- A step stool: Only giants could reach our closet shelves
- Acne spot treatment: Ugh
- An iron: Because I hate to
- Chocolate: Yes, I NEED it
- Tampons: Self-explanatory
- Cat grooming wipes: Please don't ask
- Moving boxes: 4 apartments in 5 years
- Doggie waste bags: Again, self-explanatory
- About a half-ton of make up: Unfortunately, at my age, it has become a necessity
- Carpet cleaner: Dogs puke ... and so do cats ... a lot
January 17, 2011
10 things in my house that I wish I didn't need
January 9, 2011
Finding my moment of calm
I know it's been awhile since I last posted -- an embarrassingly long while. In my defense, last semester did its best to break my spirit, and after it was over, I slept for about a month.
I'm back at it again, and I want to share one of my more geeky new pastimes. Earlier this winter, I noticed that we had a lot of birds, particularly some gorgeous cardinals and bluejays, living in the brush behind our apartment. With all of the snow we had in December, combined with the bitterly cold temperatures, I new that their food supply was probably scarce. So I pulled out an old elementary school craft project.
I made pinecone bird feeders. Laugh if you will, but it was actually a pretty fun holiday project. All you have to do is string up a pinecone with floral wire or string, spread peanut butter all over it, and then coat it with birdseed.
As you can see, it worked like a charm.
Within about 24 hours, we had a pair of cardinals staking out our feeders and flitting around the brush. It seems like such a simple thing, but watching these birds has brought me more joy than I had anticipated. When you live in the middle of a college wasteland, it's nice to be reminded that nature is still out there.
Initially when I decided to start feeding the birds, I headed to Bloomington Hardware, because I new I'd find out more than I ever wanted to know -- and I was right.
Things you should know:
I'm back at it again, and I want to share one of my more geeky new pastimes. Earlier this winter, I noticed that we had a lot of birds, particularly some gorgeous cardinals and bluejays, living in the brush behind our apartment. With all of the snow we had in December, combined with the bitterly cold temperatures, I new that their food supply was probably scarce. So I pulled out an old elementary school craft project.
I made pinecone bird feeders. Laugh if you will, but it was actually a pretty fun holiday project. All you have to do is string up a pinecone with floral wire or string, spread peanut butter all over it, and then coat it with birdseed.
As you can see, it worked like a charm.
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| Our male cardinal friend |
 |
| And his wife |
Within about 24 hours, we had a pair of cardinals staking out our feeders and flitting around the brush. It seems like such a simple thing, but watching these birds has brought me more joy than I had anticipated. When you live in the middle of a college wasteland, it's nice to be reminded that nature is still out there.
Initially when I decided to start feeding the birds, I headed to Bloomington Hardware, because I new I'd find out more than I ever wanted to know -- and I was right.
Things you should know:
- Most birds just eat seed, but bluejays also store seed.
- As a result, bluejays tend to stake out a feeder as their own and bully the other birds.
- If you have a bluejay bully, set up a second feeder out of sight of the first.
I've use a seed mix for colorful birds, and they seemed to love it. But it felt implausible to keep refilling a bunch of pinecones all winters. Plus, it makes kind of a mess in the house, leaving peanut butter and birdseed everywhere.
So yesterday I took the leap and bought a 15" tube feeder for $7 from Petco. I filled it and hung it up last night, and this morning, voila!
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| He caught me staring |
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| He's like a pool ball with wings |
My fat little male cardinal popped right back up again. I haven't seen his wife yet, but I'm sure she'll be around soon.
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