Fly Away Little Bird

Every year the rafters of my back porch become home to small birds.  They build their little nests and settle in, singing merrily and flitting about.  This year, as I was enjoying a beautiful spring morning and sitting quietly while reading in the sun, I heard the faint chorus of tiny little "cheeps".  At first I wasn't sure what I was hearing or where it was coming from, but then I realized that the birds that nest under the roof of my porch must have hatched a few eggs.  I loved coming outside and hearing their birdsong.  If I made too much noise they would go quiet, so I had to sit patiently for them to start up again.  I pulled out our ladder and climbed up to get a peek of the baby birds and take some pictures.  They were all soft, fluffy feathers, sharp beaks, and beady little eyes.  They looked quite cozy in their nest. 

After a few days, I heard through our open doors and windows the chirping and cheeping again.  It had a different sound to it this time, and seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.  I went outside to investigate, and saw that the momma bird was teaching her chicks to fly!  The little puffballs were perched all over the porch and were trying their hardest to follow momma.  Unfortunately, they had found their way into the mostly-screened porch and were having trouble getting back out.  This problem has occurred often since my husband and I bought the house, and most of the screens have been cut away so that birds, butterflies, and dragonflies can find their way to freedom.  As I grabbed my camera and tried to get pictures of these adorable fluffy fliers, momma bird was determined to come flying back, shrieking at me to stay away from her babies!  It was difficult to get any good pictures of the chicks since they were so high.  I zoomed as far as I could, but it makes the picture blurry.  After I took my pictures, I tried to stay in the house so as not to disturb the chicks any more than necessary as they worked their way out of the porch.  Eventually they were all free, and I saw one hopping along the grass in the back yard, while another one scuttled around on the roof!  By the time I grabbed my camera again, they had disappeared with momma bird - all flying away and on their way to being all grown up. 

Wordless Wednesday: Anole Lizard Camouflage

Cereals I Miss

Don't you hate it when a product you love is discontinued?  And you wish you'd known it was going to happen so you could prepare for the product apocalypse by visiting every store you can think of and buying them out of every last one of those items?  It is always my fervent wish that these items would make a comeback and suddenly reappear on store shelves. 

The two cereals I remember and miss the most were Smurfberry Crunch and Dunkin' Donuts cereal.  The Dunkin' Donuts cereal box was divided in half with chocolate on one side and glazed on the other.  They were shaped like mini donuts (or Cheerios, whatever). 

                

But even more than Dunkin' Donuts Cereal, I loved the Smurfberry Crunch cereal.  They were dark blue and red roundish star-shaped pieces (supposed to look like Smurf Berries of course!) that tasted a lot like the berries in Cap'N Crunch.  But way better!  I was devastated when they stopped making this cereal.  I would buy the Crunch Berries cereal (the one with nothing but berries) hoping it would fill the void, but alas, I was destined to bear the sorrow of breakfast cereal despair. 





Maybe since they are making a new Smurfs movie they'll get around to bringing back the cereal! 


Dunkin' Donuts Cereal images found here.
Smurfberry Crunch image found here.

Hope Springs Eternal. And So Do the Weeds.

When visiting my parents' house recently, I noticed they had a little something extra on their door mat.  They have one of those coconut coir mats, with the really rough, porous material.  Sometime this year a little seed found its way into the weave of their doormat and made itself a home!  This little baby is growing right in the doormat, and seems to be doing quite well.  It's kind of cute, isn't it?  I mean, you know, for a weed and all.

Tiny Backyard Visitor

Yesterday morning I mowed the back lawn, and afterwards I let the dogs out so they could play.  As I opened the back door, Pixie charged out and almost immediately stopped to sniff something fascinating on the door mat.  I shooed her away when I realized it was a teeny, tiny little frog.  Or toad, I guess I should say.  I couldn't believe how small it was.  It was the cutest thing I'd ever seen!  It instantly reduced me to mental baby-talk. "Awww, awen't you just the cutest wittle toady-woady?"  I ran inside to grab my camera and I shot several pictures of it.  It didn't move a muscle, even when I had it on my macro setting and had the camera right on top of it.  If it wasn't for his little sides moving in and out as it breathed, I might have wondered it if were still alive.  I guess it didn't find me very intimidating. Must have been the baby talk.  There is a small chance I had one of those "Did I say that out loud?" moments. 

Anyway! Moving on.

I wanted to get a shot that would give a sense of scale, so I went back inside to get a dime to place next to it.  The little toad was still there when I got back, although it did eventually make one huge hop as I fussed with the right placement of the dime.  But then it sumbitted to my photo shoot again.  Don't you love it when nature is so accommodating? 

World's Smallest Cheese Grater!

I was visiting my parents recently when I found this itty bitty little grater in their kitchen.  I couldn't get over how tiny it was.  For some reason it just really tickled me how small it was.  It looked so useless!  I kept calling it the Barbie Cheese Grater.  After taking pictures of it next to two quarters my mom had lying on her desk, I finally asked Dad why they had such a miniscule grater.  He informed me that it's for spices and garlic and stuff like that. Which of course makes much more sense, but it's just not as fun that way.  We decided that I could always use it to grate those individually packaged snack sticks of cheese - like string cheese!  But of course the best part of eating string cheese is being able to "play" with it.  I love pulling off all those dainty threads of cheese! So if I want one of these adorable graters for my own, I guess I'll just have to start using whole nutmeg like Rachel Ray.  Apple pie, anyone?

Smarter than Your Average Can of Beans

Earlier this year, back when it was still cold and the thought of a nice hot bowl of chili sounded really appetizing, I came upon a can of Ninja Beans.  Actually, the beans weren't ninja - it was the can.  They slyly sat on my shelf looking all innocent and harmless.  The truth didn't come out until it was time to make the chili.  The can - the perfectly round, undented, unflawed can - had a secret.  Someone had been teaching this can how to master the art of unopenability.  It meditated daily and practiced its newfound skills.  If it could master these skills in time, it would be able to withstand even the sharpest and strongest of can openers!

Luckily for me, the can had not yet reached the master level, although it did give me a run for my money.  (About $0.88.)  I caught the can off guard with my trusty manual can opener.  No fancy machines needed here!  But soon the can called on its training and began to fight back.  Suddenly the blade on my can opener was having no effect on the formerly weak metal.  I squeezed the handles harder, and I cranked and cranked the can opener, all to no avail.  Yet I was not about to give up!  I tried to pry up the edge of the lid enough to pour out the beans, but too much of the lid was still holding firm.  I needed to find a way to cut away more of the can.  I was determined.  I wanted my freaking chili, darn it!  So I took my can opener and manhandled that can to the best of my abilities.  I banged, and I twisted.  I worked the sharp edge at a different angle against the can.  By now the can was all kinds of warped and it was getting harder and harder to even reach the can anymore. 

At this point, my mind had started to go fuzzy with frustration.  There is a distinct possibility that I may have contemplated using my teeth.  I might have considered throwing the can on the ground and stomping on it if I could have done so without the juice making a sloppy mess on my kitchen floor.  Thankfully my perseverance paid off, and I was eventually able to to get enough of the lid loose so that I could pry it open and get the beans out of the can.  So take THAT, you evil can of beans!  I am victorious!

PS - The chili was awesome, and I didn't even starve to death before I could eat it.