Bird Sightings – Page 72 – The Hermits' Rest

Trying to Do Nothing. It’s Hard.

This vacation to Myrtle Beach is for Lee to get some rest and relaxation, so I am trying to not impose my agenda on him. Today he wanted to scan in receipts and balance his budget, so okay, that’s what he did. I’m not great at just doing my regular job in a different spot (though I uploaded a post for another blog, dealt with a couple of issues for the Austin job, and such).

I just feel like if I’m in a new place, I should go check it out, so I spent much of the day looking around the resort area where we’re staying. This morning I walked a long way up the beach, and was actually glad for all the brightly colored hotels, condos, and resorts on the beach, because everything else was solid gray. The surf, sand, and sky all matched.

Gray sand, gray birds, grayish water, gray skies.

I did get to enjoy something you don’t get to see every day, though. They were tearing down a condo building that I guess isn’t big and tall enough or something. The wrecking ball had to be careful not to damage the building a few yards away from it. Half the building was rubble and half looked like people still lived there. Weird.

The nature watching was limited. I saw laughing gulls, pigeons, and dead jellyfish. The shells here are all broken (it’s the Atlantic, after all) but a lot of them obviously were big ole clams!

Lee came out of the building and walked with me to the next pier, where we had a very good lunch at the Pier 14 restaurant. Even veggies of the day were good (most places they are not even completely defrosted and have no seasoning, but these were hot and tasty). I had some good scallops. I’m managing to keep eating healthy!

The boardwalk is nice. I assume it’s much more crowded next month.

Most of Myrtle Beach reminds me of Ft. Lauderdale (a place of which I have never been fond). Not a lot of natural beauty, at least anywhere near the water. I think this place is designed for a different kind of tourist than me. If I wanted to drink, hear live music, buy cheap souvenirs, play golf (mini or otherwise), or ride Ferris wheels, though, this would be nirvana.

This is the most nature I found. The blue thing is where I had lunch.

But, I enjoyed sitting and watching the waves this afternoon, while chatting with a lady from Tennessee, and have gotten a lot of good knitting and reading in. Plus a nap. Yes, a nap! And Lee did go for a walk with me around 5 pm.

So, I succeeded pretty well in doing nothing and avoiding large crowds. Tomorrow, though, I have been promised a trip to a park. They tend to not be hotbeds of disease.

Where Do You Find Sanctuary?

Ah, the word for today is sanctuary on the UU Lent calendar. As I am sitting inside one of my personal sanctuaries as I type this, I didn’t have a hard time coming up with things to photograph for this concept.

My office at the ranch, with my favorite chair ever, my favorite couch, art I love, a stool my dad made, and much safety.

What I realized soon after starting to think about sanctuaries is that I truly crave them. I make myself a sanctuary wherever I go. In Austin, it’s my bedroom, where again, I have things I care about and a cozy place to sit and read or knit. I’ve turned my office at the Hermit Haus into a sanctuary with all my colors and all my nature stuff. Even in the horrible “open office” thing at work in Austin, I’ve tried to create a place of calm.

This is when it was in use as a church. They took that nice lighted thing in the back.

Heck, I even OWN a sanctuary, but not in the same meaning of the word. The old church sanctuary still gives me a bit of a chill, so it won’t be a haven for peace and reflection for me for a while yet.

I feel like a wealthy person when I realize how many places I can retreat to when I need to. I need to retreat a lot, which is how I keep as even-tempered as I manage to do (though Chris said I had a negativity attack yesterday).

To help with office negativity, I went and made myself a sanctuary at the Pope Residence. I drug a chair and a bench out on the balcony, where I can look at the big magnolia tree and survey the churches of Cameron. I spent a nice time listening to the many grackles, four woodpeckers, and a loud mockingbird. Triumph in the sanctuary department!

Of course, Lee and I built our very own sanctuary here at the ranch. The Hermits’ Rest is most definitely his safe place, and I’m not far behind (I just have more places). My Instagram post for today shows me enjoying coffee in the only side of the house not dealing with hurricane-style winds.

I had pretty much everything I needed here!

It’s a real privilege to have your own physical areas of sanctuary like I do. I think of people in Syria, people in abusive situations in the US, so many others in crisis who don’t have anywhere to go where they feel safe. No wonder so many people just retreat inside themselves; they have nowhere else to go.

I feel safe here. So grateful for the Hermits’ Rest.

Everyone deserves to be able to escape and refresh and renew their souls. Those of us who have the chance to should cultivate and care for our sanctuaries, because we are lucky to have them. One way to do good in the world is to help bring peace and safety to others.

How would you do this? Where is your sanctuary? Is it physical or mental?

Chickens Like Toys

The new chickens have ended up being a very popular addition to the Hermits’ Rest collection of animals. Even Lee has been seen sneaking out to give them some treats. Lee’s brother, Jim, who is staying in an RV in our garage area, mowed the grass this weekend, and made sure when he went by the chickens that he’d send clippings in their way, which went over very well. Jim’s been helping with feeding them, too, which gets him out in the fresh air.

Another picture of Mike coaxing the chickens to eat out of his hand,

Yesterday was a darned good day for the hens, who are just about old enough to lay eggs, we hope. Not only did they get a visit from my friend, Mike, but they got a new toy!

I’d picked out a second limb for them to climb on, but hadn’t put it in the chicken run yet. I drafted my friend Meghan to help me install it, and then I just sat on the grass and watched them check it out. (Hint: the first time you wear short sleeves in the spring, you should remember sunscreen. I did not.)

The new branch, being inspected by Elsie, plus hens looking for shade.

Indeed, they had fun. Elsie pecked a lot of things off it, which I guess were bugs, but Ginger liked it the best. She climbed up and down, flew off it, and even flew from one branch to the other (I missed getting a shot of that). It makes me happy to see them doing more than just scratching around for food.

Of course, they get a LOT of food. I gave them trimmings from salad last night, and they immediately started fighting over the radish tops. Later, they descended very quickly on strawberries. I hope all this nutrition is helping them grow big and strong, I’ve noticed the ones with combs are growing then in now, too. They are in their late teens, for hens.

Yesterday I showed how Ginger had climbed up into the little roosting area, which relieved me. Later in the day, I saw more than one of the young ladies perched on the indoor roosting area. That gives me hope that they have figured out how to get out of the rain, and will find their nests for laying eggs.

Ginger is on top of the world! Elsie managed to get on, too.

The next thing I am going to work on is providing a little more shade for them. Lee says soon we can add on to the chicken run, too! See, he likes them.

PS

Somehow, yesterday’s post got posted TWICE, which sure messes up my stats. I deleted the one with fewer hits. I have NO idea how that happened, but the internet is full of mystery.

The Gimpy One Gets Busy: Renovation, Nature Dogs…

For a person who’s still having trouble making certain moves (especially bouncy ones) I’ve been doing a lot! I got some nice photos, so I figure I’ll share, even though this is not among my most riveting topics.

Hooray! The pond filled up and even overflowed to the other side.

It’s been chilly, but I sure was happy to see the ponds fuller at the ranch. The dogs are enjoying the heck out of the puddles, as usual.

Alfred says this is his favorite weather.
Carlton and Penney go swimming. Penney found out how deep the little pond is.
Frost this morning

Pope Residence Update

Things are hopping over at the Pope Residence. All the materials to build the staircase have been bought, and Chris and Easton have been busy shoring up the foundation at the back of the house. They have replaced an entire beam and will be adding a few extra piers to hold the weight of the staircase.

Chris ciphers out what to do next to repair the foundation.

They also bought plenty of insulation to make the back of the building nice and cozy. Of course, to me, the most important thing is that the red tiles for my office bathroom are ordered.

This is one of the original sewer pipes that was removed.

And speaking of that bathroom, there’s good news! We will be able to keep the original tub in there and make it a feature after all!

This is how they are holding the house together while working on the foundation below.

Randy is still slowly but surely getting all the bricks repaired and re-mortared. There is a lot to repair, but it is looking great once it’s done.

Repairs and the leveling hole in Kathleen’s office.

And today, while I was out gallivanting, Kathleen and Nicole have started stripping the many layers of paint off the doorways. It always seems like you find something interesting when you peel off layers like that, and sure enough, Nicole has uncovered a lot of blue and some green on the doorway leading into my office. Maybe the whole thing was once blue!

Blue paint that was under layers of brown and white.
The scraping is pretty easy.
Stripping in progress, and re-mortared brick drying.

Nature Calls

I couldn’t resist going along with the Master Naturalist class and visiting the beautiful property of one of our members, outside of Davilla (south of Cameron). It was almost unspeakably beautiful, and my friend Ann and I had a blast identifying everything we saw, joined by one of the students who knows a lot about insects.

Ann inspects a fallen limb being held up by another limb.

We saw two woodpeckers, some American robins, female red-winged blackbirds, cardinals, chickadees, mourning doves, mockingbirds, and much more. It was great birding. And we saw a lot of tracks, too.

I can’t think of a more fun way to spend a morning than to investigate what grows in another part of the area! (Maybe that makes me boring, or maybe it makes me interesting.) I’ll share a link to a longer article with more photos that will be on the Master Naturalist blog.

And Dogs

While my competing volunteer activities may be wearing me out, I also get a lot out of them, so I was happy to join my Milam Touch of Love friends at another pet chipping event. Like last time, we met a lot of nice dogs and owners. This time we also could get pizza, since it was at Domino’s!

I’m a good girl. I just want a LOT of love.

I spent a lot of time with poor little Sandy, Penney’s sister, who still isn’t adopted. They just aren’t exciting dogs to look at. But she sure was well mannered, and she walked on a leash like a dream. I sure hope someone sees her beauty and adopts her (and also Ghost; he is so kind and beautiful!).

I had to bow out of horse riding this afternoon, which makes me sad, but wow, my back and chest let me know any time I twist or move my arms a certain way. I couldn’t even hold a cute dog today, because the wiggling made me move. I’m hoping for tomorrow, or at least to groom.

I didn’t even tell you about the private warehouse we got to look in, where I found me an old red hanging lamp. That was yesterday, an equally busy day.

There’s a theater gala tonight, so that should fill my busy Saturday. I have way more of a social life in Cameron than I ever did in Austin!

The Earth Is Trying to Tell Me Something

When the big picture is overwhelming, which lately is most of the time, I often have a tendency to wallow, playing possible scenarios out in my head (entire US Senate revolts!), and other less-than-helpful activities.

I’m really glad that I am able to put myself into situations that will snap me right on out of it, thanks to arranging for my life to have regular POPS of nature here, there and everywhere. That lets Mother Earth politely poke me on the shoulder and say, “Hey, I’m still here, as are all my minions, and we want you to breathe and be one of us.

For example, this morning, I was stressing a bit about having to go get blood drawn, and in a rush. But, when I opened the garage door to leave, I was greeted by the sight of the front “yard” of the guy across the street. Now, this poor area is the least “kempt” of the tiny yards in the NorthCat Villas. Everything is quite overgrown, and I believe that much of the vegetation is volunteer.

Still, it is full of color and texture, and the sight of the yellow flowers and nandina berries truly made an impression that our planet is pretty darned clever. That reminded me that even my messy mind can make beautiful things, too.

Then, as I attempted to hurry my way to the clinic, I had to stop and admire the deer who were casually noshing in the fancy HOA plantings. They reminded me that they are clever and reslient, and so maybe I should take that as a goal for myself. Thanks, Nature.

And finally, when work had me more than a little annoyed about things beyond my control. I had just 25 minutes between meetings, so I went out and zoomed around the courtyard for a while. A coworker asked me to slow down and I said, “No.” As I zoomed, I heard the hawks a lot. Then a sweet sound crept into my consciousness. Where was it?

The next time I came around I saw a very chilly mockingbird just “talking” to herself. There was all sorts of chirping, chortling, and the occasional longer stretch of song. After a few laps, I stopped and thanked her. She looked at me, fluffed her feathers and got back to singing.

I’ve decided this was the Earth’s way of telling me to not let all those negative Nellies and distractions interfere with my personal song. I just wish that same Billy Joel song would STOP playing in my head.

Off to hours and hours of meetings!

Loitering Livestock

I also saw the greater yellowlegs pair in the pond as I walked to the cattle.

Yesterday I ended up spending a lot of time around the resident cattle, even when intending to hang out with the horses and Fiona. It was all fun, though, and a great reminder of some of the things that are common on a ranch that aren’t common for city folks.

For instance, I was walking toward the end of our main pasture, when I realized that the cattle I was looking at were in FRONT of our gate. Hmm, that would make the dogs happy. I then realized Gary V. was moving some round bales (a type of hay bale) into our hay storage area, and they had followed him. He and I shooed the curious ladies and their offspring back to the correct side of the gate. No doubt they were sad, since we have oats growing in our pasture for them to eat later.

The cows kept coming toward the gate, so I stayed until Gary was finished, and closed the gate behind him. That wasn’t the last surprise these particular cattle would give us!

Horses and Cattle

I made it to the horse area, where Sara and I warmed the horses up, then saddled up for a ride. I practiced not using my reins, in preparation for using a bit with Apache. I used a stick to direct him. It went well until he got tired of it and marched off to where he wanted to go. Once that was dealt with, we toodled down the race (long fenced path to the far pasture) so we could ride around in the bottom (the beautiful area that floods in bad weather).

When we got to the gate, there were four perfectly charming calves looking at us. They thought we were fascinating, and had no intentions of moving away from us. Sara got off Spice and did her best to encourage them to go back to their mamas, but they just walked off a little way. I guess it was Curious Cow Day. When we got through the gate, they kept coming up to investigate the strange creatures (us). We would move them a little, then they’d come back. Finally we left them (one was still there when we got back).

We rode all over, and checked how the place where the stream meets the creek looks. There is a much larger piece of creek with water in it, but the recent rains were not enough to get Walker’s Creek flowing, so the stream is just making a nice pond.

By the time we got back, the horses were happy to be set free in the small corral. Spice ran and ran and then dropped to roll. Apache waited a bit, then also did a bit of a roll. That had to feel good.

I’m done rolling and want to chase Fiona now.

And Later…

Nicole and Easton visited (they are moving nearby in Temple soon) in the evening, and they wanted to see the horses, so we all walked back to the corral. On the way, we noticed a cow laying like she was dead. We decided she was in labor.

And there was a phoebe calling like crazy and eating little butterflies. It’s their job.

On the way back, after a chat with Ralph and saving poor Vlassic from a bunch of dogs, we saw the cow was standing. Did she have a baby or was that a salt block? We had to stand there and watch until the “salt block” wiggled. We have a new calf to look cute in the front pasture!

Wait, what’s the mama eating? Eww. Afterbirth. Ranch life. It’s sure real.

Ginger Hen Genetics

I couldn’t remember the breed of chicken our new brown one, Ginger, was. I knew if I just saw it, I’d remember, but it wasn’t listed on the Bird and Bee Farm website.

Not only am I cute, I’ll lay a bunch of eggs.

Chicken-loving friends to the rescue! Cheryl pointed out on Facebook that she is an ISA Red. I got her so that I’d have at least one high producer, and they are fine looking gals. Here’s what Cheryl posted:

Such pretty ladies! I think Ginger might be an ISA Brown. Great egg production, but not as long-lived as many other breeds.
Facebook

I wondered what ISA is and why they are short lived. I looked it up! Tractor Supply said:

ISA Browns are one of the top sellers in the industry because of the number of eggs they lay and their calm demeanor. Their eggs have excellent shell quality and texture. This especially sweet, docile, gentle bird, is extremely easy to work with and are great birds for new chicken owners or young families. ISA Browns produce almost an egg every day and do well either in confinement or free ranged. Hens begin to lay around 4-5 months of age with adequate daylight hours. When they are hatched, the pullets are red and the cockerels are white for this color sex-able sex-link.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/isa-brown-chicken-sold-in-quantities-of-

What is ISA?

ISA stands for Institut de Sélection Animale, the company which developed the crossbreed in 1978 for egg production as a battery hen. They are very popular in large egg production places. Glad Ginger is a free bird!

Longevity

As always, the high egg yield is detrimental to the long-term health of the hen. The ISA is one of several breeds developed for high egg yield at the expense of longevity and natural reproduction.
https://www.thehappychickencoop.com/isa-brown/

Well, she’s pretty and reminds me of our old red chickens, who were also sex-linked hybrids. Long live Ginger!

She and Bertie have the feeder figured out!

Yearly Chicken Adventure, 2020

You may remember that last year, after I’d lost a lot of chickens to an owl, I went and got seven new ones at Bird and Bee Farm. I was surprised to realize that was almost a year ago. Things continued to get my poor birds, and now I have only three left, Buffy and the reds, Big and Little.

We decided to let those birds stay at the cabin by the old easily infiltrated coop, since they have figured out how to stay safe and enjoy their free range lifestyle. Our renters at the cabin like them anyway. I’ll just give them a chicken cube every so often.

We have been working on a new coop for a while, and finally decided today was the day to put some young hens in there.

My sister, Canova, loves to look at chickens, and niece Kathleen loves all farm animals, so I brought them along. After stocking up on chicken treats and such, we headed off to the country between Rockdale and Milano.

We had a great time looking at the turkeys, guineas, and of course the plants in the wildscape.

It was fun watching Canova and Kathleen when they saw just how many types of hens there were! There were really some cool ones!

Little Yellow Puffs of Cheer

Thanks, Folks

Here’s what I have for my supportive friends, readers, and even critics: Love.

I got great comfort from all the people who came up to me in person or wrote on Facebook to say “Wow” about my post from yesterday. I’m really grateful to the original author of the explanation of political liberalism in the US, Lori Gallagher Witt, who wrote it a couple of years ago. It just struck a nerve in me yesterday. I just want to be clear that the part at the bottom of my post was not written by me. And no, it was not written to convey any implication that if you have different beliefs from mine, you are a bad person. If it made you feel that way, examine your belief system.

Welcome Rain

You can’t keep a happy person down, though, and yesterday brought me many reminders that all is not gloom and doom. The best thing was that we finally got a GOOD rain, after many days of fog, drizzle, and damp. I can’t wait to see how the tanks/ponds at the ranch are looking.

Our bird tree now is full of Valentine hearts, which brightened up the rainy day!

Yellow Puffs

And during a long day at work, filled with meetings, brainstorming, and thinking, I looked out the window. I had to mute my microphone and tell Craig, sitting next to me, to look out. There, in the bare cedar elm trees, was a flock of goldfinches. It’s not a huge surprise, given that this is the time of year we see them in Cameron, and I happen to know the area where I work is right on a migration path. But still.

Thanks, Jason, for the happy, if wet, birds!

Those yellow males and their flitting green-gray female companions literally brought puffs of sunshine to a rainy, rainy day. We watched them jumping around and fluffing their feathers for a long time (though I did go back to concentrating on my call). I looked a lot in iNaturalist for what exactly these could be, and I think it’s lesser goldfinches, due to the amount of black on the males. I’ll upload a photo and see.

Jen wondered if they could be yellow-bellied siskins, but they live mostly in South America. Goldfinches are siskins, also.

I’m sharing my coworker Jason’s photos, since his came out better than mine. That courtyard is just a whirlwind of bird action!

Ending on a Good Note

Last night we were the hosts of the neighborhood book club, in which we discussed Ragtime. It was great to see the neighbors who weren’t sick or out of town (about half of them). We’re all different, of course, but so supportive of each other’s ups and downs.

Vlassic had been cuddling with Ruth, but when the camera showed up, he had to show us his little tooth.

In addition to the book, we talked about how being “old” just creeps up on us, then suddenly doctors are taking your age into account before procedures, you’re needing to get things replaced or lifted. Everyone was in agreement that they weren’t old in their heads!

To me, community is what will hold me together during the hard times we’re experiencing. That’s probably what held our ancestors together for tens of thousands of years, too. Our neighborhood never wants anyone to move, even though we know some of us must. It feels good to feel a part of something warm and loving.

Bright Beginnings

And get this! Today dawned bright and beautiful. It was as nice to see the sun this morning as it was to welcome the rain yesterday. It’s all got its place. As I left to take Vlassic on his morning walk, I was enthralled by shining droplets of water on the “cedar” trees by the deck.

I hope you enjoy my pictures. Of course, by the time I got out the phone to take them, the sun had moved. But, it was still a shiny greeting for the day.

The view from the Bobcat Lair deck is always nice.

Go thank a member of YOUR community for keeping you sane!

Life Goes On: Raptor Edition

Thanks for bearing with my rant yesterday. Today I got some good perspective as soon as I parked my car on the top floor of the parking garage (so it could get washed).

I opened the door and immediately heard a loud screech. Right next to my car was the elevator tower, where a red-shouldered hawk was watching me and letting me know about it.

Hooray, I thought, our little work green area has enticed the hawks back! They seem to be checking out their old nest and getting ready to raise more babies.

Jen and I enjoyed watching the pair for a while this morning. I was just so happy to see the urban wildlife supported by our corporate buildings. It reminds me that Nature will find a way, given time and a bit of luck.

I’ll hold on to this as my friends and I do our best to promote love, peace, and harmony with the world around us.