Retraction of PO'd Blogpost

The husband of my cleaning lady just dropped by. 

The story goes that she has been taking care of her elderly aunt and did not have phone access. She had asked her husband to notify us that she could not come to clean, and he finally did that today. 

So I will be looking forward to some cleaning help next Wednesday.

Hallelujah!

Who Needs Sochi, When We Have Ice On Our Pond?

We have ice on our pond!

See it?

What about now?

Is this better?

Now you can see the glaze!

And the agaves were covered. Hope that helps.

Flip doesn't dare sit down on the cold bricks.

He is ready for exploration after three days in "house arrest."

Ready, set, .....

Update: 9:22 and GO! Flip is gone to play with his girlfriend Kara! ;)))

Bright Red Cardinals and White Sleet

Our red brick looks dull compared to this cardinal.

A piece of corn hidden in his beak.

The lady in waiting.

Love how these birdies puff up their feathers for the cold weather.

Mr. and Mrs. Don't you just love her hairdo?

Female escaping.

Gathering feed.

The scout on duty.

Ready for swooping in on the food. Never identified the large brown bird in the distance. But there is another scout on the ground.

Sleet!!!!

Not snow! Sleet and Ice!!!!

Too windy for agave covers. We are waiting until the wind dies down.

View from inside the mudroom door. Lonely birthday present bench and unprotected agaves in pots. Oh mercy me!

Almost Free Love

My heart art project:

Thrift shop buys. 10 inch embroidery hoop for 25 cents. Woolen plaid fabric for 5 cents.

Self-made heart from sleeves of a gently worn baby fleece shirt and crocheted ribbon. (Rear view)

Close-up of the plush fleece.

Thrift store metal heart (it opens for potpourri or sweets) for 25 cents.

Hides a hole from old thermostat.

Fits right in with our "brocante" furnishings. Love this mirror!

Fun, frugal craft project on display.

    

Took me 20 minutes to make this wall decoration.

Cost: 60 cents. 

I am blog partying with City Farmhouse at http://cityfarmhouse.com/2014/02/inspiration-exchnage-linky-party-35.html.

Who is the Bird Brain?

We ran out of bird feed this week!

I knew that I should have gone to Dollar General to buy my milk on Thursday. But I didn't, and yesterday Flip and I made peanut butter/stale cracker pizzas for our bird feeders. Plus we filled the trays with crushed crackers and rice crispies. 

For my Dutch followers, Vivara makes a special "pindakaas" for birds with all the best ingredients for birds. Wonder why Calve isn't good enough? We eat and like the Dollar General brand peanut butter. If it is good enough for us and Flip, it must be good enough for the wild birds.

The cardinals and sparrows loved the "gourmet" meals yesterday evening and this morning.

Our son took a "snow day" yesterday and got a chance to see his bird restaurant in business. Today he went out and bought this "bird swing" to spruce up the joint.

This swing would be a perfect place for a possum naptime, don't you think?

And speaking of birds, here you can find a few bird-feeding myths: 

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/learning/bird-feeding-tips/bird-feeding-myths

Sneaux? Ijs? Brrrrr!

More sleet than snow, I know.

Live oaks in pots. Deep freeze treatment.

Blankets of towels and ice.

Not as white as expected.

Too cold for the hunter.

I'm PO'd!

Yesterday I waited for our new Help to come vacuum our floors. 

She did a great job last week, and I paid her a decent wage for her 2 1/2 hours. 

Then yesterday she did not show up!!! 

What was I thinking? 

Just more proof that no one is hungry around here.

:(