Hummers unite! (or starve, whichever.)

I finally have hummingbirds as regular neighbors.  Finally!  I love these little guys, so much so I have three feeders specifically designed for them hanging in my garden, (by my patio, so I can watch them, of course.)  Each feeder has a different type of feeding port.  I even went on the internet to find out how to make my own “nectar”.  I also make a bit of sticky mess, but it’s well worth the effort.

Then there’s the ants, who also like the nectar, naturally.  I talked with my dad about options to keep them at bay: adhesive paper on the pole, insecticide spray, a homemade “ant moat”.  Gruesome from the ant’s point of view, but I want to protect the food meant for the hummers. 

Projects take time

The most-beautiful-three-and-a-half-year-old on the planet decided to help me do a little crocheting when she and her parents were visiting.  One of her favorite cartoon characters, the brilliant Richard Scarry’s Lowly Worm, was in the process of being recreated in yarn.  Not a terribly difficult project for a 58-year-old grandmother who learned to crochet decades ago (from my grandmother, BTW, only I was a bit older.)

Modern parenting

I have discerned that one of the buzz-words in behavioral training is “redirection”.  It’s the idea that instead of simply scolding and saying “NO”, which certainly has its place (I’m old school), it is important to add a positive element to the situation by redirecting the child’s focus to a more, shall we say, profitable activity. 

“NO, you must not put the Tinker Toy into the wall socket; how about I help you build a bridge?”

“NO, your baby brother would not prefer eating his applesauce over your ice cream made of Lego blocks.”

“NO, we must not cut the feet off your sister’s Barbie doll and glue her ankles onto the snow skis you just made; let’s fashion something else to fit her orthopedically challenged posture instead.”  (Hmmmm…wonder where THAT one came from??)

God, our perfectly loving Father, must also have something

In other words…

And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Colossians 3:17 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Blue jays, beware

As I write this, I’m sitting on my patio in the cool of the early morning springtime watching a mommy robin feed squiggly brown disgusting things to the little ones in her nest, which she decided to make in a hanging basket outside my back door.  When I think of what we used to have for our young’uns to eat back in the 80’s (strained peas and carrots???), I guess to each his own.

Now she’s taking a bit of a break, just sitting on the babes keeping them warm.  Not that moms ever really take a break—yep, there she goes again, off to get more disgusting brown squiggly things.

Earlier, we had a little drama.  There must have been another robin invading the nearby territory as mom and/or dad went on the offensive.  There was a brief but