold Country town that has become a State Historic Park while still being a real town. Very cool. And, we bought great homemade chocolate there so . . . it's well worth a stop!

Here's a brief bird list:

California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Oak Titmouse
Acorn Woodpecker
Hairy/Downy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Bluebird *
Northern Flicker *
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Phainopepla *
Mockingbird
Canada Geese
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Hawks of many varieties
Immature Bald Eagle

Here are a few of the photos I got that I was pleased with . . .

Northern Flickr
(taken through the window of the motorhome at 7:30am!)

Western Bluebird
They were everywhere -- so utterly beautiful!

Turkey Vulture
I could not believe how close I was to this amazing bird.

White-breasted Nuthatch
Look at that little acrobat!

So, while I could have wished for better light all weekend, I can't complain about the birds I saw. Greg heard an owl in the middle of the night but it stopped hooting as he rolled over to wake me up.

Oh, and other wildlife . . . I saw three Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) and we all saw a Bobcat (Lynx rufus)!

Camping in the rain

2007-02-13T07:36:00.001-08:00

Camping in the rain
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We're home -- safe and sound! It was a fantastic trip. Details will follow later! Hope you all had a great weekend! I'm looking forward to getting caught up on everyone's lives!

It's raining, it's pouring . . .

2007-02-09T06:21:00.001-08:00

Fluffed up Hermit Thrush
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Well, I don't suppose Greg would appreciate it if I finished that sentence!

It's rained all day yesterday and looks to rain right through the weekend and into next week. Finally some regular winter weather here. I went back and visited the site of my botched (and yet successful) efforts to snap the Hermit Thrush and got a nice shot of him (her?) from my car without laying on the horn. I love how fluffed up he looks -- compare it to the other shot below. Cute!

There are several local internet weather stations in Boulder Creek. I look at all of them but Boulder Creek is such an area of microclimates that the rainfall at one could be totally different from what we experience here at our house. This one usually feels about right though . . . {click}. That chart shows the current rain conditions. It's just been the steady, soaking rain that we usually get and like so much around here. It's good for everything and not dangerous to the hills and people. When it rains too much, too fast, we are at serious risk of mudslides. My senior year in high school we had a storm like that and it was devastating. We were very careful when we bought our house -- there are no hills above us that could become unstable and slide -- and we're not on one either, thank goodness. Giant trees, steep hillsides, and huge quantities of rain are not a good combination.

This rain though is so appreciated. Which isn't to say that we aren't all griping about it. Everything is just a big more difficult when it is raining constantly . . . my job requires that I walk around campus a lot gathering groups of kids and bringing them to my room for a half-hour lesson and then taking them back again. So, I make the decision to take a coat or umbrella about 47 times a morning. Usually I just risk it. Unless it's POURING which it can do here. A real Boulder Creek rain is when you have your wipers on high and you still can't see because it's raining so hard. Sometimes I can't see across my backyard because of the density of the rain coming down. We haven't had a storm like that this winter. Yet? Hard to say, it's been a weird year and those storms usually come in January when we had virtually no rain at all.

Okay, enough on the rain. Today is the last day of the week. All your weekend plans sound great! Tonight, I pack up our clothes, some food, and finish giving the motorhome a quick clean while Greg takes the kids to soccer. Tomorrow, bright and early, we'll head off on our adventurous camping trip! Still no confirmation from the two breeders I wanted to visit about seeing their dogs. Weird but what are you going to do. Maybe the fates are intervening to tell me that Ruby is the right dog for us.

Have a great weekend, folks!

ps. don't miss the videos below.

Google Video Thursday

2007-02-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

Let the Rain Pour Down . . . the movie:

Feeder Frenzy in the Rain:

And, for my raven loving readers, Noisy Raven:

Let the rain pour down

2007-02-08T06:36:00.001-08:00

Driving in the rain 1
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our local weather report says:

Today: rain becoming likely. Highs in the 50s to mid 60s. South winds 5 to 15 mph.

If rain is just now becoming likely, I'd like to know what the previous 24 hours of non-stop rain have been . . . other than very welcome to our plants and reservoirs of ground and drinking water.

I took the above picture to show you what rain is like in the mountains. And, then I took this one just to scare you with what driving in rain is like in the mountains.

Actually I took a bunch of pictures and some video (which I haven't had time to make into a movie yet) to share the whole experience. Guess we've been missing the rain, huh?

The birds were somewhat less than impressed with the rain. There was a general air of irritation and nervousness around the feeder today. I put out a lot of seed to soothe them . . . it didn't work. But I did enjoy watching them flit about irritatedly.

In that last photo, you can see the water beading up on her feathers -- click on it to see the detail. Have I mentioned lately that I love my camera? Kamerageliebterblogunpfaffers! These pictures were taken at low res because I was taking some shots for stuff to sell on eBay and I forgot to change it back . . . they are still great shots and show a lot of detail when you look at the larger sizes. I've started reading the manual to my camera -- it's overwhelming but I think it will encourage me to play a little bit with the settings.

In other news, I'm still not feeling great. But I'll live and I doubt I'll get much sicker, thank goodness! I'm trying to contact the other two breeders that we want to visit this weekend and it's not proving easy to manage that. I am leaning more and more towards Ruby but would really like to see some of the larger Ratties before I make a decision. We're getting ready for our camping trip and I'm excited about that but I wish that it would be a drier trip. I went shopping for food last night and bought a big box of hot chocolate. We haven't camped in the winter since before we had kids so it should be different. Long damp walks, card games, books, -- it'll be fun though. We're excited!

What are your plans for the weekend?

Bird Photography Rules

2007-02-07T06:35:00.001-08:00

Hermit Thrush
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Gentle Readers,

I am going to share with you my #1 rule for Bird Photography. Yes, I know, someone of my abilities sharing her hard-won knowledge . . . it's truly an inspiration but, Gentle Readers, that's the kind of person I am.

Bird Photography is the perfect balance of art and craft, inspiration and desperation, luck and heartache. Rule #1 addresses these dichotomies.

Rule #1 states that when attempting to photograph birds whilst using one's car as cover, one should not inadvertently lay on the horn. Sudden, loud noises -- as it turns out -- frighten the birds and they fly away leaving you with pictures of where they were not what they are. Pictures of "where they were" are not interesting to anyone.

As is so often the case, however, rules were made to be broken. The picture above was taken directly after I learned Rule #1. A lovely bird, sitting in a tree, startled by the sudden blast of a car horn as I adjusted myself to get the right shot disappears rapidly. But, I am not easily swayed. I saw that the next bush over had started to bud out and the lovely bright pink flowers would make a nice shot. So, I got out of the car and walked over to take a shot of the flowers and noticed that the bird in question, a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttus) of the Pacific variety, had not gone far and was in fact hiding in said flowering bush and trying very hard to pretend I wasn't there. I couldn't delay there were a lot of people coming up the hill (going to pick their children up from school too) so I used burst mode, shot about 15 pictures and got one that was usable (not good, mind you, but usable).

So, as in all things, Gentle Reader, when life gives you lemons, by all means, make lemonade but if life gives you limes . . . make margaritas! And, those, my friends, are words to live by.

Cheerio -- The Mad Bird Lady of Boulder Creek

ps. These rules were inspired by the efforts of Lillian Stokes and Bill of the Birds who take the sharing of their rules more (or less) seriously!

Oh, that's just perfect!

2007-02-06T12:02:00.001-08:00

Maple Leaf with fungus
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

This morning when I went out to go to work, there was a big poop on the hood of my car. I couldn't believe it. Honestly, I also can't believe that I didn't take a picture . . . Julie might have identified it for me. I'm guessing raccoon. I can't see a skunk climbing up on the car. I've cleaned too many cat boxes to think it was cat. So, what on earth was it thinking? Oh well, Gage loved it -- he got to tell me how disgusting it was all the way to school and I got to think, "I know exactly how disgusting it was . . . I cleaned it up!"

Tomorrow it's going to start raining. (Oh, I know, I know . . . we need the rain. Rain is good!). It's supposed to rain all weekend (also good!).

I'm getting sick. Cough. Snorfle.

We're going camping this weekend. (Did I mention its going to rain all weekend?)

So, I feel a bit like that fungus in the picture. I've seen better days.

Oh well, I'm resting today and hoping to fight off this stupid bug. I'd hate to ruin all our plans! (Especially getting to see more Rat Terriers!!!)

A quiet moment

2007-02-05T17:57:00.001-08:00

Dark-Eyed Junco (Oregon)
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

I took a quiet moment this afternoon and went out in the waning light. This junco knew that I was there and he wasn't happy about it but he did come out several times to forage.

It was wonderful to go outside with my camera and get absorbed in taking pictures. I took 139 pictures and 5 of them made me happy. I'm getting so picky now! Used to be if you could tell what bird it was, I figured it was a success!

The neighborhood was active but no one noticed me. My husband was hard at work and didn't miss me. My kids were playing a game together and didn't miss me. What a blessing to escape responsibilities and not be missed!

Enough of that. Just time for a quick dinner and then off to a Parent Club meeting. Oh Joy!

Sunday Blog Roll

2007-02-04T23:54:00.000-08:00

I start each day by reading blogs and sipping my morning mochas. My blogging friends are amazing and diverse. Here are a few of the highlights today . . .

The Dharma Bums are thinking thoughts on the value of saving an individual bird. GardenPath shares a view of her kitchen window from her home in Maine. Julie Zickefoose uses the power of the blog to help save an awesome dog named Boomer -- by finding him a good home. (If you are near Ohio and want an awesome dog -- and don't have any cats!!! -- check it out!) Mary sneeks a peek at birds who are innocently bathing away, blithely unaware of the bird paparazzi posting their pictures on the internet. Outside In writes about the Big Weather they had in Florida this weekend. Somewhere in NJ writes about a very quiet day at Sandy Hook, NJ and shares some history with us -- scroll down and read an earlier post about the eagles she saw the day before! Susan Gets Native shares sketches of her week -- and displays her wacky sense of humor as well as a heretofore unknown artistic talent! More drawings, Susan! Rainbow Family of Four -- an online friend for more than 8 years -- shares a science experiment you too can do when the weather gets so cold that the schools close in Madison! And, What's That You Said -- an online friend for about 15 years -- shares more on her ongoing to efforts to learn American Sign Language and get in touch with Deaf culture. My Whim is Law -- also a friend for 8 years -- discusses what makes a great SuperBowl to her.

So that's what is going on in my little corner of the Blogosphere.

PS. Just surfing and looking at my Technorati results and found that people I don't even know are quoting me . . . look {here} and {here} and {here} and {here}. That is a little startling but okay! I think I'll have to visit back to some of these as well.

A Day of Dogs and RVs

2007-02-03T22:28:00.000-08:00

On our way to visit Ruby, we stopped at our friend, Brett's house to see his Rat Terrier, Jay-Jay. We is a standard-size -- around 15". Very sweet -- as nice as I had remembered. I love this picture. Gage is not a dog person but he loves these Ratties -- they are such a nice breed of dog. The kids played with Jay-Jay for ages!

We went out to visit Wild Oak Ranch today in San Jose -- home of horses, chickens, a big white cat, and a whole passel of Rat Terriers. In the picture above, they are checking out a gopher hole. But best of all, they had a litter of puppies -- adorable, sweet Rat Terrier puppies. Is there anything cuter than kids and puppies?

So, what about Ruby? Well, we are thinking about her . . . a lot. First of all, she is very, very sweet. She's smaller than we'd hoped -- maybe 13" tall (at the shoulders) and delicate. But, she is also only 8 mos old so she has a bit more growing to do. I like the picture below because it shows her puppy-ness quite well.

So, pros and cons. Pro -- she was very sweet, very pretty, and very eager to please. She's a puppy and I'm sure she'll adapt to our life quite easily. She's not at all dominant - her mother is quite dominant, however. Cons -- she was a little concerned about the kids -- but all the dogs were at first. It seemed to mostly have to do with being protective of the puppies and they got over it nicely when Nancy told them to knock it off. She's smaller than we'd pick in an ideal world.

So, what are we thinking about? Well, we have had Labradors for the last 20 years and Greg had labs before that and I had a Golden and a Samoyed. We are used to big, exuberant dogs. Ratties are small and a trifle aloof with strangers. We have to keep reminding ourselves that we want a different personality type. We have always picked the dogs that sat up and said, "Pick me! Pick me!" and sometimes we've had a hard time living with that personality for the next 10 years. I'll have to share some stories about some of my past dogs. One of my BEST dogs was a rescue lab who wouldn't make eye contact with me for days. She was the epitome of aloof at first and then grew comfortable with us. She's been gone for 6 years and I miss her still. But that personality is not what we would normally pick -- but it's kind of what we want. So, we need to think about that a bit and wrap our heads around it.

I'm going to contact the local Rat Terrier breeder and talk to her this week and maybe go see her dogs if I can. And, then we'll decide.

Ruby clearly got over her aloofness with Greg and she did come up to the kids -- not that they could see anything but the puppies. Both kids talked about the puppies several times today. They just adored them.

So, more thinking. More research. I don't know if we found our dog or not. I know she would work for us but I want to make sure we aren't rushing in where angels fear to tread . . . if you know what I mean.

So, my dear peanut gallery, what are YOUR thoughts? Is Ruby to be or not to be?

PS. Oh yea, we went to the RV show too. Interesting but we've done that for the next several years. Tiring but we say some interesting ideas. Not sure any will help us with our big project of fixing up the FMC slowly and surely. Still, I'm glad we went!

PPS. Saw about 23 hawks today and about 50 Turkey Vultures. Before we left town this morning, we saw a Sharpie drop from a power pole down to the ground by the road RIGHT next to us. Amazing. I didn't see that he'd gotten anything but it was so cool.

End of the week

2007-02-02T19:50:00.001-08:00

Gage Rocks Out!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Friday is soccer night for the kids. We do indoor soccer in the winter as it rains so much here although this year I think we could have done outdoor without too much trouble . . . although it would have gotten too cold and too dark!

Soccer is from 5 to 6pm and when we're done the kids are starving! They work hard -- it's a weekly soccer clinic rather than a team. They are learning good skills and I suppose we'll have to put them to use in the future by having them play on a team at some point. I really hate the ugly side of team sports though so I'm not eager!

Often we decide to go next door and get pizza for dinner. We did so tonight. Greg let Gage listen to his iPod while we were waiting for the pizza. Here, Gage is rocking out to Crocodile Rock (oddly enough it was the Beach Boys version and not Elton John's . . . not sure what's up with that as we are way more EJ fans than BB fans).

Ruthie had a turn as well. Her favorite song, of late, is 1985 -- that song about a woman slightly younger than me reminiscing about her lost youth. Hilarious for an 8 year old with no clue to rock out to it . . . she doesn't know the bands and just says what she thinks they are. My favorite messed-up lyric is Matona for Madonna!

We had a good dinner and then came home to baths and relaxation.

Tomorrow we go see Ruby. Fingers are still crossed! I'll let you all know how it goes!

Shhhh! Come closer!

2007-01-31T20:51:00.000-08:00

Don't tell anyone! Seriously! Shhhhh!

We're going to look at a dog on Saturday.

Ruby the Rat Terrier

It's a Rat Terrier. She's really a cutie -- about 7 months old. Her breeder can't use her in her breeding program so they are looking for a good home. Her name is Ruby. She's smaller than we were looking for but well . . .

here's the deal . . . I had to make a deal with the devil -- err -- my husband. He wants a mastiff. I want a smaller dog so . . . masters of compromise that we are . . . we are going to do both. The small dog comes first but we are going to start the process of searching for a mastiff puppy.

What an adorable little thing who will end up this size . . .

Yikes. Holy guacamole.

But don't tell anyone . . . I don't want to jinx it. Fingers crossed that it all works out.

But seriously, this is what it's going to look like when we walk our dogs . . .

Okay, so I'm off to visit In The Company of Dogs because I don't have anything for a little dog . . . oh, and do you think its a good sign or a bad sign that I already have the picture of Ruby as my desktop pattern on my computer? Oh, I hope she likes the kids and all goes well.

Life in the Rainforest

2007-01-30T07:57:00.001-08:00

Redwoods on the golf course across from my house.

I love living in a temperate rainforest. We live at the southern tip of the west coast's temperate rainforest. Temperate Rainforests are less well known than their tropical counterparts!Our dominant trees are Coastal Redwoods. We normally get around 60 inches of rain a year -- the highest year I've lived through was 111 but people died from the rain that year and we'd rather not do that again, thank you! (Mudslides are not our friends!) This year, to date, we have had 12.5 inches (our rainfall year starts in October). This is upsettingly low for the end of January which is usually one of our wettest months.

{Interesting historical record of Boulder Creek rainfall totals}

So, bottom line as pleased as we were to get a couple of days of rain, it's not enough. We need days on end of rain. Usually by this time of year, we are complaining about the mold on the windows and counting the mushrooms growing in the yard, not worrying about dry skin and wondering if we should turn the sprinklers back on. It's a wild year, alright.

In other news, we got our game table yesterday. It's wonderful. Of course, now we have to move lamps, make cushions for the chairs, figure out what this means for the rest of the living room but it's all good.

Look, Gage is dealing us up a hand of Crazy Eights!

Murky depths

2007-01-29T22:25:00.001-08:00

Still Water
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Water is everything in a redwood forest. Without it, we won't have redwoods. We live in a rain forest but it only rains during the winter. In the spring, summer, and fall, we get very little rain. Instead, we get fog. The redwood trees suck moisture out of the very air and drip it down on their roots. But, in the winter, it rains and rains and rains.

Not this winter, however. We have had almost no rain. I'm sure the redwoods were suffering. My hands and feet and skin were dry and parched. There wasn't enough lotion in the house to keep my skin from cracking and hurting.

And, then the rain came. Like a long cool drink of water on a hot day. Like a breath of fresh, soft air. Moisture found its way back into our pores. Mine and those on the redwood trees. You could almost hear the forest heave a sigh of relief.

Or was that just me?

A Day at the Dog Show

2007-01-28T22:22:00.001-08:00

The nicest Irish ever! What a love!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

What fun! We got up early. Very early. Greg told Ruth last night that if she woke up and it was after 6am and we weren't up yet to wake us up. So, guess how long she made it? 6:04 am! So, we got an early start but I did still get my two cups of mocha in, thank goodness.

We went to this show to research dog breeds, let the kids and Greg interact with some breeds I was familiar with that they weren't and to have a fun day.

Fun? Mission accomplished. We all had a blast. The kids really enjoyed the dogs quite a lot. Gage isn't the biggest dog fan in the world and he really enjoyed it a lot. He even let a dog wash his hand. Aren't Norfolk Terriers adorable?

But, totally not the right breed for us. I adore them and their little Norwich Terrier relatives but they are too terrier for us, thank you!

Ruthie had fun too but she prefers the dogs that dive right in and wash your face for you. Here she is getting a bath from a Viszla . . .

Our criteria are . . .

Me: temperament, temperament, temperament. I want something sweet, patient, and not particularly yappy. I also don't want a hugely shedding dog. (Labs shed a bit too much for me so anything with a fluffy coat is out . . . no corgis, no malamutes, no samoyeds). I'd also prefer smaller than a lab -- we want this dog fully integrated into our lives which includes going camping with us.

Greg: Mastiff. Protective but not aggressive. No shedding, please.

Gage: a dog that won't like me in the face and jump on me

Ruth: playful, cuddly, sweet, loving, will sleep with me

No problem, right?

Well, I can't get Greg to take Mastiff off the list. Gage likes the Mastiffs too but only because I haven't told him about the drooling issue. That's my biggest problem with a mastiff. But, Greg adores them and pictures like this don't help . . .

CH Lamar's In It To Win It -- Jimmy J
Gorgeous Mastiff. His coloring is reverse brindle. I absolutely adored him.

For the shedding issue as well as addressing both my size issues and Greg's size issues (ie. I want smaller and he wants larger), I have proposed a Standard Poodle. Greg hates their hair cuts so we really wanted to find one in a not-for-showing-cut. Mission accomplished and we liked it.

Greg, Ruthie, and Gage meet a Standard Poodle.

Last on our list (and least in one way) is the Rat Terrier. We have a good friend with one and we adore JJ. He is mellow, patient, smallish but not tiny, loving, quiet, etc. Ratters come in mini (under 13 inches) and standard (over 13 inches) as well as the Decker Giants which go up to about 18 inches. We would want a larger one. This sweet one, Viggo, is not larger but he was so sweet.

GRCH Turn Hidalgo at Wild Oak -- "Viggo"
What a sweetie-pie. He's a little small for us but very handsome!

So, where are we? What breed are we getting? Have we narrowed it down to size even? Nope. Not even close. I don't see us getting a Mastiff -- no matter how much Greg wants one. And, if I had to put money on it, I'd say that a Ratter is in our future but I'm not positive.

Stay tuned.

Oh, saw a really lovely Snowy Egret today on the drive over. Also took an amazing sunrise shot which will appear in next week's Good Planets Are Hard To Find carnival.

A day of women!

2007-01-27T22:43:00.000-08:00

My family's version of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is our own "club" called Crafty Chix. We get together every other month and do crafts of one sort or another. Sometimes its an old favorite and other times it's something new and exciting! The group includes me, my sister, my mother, my sister-in-law, and my mother-in-law. That's it. Someday Ruth will get to come and she's counting the seconds!

We also celebrate one of our birthday's each time. This month it was my mother-in-law, Jerryne's birthday. She turned 75 years old last week. Amazing, huh? She is as beautiful inside as she is outside. I am the luckiest daughter-in-law in the world! She doesn't look or act anywhere near 75 years old.

One of our newer traditions each year is to do a field trip. Sometimes it's a crafty related field trip. Other times, not so much. This time, we went to Goodwill in Scotts Valley for a little thrifting. I found a very cute sweater. :) Next door to Goodwill, however, is a furniture consignment shop. They have very nice things and their prices are reasonable. My mom and I had been in there on Thursday. They had a gorgeous leather gametable of exactly the type we'd like in our living room. We have four beautiful old chairs that look like leather but aren't that belonged to my husband's grandparents. We went back today and looked at the table. It's still gorgeous. They all talked me in to buying it and so I called Greg to get his blessing - he hadn't seen it!!! He said to measure it and then go for it. The measurements worked and I bought it. It was pouring rain so Greg didn't come down in the truck to get it. We'll pick it up on Tuesday! So excited. Here it is. The white on the surface is the "sold" sign!

I can't wait to get it in my house! It is going to be so lovely with the green chairs!

Oh, and for more on the crafts we crafty chix did today, well, that would be covered on my CraftyPoodle blog!

Oh, and I saw a cute little Oak Titmouse today -- actually a pair of them are nesting in my sister-in-law's deck in a birdhouse my nephew built. They are adorable little birds who mate for life. They live in the Oak trees of California and are, therefore, on the Audobon Watch List.

Sunday, we are off to the dog show. This is a huge "benched" show in San Francisco. A benched show means that the dogs are on exhibit all day as well as being entered and shown in the show. It's a great chance for us to go look at lots of different breeds and get a feel for what type of breed we are interested in for our next dog as well as connecting with some responsible breeders. This is something that I know a lot about -- I used to breed, train, and show Labrador Retrievers. I used to go to this show every year and show my own dogs. It will be chaotic and loud and I know I'll have a headache when we leave. But, oooooooh, it's gonna be fun.

Final Thoughts on Elkhorn Slough

2007-01-27T22:41:00.000-08:00

It wasn't until I did my eBird update tonight that I realized that I had 10 lifebirds at Elkhorn Slough. I'm sure they were mostly birds I'd seen before in my life but not ones that I'd ever counted before. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's the final count . . .

Location: Elkhorn Slough
Observation date: 1/26/07
Number of species: 22

Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos X
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola 6
Eared Grebe - Podiceps nigricollis 2
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret - Ardea alba 2
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 1
White-tailed Kite - Elanus leucurus 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus 1
American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 4
Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus X
Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus 5
Willet - Catoptrophorus semipalmatus X
Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus X
Marbled Godwit - Limosa fedoa 2
Acorn Woodpecker - Melanerpes formicivorus 1
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 1
Black Phoebe - Sayornis nigricans 1
Hutton's Vireo - Vireo huttoni 1
Western Scrub-Jay - Aphelocoma californica 3
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos X
Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) - Junco hyemalis oreganus X
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://www.ebird.org)

A Day at the Slough

2007-01-27T07:16:00.001-08:00

The Adventure Begins!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Well, an afternoon at the slough. Our school district gave us a semester break today -- and we took full advantage of it. We headed off on the hour drive to Moss Landing around 9:30 yesterday morning. All was well. Mom and I were chatting. The kids were playing with their Littlest Pet Shop Digital toys and happy as clams.

Until we got right between Aptos and Watsonville and hit a wall of traffic. "Oh, an accident," we said brightly. "Or roadwork." And we inched along. Past the last possible hope exit. Just as we got where we couldn't really get to it, I thought, "hmmm, wonder if I should have gotten off and taken that exit."

An hour later, we finally made it to where the road crew had been working about 1/2 mile beyond us over a big hill. Only they were done now. Unbelievable. As we got there, the traffic opened up and we flew on our way again. Trying to resist the urge to go 90 mph. After all, I suspect that "making up lost time" isn't a good argument in court!

So, we couldn't stop at the huge pottery place and price big urns for the backyard. Nor could we poke around in any of the antique stores in Moss Landing either. Sigh.

But, we did get to eat at Phil's Fish Market and Eatery. YUM! Utterly delish! I ordered their squid and chips. Both kids asked to try my squid which was amazing. I was pretty sure that Gage would try it but Ruthie did too -- her love of anything fried won the day, I'm sure. They both also tasted my mom's scallops. Also delish! But, I preferred my squid. I've been craving it since that horrible shoe leather (or overcooked shoe leather that tasted a bit off as my husband put it) I had in Monterey after we went to the aquarium. This was better!

And, then we were off to the Slough. Beautiful day for it -- overcast but not cold. Sweatshirts and light jackets were fine. We headed off in high spirits. The first bird we saw was singing away in a bush ahead of us on the trail. We stopped and looked through the bins and my camera. Couldn't tell what it was -- it was an unusual song though. Then Mom noticed it was blue through the bins. Hmmmm. We got closer -- brave bird, not concerned about us. The kids are being really quiet and good -- walking, not yelling. We get close enough and realize that it's a Western-Scrub Jay. Not even remotely rare or interesting. Nothing like a new bird for us. A common, everyday, rather annoying yard bird! Hilarious! Set us off on our adventures in good spirits!

We stopped at the overlook. Elkhorn Slough is a nature reserve that is being reclaimed. It was once a dairy and they have left the barns up. You see evidence of it's former life as you walk the trails. The Slough itself is where the fresh water drains down from the hills and collects and mixes with the seawater coming inland. Take a look at this map to see why this is such a special area:

Overview of Elkhorn Slough. The white rectangle in the middle is the barn where the barn owls live. The very regular inlets are part of the restoration effort. They are put in to give shorebirds a place to forage and rest while the slough is recovering from years of dredging. We walked across that causeway above the barn and around the south marsh there and back to the barns and then up to the visitor's center in the lower right corner.

Here is an overview photo I took:

Overview of the Slough from the lookout area. The barns are below us and you can see part of the South Marsh.

The first REAL bird we saw was tough to id -- largely because I forgot my field guide. Sigh. Anyway, we looked at it, saw field marks, and took pictures. When we got home and looked at them with the guides, we decided it was probably a red-shouldered hawk. Beautiful flying around kind of below us as we were still up high at the lookout area. And, off we went. We stopped at the barn where the Barn Owls nest but didn't see any signs of life -- other than about a bazillion owl pellets. We also saw about a thousand coyote poops on the trail around this area. Lots of life! (well, and, I suppose death! :)

Near the barn, we saw and heard lots of LBJs in the brush. They were adept at hiding and were probably mostly House Sparrows anyway but it would have been nice to know. Shortly after we got back on the trail, I saw this little lovely . . .

Hutton's Vireo

I believe it's Hutton's Vireo. At first I thought it was a warbler but looking at the field guides, that big eye seems more like a vireo to me. It was small but VERY close to us. Thank heavens for the burst mode on my camera.

Next, we walked out to the water and headed out on the walkway. We saw a ton of shorebirds. The tide was out so it was very different than the last time we were there. We were closer to the shorebirds which was cool though. Saw Willets, Whimbrels, and Marbled Godwits for sure and then bunch of other sandpiper-y darlings that we couldn't ID even with pictures.

Willet and Willet with wings open.

The Willets amaze me. They look like these non-describe LBJ's until they fly and then you are dazzled by this flash of black and white. The wing picture isn't good but it gives you the idea. The Marbled Godwits looked all warm and carmelly. Gorgeous.

Marbled Godwit foraging in mud and marsh plants.

We saw some buffleheads and eared grebes in the water nearby as well. And, then a very handsome bird of prey caught our attention. It was a White-tailed Kite. Amazing bird and not even remotely interested in letting us get close enough for a good picture. I snuck up on it but when I stepped out from the cover to get the shot, it was gone. I'm sure I will improve in this area but I did get this shots.

The White-tailed Kite who was camera shy.

We wound our way back from this point. It was lovely and we saw some more birds but not close up or I didn't get the shot. We saw two woodpeckers -- Acorn and Downy. The Downy was very close but the light was all wrong and we were hurrying back to the center at this point.

We got back to the center and got a couple of goodies at the gift shop. I got a little backpack sized bird guide (by the Stokes!) so I'll have SOMETHING when I go out next time and forget my good guides. And, I got a gorgeous pewter barrette with a feather on it for my hair. Next time, I'll get this one -- amazing, isn't it?

From there, we headed home, made it to soccer, had a great dinner, and crashed for the night!

Birthday Report and Catching Up

2007-01-26T07:50:00.001-08:00

Watching the excitement unfold
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

So, poor Gage had to wait until I got home from teaching my afterschool program at around 4:30 before he could open his presents . . . torture for a 7 year old boy but he handled it with good grace!

We all gathered in the living room to watch the excitement unfold. My mother is visiting which made it extra fun! She brought her gifts along so he had three presents to open.

We got him the RC Tarantula that I saw first on Julie Zickefoose's blog. Her son, Liam, is the same age as Gage and loved it. I knew my son would too. And, he did . . .

The only disappointment was that Ushki, my Mom's corgi, was singularly unimpressed with the spider. The RC car Gage got at his party was a great doggy tormenting device however. We think the spider just didn't move fast enough. Still the main goal was that Gage loved it and he does. He's being so careful with it -- putting it up high so it doesn't get stepped on. He didn't even show it to his friend who lives next door and can be rough on toys (broke one toy immediately upon being shown it -- sigh! I'm getting good with Crazy Glue!).

I think it was a satisfying birthday for Gage and I know it was for me!

With my mom visiting, my blogging/computer time is cut WAY down. But, it's nice having her here -- she lives so far away that I don't get quality time with her. I figure having enough time to get irritated with each other is a good thing!

Today, we have no school (end of semester break). We are thinking about taking a walk at Elkhorn Slough. I'll report back on what we ACTUALLY do with pictures and details tomorrow!

Happy Birthday, Gage!

2007-01-24T06:39:00.001-08:00

Step on a crack and you'll . . .
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

My son turns 7 today. At 10:30 am or thereabouts, the actual moment of the anniversary of his birth will pass. He won't note it and I will likely be busy with other events and not notice at that moment either. But what a life changing moment that was when our family grew by one and we got a whole new injection of testosterone.

Gage has grown and changed so much this year. And, the picture here is the epitome of some of those changes. He is playing the "step on a crack and you'll break your mother's back" game. In the past, walks across campus were agonizingly slow when he was in this mode -- he couldn't possible step on any cracks (or lines) for fear of injuring my back (or spine). But now, he has just called me, "Hey, Mom . . . look at this!" Can you stand the glee on his face? Rotten little boy!

I love him so much! He is funny and smart and kind. He is argumentative and strong-willed and contemplative. He is a good friend, a good son, and a good brother. He is cautious and curious and crazy. He is my boy.

Lost in thought, playing a spinning game

Maybe it won't be at exactly 10:30 am, but at some point in the day, I"ll be thinking about those moments of his birth and the joy that he brings to my life everyday.

Newborn Gage - 1/24/2000

A Family of Four
Progression
from two
to three
to four
Whole becoming a whole lot more.
And so we add more
more smiles
more funny hair
more belly laughs,
Little Baby Bear
Welcome to our family,
Mister Boy
Little brother, darling son.
We welcome you with endless Joy.
© 2000, Liza Lee Miller

Mostly Miserable Day

2007-01-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

Blah! Without going into details, yesterday we had a family party for my mother-in-law's 75th birthday. My MIL is an amazing, fantastic woman and we all wanted it to go beautifully. But, it was a recipe for disaster and as far as I am concerned that's what we got. Thankfully, most of the guests won't agree but for me and my family -- awful. I had to take Ruthie home sobbing uncontrollably early after an ugly scene with other family members. Just awful.

The cure: after calming her down and letting her vent about it all the way home, we changed into comfy clothes, ate some chocolate, and watched America's Funniest Pets and People on tv. It worked! As Greg said, I trained her! And, I'm good with that. I trained her that real women feel emotions, stand up for children, and then come home take off their panty hose and take care of themselves! I'm okay with that!

I still feel all singed by it but thankfully Ruthie is moving past it all quickly. There were so many things that went wrong and it felt pretty much like a train speeding toward a cliff that I could see but not stop effectively. Sigh.

One good thing was seeing this cute little bird. I did get a few minutes out by the hostess' bird feeders and that was nice.

Black Phoebe checking out the meadow for flies!

Definitely glad to be going back to work today. Maybe teaching kids division will be a good distraction for stupid family drama.

Whirling Dervishes or Welcome to my World!

2007-01-20T20:58:00.001-08:00

Whirling Dervishes
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

This is what my house looked like today. Today was Gage's 7 year old birthday party. We had a house full of boys! Wheeeeee!

I didn't plan games or activities -- on purpose. The party was short -- 3:00 - 4:30. I let them run around like crazy play, jump on the trampoline until it looks like there will be tears soon. Then we go sit down for cake and ice cream and then presents. More playing ensues and we send them on their way, goodie bags in hand!

It works but boy oh boy is it ever a hectic hour and a half. Especially since they got out Gage's massive sword collection and chased each other around the house and yard having sword fights!

Gage wanted an army birthday. I have to say that I did not give it my all as I have in past years. But, I got army guy goodies for the goodie bag (Thank you Oriental Trading Company!). I got a tank center piece to brighten up our table. I even decorated the cake(s) in camo. That was fun. It didn't turn out perfectly but I was pleased with the result. (Gage wanted two bundt cakes instead of one larger cake so it was a trifle odd but it worked . . . )

Here is a group shot of all the kids. They had a good time! It was hard to get them to stand still so I didn't do more than one shot! Get what you can -- besides, it's a more realistic look at the day.

Noah, Brendon, Nate, Michael, Gage, Max, Jordan, Blake, Scotty, and Berkley
Jordan in the back is my nephew -- he's 10 and tall for his age. The rest are all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade boys.

I am exhausted. Good night!

Another Raven Good Day

2007-01-19T22:55:00.001-08:00

Raven Courtship
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Got back to school to pick the kids up early today . . . wow! Had my camera and these two ravens were showing off. Flirting, like mad with each other.

The sounds they were making was amazing. I got a bunch of photos of them (BURST MODE!!!) but also got some video. If you listen carefully, you'll hear an odd hollow clicking or knocking sound.

No . . . it's not evidence of Ivory Bills in Boulder Creek! The ravens make this sound. It's amazing. She clicks and then he puffs up and clicks and clacks.

Mish-mash!

2007-01-18T19:54:00.000-08:00

My friend, Betsy, did this on a snow day . . . I just did mine on a blah day. I did not go into much detail and, frankly, was a little bummed -- I've lived in Europe and according to Google Maps, you can't get there from here. Oh well!

To add in my European Adventures . . . after Glasgow, MT, add in Hargrave, England and after Austin Tx, add Weisbaden, West Germany then back to Austin, TX.

Still, it's fun! Click {here} and consider yourself tagged!

And, to follow up on yesterday's post . . . PMS? Pre-Menopause? Who knows but I do know that my chocolate/sugar/fat cravings are serious!

Last night, I made cashew brittle. It's super easy and super tasty!

AJ's Nut Brittle
Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup (light)
1 cup nuts (any nut will do -- I used cashews!)
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
Steps:
Mix sugar and corn syrup in a large microwave safe bowl. Cook in microwave oven on high for 5 minutes
Stir in nuts. Cook 2-3 minutes on high.
Add other ingredients. Be aware that this will cause the mixture to froth in am amazing science experiment manner.
Spread mixture on a greased jelly roll pan. Cool for at least 10 minutes until it breaks apart in the expected manner.
Store in an airtight container or bag.
Notes:
Make sure you use a large enough bowl to contain the froth in step 3.
If you have a lower power microwave, the cooking times will have to be adjusted but I have no idea what that adjustment would be!
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage to your weight or dental work! You have been warned!
I owe this recipe to my online friend, AJ, who amazes us all with all she does for her 4 kids (including new twins) and her family and friends. All that and she shares her recipes too!

Last but not least, this is a day for me to be grateful to my friends! My wonderful friend, BEG, at What's That You Said, sent me a prezzie in the mail. An addition to my collection of bird ornaments (that I blame LaurainNJ for starting me on!). Isn't it wonderful? Before you ask, I don't know where you can find one but I found this source through Google -- no clue if it's a legit business though! {click}

The Joys of Womanhood

2007-01-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

I know that there are many, many joys in being a woman. But today, I'm not feeling it. About six months ago, I went on birth control to help normalize my hormones. For a variety of reasons, I went off them this month. And, my body is going haywire on me! Emotions run amok, headaches, cramping, exhaustion, etc. It's delightful. My poor kids have forgotten that Mom used to get this way once a month -- I think even my husband had put it out of his mind. The only good thing is that I can realize what is causing it all now which helps me to control my desire to snap at everyone around me, weep over nothing, and curl up on the couch wrapped in blankets eating chocolate by the pound. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still do those things but I can often stop myself or limit the time spent doing them. It's a huge aggravation though!

Otherwise, we are doing fine. It is unusually cold here in California now. This morning it's 27 degrees here. Two nights ago, it rained. The roads will be icy this morning which is not good. We have windy mountain roads that are treacherous under the best of conditions. Many Californians simply don't know how to drive on icy roads. Yesterday, Greg took us to school and drove 25 and under the whole way. We didn't get passed but we did see someone roar out of their driveway ahead of us way too quickly. Thankfully, they didn't hit ice while we were watching but I did hear that the tow trucks were busy yesterday. Today should be worse -- it's colder this morning.

We get ice on the playground at school and no matter how carefully you watch, the kids will try to slip and slide on it. The school has started putting out salt on the ice. I hate what the salt does to the plants and stuff but as the principal says, "I don't want to see any blood!"

Yesterday, I saw ravens settling in the for the night at the school. There were 16 in one tree. I've never seen that many before at the school -- of course, when I got the camera out some had flown off but still. There was lots of billing and cooing going on between those pairs. Very cool!

Quiet Thoughts

2007-01-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

The creek behind my house: Boulder Creek.

We bought our house in 2001. This view from our back deck -- which hangs over said creek -- is one of the main reasons we bought this house. This changeable creek runs year round but its character changes dramatically over the course of that year. In fall, it is a tiny trickle. In spring and summer, it is a beautiful flowing creek with deep pools for swimming, ducks, fish, and crayfish. In the winter though, it changes and takes on a new life. When storms rage here, our sleepy, quiet stream turns into a violent force of nature. The water levels swell, it flows downhill at breakneck speed. When we step into our backyard, the roar of it is deafening.

Same view, during a winter storm.

I love the beauty that surrounds us. I honestly think we live in the most beautiful place in the world but I never take it lightly. We haven't had a huge storm like this yet this winter which is a becoming more unusual as January is generally when winter really starts going here. Still, this view never ceases to amaze and delight me. At times, it brings me peace and then other times, it can fill me with energy and awe.

Now, a birding question. With this amazing creek nearby, should I provide water in my yard in the summer for the birds? Or assume that they can get water from the creek. In winter, during storms, it isn't an issue. Water is everywhere -- a pool of it would be quite redundant. But in the summer, are there birds who won't go down to the creek for a drink.

PS. Oops! I got caught (as evidenced by the comments) in an editing trap. I originally wrote a post about American Idol. Then I decided that it wasn't saying what I wanted it to say and I dumped it and wrote this post. But, people saw it, commented, and now their comments make NO sense whatsoever! Sorry! So, to recap . . . we watched AI last night as a family. Good: love the show. thought Jewel did a great job. Simon was actually quite decent to people. Bad: I hate it when these delusional people think they are going to win the contest and they are so untalented as a singer that they shouldn't have made it past the screeners. There is a meanness in letting them through that I can barely stand. I'd rather skip the auditions altogether and watch just the contest after they are chosen. And, I really worry about the poeple that they televise who are clearly mentally ill. Didn't see any last night but the previews look as if we'll be seeing some tonight. :( I do, however, get an evil, mean glee out of watching people who claim to be fanatics of the show and think they are going to get on -- that woman at the end who has all the episodes on tape. Isn't she paying attention? You can't just be an okay singer. You can't even be a good singer. To make it, you have to be an amazing singer and have showmanship -- you have to have or be able to develop the package. It's your favorite show and you can't see that? Wow. The funniest one though was the Lion girl. Seeing her sing the Cowardly Lion song was amazing enough but hearing her sing OTHER songs that way . . . {jaw falls open}. And, words I never thought I'd hear myself utter . . . Poor Prince. That medley of his songs. Wow. There was one woman singing one of his songs (the one with the tie who may have been in that mentally ill category) who she was nearly done before I recognized the song. Amazing!

Hummingbird on Cold Morning

2007-01-15T13:07:00.001-08:00


Anna's Hummingbird staying near feeder to have easy access to fuel! January 2007

A Quiet Day

2007-01-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

We had a child-less day yesterday. The kids were with my in-laws and had a great day -- pancakes, the park, breaking up ice in the pond, such fun!

We really just lazed around all day. I did a little bit of bird-watching for Project Feederwatch.

Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna - 2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - Poecile rufescens - 6
Pygmy Nuthatch - Sitta pygmaea - 2
Fox Sparrow - Passerella iliaca - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis - 8

An amazing evening

2007-01-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

Last night, we went out with friends. They arranged the evening and we went along with their plans knowing that it would be a delightful evening. Malcolm is the lead guitar player and organizer behind Metaphor -- one of the band's that Greg is in. We have dined at their house a couple of times -- they love food and love fine food so it's always a fantastic treat.

We met at Chez TJ in Mountain View -- about an hour from here. This is a very, very nice restaurant that just got a Michelin Star. That is rather an amazing accomplishment given how far off the bright lights of San Francisco it is. We knew it would be a wonderful (and crazy-expensive) dining experience but we threw ourselves into the experience and simply enjoyed it. I mean we enjoyed it. The company was wonderful. Malcolm and his wife, Eileen, are delightful, funny, kind. They have two daughters a few years older than our kids (their youngest is a year older than Ruth). We always enjoy their company. But the food. . .

I've spent the last half-hour looking for images because I thought it would be tacky to take my camera in and photograph all the food but I really wish I had (or at least taken pictures with Greg's camera phone camera). I found a few images to give you an idea of the type of food {here}. The food was truly the most amazing flavors I've ever had. You read food descriptions of subtle blends of flavors, elegantly presented dishes, wines that combine beautifully with the food. I had no idea what any of that meant before. Each bite was sublime. This was not food presented for it's snootiness factor . . . it was meant to be savored. And, we did.

The other thing that was so amazing was the service. The staff was wonderful. The food was brought out and explained as it was given to us. The staff was friendly and thoughtful and we never felt stupid or awkward. One funny moment came when the waiters cleared the table of the palate cleansing sorbet between one of the courses (it wasn't always sorbet though). The sorbet was served on oversized child spoons -- the kind with the handles that curve around in a loop. It was fun and elegant and we picked them up and used them as spoons. We missed that they had also brought us little small spoons. Everything was cleared without comment and we got a good laugh when I pointed out that we'd all missed that one. Although we all agreed we'd have felt pretty silly eating from a spoon with a spoon.

After dinner, we hurried to the Flint Center in Cupertino and got into our seats just moments before the show started -- phew! It was something completely different from the dinner. We saw An Evening with Colin and Brad. These former stars of Whose Line Is It Anyway did the most amazing evening of comedy improve. Some of the games were from Whose Line and some were not. It was delightful. We were glad to be well back from the front where there was no risk of being called up on stage. We laughed until our cheeks ached. Delightful.

We came home to an empty house as the children spent the night with my inlaws (bless them!). It was very nice to wake up this morning and feel that I had no responsibilities. A true vacation day . . . tomorrow will be soon enough to finish all the gawdawful chores that I've let pile up around here.

Meme

2007-01-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

('cause I'm a joiner! )

Hey, if all the cool kids -- Laura, Susan, Julie, Lynne (and anyone else that I haven't gotten to yet) are doing it . . . I gotta join in . . .

two names you go by: Liza and Mom
two parts of your heritage: Scots, Irish
two things that scare you: bridges and the idea of someone hurting my children
two everyday essentials: mocha and computers
two things you are wearing right now: jammies and slippers
two of your favorite current bands/artists: Indigo Girls and Sarah McLachlan
two things you want in a relationship (other than love): trust and stability
two favorite hobbies: birding and reading
two things you have to do this week: finish de-Christmasing the house and setup new computers
two stores you shop at: Safeway and Ben Lomond Market (I don't get out much!)
two favorite sports: my kids playing soccer and . . .
two shows you like to watch: (Only two???) ER and Lost (but the list is quite a bit longer than that!)
two things you’d buy if money were no object: land and a new car
two wishes for 2007: health and a full-time teaching job

SpongeBob enjoys MacWorld

2007-01-13T07:12:00.001-08:00

SpongeBob enjoys MacWorld
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

And so did I. Did not take many pictures but MacWorld was a blast! Exhausting but in a good way. It was nostalgic to me as well which was really nice too. I used to go to this show SERIOUSLY looking for the latest greatest thing to bring back to Stanford to share. I'd go and see tons of people I knew and register for conferences and all that jazz.

I have to say that going and just walking around and looking at stuff was fun too! And, the best part of it was getting to spend most of the day and evening with Greg! That was was cool.

Brag Alert! Greg occasionally writes reviews for MacWorld magazine on products related to architecture. He wrote a review for this product and got quoted on the box:

Yes, I made the guy in the booth hold up the box so I could take the picture. I said to him, "Greg's mom will be so proud!" (Ha -- she is but so am I!)

We tried to buy Greg's Christmas gift from me at the show but they were out of the 80G iPods so we stopped at the Apple store in Palo Alto on our way home. That was a fun way to do it because Greg has often wandered in there and looked at all the cool things he couldn't buy. Last night, we bought! We went out to a blissful kidfree dinner on the way home too which was very nice.

Today, I have a CPR class and then we are going out tonight to dinner and a play with friends. This is a big deal for us -- we don't go out to fancy, fun evenings very often! The kids are staying at my inlaws and I get to sleep in tomorrow!

Woooo-hooo!

ps. The new PC is working well although it is "quirky" which is why it got to be my "new" computer instead of the one that Greg swears at all the time. The new Mac will probably be set up tomorrow. That one will take longer, I'd imagine!

Winter's Finally Here!

2007-01-11T23:51:00.001-08:00

Purple Finch, Female
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Now, before you laugh, remember that this is coastal California. We don't get a lot of cold weather here. It rains here all winter and keeps our redwoods looking beautiful.

However, it's cold and getting colder out there. Some weird collection of highs and lows has an arctic cold air mass settling in over us for the long haul. No rain in sight. In the morning, it will be in the 20s outside and tomorrow night in the teens. Brrrrr! I have my fingers crossed that the "rain" forecast to hit here around midnight won't actually hit us!

This cold air generated a FLURRY of activity at my front yard feeder today. I had new guests -- the Purple Finches arrived. It was very nice to see them. It's funny to me. The female is very brave and the male hides in the bushes until he knows its safe. I wonder if that's because he's so brightly colored and more obvious to predators. Although, that doesn't slow our Steller's Jays down at all!

The squirrels were also stuffing themselves silly. This one was laughing as he stuffed his face on my squirrel proof feeder. Should I send it off the manufacturer? Sigh.

The regular feeder birds were storing up energy too for the cold night -- the chickadees were frantic in getting food. They were flying in at all angles and getting angry with each other for not moving fast enough. The Dark-eyed Juncos were pretty serious about eating too. This one wasn't satisfied with having to wait for the Chickadee Rejects (seeds they don't like, they just drop on the ground) and came up to get some top choice feed.

I went out and refilled that feeder and the chickadees and Pygmy Nuthatches scolded me the entire time. I could have reached out and touched the two nuthatches and several chickadees at any time while I filled the feeder. Silly things!

Also, just as an aside, I posted a couple of bird related poems on my writing blog. Take a look if you are interested.

Tomorrow, I'm off to MacWorld in San Francisco. It's been a long time since I've been there and gotten to be a techy for a day. I used to have to go for work and I miss it! This weekend, all my computer equipment will change out too -- no, I'm not getting a new computer at MacWorld. Greg got a new MacBook Pro last night and he's giving me his hand-me-downs. So, no idea when I'll be back online again what with setting them all up. Hopefully sooner rather than later!

National DeLurking Week

2007-01-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

You know you're out there. Please comment! I don't bite!

Proud Mom . . . Proud Birder

2007-01-10T23:08:00.001-08:00

Gage - photoshopped for fun
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our school does awards each month for students who are showing specific lifeskills. Every student in the school gets an award every year. It fills in with our other awards programs which include academics, physical activity, and PAW awards which are awarded when an adult catches you doing something good. I really like this program -- every child deserves a shot at feeling special and since becoming a teacher, I'm quite aware that there are plenty of kids who never are made to feel special in any other way. Parents are invited to attend the ceremony and that helps make kids feel special too.

Aaaaaaanyway, today was Gage's turn. He was given an award for demonstrating the Life Skill of Responsibility. And, I must say, he is a pretty responsible kid. He was so proud and excited. The principal called him up, the secretary shook his hand and gave him the award (a little zipper pull that says BCE Lifeskill), and he got to go up on stage with the other recipients for the month. They get applause at the end.
He was riding high on it all afternoon. It was sweet to see! Ruthie made me so proud too -- she was so attentive, watching him up there, waving at him, clearly proud of her brother. Greg even made it out to visit. Very, very cool small-town-family-school moment.

I also am pleased as punch to share that one of my blog posts is in I and the Bird #40. Please visit the site and check out the tasty offerings that Peregrine served up this month.

Ravens in the trees

2007-01-08T21:12:00.001-08:00

Ravens in the trees
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

How many ravens can you count in this picture?

It's a trick question, really, as the ravens at the top who look alone are actually two ravens snuggled up together. So, there are 7 in the picture. There was an 8th on the roof below where the lone one is roosted but it flew off just before I snapped the shot.

The ravens are getting very cuddly right now, strengthening their pair bonds and getting ready for breeding and rearing their young. There is lots of pairing off, food sharing, nuzzling, and displays of ruffs. Impressive and sweet all at once. I'll try to get some more shots of them in action! {ahem! raven soft porn?}

click to enlarge it on Flickr -- you can see it REALLY big!

I was back at school today and while there were some glitches, it was really nice to be back at work. I was happy to see my students and start working with them. Ruth and Gage were excited to see their friends and get back into the school groove.

It was a good day.

The Birding Gods Were Smiling

2007-01-07T14:30:00.001-08:00

Active Feeder
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

I walked out with camera in hand to my front feeders. I thought I'd try to get a shot or two from outside and see what would happen. I knew the Chickadees would come -- brazen as they are.

I stood still for a moment -- just looking and heard a loud, but unusual cheap from above me. I look up and there is a Pygmy Nuthatch. Chirped hello at me and then flew in to the feeder. Thank goodness for burst mode! They are super flitty birds. I love this shot of both species at my feeder.

Later in the day, I saw two Pygmy Nuthatches at the same time. So, I have a pair here. Yippee! I saw them last year too but haven't in ages. Cute little flitty things!

Another exotic bird for my east coast friends!

Oh, and then I turned and noticed all this going on on my maple tree trunk. Beautiful and fungal. Somehow I thought of my blogging friends and hoped that they enjoyed it!

A day with the birds

2007-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Front Feeders
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Because it was a count day for Project FeederWatch, I was careful to make sure the feeders were full and ready this morning. I had just great birds yesterday at my feeders that I wanted to be ready (of course, I should have known that having great birds the day BEFORE a count day guaranteed little activity on the count day). So, I got out my container of suet dough and loaded up the back and front yard stations. When I was doing the back yard, I heard and saw some birds in the woods behind my house, across the creek. I got my bins and headed to the fence -- Varied Thrushes. Yum. I've seen them in my yard before but not this year. Still they were happy and active in the back forty which was fun!

Back Feeders
(Note the little Chickadee butt poking around the feeder)

However, it wasn't a great birdwatching day. My neighbor was working on a home improvement project that had him set up a table saw in his front yard and he brought his dog out for company. Well-behaved dog but between the dog and the table saw, my front feeders were quiet. Only chickadees and a couple of juncos. The backyard was also quiet. Oh well.

We went to my in-laws' for dinner last night as we do most weekend. They live in a senior community. It is all mobile homes but you can't tell that's what most of them are -- some of them are two stories with garages underneath. Lots of gardens and landscaping. They have two ponds with a spillway/creek between them. It's really lovely. I took a walk to see what I could see and had a real treat and learned something new.

Look at this tree and tell me if you see anything special in it. . .

I didn't see them at first and I was scanning the trees looking for them. I was almost past them and then looked back and boom, I saw them. At first I thought they might be owls but then realized that they were a pair of Black-crowned Night-Herons. Beautiful critters. I couldn't believe my luck. Last year, I saw a juvenile and then later an adult at this pond and even got two awful pictures of it/them [juvenile] [adult]. But, these are very shy birds and getting close to them is hard. These guys were asleep and I walked as close as I dared and got a few shots.

"Moooooooooom!" I turn in horror and see my 7 year old racing up to me on his scooter. Now, thankfully, he's a good birder (Susan, how hard are you laughing right now?) and I told him to whisper, put his scooter down, and I'd show him something cool. He complied, whispering very loudly. I showed him the birds and he said, "Is that why I'm whispering? Why are they shy, Mom?" Hilarious! I sent him back to my in-laws and took more pictures. The good thing about his visit was that the Herons woke up -- and didn't leave!!!

Don't they look grumpy that they got woken up?

Then a little old couple who live right next to the pond stopped and told me that these are George and Georgina and they have been here for years. I don't know how I've missed them both as I come to the ponds regularly but I have. It explains their calmness though. They are used to the activity level here and like it. I took a few more shots and then kept going on my walk to the upper lake.

I saw:

American Robin

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpeckers are amazing critters. You can see all the holes in the tree and perhaps see that some of them are filled with acorns. This is what they do. The live near oak trees and pine or redwood trees (in our area). They make acorn-sized holes in the trees and stuff an acorn in them. Then they leave the acorns there. A little worm develops in the acorn and they come back and eat it. They are amazing critters and very easy to identify as they are always found on these very recognizable trees. More info on them {click}.

It was a fun birding day and I got to share a bit of it with my son. He talked about the Herons on the way home so I know it stuck a little bit. Very cool. And, in other news, most of Christmas has been packed up in our house. Only the tree to do now. Darling husband has to bring in the HUGE ladder so I can do the top ornaments and the light string. Oh joy! Sad to see it go but it will be nice to get the house back to normal, too! School starts again Monday. Sigh. It's been a great vacation!

[Camera Useage Report -- only took 120 pictures and consider about 15 of them to be useful! I think I'm getting better!]

Kamerageliebterblogunpfaffers*

2007-01-05T20:31:00.001-08:00

Fox Sparrow (Sooty)
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

How much do I love my new camera? I love it this much!

This is a life bird for me -- Fox Sparrow (Sooty). I'm 90% sure that this is the bird I caught a fleeting, blurry, hopelessly useless shot of in October and wondered what it was. Look at THIS shot!

I thought -- at first glance -- that it was my Hermit Thrush from last year and I didn't give it much look but I snapped a couple of shots of it. Then I'm looking at it on the computer thinking, "Wait a minute! That's not a Hermit Thrush!" Spent a little time looking and voila! Fox Sparrow (Sooty). How cute is that -- I have a pair of them under my front feeders.

Here are other birds that like my front feeders . . .

Chestnut-backed Chickadee with a yummy sunflower seed!

Spotted Towhee -- also with a yummy sunflower seed

California Towhee -- again, with a sunflower seed

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) -- but NO sunflower seed!

And, last, look at this unusual Chestnut-backed Chickadee that I spotted. It took me a long time to get some shots of this flitty bird that showed it's unusual coloration.

It appears to be a Chestnut-backed Chickadee but it has a LOT of white on it. I have seen a couple that have one or two extra bits of white but this is really noticeable. There are more photos {here}.

edit: I checked it out with my local bird group and one of the experts emailed me back to say that it is a leucistic bird -- partial albino. He said that he gets at least one report a year (he keeps the county records) and about 5 years ago, we had a huge rash of them in the county -- 30 reports in one season. So, there you go. Leucistic Chestnut-backed Chickadee. That probably explains the couple of others I saw with tiny white patches that just seemed like odd bits of feather -- relatives! If you follow the link above to my other pictures, I linked to some other chickadees that are almost completely white -- very beautiful, very otherworldly.

Oh, and to end off my day, I walked out my front door and flushed two birds who were nibbling little somethings from under my lavender bushes. They went into a tree in my front yard and I could see that they were my Hermit Thrushes. I thought it was quite thoughtful of them to show themselves when I was wondering if I'd really seen them or if I was just hopeless at IDing birds and thought Fox Sparrows were them last year. Thank you , Birding Gods!

(Deep dark confession time . . . I shot 359 shots today -- seriously! -- I kept 22 of them. So, how much do I love my new camera? A LOT -- especially since my husband ordered the 2GB card for it!)

*Means "Bloggers who crow about their cameras" -- coined by Julie Zickefoose.

Top Ten Birding Moments in 2006

2007-01-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

The BirdChaser suggested summarizing one's top ten birding moments of 2006. I shrugged aside my intimidation at his list because I think that this sort of reflection is quite useful. My list is less amazing than his but is quite reflective of my year with birds.

Counting backwards in Letterman style my Top 10 Birding Moments in 2006

10. All my yard birds. I maintained two feeder centers last winter and saw lots of new yard birds including: Hermit Thrush, Varied Thrush, Spotted Towhee, House Finch, Purple Finch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Hutton's Vireo, Black-headed Grosbeak, Lesser Goldfinch, and Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds. This along with my usual suspects: Chestnut-backed Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, California Towhees, and Anna's Hummingbirds.
9. California Thrasher -- I went for a lot of long walks in 2006 and on one of them I heard a marvelous singing (it was springtime) in the scrub on a hill above me. I stood and looked and looked and looked and finally found the bird. He was singing is heart out at the top of a bush very close to me. I noted the most telling thing about him -- his long curved bill and some other details and headed home to get my Sibley's out and ID him. California Thrasher. Very cool bird!
8. I went hunting for the Crested Caracara that had been seen near her (40 min away) at the coast. It was a ridiculous trip -- everything that could have impeded me without actually stopping me did so. Wrong turns, roads closed, etc., etc., etc. So, no, I did not find the Caracara but I did find and ID a Merlin which was pretty cool too.
7. A visit to Elkhorn Slough with the kids had me finding a Bewick's Wren, Short-billed Dowitchers, Belted Kingfisher, Barn Owl, and Anna's Hummingbirds -- as well as many, many birds that I didn't see well enough to ID him.
6. On another walk in my neighborhood, I heard an owl hooting and another owl answering him. I came home and listened to the sounds of owl calls and realized that it could only be a Great Horned Owl.
5. On our big camping trip, we went to New Melone's Reservoir. I saw a lot of beautiful birds including immature Bald Eagles and Great Blue Herons. The most exciting for me was the Pileated Woodpeckers. But, I only saw them from the boat, flying overhead. So, I still want to see some ON a tree somewhere.
4. On a trip to June Lake, in the Eastern Sierras at 7,000+ feet, we saw some wonderful birds -- White-breasted Nuthatches, Pygmy Nuthatches, Cassin's Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, and Mountain Chickadees. They are all backyard birds there but it was fun to see new ones for me.
3. I continued to fall in love with the Common Raven this year. There is a flock of 8-12 of them at my school and they are such amazing birds. I've yet to take a picture that I'm thrilled with but I cherish seeing them and having interactions with them on a nearly daily basis. We also got a pair of them in our neighborhood which was very exciting. And, one memorable summer evening, Greg and I sat out on our deck and watched two pairs fly over our house, going back and forth, cawing, and generally having a big todo. It was either a "glad to see you" party or a "get the heck out of my territory" party. Either way, we enjoyed it.
2. On the Thanksgiving Trip to June Lake, we went out boondocking in the middle of desolute nowhere and as we were leaving, having only seen a handful of Dark-eyed Juncos, we saw a flash of blue ahead of us. It stopped on a pine tree and showed itself to be a Mountain Bluebird. So lovely. It posed while my stepfather fumbled for his camera and got a shot -- lovely. The bird then chirped and flew off.
1. The Thanksgiving trip gave me my most memorable birding moment of the year. We were driving to Bodie and suddenly a big raptor wheeled up out of the sagebrush near the road and did a few aerobatic moves and then flew off. It was amazing. Greg saw it too as did the kids. Thankfully, Greg did see it as he was better able to judge it's wingspan. We saw enough field marks and the wingspan to know that it really was a BIG bird . . . Golden Eagle. Lifebird!

So that's my year in review. As a neophyte birder, I'm pretty happy with it.

Lunch with Auntie Jody!

2007-01-03T18:16:00.001-08:00

Lunch with Auntie Jody
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We went into Palo Alto today and had lunch with my sister. Greg had a lunch date too -- to interview a potential bass player for his band, Mind Furniture! So, we drove over together and that was fun.

We ate at Pizza My Heart in downtown Palo Alto. While we were there, the kids got educated on 9-11 and the need for a Truth Commission to investigate what's going on with the war in Iraq. They were asking about the oversized Deception Dollar posted in front of a booth and I answered their questions. The woman in the booth thought it was really cute and brought them both Deception Dollars. I was pleased that she said, "If its okay with your Mom!" For me, it was a funny incident. I went to San Francisco State and got quite good at letting people know that I did not want them to hand me their pamphlets. And, then we lived in Palo Alto for about 13 years and that skill came in handy there as well. My country kids aren't used to seeing protesters or anything like that so it was good for them to see what life is like in a University town!

After we ate our fantastic pizza, we walked down to a new bakery and got cream puffs! Oh. My. Goodness. They were SO good! YUM!

We talked, we walked, we traded hostages -- I have a new Japanese craft mag to check out! It was so much fun.

The ONE thing I miss about being over in Palo Alto is having lunch with my sister. We used to meet several times a month for lunch and I really miss that. It was great that it worked out well although you don't get to have a good long talk with two kidlets who hear everything in tow.

Unfortunately, my husband was very, very mean on the way home and would NOT stop at IKEA for us to spend several hours and several hundred dollars. He said that he had to work so that we'd have money to spend at IKEA next time. Sigh. He is so close to perfect but not quite there!

PS. I made something on the drive but you have to check out CraftyPoodle to see it!

Tools that Help with Life!

2007-01-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

I have been spending the last two days in a flurry of organization! It's been fun and I'm proud of myself -- and far from being finished!

Here are some tools that help to manage my complicated (compartmentalized) life . . .

iCal - This calendar program by Apple allows my husband and I to juggle each other's schedules and helps us to avoid crossed wires and kids not picked up at school! If we werent' using it, however, we'd be using Google's new calendar program and I'm going to look into switching us to that for the "anywhere you have internet" accessibility which is pretty darn nice! Barring that, I wish that iCal and Google Calendar integrated more nicely.
Remember the Milk -- This is an online ToDo list which does integrate into Google's new calendar program but also integrates into iCal. It allows you to set up complicated (compartmentalized) to do lists, tag them, give them different priorities, have them repeat, categorize them, etc. It is wonderful! It will even email you or call your cell phone to remind you of something you need to do.
Joe's Goals -- Joe's Goals is simply a goal tracker. Enter the things you wish you were doing -- or the things you wish you would stop doing -- and when you do them, check them off. It keeps track of the good and the bad and let's you see how you are doing toward your goals. Great for those new habits you want to build into your life.
Google's Personalized Homepage -- Google allows you to sign up for an account and then customize your homepage with all these nice little add-ons that can add convenience to your life. I have my RTM list on their, Google Calendar, a date/time reminder, a weather report, some key bookmarks, a preview of my Gmail, and Flickr images from my contacts.
Amazon.com's Prime Membership -- this may seem a funny thing to see as a tool but hear me out. I have been an online shopper for ages -- I know the first time I did all my Christmas shopping online was in 1993. There were limited choices then -- I'm pretty sure everyone got books. I love Amazon! A couple years ago, Amazon introduced Prime Shipping. You pay a flat fee of $80 a year and you get free 2-day shipping for that year. (It only applies to items shipped directly from Amazon -- not used books or third-party vendors who list their items on Amazon). Furthermore, you can let up to 5 (I think) people in your family tag on to your account and also get the Prime shipping. Oh, and if 2-day isn't fast enough, you can pay just $4 for overnight. It's AWESOME. It pays for itself with my holiday shipping alone!
LibraryThing -- Ah, LibraryThing, how do I love thee? Seriously, LibraryThing is an awesome tool for tracking your books. I have purchased two Mac-based products in the past and they are nice but something about LibraryThing is so easy to use. I love that my reviews are posted automatically. I love that there are social aspects to it so that I can read other reviews as well.
Flickr -- Flickr has changed the way I think about my photographs. I used to use iPhoto on my Mac and I loved it but Flickr is better. It organizes my photos, lets me share them with family and friends. I can order prints and access them in multiple sizes whenever I want to. I love it!

There are still some things that I wish I could do with some sort of cool Web 2.0 thang. Key among them is a menu-planning and grocery list creating tool. There is nothing elegant out there although I've been using a Firefox plug-in that is "just okay." (It's called Grocery List Generator.)

So, with these tools, my life is a less hectic place to be. Perhaps you'll see something here that will help you! Or, you could share your own awesome tools that help you do what you need to do!

One Deep Breath: New Year

2007-01-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

I am preparing
by cleaning
for the year ahead

This brand new year
beckons me
with its shininess

Looking backwards
I see a good year
then I turn away

And with this new year, I am moving my writing efforts to a new home. For some reason, I have a great need to compartmentalize my life. And, yes, I do it in real life too! But this writing thing just needs added emphasis in this new year and this feels like the best way to do it. I am calling my new blog, Chickadee Chatter.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

My daughter and I just made breakfast for the family! We baked a coffee cake. The recipe is below:

New Years Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick mix
2/3 cup of milk
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 egg (we substituted 1 mashed banana as we were out of eggs)
1/4 Streusel topping (recipe below)
Cinnamon Streusel Topping:
2/3 cup Bisquick mix
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter (firm)
Mix all ingredients in small bowl until crumbly (we used the food processor to make this easy). Reserve until end.

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Grease 9-inch round pan
Mix together ingredients above until blended.
Mix in 1/4 of the Streusel topping.
Spread in pan. Cover with remaining Streusel topping.
Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.

New Years Cleaning

I have spent the last couple of days -- and will spend a bulk of today -- helping my children get clean and organized for the new year. Day before yesterday, my daughter and I spent 4 hours cleaning her room. We felt SO good when we were done!

Glimpses of her room:

Yesterday was my son's turn. We didn't finish in 5 hours! We had to get ready for our New Year's Eve Party and left a HUGE pile of clothes on the floor. We are beneficiaries of a hand-me-down clothing stream. My best friend has a son who is just over 2 years older than Gage. He is downstream from a woman with a serious shopping addiction. She only buys the "best" and she buys lots of it. What her son is finished with goes to my friend's son and then to Gage. We then pass it back and it goes to another family with twin sons a year younger than Gage. I have passed on clothing with the labels still on them. It's amazing! So, we have to go through and try everything on and sort into "donate" "pass on" "save for later" and "put away."

In progress:

I hope to continue this effort into other areas of the house for the rest of the week. My office/laundry room/studio is one such area that needs my attention. Our bedroom and bathroom are another. And, then there are some cabinets that need some SERIOUS attention -- linen, kids' bathroom, all the kitchen cabinets! So, that's my plans for starting the new year!

I learned today from my friend, Cindy at What's That You Said, that cleaning everything thoroughly is an asian tradition for New Year's. She helped clean her dojo from stem-to-stern this week.

My New Year's Resolutions:

Home:

re-institute a home management system (ala FlyLady -- I use her system as a loose guideline and modify to make it work for us!)
plan 2007 calendar with camping trips and work weekends (working around the house!)
research native plants for backyard landscaping
put together a household emergency kit and one for each vehicle

Writing:

write poetry weekly
participate in One Deep Breath, Thursday Poetry, and Sunday Scribblings.

Family:

take on one Miller Mission a month
send out Family Annual Letter this year!

Kids:

supervise kids' personal hygiene better
create weekly chore schedule for kids and supervise it

Self:

Continue to watch what I eat
Take regular (daily?) walks -- take my camera and call it birdwatching! :)
Layout clothes the night before -- use extra time in the morning to put on makeup!

So, overall, this is a plan to recover from two years of putting my schoolwork first. I need to capitalize on my half-time job (leaving me more "free" time) and make sure that we get back on the right footing. So much has gone by the wayside over the last couple of years and I want to make sure that we are ready for the future. It's also about being more actively involved in our lives -- rather than letting life happen to us. I've learned, in the past, that if I make goals and talk about them, I can make them happen. But, if I don't plan, make goals, and talk about them, nothing moves forward.

My wishes for my family and for all of you in this new year is to have a happy, healthy, fulfilling 2007.

PS. As a New Year's Treat, my birds are treating me extra well. I captured two male Anna's Hummers actually sharing the feeder. One was immature -- father and son? The other treat is that my chickadees are back! I let the feeders go over the holidays -- but cleaned them out the day after Christmas -- took the little darlings THIS long to come back and visit. I'm so glad to have them back!

Good Planets are Hard to Find!

2006-12-30T15:44:00.000-08:00

Good Planets *are* hard to find and that is why I was so delighted to find this monthly photography meme started by DharmaBums. It celebrates our planet in beautiful photographs as a gentle reminder to take care of this home of ours!

This month's host is Journeys with Jood. The collection went up today! {click}

Next month, our friend SomewhereinNJ! If you'd like to participate, you can send images for next month's collection to lc-hardy AT comcast DOT net.

I contributed one of my favorite images:

These redwood trees are at Loch Lomond, a local reservoir. So, a little manmade influence here but it is utterly lovely. I wanted to linger here but had kids and husband urging me on! We'll be back!

A Visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

2006-12-29T23:59:00.000-08:00

Northern Sea Nettles
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

(Okay. I am setting aside the insane crowds, the noise, and the chaos. I'm setting aside rude people who pushed their children in front of mine while I was insisting my kids wait their turn. I'm setting aside the number of times that I was pushed out of the way of something just as I was snapping a picture of it. All that is gone now.)

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today with the kids. We spent 3 hours there and had a fantastic time. We somehow missed the penguins (Greg was in charge of the map so I'm not sure how that was possible!) but we saw everything else.

Highlights . . . the great white shark was amazing as was the Ocean Sunfish in the same huge tank. My favorite was the jellies though -- wow! They named the exhibit Living Art and I couldn't agree more. They were spectacular! I got ONE good shot and I'm thrilled with it. I enjoyed the Sandy Shore exhibit and would have liked to spend more time there. Great captive shorebird photo ops.

The kids had a blast . . .

My favorite shot of the day was this one of Greg and Gage watching the sea otters. I was grumpy (still fighting a cold and fighting for good pictures) and snapped at Gage to have Greg help him to see (charming, eh?). And, so he did and look what good came out of even the grumpiest mommy moment:

Another pretty shot I got was this Tube Anemone:

We ended the day by walking through the tourist-trap stores on Cannery Row. We were keeping our eye out for White Elephant gifts for a New Year's Eve exchange. We found just the things! Hurray! The kids also bought representative souveniers -- Ruthie got a soft, fuzzy sea otter with a shell and Gage bought a quite large shark toy. We had dinner at a restaurant (Sly McFly's) that could be called "mediocre" only if you were being extremely generous. Let's put it this way . . . the corn dog nuggets that Gage got were the best thing we were served. My calamari was a travesty and I didn't eat it. Oh well -- what was I thinking getting calamari at the site of the biggest calamari fishery in the US? Foolish me.

Still, it was a great day. Good strengthening those family ties kind of day. I think I'll go kiss my kids now and put myself to bed! Yawn!

another road

2006-12-29T12:41:00.001-08:00

another road
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Nature reclaims
What man abandons
an empty fort now grows wild

-llm.
For One Deep Breath.

Poetry Thursday -- Hummer Wars

2006-12-28T13:05:00.000-08:00

The cold morning brought a steady stream
of delicate, beautiful hummers to my feeder
I stand, hands in hot soapy water, transported
from the mundane into their flittery world.

One at a time, they come perch sip
at the nectar I provide
One at a time because they are protective solitary warriors

A newcomer arrives
lured by the cold to seek sustenance
He hovers cautiously, looking about
He lands and sips
His little body almost shudders in delight

And then a whir of wings and blur of movement
and the chase is on
Flying, whirling, sprinting off
like arrows from a bow
They rocket away and whirl back again

The newcomer is gone, chased away
by the male who defends his feeder
with his tiny sword beak

And, I wonder if the newcomer got enough
precious fluid to fuel his escape or if he must start over,
worse off than he was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For Poetry Thursday. My first submission to this cause.

A Quiet Day in the Dark

2006-12-28T00:37:00.000-08:00

Around 3AM, the wind finally had its wicked way with the redwood forest that surrounds us and our power went out. Turns out that about 50,000 homes in the greater bay area lost power and about 5,000 in our little town (that would be about all of them!). So, we were not alone!

So, we had a quiet day at home. Well, as quiet as it can be in a neighborhood with generators blaring away! We live in a redwood forest and get all our rain at once. The power goes out a lot every winter.

Still, I had a big fire going and I sat and read most of the day curled up in a big, comfy chair with a mug (or two) of mocha watching the fire and reading. The kids (four of them from time to time) made it difficult but I managed to block them out. I read Julie Zickefoose's new book, Letters from Eden. And, all I can say is WOW! What a book.

Here is my review at LibraryThing.

The wind was amazing most of the day and I had the pleasure(?) of watching as a particularly fierce wind blew through and a branch came down from one of the redwoods. It was huge and scary! About 30 feet long and about 6" in diameter where it broke off the tree. A true widowmaker. Thankfully, it hit the road (with a clunk) when no one was going by. Greg went out and moved it and called Ruthie inside -- she was riding her scooter in the driveway. Better safe than sorry!

Updated Christmas Tree Bird Count

Inspired by recent discussions, I went to the half-off-invitation-only sale at the cute little shop where my mother-in-law works and got myself some new bird ornaments. Here they are . . .

{All my bird ornaments on Flickr}

Christmas Report

2006-12-27T23:24:00.000-08:00

Thank you Ruthie!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our Christmas was one of the best I can remember. I think the kids are old enough now that its not so much work keeping them going through a long celebration. Everyone was healthy and happy. All the gifts seemed to make sense and everyone was happy with them.

Some details . . .

Ruthie was bound and determined to sleep on the couch in order to catch Santa at work. Needless to say, we indulged this desire although it made things more difficult to me.

(Do I need to tell you how much I loved that my husband put on a Santa hat and his big red parka to put the presents under the tree in case she was faking it or woke up while he was at work?)

Christmas morning dawned but I was already awake. Like a kid myself, I woke up at 6 AM and could not get back to sleep. At 6:40, I stopped trying and got up to go be in the living room when the kids emerged. Gage came out first. He was looking for Ruthie but he saw the scooters under the tree. He took her stocking too her -- Santa leaves them at the foot of one's bed in our house but she had gone back to her bed about 3 AM. So, they did their stockings in their rooms which gave Greg time for a quick shower. Then they came out to the living room to see what Santa had brought them. Santa had brought them scooters. OH BOY!

Then we opened our family gifts under the tree. That was so cool. Gage had made two gifts at school that he wanted to share with his dad. I love his look in this picture -- could he show how he feels anymore clearly???

The answer to his unspoken question was a resounding, "Yes!"

Ruthie made me a sketchbook for drawing birds. The picture at the top of the post is my reaction to opening it. (And, need I say another reason why I love my new camera . . . it takes good pictures of ME!)

The kids gave Greg sweatshirts -- two for them and one for him. I love them in them. Gage's says "Little Guy". Awwwww!

My kids gave me a pair of Dansko clogs which was a wonderful treat for my feet and the Julie Zickefoose book which they wrapped all by themselves although I had purchased the book myself and told them they were giving it to me! :) Greg had already given me my amazing camera but he got me a little "something something" to open that morning . . . the man knows the way to my heart -- it was a bottle of Glenfiddich! Yum! Greg will be getting his gift from me at MacWorld in January -- a new iPod. He's THRILLED!

From there we went to my in-laws. My whole family and Greg's whole family came as well. What a party! We have to open gifts in shifts but we start off with mimosas and snacks -- gotta keep your strength up! Then the kids do their gift thing and we all watch and ooh and ahhh. Then when the kids are done, the grownups go. This whole process takes hours as we open gifts one at a time! Insane! Then we take a break for awhile and do some food prep for dinner, take walks, get more snacks to keep our strength up, etc. Finally, we reconvene and tackle the stockings. In years past, we did this in shifts as well but all the kids are old enough now that we did it as a group. So much fun. We don't try to take turns on the stocking stuffers we just have an opening frenzy with much oohing and ahhing and who put this in my stocking. Sometimes big gifts end up in the stockings and it's just so much fun!

When all the gifts are done, the serious food prep begins. So, the cooks get busy while others nap, walk, entertain kids, play with toys, read, talk, etc. This is when I took my walk and photo'd the Mergansers.

The Christmas Dinner is a true feast. We have smoked turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans almondine. We have prime rib, yorkshire pudding, and portobello mushrooms that are roasted along with the prime rib in the drippings with lots of garlic. We eat, drink, and make merry.

After we roll away from the table and lay around groaning for awhile, we find the energy to eat again and head in for dessert. The pumpkin pie is amazing and we also had rustic apple tart which was also amazing. Ouch! After dessert, we fill up bags of leftovers, pack up all our old and NEW belongings and head off into the night. I'm sure my inlaws fall down in a heap of gladness and relief that another year is over!

Here is my recipe for my version of green beans almondine . . .

Enough green beans for the number of guests you are serving
stick of butter
several cloves of fresh garlic
sliced almonds

The night before, cut the ends off the green beans and put them in a microwave safe container. Toast the almonds in a large frying pan (I prefer cast iron). When they are browning slightly, add the butter to the pan and press the garlic right into the butter. Stir until melted completely. Pour over the green beans, cover, and put in the fridge.

A few minutes before eating, put the container into the microwave and cook for about 2-1/2 minutes. The green beans should be cooked but very crunchy.

It's a very simple, very satisfying dish and a nice counterpoint to the rich, rich food served at a holiday meal. Way better than the traditional green bean casserole!

Common Mergansers

2006-12-26T17:34:00.001-08:00

Common Mergansers
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

I took a quiet walk on Christmas Day and saw the Mergansers who are hanging out at the upper pond at my in-laws' senior community. There are about 6 mallard pairs there but these two Mergansers were visiting as well. I was running out of batteries but got a couple of nice shots of them.

I'll post a more complete Christmas report another time. Greg and I maintained until we got home from all the festivities and then we succumbed to a cold. Blech!

Here are more Mergansers in the meantime . . .

And the Mallards:

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-24T18:34:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas Music.

It's funny because I don't consider myself a Christian but I love Christmas and I love Christmas music. We celebrate the most secular of Christmases but I love very religious Christmas music.

I don't fight it. It's part of what makes this time of year so special.

On my iTunes, I have a TON of Christmas music. I have a special Christmas "favs" section though and that is what I wanted to share with you today.

My very favorite, traditionally favorite, Christmas music is Joan Baez's album, Noel. To me, it isn't Christmas until I hear that music playing all the way through from beginning to end. My mother loved it and it is The Sound of Christmas to me.

Next on my favorite list is Jewel's Christmas album, Joy: A Holiday Collection. Her version of "O Holy Night" is worth the price of admission. Angelic voice.

Last year, I added Barenaked Ladies' Barenaked for the Holidays to my mix. They are funny and silly and yet produce some great classics along with the way. (Warning -- it starts to play songs from the album when you load the page).

This year, I added two new albums to my iTunes. The first is an obvious one, Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong is remarkable. Her voice is so fantastic. I love her version of River by Joni Mitchell. The next addition to my playlist this year is Christmas Album by Celtic Woman. Their voices are spectacular. Ethereal, otherworldy on some songs and folksy and warm on others. A fantastic find.

Other rare favorites are single songs by favorite artists or favorite songs by talented artists. Two are available on the Web as free downloads. For a few years, I've had Fleming & John's Winter Wonderland/Misty Mountain Hop. It is exactly what it sounds like -- an unlikely (and yet highly successful) combination of these two songs. Too much fun! They also have Carol of the Bells available. Note, these were put up in 2000 and aren't part of their main site yet so I recommend getting them onto your computer right away in case they are taken away! The next song is also a free gift from the artist. Jonatha Brooke has a fantastic version of Emmanuel on her site as a holiday gift. It is a duet with the late, great Kevin Gilbert, my husband's musical idol.

So, have yourself a merry little Christmas now! And, enjoy some really good Christmas music!

A good time was had by all!

2006-12-24T14:20:00.001-08:00

Kids opening family gifts
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our annual Christmas Eve Eve party was so much fun! We host it for Greg's family but now my folks started coming and my sister made it this year. Yay!

I highly recommend this method of hosting a party. We put out a big table and everyone brings their favorite appetizer or dessert. We have amazing food. There's no messing around with silverware and balancing plates on your lap -- it's all finger foods except some of the desserts. We do a big cooler full of sodas and drinks for the kids and the bar is open for the grownups.

For the first hour or so, we eat and the kids run rampant. Then the kids get to open their gifts from the family. After that frenzy is over, we do a gift exchange. Everyone who wants to play brings a gift worth $25 or so. We put them in a big pile and draw numbers. It's one of those cut-throat pick or steal games. This may have been the best year ever. Lots of stealing, lots of planning strategies, lots of laughing!

My favorite part of a party like that is when everyone has gone and Greg and I clean up the worst of it and then sit back and smile and know that we did a good job hosting a fun party. The kids are exhaustedly asleep. The bar glasses are still to be done but that can wait. We can sit back, have a last glass of wine (or in this case, ice water!), and talk about the evening and how much fun it was.

Our house is designed for parties and we really should entertain more often. It shines when its full of people.

And, now we get to have a quiet day. My parents took the kids to a movie. I have some gifts to wrap and some dishes to wash but first . . . a nap! Mmmmmmmmm.

What Would You Do For A Klondike Bar?

2006-12-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

Or for a lost diamond?

I would dig through the garbage can. I would crawl the entire house on my hands and knees. I would unmake and then remake my daughter's bed. I would walk through the house in the dark with an LED flashlight looking for sparkle. I would sweep each hard floor and then sift through the debris. I would put off vacuuming the house before my party and then sift through the contents of the debris catcher. I would dig through the garbage disposal. I would obsessively do some of these things more than once.

And, still, no luck. Very sad.

Greg and I have been together since my senior year in High School. That was a long time ago -- we waited a LONG time to have kids. We dated and lived together in college. When Greg went to graduate school, I stayed in San Francisco to finish my undergraduate degree (he's a year older than I am). We missed each other a lot. When I finished my degree, he took me out to dinner to celebrate. We went to an amazing restaurant in Capitola called The Shadowbrook. Before dinner, after we'd ordered, he started talking about the future and what our plans were for the future and what I saw in my future. Given the big life goal, I'd just achieved, this didn't seem out of place so I talked to him about the future and that the ONE thing I knew was that he would have a place in my future. He liked me answer and sat back and smiled and then the waiter brought a covered dish and set it in front of me. I thought it was our appetizer and wanted to continue this big discussion so I didn't lift the lid. Greg got impatient and lifted it for me. There was a box on the dish. A black velvet ring box.

I'm pretty sure that my mouth did that perfectly round "O" thing. With shaking hands -- and prompting from Greg, I opened it and stared in delight at the beautiful ring nestled in the box. Greg looked most pleased and said, "So, I take it that's a yes." Somewhere, my young self had the moxy to look up and say, "I don't remember hearing a question." And, so Greg asked me to marry him. And, I did say yes and the waiters all clapped and cheered from where they were all watching this drama play out.

I don't remember what I ate that night. I don't remember what else we talked about. When we got back to Greg's parents' house, all our local friends and my sister were there to celebrate with us. What I do remember was how right I felt when I saw that ring. A glittery, shimmering tangible symbol of Greg's love for me and our plans for our life together.

The story gets even better. Greg was a poor grad student but he's a smart, determined man and where there's a will, there's a way. He took a jewelry making class and made my engagement ring. He asked his family for gold -- broken jewelry, whatever. Part of my ring is from some of his grandmother's old bridgework! He made the ring and it's beautiful. He took it to a wonderful jewelry shop in Cambria by the Sea and bought a diamond and had them set it on his ring. This is what he gave to me. Thankfully, only the diamond was lost. I still have the ring which was made with much love. The diamond can be replaced but it won't ever be the same.

Oh, the follow-up is that the next year, I also took the jewelry class with Greg and we made our wedding bands together. Very special.

Peculiar Aristocratic Title

2006-12-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Her Grace Duchess Liza Lee the Scattered of Much Bottom
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

And, in other news, Her Grace is most distressed. While cleaning my house today, I discovered that the diamond had fallen out of my engagement ring at somepoint during the day. Much searching did not turn it up. You can imagine how dismayed and sad I am feeling.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2006-12-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

I wrapped most of our presents last night. I only have stocking stuffers left -- in our family stockings are stuffed, stuffed, and over-stuffed. We take our stockings seriously! So, I usually do that as another marathon session.

Wrapping usually takes place in our living room, late at night, with bad tv shows on. However, I had another "keep the wrapping away from prying eyes" solution. As boxes were delivered (oh please, you don't think I go to STORES during Christmas when I could have everything delivered by our friendly neighborhood UPS guy do you?), I put all the boxes in our motorhome. Yesterday, I had Greg plug it in and fire up the furnace. Our motorhome is very, very houselike in a way that our 5th wheel trailer never was. Anyway, it was warm and cozy out there, I took my iPod out filled with my favorite Christmas music and speakers and I wrapped and wrapped and wrapped. It was so nice!

The kids came out twice and got wrapping supplies to wrap up my gifts. Greg helped them on one gift but the gift that I bought myself -- Julie Zickefoose's book -- they wrapped that themselves. I can't wait to see it. Listening to them through the door as they wrapped it was delightful. They couldn't decide which side of the paper (it was candycane stripe on one side and christmas trees on the other) to use so they wrapped it twice -- once with each. :) That's my little compromisers!

Tomorrow is our Christmas Eve Eve party and it should be a lot of fun although I have a LOT of work to do before people arrive at 5:30pm -- which, of course, explains why I'm still sitting in my jammies at 9:22 am. Hey . . . it's the first day of my vacation! Well, I better get to it. Lots and lots to do.

Year in Review Meme & bird report

2006-12-21T06:50:00.000-08:00

As suggested by The Hawk Owl's Nest, I am continuing this meme. The idea is simple. Post the first line of the first post of each month of the year.

Well, I started this particular iteration of this blog in July so only a half a year's worth but here it is . . .

July -- I think I am mastering the art of procrastination. {more}
August -- Okay, so after a day of being super sad, I'm feeling better now. {more}
September -- So, yesterday I was helping out in kindergarten again -- what fun it is, really. {more}
October -- Took a few minutes at the end of a day long seminar on reading instruction to relax out at Elkhorn Slough yesterday afternoon. {more}
November -- November 1. Start of Project Feederwatch. {more}
December -- I just turned in my last assignment for my teaching credential program. {more}

That was fun. Thanks for the review! I love that the first post of December was the most important event of my year. Coolness! I got a FEW bird posts in there too. :)

Yesterday the birds at school were taunting me. When I had my camera with me . . . none around. When I didn't, they'd come out of the woodwork, pose enticingly, and then stick their little tongues out at me and say, "Neener, neener!" Sigh. I did get a couple of shots of some ravens getting cozy with each other (bird porn???) and of a California Towhee butt. But, the Hermit Thrush was only seen when I had no camera as was the mystery bird that a good picture of would help me identify. We have Hutton's Vireo Vireo huttoni here year round but in the winter we get a HUGE influx of Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula. I saw ONE of these two little darlings yesterday. It was adorable and posed beautifully for me but . . . no camera and so I don't know which one it was. Here's an article on the difficulty of id-ing these two tiny, cute birds.

Here's the shot of the California Towhee (pipilo crissalis) butt. How often do you get to post an orange butt?

Christmas Tree Bird Count

2006-12-20T11:53:00.001-08:00

Glass Bird with Tailfeathers
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Laura at SomewhereinNJ offered up a challenge to count the number of bird ornaments on your Christmas tree.

Mine is paltry but I've only been "into" birds for a year or so. Perhaps it will grow over time.

The first bird is my glass bird with a feather tail. It clips on to the branch. It's very sweet.

The next one is the most seasonal. A Partridge in a Pear Tree.

And last, the most spectacular bird ornament . . . my peacock

I love the way he is looking over his shoulder at his spectacular tail in self-admiration! They do seem the most vain of birds.

So, that's it. My Christmas Tree Bird Count is just three but it's a start!

Thanks, Laura, for a great idea!

Edit:
In trying to find a source for the peacock, I found these interesting options:

Merck's Family Old World Ornaments
Bronner's (I've actually bought things from them and been happy with them)
Christmas Forever Peacock Ornament (this is pretty close but . . . )
Their other Bird Ornaments
Swallow's Quest Peacock Ornament
FOUND IT!!! On eBay, of course! Let the bidding begin . . .

First Grade Holiday Concert

2006-12-19T21:24:00.001-08:00

Gage at Concert
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Gage performed in the First Grade Holiday Concert tonight. My boy is cautious and reserved -- until you get to know him and then he's as silly and wild as the next nearly 7 year old boy.

I'll hazard a guess, though, that the stage will not call his name. He sang and did a good job but this picture pretty much sums up his feelings towards the whole affair.

We had a packed MP room and were exactly on time so we had awful seats. Ruthie wiggled through the crowd and found two seats with a great view of Gage so I got a couple of shots. Yay!

What a cute little guy though, huh? When I asked him, he said he had fun! Yea, it shows!

Harbinger of Winter

2006-12-19T14:28:00.001-08:00

Varied Thrush Close Up
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

It's cold here today. We started out at 26 degrees but it's gotten balmy now -- it's like 43 degrees. Before you laugh at my wimpiness, I'll remind you that this is California and we don't do cold here!

But, the Varied Thurshes like it just fine. When I walked to my car today at noon, there were 4-8 of them in the woods near the cars. They were wary of me but if I stayed hidden behind my car and didn't move quickly, they were calm.

Last winter, the Varied Thursh was a lifebird for me. I saw a pair of them in my backyard. I knew they were something I'd never seen before and with binoculars in one hand and my Peterson guide in the other, I figured out what they were. I was so proud of myself.

A week later, my husband told me there was a dead bird in the garden. I went and checked and it was one of the Varied Thrushes. It was in the lavender bed near my living room windows so it was probably a window strike. So sad. I saw the other one for the rest of the winter alone.

It was so nice to see so many together near the school today. I saw one on the golf course last week, near my house. I wonder if it is the same one from last year?

(So, how much do I love my new camera? A LOT! Last summer, I took this picture of a Varied Thrush -- it was the best I could do because I couldn't get closer to the bird. Not anymore!

)

Christmas Celebration

2006-12-19T05:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas Concert
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

My in-laws live in a wonderful senior community. They have the most active social life now -- it's wonderful. They have made some fantastic friends and have some really good times. My father-in-law, Ros, joined the Chorale at their community. They give two concerts a year and practice every week. This past Saturday, we went to their Christmas Concert.

They are joined by a bell choir, JuBELLation, that is directed by the same woman who directs the Chorale. They alternate songs and do two songs together.

It was wonderful! Very traditional which makes sense. They did a "community sing" in the middle which was so much fun. I found myself remembering alto lines from doing the same songs in High School. The picture below shows my father-in-law in the dark glasses with the dark hair.

We took the kids and it was a little long and slow for them but they were very good. My nephew, who is in 5th grade, was also there and also wonderfully well behaved -- including silently entertaining Gage when Gage was just about DONE! I took the kids up to look at the bells after the concert and one of the bell ringers came and talked to us about them and showed us how they worked. He let the kids try bonging them with the mallets they use sometimes. It was so thoughtful. And, I learned something too. Bellringers wear gloves so they don't leave fingerprints on the bells! I figured there was some fancy technical reason why but it's just not wanting to polish them as often! Love the practicality!

Here is a video clip of parts of two songs. First comes the bells doing We Three Kings and then the chorale doing the same song -- albeit a very different version. The songs are just snippets.

O Christmas Tree!

2006-12-18T07:50:00.001-08:00

O Christmas Tree!
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

O Christmas Tree!
O Christmas Tree!
How lovely are thy branches!

I am so proud of our tree this year. We did it together as a family -- which is a change since usually I am the only one who can decorate a tree correctly! :) (Let go of the control, Liza!) Our tree is eclectic -- filled with ornaments collected over the years that are special to each of us. This year, the tree is huge and holds all our ornaments beautifully. Really, there are only a few that I didn't put on the tree and they will be scattered around the house in other ways.

And, now the countdown begins -- getting ready for the holidays. Oh joy!

Running room

2006-12-18T00:17:00.001-08:00

Running room
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

An empty room can
contain so many ideas
or just running feet

written for One Deep Breath's Weekly Haiku Prompt: Containers

Final Result!

2006-12-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

Whole Living Room
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

We are pleased with it. The yellow is muted and warm and glows. It could be more even but perhaps the mottling is part of its charm (she said, hopefully). As always, I see all the flaws but most people won't notice them. We decided against putting the black leather recliner back in the room. It was done and it served it's purpose.

When I was pregnant with Gage, my father's father died. My father's mother died when I was pregnant with Ruthie. Thus, I inherited a little money. We used it to buy a huge black leather recliner. I sat and rocked young Ruthie (my kids are 18 months apart) through many a sleepless night and then continued on with Gage in the same way. The chair had heat and massage which was blissful when I stayed in it all night by choice towards the end of my pregnancy. And, of course, it worked beautifully for nursing babies as well.

By the end, the massage and heat no longer worked. The seat cushion had a tear in it and we found we weren't choosing to sit in it anymore as it just wasn't comfortable! So, when we took it out for the carpet cleaning, we decided it didn't need to return.

In a perfect world, we would get a big wrap-around leather sofa with room for the entire family. We often all pile on the couch at night to watch TV, curled up under blankies, and cuddled together. A little more room would be NICE. But, it isn't a perfect world so another black leather chair may in our future. We'll have to see what turns up.

Yellow Walls and Chicken Nuggets!

2006-12-15T07:01:00.001-08:00

Yellow Walls
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

In the insanity of excitement of getting our carpets cleaned, I had the brilliant idea of painting the walls. The walls in my living room that soar up ridiculously high. So, I told my husband -- who SHOULD know better -- and he thought it was a great idea. I wanted to pull a shade of yellow out of the stonework of the fireplace and give the room a warm glow. He liked that idea and wanted to make sure that there was enough contrast with the white beams and trimwork. "Go bold," he said.

And, so I did. And, the result was YELLOW walls. And, not in a good way given that most of our furnishings are black, white, light wood, and a blast of red. Sigh. What to do. I have been watching a LOT of Debbie Travis' The Painted House lately so I got brave and went and got a sandy color of paint and a LOT of glaze. And, after some failed experiments, I ended up pouring a quart of sandy paint into a gallon of glaze and rolling it on the walls. The result wasn't EXACTLY what I'd hoped for but it worked. The room is still yellow but now it glows rather than glaring. I'm pleased. The trimwork around the windows (mostly) got a new coat of high gloss white last night. Greg will scrape the windows clean and it should be ready for furniture again. THANK GOODNESS!!!

And, then we can finally decorate for Christmas. I'll document everything with my fantastic new camera.

Speaking of which. I let Ruthie cook dinner for herself and Gage last night. She wanted to and wanted to -- particularly give me a break which is the type of sentiment I want to encourage in my daughter and son!!! -- so I guided her through the process of making chicken nuggets. She set the table for the kids, poured their milk, got them veggies to eat, and dipping sauces (ketchup and ranch) and proudly served up her first home cooked meal.

Yes, I was mighty proud of her!

Check This Out: virtualparks.org

2006-12-14T22:40:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across the most amazing resource this evening while taking a break from painting. I urge you to go check it out -- particularly if you live in the Western US.

This gentleman, Eric Goetze, loves taking VR Panoramas and seems to be a big time hiker. So, he hikes, takes panoramas, creates amazing maps, and posts them all on his website. It is truly amazing!

I urge you to go take a look! This is the California State Park nearest my house. It is so lovely and with the VR you really get an idea of what it is like. All the little purple diamonds indicate panorama locations. Click away! I live about 10 miles away from this park.

Enjoy the tour!

I and the Bird

2006-12-14T06:59:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to visit I and the Bird! I plan to spend some quality time with it this afternoon when I should be putting my living room back in order!

Two past midnight nights of painting that living room have left me somewhat stupid with exhaustion. Pity my students today!

Are the Clampetts moving in or moving out?

2006-12-13T06:41:00.001-08:00

Is it more absurd to store your furniture in the entry way
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Neither! We are getting our carpets cleaned. All my living and ding rooms furniture can easily be stored in the entry way to my house -- or as my mother dubbed it, the lobby. You can't see it in the picture, but there is a path to the front door that is easily navigated.

Getting the carpets cleaned yesterday was SO wonderful. We bought the house with white carpets in it. White! We had, at that time, a 3 year old and an 18 month old. Our decision was to live with the carpet until we couldn't stand it anymore and then to tear it all out and put in something more practical. Well. Best laid plans.

Now the kids are nearly 7 and 8-1/2 and we still have the damned white carpet. So, each year before the holidays, we have it cleaned. My mother-in-law pays for it and we gratefully accept. It feels sooooo nice to walk in and see the carpets clean that you can ALMOST understand why someone would pick that color to begin with -- almost!

Two things happened with the cleaning though.

1. The kids went wild with the wide, open spaces. Running and wrestling ensued.

2. I went wild with the wide open walls and decided that we needed to paint the living room too. My husband (whom I count on to talk me out of such things) thought it was a swell idea -- even when I started talking about such insanity as paint techniques and pulled on my Debbie Travis overalls.

Insanity, you say? Here is my living room . . . it's so big that one shot won't give you the full impression.

(There are more interior shots here).

I've been watching Debbie Travis and have been inspired to make bolder choices. So, I chose a yellow color out of the stonework of the fireplace. Greg suggested I be bolder than I intended so it contrasted enough with the white beams, etc. So, I did. It was clear upon putting up the samples that the yellow was too yellow. No worries, I'll do a glaze technique over it to make it look like linen wallpaper. It'll be gorgeous!

And it will. But OH MY GOODNESS that's a lot of wallspace to cover with paint and then cover again and then drag a brush through. And, that is a tall ceiling and did I mention that I'm afraid of heights?

I'm really hoping that in the light of day, a 2nd coat of yellow doesn't seem necessary! Fingers crossed.

While I was at it, I painted an accent wall in the dining room green. Now that turned out good and was an accomplishable goal for one day.

But, it will look gorgeous when it's done. This is what resulted the last time I lost my head and did a paint technique on these walls.

And, yes, my friends, that is the world's largest TV. It's 80 inches and great -- although you have to be across the room from it to see it and we worry about neighbor's being distracted and driving into a tree when we watch it with the blinds open!

So, with that, I leave you with a link to a post at 10000birds to a great poem about birds and the depths of winter . . . {click}. Enjoy!

Annual Holiday Letters

2006-12-12T05:00:00.000-08:00

I am laughing at myself! Since 2000 when my son was born, I have not sent out our annual holiday letter. I've written it every year (except last year when I just knew I was too busy!). Anyway, I just have SOOOOO much time now that I'm not going to school that I cranked out this year's letter tonight!

If you are interested in the haps of this year and previous years, click here!

Oh, and here is a beautiful picture of a raven. At least beautiful by my standards! I'm loving this camera! He (She?) was sqwaking and talking to another nearby raven. They were having a good long chat. I sat in my car enjoying it and then as I was walking to pick up the kids, I got this shot! Yay!

A quiet chat with the big guy

2006-12-10T21:21:00.001-08:00

A quiet chat
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

The kids went to have their annual chat with Santa tonight. We are willing to drive an hour to go visit with the real deal. The Stanford Shopping Center rates the REAL Santa.

The kids had figured out what they were asking for. Ruthie wants a Littlest Pet Shop Digital Puppy and Butterscotch the Pony. Butterscotch is a nearly lifesize pony that is "interactive" and retails for more than $300. Greg explained that Santa may be magic but he can't get a pony down the chimney. Gage wants Thrillville, a game by Lucas Arts that only works on one of the video game systems which we don't have. Oh joy. Gage also wants a "surprise" -- that, thankfully, is in the realm of the possible!

Santa's going to be working overtime trying to figure something out.

2006 Christmas Tree

2006-12-09T22:55:00.001-08:00

2006 Christmas Tree
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Our favorite place for Christmas Trees is Crest Ranch in Bonny Doon. We had such a great day there. The weather was misty-moisty and cold but we dressed right and had so much fun!

We got a BIG tree this year which works because we have 12 foot ceilings in the living room. I love these trees with the very horizontal branches and lots of open space for displaying ornaments. They tend to be what we get.

I saw lots of birds up there but the only pictures I got were of American Robins. There were a bunch there but they were very wary. So, the only pictures I got were fairly distant. But still.

Playing with my camera was so much fun. The kids had a blast. So did Greg and I. We were up there with his family but we ended up heading off for our own space which was totally fine. We found our way under some glorious oaks and madrones. It was so beautiful in the misty fog and dripping trees. When the rest headed back, I came more slowly taking pictures. I still have a lot to learn about this camera. The biggest thing is that I have to remember to open the flash when I'm using the camera. My old camera is always ready for flash and doesn't need to be told to do it. But, I think this camera is going to be so fabulous when I get used to it.

We came home and worked on the house. Before the holidays, we have to clean it stem to stern, get the carpets cleaned, and then decorate. We have a Christmas Eve Eve party and need to be ready! We got a LOT done. Phew!

Then off to my inlaws for their weekly dinner that they call Miller Mission. Totally fun! I had Greg drop me off at their pond so I could get duck pictures. I wasn't there 2 minutes and it started POURING! No cover and I didn't bring my umbrella. Oh well.

My father-in-law makes glorious Manhattan's. YUM! We had an amazing pot roast tonight. Melt-in-your mouth delicious! These totally warmed me up!

Then we had a rousing game of Canasta which -- uncharacteristically -- we won! Normally, Greg's parents obliterate us at this game but not this time! It was NICE! We even played Crazy 8s with the kids before heading home. Wonderful day!

Test shot with the new camera

2006-12-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

Hummingbird through screen
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

12 x zoom. 16+ feet away. Through window and screen! If you look at the big image, you can see the screening.
Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) sipping hummer juice!

Do I need to say that I LOVE it? :)

Into the Wildnerness

2006-12-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

Queen's Saddle
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

My husband and I have been following the tragedy that befell the Kim family in Oregon these last two weeks. We are so sad for all of them. As parents, it is all to easy to imagine the terror and despair that grew in that car over those days they were trapped. I can't bear thinking about it.

I lived in the Sierras in my "middle school" years. I did backpacking in the high country. I skiied and was on the local race team. My step-father did Search and Rescue. I have three times been surprised by unseasonable snowfall and once found myself the last car on a snowy road as night was falling deep in the high country. We joke about the night I drove over the Sierras in a snow storm to get to my parent's house to prepare for my wedding but what I should have done was stopped and spent the night somewhere. I was very lucky -- and thankfully was in a 4WD pickup truck with mud/snow tires.

My husband and I had a long talk this evening about what we do right when we go into the high country and what we should do better. We do pretty well -- we are generally fairly thoughtful and cautious about how we travel.

Here's what we do right . . .

we take our truck with 4WD and mud/snow tires or we take a car with chains (no matter if it's August and 100 degrees when we leave home)
we have tools with us whenever we travel
we have extra water, oil, transmission fluid, etc. for the car if needed
we take blankets and pillows
we take food (although on ourlast trip, we didn't take anywhere near enough)

Here's what we could do better . . .

fill up with gas before we head into the high country -- even if that means topping off at an expensive station
have backups of water, fluids, etc for your vehicle in case of trouble
take cold weather gear even in the summer
make sure that people know when we are leaving and when we expect to arrive and we call if the plans change
pack hiking boots and warm socks -- even if we aren't planning to hike
Put together an emergency kit with a handheld cb radio and a solar powered battery charger along with a first aid kit, gallon jug of water,and long-lasting food
trust your gut -- if the weather gets bad, turn back and spend the night in a motel. It's just not worth it to "push through"

I am not saying any of this as a criticism of the Kim family. By all accounts, they did amazingly well given the circumstances -- and even if they hadn't, mistakes happen to all of us. I am saying this to remind myself that it could happen to anyone and that we have to respect the wilderness and prepare for the worst. I grieve for the Kim family and hope that they all find a way to peace after this ordeal.

Edit 12/7/06 - Found this article by Tom Stienestra of the SF Chronicle. It says what I said but says it better and has some great ideas that I'm going to add to my plan.

My New Camera

2006-12-05T16:24:00.000-08:00

my_new_camera
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

In honor of my finishing my credential program (and for Christmas, birthday next year, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Groundhog's Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc..), my wonderful, loving, fantastic, stupendous husband has just ordered me this spectacular camera.

If you are interested, you can read all about it here! It gets rave reviews and the photos I've seen from it online are wonderful! Sure, it's not as nice as the Fz20 or the Fz30 but it also costs a WHOLE let less! I'm happy!

Here is why I want this camera . . . .

12x optical zoom -- I can get up close and personal with birds and kids and whatever.
Image stablization -- no more blurry pics when zoomed in
2.5" screen with a bright mode -- being able to see the images, menus, etc. better.

Counting the seconds until it arrives (Friday!) . . .

close closer closest: A Chance Meeting

2006-12-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

step
freeze
velvet
with a sting
wild ninja bug
my toes curl up in the cool sand
wishing for shoes to keep you from leaping and biting

This little darling is a Velvet Ant which is actually a flightless female wasp (Dasymutilla sackenii). I found her on the beach near the Calaveras River in the Sierra Nevada foothills. She froze when I approached her which made for great picture taking but I knew she WANTED to leap and bite me. Evidently, their sting packs quite a wallop. Glad we decided to leave each other alone. If you look at a larger version of the picture, she has a rather intense look in the glossy black eye.

The poem is an extended Fib. The basic concept is that you use the Fibonacci Sequence as the syllable count mechanism. Start with 0 and 1. Add them together and you get 1. Now add the last two -- that's 1 and 1. Next line is two. Add the last two -- 2 and 1. Next line is 3 and so on. Usually Fibs stop at 8 syllable lines but this one needed more room to grow! :)

I wrote this poem for the Close Up Challenge at One Deep Breath. Thank you for your efforts, Susan and Jennifer!

What happens when a simple drive . . .

2006-12-04T06:38:00.000-08:00

New Dining Room Table and Chandelier
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

. . . turns into a life-changing event.

Greg and I drove down our little valley yesterday. Our goal was to see what our local used furniture store had in stock. We forgot that it was a Sunday and since it was church-based store . . . they'd be closed. Oh well, it's a beautiful drive and since we had to get gas anyway, we stopped and loaded up on iced coffee and donuts at the gas station.

I know that lowered our sales resistance somewhat.

We stopped at a favorite little "antique" store which mostly sells reproductions at this point. Inside, they had this huge "old farmhouse table" with two teak benches. We did not need the benches but we have needed a new table for eons. This is not a great table but I think it's going to suit our needs fabulously. It's meant to look like an old farmhouse table and so they've put in a lot of "character". I suspect that at somepoint, I'm going to take it out on the deck and sand the heck out of it to put the "character" into it in a more authentic way but still. It's nice. Long and strangely lean (which as a mother with children, I kind of like -- I'm constantly reaching over to someone's plate for some reason). It goes with our Ikea chairs nicely -- in fact, Greg is going to go get us some more now that we can seat so many at our table. They don't sell the green anymore but I think a couple of reds and a couple of plain pines will do nicely.

And our new chandelier looks gorgeous over it. We spent two hours last night swagging it over to the right place above the table. The architect who designed our house was -- in my not-so-humble opinion -- a moron in many, many ways. So, fixing the light fixture was a necessity. I think it looks good. I took some clearer pictures of it as well but I think the warm glow in this picture better shows how nice it looks. Now I have to get the rest of the house looking this good! :) That's my "job" this week in the afternoons when I'm not working!

Things I love

2006-12-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Laurahinnj's post.

Things I love . . .

Snuggling with my honey under blankets with a big bowl of popcorn and a bunch of stuff on the TiVO.
My morning cups of Mocha while reading blogs and writing posts
Watching birds at my feeders.
Seeing the scale dip down a number or two.
The joy of opening a new book -- that little crackle from the binding -- knowing that new worlds await
Driving along the coast on a sunny day -- to me, it's the epitome of freedom
Coming over Tioga Pass in the Eastern Sierras and seeing Mono Lake spread out in front of me like a jewel
Seeing the intelligence of my children -- watching them figure things out (particularly when they think they are outsmarting me -- someday they will but not yet!)
Tangible shows of love from my family. Should be unnecessary but it's not. (New light fixtures in my kitchen and dining room were picked out and installed by my husband and kids yesterday!)
Taking pride in the knowledge that I finished something well and did it all early and that my life for the next month will be a little bit better for not procrastinating!

I'm done!

2006-12-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

I just turned in my last assignment for my teaching credential program. I'm done.

It has not sunk in yet -- despite the nice dinner that Greg and the kids took me out to tonight.

But, I do know that tomorrow morning when I wake up feeling like I ought to get up and get started on my schoolwork, I can roll over and sleep for another half-hour and that's a good thing!

Hot damn!

In the gloom

2006-11-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

Coyote yipping
in the creek behind
my house
Not quite dawn
the light grows
but the darkness still fills the woods
Are you looking for your brethern
who spread out in the night hunting
playing running
in the cold
Go find them and curl up in
a quiet spot
Little Coy-dog

© 2006, Liza Lee Miller
All Rights Reserved.