Puffiness

Although it was supposed to warm up today, it remained "brisk" all day, and  the skies stayed dreary.  This led to lots of puffy birds in the backyard, which is always fun in terms of photography.  I chose this one because I love seeing all the chipping sparrows around the yard right now.  I'm hoping that some will stay here to nest - several years ago we had a pair that nested somewhere on our property and it was such fun when they brought their youngsters around to show them the feeder ins and outs.  And, although chipping sparrows winter in Florida, I never saw one when I was there.  They have an interesting, trilling song, quite distinctive - if you're interested, you can have a listen HERE ( just scroll down to the black box on the left that says "typical voice".)

Four other backyard favorites posted on Flickr, starting HERE with a titmouse

I tackled the boxes in the garage that had my gardening things in them - got them all unpacked and put in their proper places, all ready for me to start planting!  Some of the boxes have been in storage since I packed them last fall, so I had forgotten how many pots I'd packed.  Well, that just means that I need to fill them all with flowers and herbs!  Must say, I'm very much looking forward to gardening this summer.  

In amongst the gardening boxes in the garage, I found one remaining large box of sweaters so I trundled those upstairs and unpacked them.  I was wondering where they were and hoping I hadn't gotten rid of them when I left last fall!  

Thanks for the kind words and good advice to slow down a bit.  I sometimes forget  that I'm not 30 (or 40, or even 50) anymore; and I also tend to overestimate what I can realistically do in a given day.  Still, it feels good not to be seeing boxes everywhere I look.  

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting up with the local Audubon/bird club folks for a walk.  A little too early for warblers, but we should see some migratory water birds such as loons and various ducks/grebes.  Maybe some swallows and phoebes too.  Mostly, it will just be good to catch up with everyone!

Happy Friday, people.

Debbi