I was too tired last evening to write anything, then I didn’t get much sleep last night (Lee lost his phone and used his watch to find it, soon after I fell asleep—that got me wide awake for a few hours). I guess I should have blogged then, huh?
This is what I would have blogged about. My friend Phyllis found it at the thrift store. I guess they aren’t as popular as they once were.
Things have been pretty stable, at least for me and Lee, the past few days, which doesn’t lead to exciting essays. No complaints, though! It gives my mind space to send good thoughts out to others. Bonus!
Me sending out vibes in a weird hat.
There have been more signs of spring showing up, like this beautiful early Pipevine Swallowtail that I got some blurry photos of. Hmm, maybe the Presidents’ Day holiday will prompt me to trade my phone in for one with a good camera.
Yay!
I’ve been seeing sulphurs and a couple of whites, too. I just hope we don’t get another freeze and set things back again. It can happen this time of year.
Sulphur butterfly from last summer
Most of my weekend will be spent counting birds, as it’s Great Backyard Bird Count time again. I got 60 species today, mostly because all the sparrows are still here.
I’m still here. Enjoy my singing while you can.
Yesterday I would have had over 70 species if I’d believed Merlin. My last capture had parrots, flycatchers that aren’t here this time of year, and some European something. I smartly checked the recording and realized it hadn’t gotten the location from the GPS and was identifying birds of the world. I discarded all those fancy non-Texan birds.
Non-native species.
I’m encouraged, nonetheless. I’ll get some real birds, even though it’s going to rain tomorrow (also good news).
Cooking is not my favorite activity but I’m usually fairly good at it. Today was probably my worst cooking failure ever. Well, maybe the time I burned hard-boiled eggs was worse.
Anyway, I wanted to make a roast, and Lee had bought me all the things to go with it. I put it in the oven with potatoes and onions to cook slowly in my covered ceramic baking dish. I added some beautiful carrots later.
When I went to see if the food was cooked, the carrots were charred and smoking. The potatoes in the baking dish were also burned.
Sigh.
It appeared I’d cooked it at the wrong temperature.
That delicacy, charred carrots
I took it all out of the oven and pried the carrots out of the oval glass dish they’d blackened. Then I thought I should soak the dish so it would be easier to clean. You can guess what happened.
Pow!
The second water hit it, the glass shattered. It was still too hot. Lucky for me, shards were contained in the sink and none went down the drain.
That’s all the glass after I got it out of the sink.
Well, the food was delicious, if over-cooked. It added the excitement that was missing from the Super Bowl. I’ll spare you any entertainment analysis. There’s enough of that!
Instead you can enjoy the miniature Danish protest hat I made today using fine yarn and small needles. I’m using it as an accessory on my backpack, since I think wool hat weather won’t be around much longer.
I made a long tassel. Hand shows size.
Bird News
Ah birds. Sometimes they poop on you or peck at your fingers when you’re trying to fix their water dish (Darryl Junior). But mostly they’re gently entertaining. That’s very true this time of year when they’re getting ready for migrating, nesting, and love.
The first sign of bird love season is the arrival of the Purple Martins. I’d been hoping the ones who were here last year would return, and sure enough, the first scouts arrived last week. After Merlin Bird ID heard them three days in a row, I looked up blog posts by my friend Donna, who always wrote about them for the Master Naturalist group. Yep, hers usually arrive a bit before Valentine’s Day. I’m so happy we have repeat visitors and that our woodpeckers have made nice homes for them.
I have arrived. Or my descendants.
Another sign is the male songbirds start singing their melodic mating calls. So far I’ve noticed the Carolina Chickadees, Cardinals, and Mockingbirds are trilling away. Oh boy, I can do without the long, extended Mockingbird sonatas.
I’m expressing myself now. No more chirp chirp.
The Mockingbirds are also doing something unusual, and that’s gathering in groups and chasing each other around, complete with scolding and shouting calls. I wonder if they’re pairing off, dividing up territory, or what?
You can’t see them, but the birds were chasing each other through these trees.
I’m used to seeing large groups of Cardinals, especially after fledging time, but not Mockingbirds. I’ll have to investigate!
Challenging day at work tomorrow, so I’m off to sleep. Thanks for hanging in there with me.
After my deep funk last night, I wasn’t all that well prepared for today, but by the time you get to be a senior citizen, you know that “fake it ‘til you make it” is a real life hack. So I hacked my way through the day and have emerged unscathed. The day was fine, successful even!
I got through my long webinar like a seasoned veteran (oh wait, I AM a seasoned veteran). My colleagues helped out with questions and I think everyone was happy enough. And I spent the rest of the day cheerfully doing my things.
In cheerful work mode
And I finally heard that my contract was being extended until June, which pleases me very much. I’d been recruited by another company to do a similar job, but I was more interested in staying where I am, because it’s such a collaborative environment. So, good news there. We will see how I feel this summer about taking a break or what.
Lee and the dogs vote for taking a break.
The other factor that’s encouraged me today was that I realized I’m not waking up every day to worse and worse news in the US. It’s now like 50/50 ratio of disgusting to encouraging! I just hope we can someday go back to not being “led” by lying pedophiles and their amoral puppeteers. Feel free to disagree on your own blog!
Humor break. I set my phone down on the bed with the camera on. I noticed a camera icon on my watch and used it to take a picture from the bathroom! Nice ceiling, huh?
The weather is warming up, too. Birds are singing love songs and Apache may well be starting to shed. Between him and Alfred, the birds have lots of nesting material!
I said yesterday that the light was coming, and I really felt it today, and not just because we’re halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox! Not that I’m complaining that the sun is setting later, because I enjoyed the sunset and full moon tonight.
Still daylight at 5:30 pm.
I just feel lighter and a little more positive after a few small pieces of good news, and I enjoyed good conversations with friends again. I need to keep this friendliness streak going! It’s hard when most of your friends trend towards the hermit lifestyle just like we do.
Take my word for it; that’s the moon.
Our friends Martha and Mike, who often invite themselves to Sunday dinner, struggle like Lee and I do to make the effort, but we all praise Martha for making the rest of us spend time together. At least we admit our struggles to each other. You feel lots less alone when you figure out we all have challenges to push through.
Red hat. It fits. It’s warm. I’m trendy.
All in all I enjoyed my day of finishing my red solidarity hat, donning my Imbolc t-shirt, and gazing at the candles on my Brigid altar.
I was even able to spend a little time birding once it warmed up a little, since it was sunny and calm. A Belted Kingfisher flew right over my head! Now it has to warm up enough for me to sit out and see the Bald Eagle that’s hanging out here.
St Brigid likes birds.
I can’t miss the turkeys though. Darryl Junior really wants to fly, and his legs pound the dirt like a herd of elephants as he runs and flaps his wings. Good exercise, I guess! Both the birds and horses seem glad for the slight warming trend. Tomorrow should be practically balmy, at least in the 60s.
And here’s January 2026 in its cooler glory.
Enough rambling for one day. I’m all rested and ready to tackle another work week.
Here’s my funky candle collection on the hearth. At least I decorated for a holiday!
Today I did so many items on the to-do list, but at the end of the day, I didn’t feel very accomplished. I was trying to get my chores done so I could spend some time in contemplation, which is what I usually do for this time of year, Imbolc or Candlemas.
One of the things people did in the past was sweep out the house and clean the hearth, as the goddess/saint of this time of year is Brigid, patron saint of Ireland, fire, keeping house, and spinning. Among other things.
No wonder I’ve been in such a frenzy of tidying up (though it may not look like it everywhere In the house). I usually light a bunch of candles, but I will tomorrow night.
Commemorative rock. I’m making one for each sabbat this year.
Chores are things that repeat over and over, just like cleaning your living space, so it’s appropriate I spent so much time getting my journal ready for a new month, cataloging all the birds I’ve seen in January, getting food ready to cook…etc., all of which mostly matters to only me.
Kestrel was bird of the month. Photo by Adam Bowley.
The fowl were happy that one chore was buying a new supply of feed and scratch, along with new meal worms. I wish I could trust the local feed store, because I hate having to drive to the next town to get this stuff and horse feed. It took forever to organize the food, because somehow mice had gotten into my supposedly sealed food bin, so I had to chase them around and scoop them out. Plus there was a rather bold field rat who I had to chase out (not one of the cute cotton rats, a BIG one. I’m about tired of rats. Why don’t those cats I keep seeing eat them?
I also eat mice. And when I run, the earth moves beneath my feet.
And to top it off, lifting the heavy feed bags messed up a nail. Oh yeah, weekly manicure is also a chore, though fun.
The index finger had to be re-done.
At least I was able to get the horses fed and watered while it was above freezing. They are eating like, well, horses. I’m glad I have a lot of hay and that mice can’t get in their food bins.
When I finally got to be indoors, I had to do minutes of the Master Naturalist board meeting from Thursday and put up a blog post. By the time I was done with computer work, my contemplation time was no longer available. A bit of yarn work was all I could fit in. I was disappointed to not finish my hat tonight, but I’ll make it (and finishing January on the temperature blanket) a priority for tomorrow.
Sunrise today.
Chores never end. Still, stop and acknowledge the change of seasons when you can. The light is coming back!
The cold front arrived and we got down to 16°F, with a high of only 24° so my blanket square for today will be all purple! That and getting to watch this hawk on my big stump were the big highlights for my day.
We missed most of the snow, so it was more of an ice festival than winter wonderland outside.
With our fairly rough expectations in previous arctic blasts, our local family were all pleased we had heat (only got down to 64° downstairs and upstairs kept normal 67°). We were very relieved to find that the turkeys DID use their hut last night and most of today. I put water inside the chicken coop so they only had to go out to eat. It was kind of fun watching them skate around to get to food.
This animal was thrilled with the weather once the sleet stopped.
The horses spent a lot of time in their shelter, and had water, because Spice broke the ice with her hooves. She’s an equine survivalist. Tomorrow it should get above freezing and we will pry the food dishes out of the ice and they will be happier. They ate food off the ice just fine, though.
Just follow my lead
I spent most of the day bundled up under my 2025 blanket working on another hat with gray ombré yarn. I’ll add a red tassel! Oh, and there was football to watch and more people to talk to on phone, Zoom, and otherwise (young people next door came here for warm showers). That’s not bad for a cozy shut-in day!
Better than out here!
I did want to say one thing about current events: if you do not feel safe expressing yourself in front of other people, you’re not being unsupportive; you’re protecting yourself. Do whatever you can, as much as you can, but don’t let peer pressure bring on guilt. Some of us have safety in numbers and the means to do more than others. The goal is for most of us in this country to make it through this difficult time and emerge safe, strong, and ready to rebuild broken relationships and institutions.
Other countries have done it. Image from Jetpack image library.
I sound so optimistic. But it’s good to have hope.
How did my weekend off go? Well, it featured some lovely conversations with dear friends and family. It always feels good to keep in touch, and I look forward to more of that. I guess that’s my current mission, to reach out and connect with people I care about, while I still can.
It’s the sunset in many ways
The governor of the state where I live has given our voting records to the national government. This will allow them to see which primary people voted in, since you have to declare which party’s ballot you want. Oddly, many people I know vote in the Republican primary because no one dares run as a Democrat, so many races are decided then. So maybe some of us wouldn’t be targeted if it comes to that.
Oh look. My outdoor plants joined the Christmas cactus to create a cheerful display while it’s cold.
Yeah, I’m not feeling any better. This whole deal where half the US lived in one version of reality and the other half lived in a completely different world only worked when there were checks and balances. The government now parrots the words of an evil regime and has their own scary police force with no incentive to follow legal process.
My bitter old white woman face
But gee, we still have birds and flowers. Yay!
As I mentioned last week, there has been a Black Phoebe here. It’s stayed for days now, and I’ve managed to see it three times.
Black Phoebe
I was very doubtful that Merlin was accurate on this one, because it’s not usually found here. But, I know what the Eastern Phoebe looks like (ours are medium gray with pale yellow breasts), and the bird I’ve seen is very dark with a very white belly, like above.
Range, which does not come close to my house.
The app also registered a Say’s Phoebe, which at least has a closer range, and I kind of believe since my friend Michelle had one show up in Merlin at her house.
Say’s Phoebe Say’s range
I now feel more confident, since remembered that part of the Merlin app is a feature where it will show you all the birds you’re likely to see on any day. Here are the ones I’m most likely to have seen today in Cameron, Texas. Note the Eastern Phoebe among my good bird buddies.
January 12, 2026
But hey, look what comes up when I type in Phoebe! If I’m going to see the two western phoebes, this would be the week!
The blackbird is there because I only searched for “phoe”
So, this has been fun to observe! It’s been really cold (for here), but the birds have been out, especially the sparrows and wrens. Other than the incredibly windy Saturday, I’ve been out enjoying them every day, along with the horses.
And of course Penney.
Funny horse story. When it got so windy and cold, I figured I should put Dusty’s new blanket on him, since he’s so thin, though fuzzy. I didn’t think it through, though, and when I brought the blanket out to show him, Dusty was scared to death! He shook and ran as far away as he could in his pen. I’ll never forget the look in his eyes. I felt like I betrayed him.
On the other hand, Apache thought the blanket was cute.
I’ve left the blanket hanging on Dusty’s gate, and I put his food dish near it. He’s still not happy. I guess the old cow horse never needed a blanket before and doesn’t want one now.
Anybody need a gummy bear-themed blanket for a small horse?
Thank you for reading, for being kind to others, and for cherishing your life.
Of the blanket kind, though it’s rather warm to use one today (and yes, it’s January). And there’s good news in the temperature blanket department: 2025 is done. Yay!
Sitting on the couch in bad light.
I’m pleased with how it came out and I like the border. It looks too big I think because I need to wash and block the blanket to stretch the squares out. Or I could have been mistaken and the border yarn is not sport weight. Well, I thought I checked.
It actually looks like a calendar!
It will get used, since it’s the perfect lap blanket size for sitting and reading or watching television. Or birding.
I climbed on the brown box in the back of the birding station to get higher for the fill-size photo. Art.
I have all the rainfall data to add that in later once I figure out how I want to do it. I want to use beads but am not sure which ones. I may do something softer. Hmm. While I ponder, enjoy a couple of closer views of the squares.
A hot month! Many shades of red. End of the year. Only a few really cold days (blue is cold)
Oh, I should explain for anyone new that the inner part of flower is the low temperature for the day and the outer part is the high temperature. The border was just a color I thought would be fun. I made the pattern up using these flower squares I found online only I used half-double crochet (US) in the first round. It could be just as easily done in any granny square variant.
That’s not much of an explanation. I’m obviously not one of those craft bloggers with the real long introductions and stretched out instructions so more ads can be placed. But more power to them! It all takes time and skill! And I’m too tired to write up instructions. I’d rather be working on my 2026 one.
Do as I say, not as I do.
I was getting snarky for a bit. It’s just because I’m so unhappy with current events that I can’t stay chipper for long. But hey! I did register a Black Phoebe here multiple times on Merlin today. I’d never had one here. I’d love to also see it!
Cutie.
I just have to keep finding these happy things! I started crying today when talking about the news with my son. Not a good sign. Bring on the uplifting thoughts!
I looked up from my phone this morning in the birding station and realized I was surrounded by meadowlarks. Here are just a few.
Meadowlark territory
I cut my nails way short (for me) but they still look festive with snowflakes on them.
I had a good, calm lesson on Apache. Neither Tarrin nor I were feeling well, but we made progress, and, as always, it was a joy to spend time with my horse buddy. When we got home, he shook himself as I was unlocking the gate, and a big cloud of dust flew out from him. He only looked sparkly clean.
Apache and I both wish we looked this good. At least I look kind of like me and he looks kind of like him.
I made some progress on my crocheting. The blanket is getting a cluster border. It’s probably going to be at least three town. It will be good thing to have it slightly larger. Certainly it will be cheerful.
Temperature blanket 2025
I made a delicious frittata for dinner using Connie’s eggs, leftover broccoli, cheese, garlic and a little milk. Both Lee and I loved it.
There have been two new avian visitors to the Hermits’ Rest in the last few days. I exaggerated when I called it an invasion, but these two aren’t usually seen this far east. I don’t recall ever seeing one, and my bird book confirms I had no previous longspur sightings, here or elsewhere. Perhaps that extra-windy cold front blew this week some this way.
Most recent new lifers. I rarely get them at home anymore.
The first one is the Thick-billed. I was very confused because it wasn’t in my guidebook, which is only a few years old.
This one really tried to hide
It turns out the McCown’s Longspur has been renamed in the process of removing human names from species names. If I’d looked at the Latin name I’d have figured it out sooner. As it is, I needed Merlin to find it, because non-breeding males and females look like all the sparrows from a distance.
It’s brown. Yep.
The second one showed up today, which makes me feel more confident that some are a little out of their usual range. The Chestnut-sided Longspur would be just as hard to spot in winter, though it is striking in breeding plumage.
Both birds winter in prairies and fields with short grass, which we have plenty of here. I’ll be very interested to see if any more are detected in the next few weeks. I’m not sure where the spurs are. None of the pictures show the feet well enough, if that’s where they are.
Their ranges are similar. Images borrowed from Merlin Bird ID.
In addition to interesting birds, today was also very pleasant, with clear skies and pleasantly cool temperatures.
No leaves are left on the willows.
I was able to go for a walk, play with the fowl and horses, and enjoy the patio rather than cowering to avoid wind. Of course it warmed up—I finally have blankets for three of the horses. Dusty’s is covered in jelly beans. I wonder if they will need them again?
Thanks for feeding and petting us.
I even managed to complete December in my temperature blanket on the last day of the month! I’d managed to make the last row of black ahead of time. Ahh, I’ll never have to make solid black squares again!
Last week was way warmer than usual for December.
Now all I have left is to join all the blocks and to the border, which is going to be rainbow colors! Why not? That should give me something to do while my peas and collards are cooking tomorrow.
Congratulations to all of you who made it to another year. I have more thoughts on that for tomorrow!
The Hermits' Rest 