Nesting Instinct

 Song - Two of Us by The Beatles

The other day I saw a flash of brilliant blue outside the window.  I figured it was a Blue Jay or most likely a Steller's Jay because they seem to be a deeper blue. But when I got up to look I found this little fellow on our deck gate.  

He flew over to Mr. B's birdhouse and looked inside.  Four out of the last five years Oak Titmice have made a nest in that house but this year maybe I will get some Bluebirds nesting in our yard!

Within minutes a Titmouse began building a nest inside.  I guess he or she decided that they were not ready to move quite yet! I looked down at the deck and there was a smattering of twigs beneath the birdhouse so I guess they have been working on their nest for a while (I just hadn't noticed).

I'm wondering how she is going to get that long twig in through that tiny hole but she found that by turning the twig sideways it would fit.  I was so proud of her!

Nearby there were a couple of feeders that I moved further away today so the Titmouse won't have to worry about other birds waking the kids! 

"Look closely. The beautiful may be small."   

--Emmanuel Kant

Mounting Evidence

 Song - All the Pretty Girls - Kaleo cover by Sierra Eagleson

Mmmmm.....so do I see evidence here?

Yep......a little activity has been going on in Mr. B's birdhouse. Can you see the hair and twigs in the tree and on the railing?

Swee, swee, swee, swee.....the little Oak Titmouse calls to its mate as they both work on the nest.

I just love how they look after each other.  

If they decide to move in, this will be the fifth year that they have used this birdhouse!

And I really hope they decide to stay!

"The name titmouse is recorded from the 14th century, composed of the Old English name for the bird, mase (Proto-Germanic *maison, Dutch mezen, German Meise), and tit, denoting something small. The former spelling, "titmose", was influenced by mouse in the 16th century."

--Wikipedia

Wandering

Song - Fallen Through Time by Bear McCreary

Today I was playing music from our Scotland-England trip while painting these darling kids running home from school in Bath, England.  The playlist was for a CD that I made of our trip and included the above song.

Can you imagine the joy?

And that's exactly how I looked today when I got a new Mother Board put into my dead computer. 

 Yes.  I know.  

Right after my last blog post about the lovely rain, we had several power outages and my computer would not restart.  

After finding out that my brilliant computer guy was sick with the flu and that he wasn't even joking when he texted me "Oh Jeanette....I am so sorry but your computer really is dead"!  

 So I put on my big girl boots and called Dell.

Two hours later after a very patient man walked me though opening up the side of my computer and unplugging stuff and plugging in other stuff and turning it on and off and beeps and timing flashing lights and there may have been a few tears.....

...it was determined that I needed a new Mother Board.

Huh?

I texted my sick computer guy and he said that he was VERY proud of me!

I'll have you know that I went through withdrawals being without my computer.

Photos

Resources

Recipes

Blogging

Genealogy

Finances

Music

Information 

Art

well, you know....

So I now can take a deep breath and appreciate all that my trusty little computer gives me.

While painting, I looked out of our back door to the little bird house that Mr. B bought for our yard and I saw some activity in there. (You can read about Mr. B's purchase HERE)

An Oak Titmouse was checking it out for a nest.  Later in the day she brought her hubby along to show him the real estate she had found.  He must of given her the green light because the two of them were busy building that nest all day long. 

Mama bird would fly in and out with soft bits of fuzz in her beak while the proud dad would sing from the Maple tree above with joy.

And off she goes to find more nesting stuff.

I can't tell you how much joy this brings to my heart.

“If you will stay close to nature, 

to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, 

those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”

 --Rainer Maria Rilke

Looking for a Home

Song - Oak Titmouse Spring Mating Call


Last year for my birthday I asked Mr. B for a birdhouse that we could place on a light post near our side lawn - which happened to be where our son & daughter-in-law got married.  He chose the one below.....

Now this is a cute little birdhouse in a rustic sort of way that felt a little too rustic for a wedding site.



And here is the one that I chose below.  I love it with it's gleaming white base and copper roof.  It also has holes on both sides and a partition in the middle so that two families can make homes there....kind of like a bird condo!

Well, I have never seen a bird near this house and just in the last few weeks a little Oak Titmouse has been trying to lure a mate into Mr. B's rustic house.

He/she sits on top of the birdhouse all morning and sings her/his little heart out. Then she comes back in the afternoon to do it again.  It's very dear.

And in the last few days she has decided to check out the inside to see if it's suitable for a home.

I am hoping it is!

I just love it when my husbands is right......mmmm...

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,

 for beauty is God's handwriting." 

 ~Ralph Waldo Emerson