Three Little Birds

OK, so I think there might be 5 or 6 little birds.  Regardless...our house has become an aviary. 

Our first experience with birds taking over was when we had a phoebe nest on the front porch.  The mother bird was not so keen on us using the front porch while her brood was still in the nest.  She would fly away when we opened the front door and then every 2-3 minutes she would fly over, look at us in a very impatient and irritated way and then fly over to a nearby rock and just watch us.  I swear her wings were crossed over her chest and she was tapping her little foot.  Eventually we just stopped using the front porch because I couldn't handle her guilt trips anymore!  Thankfully the front porch phoebes have flown the coop, but not without causing quite a commotion.

So here is the sad, sad story of the front porch phoebes.  A few weeks ago, shortly after giving up the porch to the birds, Brody and drove home and I noticed some "debris" on the floor of the porch.  I got Brody inside and all settled and then looked out the bathroom window to see what could possibly be littering our porch.  I was heartbroken when I saw that it was the four little phoebes, having fallen or been pushed out of their nest.  What was even more heartbreaking was when I realized that one was still breathing.  I had to do something, I couldn't let the poor thing just lay their and die on my front porch.  What to do?  What to do?  I paced the hallway trying to think...my mind was racing.  So I called Audubon - they were open until 5pm and it was only 4:30. Ring, ring... It went straight to voicemail.  Damn!  Redial...voicemail again!  Damn, damn those Audubon bastards.  I knew they were there, probably helping someone in the gift shop when I had a REAL bird emergency here.  So I called the person that I always call when tragedy strikes...my dad. 

Of course I don't really know why I call my dad because he usually isn't able to actually help the situation, case in point, I was driving to work on Route 13 back when we lived in Goffstown, tragedy struck and I called my dad, the conversation went a little something like this...

Dad: "Hello?"

Me (through tears): "Dad, I'm on my way to work and I just hit a badger.  It was huge Dad and it's definitely dead.  I feel AWFUL!"

Dad: "Jilly?  Where are you?"

Me: (sniff, sniff) "I'm on my way to work."

Dad: "In New Hampshire?"

Me (irritated now): "Yes, in New Hampshire!"

Dad: "Well, then you didn't hit a badger."

Me (fuming): "Well I hit something and I killed it."

By the end of the conversation we had determined that it was in fact a ground hog, not a badger that I hit, and that I was an idiot for not knowing that we don't have badgers in the northeast.  And as irritating as it was, by the end of the conversation I wasn't quite as heartbroken as I had been at the beginning of the conversation.  So even though my dad can't actually fix it...he fixes it and because of that, he's my go to tragedy man.  After a quick talk with him, somehow I was brave enough to go out on the front porch and deal with the birds.  After all, I didn't want Brody to open the door and see a pile of tiny dead birds.  So...I put my raincoat on and winter gloves because I didn't want that fiesty momma bird to attack me and I didn't want to leave any residue scent on the baby bird so she would reject it.  And somehow, I managed to pick up the three dead birds and put them in a shoebox and then - I seriously have no idea how I did this, but I was able to pick up the last living baby bird and get it back in the nest.  Take that Audubon!

Now, I don't know if the baby actually made it, but the mother came back and spent another week or more tending to the nest so I'm hopeful that it all worked out OK.

The next experience with birds taking over is still ongoing.  We have our front porch back, but the tower on Brody's swingset has been taken over by robins.  When Ryan and Brody went to check on the nest the other day, one of the 5 or 6 little chicks had hatched and poked his headup at them, eyes still closed, only a muppet-like tuft of hair on it's otherwise naked little body.  That afternoon I was able to get a picture and a quick video of the little guys (or gals).  Another one had hatched and they were just chilling out and enjoying the freedom of being outside their eggs.  We've had a serious heat wave over the last few days and I haven't checked the nest again to see if they others have hatched and how they are making out in the heat, but here is what they looked like the other day. 

That's all the bird stories for now.  I'll let you know what else hatches!

Amber Waves of Grain...

We had a FABULOUS Fourth of July Weekend!  The last two years we have been on vacation over the 4th.  After building the house, we thought we would save our pennies and "vacation" at home this summer.  And, we had heard over and over again how great our neighbor's 4th of July party was...so we thought we'd check it out ourselves this year.  Let's just say it didn't disappoint.  My favorite part about attending their party was that, to get there, we only had to walk across the front yard...and do get home, yep you guessed it, we only had to walk across the front yard - in the opposite direction of course.  Brody took a rockin' nap until about 6:30pm so he was good to go for the fireworks. 

So we played for a while, ate some good food, and then let off these great hot air balloons.  They were really beautiful floating in the sky - although I can't help but wonder...where did they go?  Where did these little burning balls of paper and wire land and what damage did they do?  Thankfully, they didn't land on our house, but I spent a good portion of the night with a bit of worry in the back of my mind that they were landing on someone's house and ruining their 4th of July celebration.  We didn't hear any sirens, so...

Brody's first experience with sparklers...how cute is he??!!

And now the balloons...see, they're cool, but don't you wonder where they went and what damage they did?

And then came the fireworks...or more appropriately the FIREWORKS!  Oh yes, they were that good.  Unfortunately, the video I took of them won't load...likely because they were so awesomely awesome that they would blow up the computer...or it could be because the file is too large...or maybe, just maybe it is some karmic (is that a word?) reason that it won't load because the fire department would catch wind of it and our neighbors would be arrested (because those were no legal back yard fireworks) and we wouldn't be able to enjoy them next year...you never know! 
So to give you an idea of the scale of this fireworks production, here is a photo of the set up...I pretended to be interested in how they were set up and planned, but in reality, I was gathering information for insurance purposes just in case there was a misfire that demolished our new house!

Brody absolutely loved the first 15 minutes of the fireworks...and then I think the night caught up with him and he was ready for bed and snuggled through the remained of the show.  We headed home (yep, just across the yard) and washed all the bug spray and face paint off of our boy, and we were all in bed by 10:45pm.  Sadly, going to bed over three hours past his regular bedtime only made Brody sleep in an hour later than usual!

We spent the rest of the weekend at home.  It was the hottest weekend that we've had so far this summer, in the 90's, and so Brody spent most of it as he calls "nudey" or with only a swimmy on...and I spent most of it wishing that it was acceptable for a 31-year old woman to do the same.  Somehow Ryan was able to work (like manual labor, moving rocks, building walls, shoveling dirt and gravel type work) through the heat.  I worked for about a half hour and then had to get a drink and sit down...then could work for another half hour...and so on.  I married a working machine...which makes me very happy most of the time, but sometimes I just want to go inside, sit in the AC, and use the hot weather as an excuse to do nothing!

Brody and his swimmy...

Ryan and his rock wall...

And did I ever show you my rain barrel?  I LOVE it for two reasons...1.) it prevents part of the driveway and walkway from flooding during heavy rains and 2.) it has provided enough water for me to water all of my plants and gardens all summer!

And, while we're at it and this post is now incredibly long, I'll show you my vegetable garden.  It got a late start this year, but is coming right along now!

So now that you're thoroughly bored from looking at pictures of tomato plants, I'll promise that the next post will be full of life and VERY exciting!

Hampton or Bust

So those of you who know us (yes, I'm making a big assumption that someone other than me actually reads this blog), know that we're typically the York type of beach people.  We like the family-friendly atmosphere, the quaint shops, the slower pace.  As I've said before the ocean is one of the few places we can go and really relax and have a good time.  So why, you might ask, did we decide to go to Hampton Beach...home of the arcade boardwalk, the Casino Ballroom, and more people in fewer clothes than should ever be worn (or not worn as the case may be) in public?  Blame it on good advertising!  We had heard over and over again on the radio and TV how this amazing sandcastle competition was going to be at Hampton Beach...famous beach sculptors from across the country (this should have tipped me off on the false advertising...are there really famous beach sculptors?) were going to be there.  Anyway, we bought into it and after a late start, due to some craigslist negotiating that I won't get into right now, and a few miles of bumper to bumper traffic, we arrived at Hampton.

Now Brody doesn't care where we go, what state, what town, what beach...it's all the same ocean to him.  If there are waves to chase and sand to dig, he's a happy boy.  So the sandcastle competition ended up being a bust, but we still had a blast...and thanks to the regular Hampton Beach-goers, the people watching was plentiful and quite entertaining!

Sorry I forgot to warn you to put your sunglasses on before looking at these pictures.  What can I say, Brody is a pasty shade of Irish -not much I can do about that - and insisted on taking his shirt off.

I know, I know, you can see his ribs and he looks slightly Ethiopian, but I swear we feed him and I can't help that his foods of choice are raspberries and blueberries...do you know how many berries you need to eat to gain weight?

Doing the crazy beach dance...

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of all time.  If this doesn't scream JOY..I don't know what does.

And now he's striking a "Clint" pose.  I think I have many pictures of my father looking like this at the ocean from our family vacations.

And he might only be three (in another month), but it's never too early to start checking out the ladies, and at Hampton...it's quite the site to check out! 

And here is Brody's favorite beach pastime...chasing the waves...

...and having the waves chase him.

All in all - a fabulous day at the beach.