A Few Days of Birds Behaving Oddly

To address the title of this blog post- in which I am cramming all sorts of tidbits- let's first look at the duck above. I was hanging out laundry and saw this brown lump on the other side of the fence. First I thought it was a small pile of leaves, as the wind was  blowing ferociously. But I kept thinking there was something sticking out to one side. As I approached slowly and cautiously so as not to scare it, it became clear it was a duck, it's beak being the thing sticking out. We do have ducks that land on and hang around our tiny pond, but this duck was just sitting there, looking around. I actually had enough time to go into the house, score the camera and snap this picture. It stayed for a while and then apparently flew off. But I thought it was strange that it hung out on the grass.
And the other day, Bob and I were standing outside by the side gate when Bob said, "Look; it's a Goldfinch sitting on the grass." On closer inspection, it wasn't a Goldfinch, but a parakeet! I tried to get near it, talking to it in a cheerful, friendly to birds kind of way (I thought!) but it flew off. I was reminded of how when I was young, my family adopted a small green parakeet who just appeared out of no where and landed on my mother's ("Mommy's") shoulder. Our parents (Mommy and Daddy) ran an ad and sought his owner, but none claimed the bird, so he found a new home with us. Charlie the parakeet was a character and sang and talked and whistled; I thought maybe history was repeating itself, but the bird flew away. I hope he found his way home as it was cold and they can't live outside here in New England.
The last "bird" under discussion here is Lil' Robin the Good. Maybe it's the Spring and the high wind and things beginning to grow or the changing light and lengthening days, but I've thought that Robin has been a little more needy or clingy than usual. She is a funny sensitive soul (and prone to nuttiness like when she's chasing shadows and leaves...) but she has seemed preoccupied. And I think she's put on a little weigh. AND THEN IT STRUCK ME: what if she'd taken matters into her own hands (paws) and gotten knocked up??!!? It seems unlikely: we've kept an eagle eye on her when she went out into the yard during her last heat.(*1) There are no intact males around that I know of (except Chops (dumber than a door nail!) next door. Dear goddess! Please, if Robin got impregnated, don't
let it be Chops!!!) Anyway, as there are no at home dog pregnancy tests, and it's a month ago that
her heat cycle ended, I guess I'll just pinch myself and wait another month to see if "anything
happens". (*2)

1.) Although I did kiddingly say to Bob one day as I went the door to work, "Keep a close eye on Robin and don't let anyone near her... unless he's a really fluffy attractive English Setter, Irish Setter, Golden Retriever or maybe even a Bernese Mountain Dog".

2.) It's harder than you think to find the right partner for your dog. Purebred dog owners are the worst and are terrified that their breeds purity will be sullied by mixing with mongrels. They would never willingly permit interbreeding! (Despite the unhealthiness of inbreeding and line breeding and all the nasty hereditary messes that purebred dogs inherit.) It would be the final irony if Robin found herself a "boyfriend" after all the unsuccessful work I've been doing to hook her up.

A Few Persistent Problems as Projects Accomplished

Despite extraordinary complications involving Windows 10 (and my Yahoo email!) I blog on. And I am happy to report that household projects are being resolved! F'rinstance, we had noisome, noxious, noisy European starlings (an invasive species to boot) nesting in a hole in the side of the house. The hole was in the wall next to where the computer resides and every Facebook adventure or web search was accompanied by the loud chortling of hungry baby birds. Bob and I realized we had been living with this for months; they must have delivered a multitude of litters of chicks before Bob devised a clever bird flap, that allowed the birds to exit, but not re-enter. It worked (with no birds hurt) and we can reclaim the wall. Bob has patched the hole with aluminum, visible in the picture above. We had tried the owl featured below, but he only served to scare our friends, as he was only five feet off the ground. Huzzahs to Bob!

The next project completed was skylights! Oooohhh! I am so happy. Thanks to Bob and our good friend Joe, I can now vent the hot air that collected in the ceiling and with the insulation that Bob and Joe added a few months past, the studio is an altogether nicer, cooler place to do business. (The business of art, that is!)

And here's yet another ongoing dilemma fixed: we had a quite large sink hole that formed in our yard. It had probably come from where roots were rotting from a tree removed long ago. But it kept getting deeper and was downright weird. When you went to mow the lawn, you sank waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down and when it rained, water pooled there. That's lil' Robin the Good, posing for scale.

First we added rocks (plenty of those left over from gardening!), then we added dirt and left over soil (from when we excavated to do the Mosaic Walkway), and then Bob (in an industrious burst) added sods left over from edging the vegetable garden. Watered in and !POOF! Instant level, grassed yard repair!

 

 Bob also went up on our roof and patched several areas with tar; we're ready if it ever rains again. (Sort of like California. I think we need rain!) He also cleaned the chimney. Bob's been busy and gets my appreciation and a big gold star!!

Noisy Night and Various Blessings

(Seeing as it's nearly impossible to take pictures of sounds or noise, the photos here are going to be drawn from other inspirations. Personally? I don't like blogs that lack pictures! However, last night, I went to use the bathroom and happened to see a few of Bob's recent sculptures, illuminated by the downstairs hall light. It was atmospheric enough to stand in for an illustration of "sounds".)
In any event, last night at The Bauhaus Chicken Coop was spectacularly noisy. As Bob and I donned our sleeping caps and settled down for a early summer's night nap every possible thing that could make noise made noise.
I don't remember what was first, but there was an odd persistent sound somewhere between video game electronic music and herds of ruminating hoofed animals. We kept going to the open windows, attempting to isolate just what was making that sound. No luck. But it soon mixed with tree frogs, birds and the occasional giant airplane transversing our yard, directly over the sky light. Also heard were endless drones of motocycles or cars and trucks from the nearby highway. Then there was the persistent yapping of various neighborhood dogs as well as the sharp and protracted complaints of what sounded like at least ten coyotes, near and far. And suddenly there was a tremendous BOOOM!!! from what must have been a gun shot, probably fired at the coyotes. And next- inexplicably- the rapid explosions of fireworks. And it's not even the fourth of July. So much for the sound effect portion of this posting...

(Eerie, no? So it was 2:00 when I went out to take these photos, but unlike the night before, it was utterly silent! But you have to look closely to see Bob's sculpture...)

And, yes, I received several blessings recently. Maybe it stems from my new-found appreciation of a pope who actually seems to have a heart and a mind. (Gotta like a pope that not only states that human life is causing climate change, and also remarks about income disparity and our wasteful consumer culture. You go, pope!) In any event, last week I had just wheeled a hefty barrow full of horse manure around to the compost pile when I spied a car in the driveway. I approached, thinking it was probably some of Bob's customers for his garden metal work. But as I got nearer, I saw a thick book in the hand of the lady who had alighted from the car. She said, "I'd like to invite you to a study group that I'm certain you'll find interesting." I responded, "I don't think you really want to talk to me or invite me to your group. I'm an artist and a heathen." Without missing a beat, she asked, "And how long have you been a heathen?" That was pretty funny! But she threw some sort of all purpose blessing at me as she got into the escape vehicle.
And a a week or so earlier, while in Brooklyn, Bob and i passed by an open air worship service of some sort. Hell, we were looking for art but we received a free blessing from a young woman trying to drag us into prayer. And of course, I walk by the house of the retired nuns up the road and they're always dispensing blessings to me and Jules the Dog. For being a heathen artist, I seem to be awash in blessings!