no school today (wednesday)

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Shanda

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David is practicing a song on the piano.

A candle is flickering on the coffee table.

Outside the window all is gray (sky) and white (snow) and black (trees). We are fast losing daylight. It’s 4:10pm.

Time to turn on lamps, think about what to made for dinner.

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This morning Caleb asked to make breakfast. He made bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches for himself and younger siblings. Seth wrote up the menu and took orders.

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This book is so good!

Since today was a snow day but the roads were clear, I took the three boys to our favorite barbershop for haircuts. Only two boys complained at the news and said, “I don’t want to get my haircut!” I asked them if they were still three and said go get in the car. Soon we were on our way. . . . .listening to music, going to the ATM because he only takes cash payments, and pulling into the parking lot. There were 4 haircuts ahead of us so we had to wait a while. Thankfully I had my book. Sports TV was loudly playing and it was fun to watch the boys get their hair cut. He gave me a notebook and pen when we were done, and the boys each received a piece of very hard bubble gum and a lollipop.

What’s for lunch? Two boys wanted Dunkin Donuts egg sandwiches but Caleb and I ran into Chipotle for burritos to go.

Back at home, Jack came over and the younger kids went outside to play.

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David, Grace, and I watched Myths & Monsters on Netflix (highly recommended).

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Dave with a new hair cut. (he has a scrubbed face (eye) from wrestling).

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After the first episode I fell sound asleep on the couch and the kids came back inside to play.

Rich just came home early.

Happy Snow Day!

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common yellowthroat warbler (male)

Posted on July 19, 2017 by Shanda

I went outside yesterday with my big lens and took photos of the little bird I thought had a nest. Isn’t he cute? I’m certain that worm went into a hungry baby or mama beak.

*****

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no words wednesday

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Shanda

birds and a rainbow

Posted on June 29, 2017 by Shanda

It’s a bird morning! Every few minutes I find myself scanning the trees trying to see what I’m hearing. . . . .

Sarah is on the floor playing a game of SORRY with a stuffed animal friend.

David and Caleb are up the road with friends (they spent the night).

Grace is still asleep.

I haven’t been sleeping well. As it is, I’m easily disturbed, & it doesn’t help that the other night I was awakened by our orange cat Sherlock cornering a FROG in our room. I woke up hearing strange small noises which turned out to be the frog saying “help” the only way it knew. By the time I got to it it was very anxious and covered in dust, still very much alive and well. I threw it out the window along with the cat and then shut the window tight. . . .unfortunately now as wide awake as could be. Rich refused to move through all of this and stayed asleep, only asking once, “What is going on?” to which I replied sarcastically, “Don’t worry about it, I’m taking care of it!” But glad he was able to sleep through it as he’s been working so hard during the day.

Last night nothing like that was going on, but I kept waking up over and over. . . .finally getting up at six this morning with dry eyes. . . . . .

. . .to enjoy the bird morning!

And Grace’s bible that she left by the bench on the porch.

“But as you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you–see that you excel in this act of grace also.”

*****

The other evening we had a rainbow. Sarah jumped up and down with glee.

Grace on the front steps, watching the sky.

Sunshine through fat raindrops.

The sky was doing beautiful things.

Now that life is calming down just a little (from a vacation with Rich, end of school excitement with a graduate, and a trip to NY) I’ve been puttering around the place, cleaning, and rearranging, catching up on household things.

And going for walks with the kids (mostly Grace). . . . .

baby bird

another baby bird

end of the day sunshine through the trees, on a walk with Rich

keeping an eye on Seth as he exaggeratedly looks “both ways” before he crosses the road (retrieving a baseball)

Yesterday was a gardening day. I took Grace to driver’s school and went to a nearby gardening place and bought three perennials. They were giving away some old annuals that looked sad so I was able to get some free plants to baby back to health; flowers, cabbages and leaks. Then later on Rich and I went to the home depot for three tomato plants (one yellow, one purple heirloom, and one cherry), cucumber, watermelon, two hanging baskets for the porch, and some petunias. I’ve already got all but a few of them planted.

bird pics//sugar crinkle cookie recipe

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Shanda

Monday night we had two baseball games at the same time so Rich and I wandered between two fields, it was freezing cold outside and I had a winter coat, a pair of jeans over leggings, gloves, a big scarf, boots on my feet, and a thick blanket around myself like a native american. We watched more of Caleb’s game than Seth’s because the older kids know more about the game and therefore do more exciting things. Seth’s team surprised us, though, we saw a few nice plays and Seth got the game ball.

Yesterday Dave had an orthodontist appointment at 11. I was out in the field until the very last moment and then rushed to get him from school. Afterwards we went to Panera for lunch. He was craving a broccoli and cheese soup bread bowl. We sat near the garbage can and were shocked at how much food grown ups were throwing away. For example, we were there for about 20 minutes and two people threw away their entire bread bowl after just eating the soup out of the inside, “criminal” says Dave. One wonders if the parents say the words, “finish what’s on your plate” any longer. Or, “don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach.”

Yesterday’s after school activities were 1) Dave had a baseball game 2) Seth had a baseball game, and 3) Caleb had a band concert. All at the same time.

I made tacos for dinner, dropped D and S off at their respective fields, went back home to get C, and went to the concert while Rich got home from work, changed his clothes, and went to S’s game. I pulled Caleb out of the auditorium as soon as band (the only thing he was in) was over because I just could not/would not sit through another 2 hours of chorus and awards, and we went to D’s game down the road just in time to see him get his one and only up to bat–a nice base hit. Seth’s team lost, David’s team won by the mercy rule so we were home just in time for Dave to watch his favorite TV show “Flash” at 8pm with Michael and the girls (who had stayed home together). In fact, David’s baseball expertise is stealing bases and his nickname is “Flash”. oh boy. Have I mentioned he’s taller than I am now? This morning I am washing dirt and taco sauce off of his white baseball pants because he didn’t eat his dinner until after the game.

This morning I’ve been crazy busy trying to get the upstairs ready for the professional carpet cleaner guy to come at 10. Although we use a gate on the bottom of the stairs, Parker continues to do some “marking” in Sarah’s room whenever he finds it left open and although I cleaned it the best I could with my small shampooer, I felt it was time for the big guns, so to speak. The carpet guy is also cleaning two area rugs on the main floor. Jacob is sleeping downstairs in his room.

The dog is not on my good side as he is also digging huge holes in my gardens. HUGE!

Tonight David has another game and Caleb has practice. And the weather is till winter-like. (currently 50 degrees)

Jacob is going to drive to Vermont to get Ethan tomorrow with Rich’s truck because E is done with finals and ready to come home for the summer. Grace and Jacob are both going to Senior banquet on Friday and then…….FRIDAY is ALSO Brimfield antique show with my brother, sisters, and sons and the weekend is more sports and church and then next week Rich is gone on a business trip and Ethan starts his new job………and life is just going too fast……all I can do is employ a good sense of humor and let out a necessary ahhhhh (scream) now and then.

so let us watch birds and make cookies for a little rest and relaxation, shall we?

I took these photos yesterday from 9 to 10 in the morning.

As I took these I thought I was shooting the same yellow bird, but when I got home and looked at them closer I realized they were different. One has a black mask. Taking bird photos is surprisingly hard, imagine trying to focus from across the room on a ping pong ball during a game. And then put trees, branches and leaves in the way.

Maybe bird watching isn’t as relaxing as I thought. LOL

These birds were moving around in the grass so quickly I didn’t even know they were sparrows until I looked at the photos later.

Ah, now we’re seeing something exciting…..

I ADORE the colors in these bluebird photos. So calming.

Aren’t the early springtime trees beautiful?

My friend Mr Mallard Duck, I saw him the other day, too. I refrained from saying an excited Hello as I did not want to scare anyone else away.

like this Solitary Sandpiper! I do so love to see these birds. They do the funniest motions when they walk, bobbing up and down. They are pretty little water birds with long legs and a long beak. It’s my favorite photo of the bunch, I love the reflection in the water, the muddy bank and the blurred out grasses in the foreground. Not to mention the bird itself is pretty, too.

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Delicious cookies for Mother’s day or any other day!

Sugar Crinkles

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening (I used half butter and half butter flavored crisco)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
sugar

Cream together the sugar, brown sugar, shortening, vanilla, and egg. Add the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Roll into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place the balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake in a 350 oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

I was a little late picking up Grace from school the other day because these were baking in the oven but she was pacified with three fresh and warm cookies (the ones in the picture!) when I finally arrived.

hobbies

Posted on April 20, 2017 by Shanda

“A hobby is an activity, interest, enthusiasm, or pastime that is undertaken for pleasure or relaxation, typically done during one’s own time.” -wikipedia

Just a common red winged black bird but it was singing and making such pretty sounds that I had to share the photo of it. It stood on a slender branch and gracefully inched it’s way to the top of it. It flew a short distance to a fence and then down to the edge of the stream, drinking and fluffing up it’s blackest of black feathers…….

I sat on a dry little hill of land by the stream, surrounded by old last year’s grasses and springtime wetness from the swampy wide stream. I wore jeans, a tshirt, a flannel, and a vest with sunglasses in one pocket and my headphones and phone in the other.

I had my camera in my hands; a Nikon D3300 with a 55-200mm lens. A very nice camera!

I’m generally very content with my camera and lenses. How do you justify a hobby that uses costly equipment? A bigger zoom lens would cost quite a bit.

I was sitting probably about 60-100 feet from the birds I was trying to photograph. When I got home, I put them on the computer and cropped—and laughed at the horrible quality of images I took of this bird:

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (first sighting)

It’s so beautiful, but not in these pictures!

I was on FB this morning and someone from my town had posted photos of a pileated woodpecker—stunning crystal clear close ups that took my breath away. I asked what lens he used and found out that he had a much better zoom lens.

I have dreamed of a better zoom lens but now I REALLY want a better zoom lens!

But like I said, this is only a hobby. I don’t sell my photos or use them for anything but my own blog and photo collections. There is a little voice in my head that says “What is the POINT? This photography pastime is a money pit!”

Of what value is a hobby? To me, my hobbies (photography, reading, collecting Fiestaware) add priceless value to my daily life for a variety of reasons. But to what extent do I maintain and invest in my hobbies, especially in photography?

The hobby itself is not a “thing”– it’s not a material possession. However, regardless of the way it feeds my soul and gets me outside exploring nature, it can be costly as it takes money to purchase photography equipment and time to study the information so I can use it properly.

Part of these feelings about spending a “large” amount of money on a lens is due to my personal penny pinching ways. Although I have no ethical issues with shopping, I am a thrifty shopper and like the challenge of looking for ways to “save money”–coupons, clearance, thrifting, free stuff, library, etc.

But then again, almost every adult I know has a hobby that costs money so why can’t I?

sparrow

Eastern Phoebe

*****

While I was writing this post, I went ahead and researched and found a lens for a somewhat reasonable price and texted Rich all about it….his reply?

“GO AHEAD”

Stay tuned! This is going to be a great summer of bird/nature watching!

What do you think? Do you have a hobby? What is it? Is it easy for you to invest in or do you feel guilty? How do you justify spending money on an “extra” expense in your hobby? Do you have ways of off setting the cost? What are they? Do you have a business online? Do you use your hobby to give back to others? How does your hobby make you feel? Do your children have hobbies? Does your partner have a hobby? What are some of the values in a hobby?