I Am Guilty of Neglecting My Blog

Yes. I am guilty of neglecting my blog. On June 12, I began a summer semester American History class. Let me tell you, this class has kicked my butt. Practically every hour that I have outside of work, is spent doing pages upon pages of American History. As of today, I have one more week left. I am going to be so glad when this class is finished!

Very Sad News To Report

I just witnessed a hawk attack and carry off my baby crow. Baby crow was four and a half weeks old, fully feathered, and almost full size. He would stay in a bird cage most of the time, but I would put him outside on tree branches and on the ground so that he could try to learn what birds are supposed to know. Today, I had him in the grass. While cleaning up after dinner I looked out the kitchen window and saw a hawk attacking him. I tried to get outside as quickly as possible to try to scare the hawk off. When I got outside I saw the hawk take off with my baby crow. At that point I could no longer watch. I bawled my eyes out. As you can see from previous posts and pictures, I raised this guy from when he was just hatched, fed him every one and a half to two hours, and bonded with him. I did the best I could to give this little guy the best start possible. Considering he would have died had I not found him in the first place, he had an excellent four and a half weeks. I am deeply saddened. This has been very traumatic for me.

I Have A New Grandpuppy

This is my new grandpuppy. He is 12-weeks old and his name is Tater (as in tater-tot). My daughter bought him two days ago from a breeder in Pennsylvania. She drove up and I drove back so she could hold him and bond with him on the way back. She's had him for 2 days and he's adjusting nicely. Yes, I am biased, he is one smart puppy, and cute too!

My Baby Bird Is A Crow

It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since I found this little guy. I can't believe how fast and how much he has grown. With the sprouting of feathers, I have determined that he is a crow. I am concerned because his right eye is not functioning as it should and I'm afraid he might be blind in that eye. I will be contacting someone that has wildlife knowledge to determine what his fate will be as I'm not sure he will be able to survive in the wild because of his eye.

Baby House Finches Are Gone

I got home today and noticed that I hadn't seen or heard the mama and papa house finches. Usually they are on the deck communicating with their nested babies. I went out to check the nest and discovered that the nest is now empty. It's been about two weeks since they were born and they grew so quickly. From past experience I figured they would be gone in about two weeks so they're right on track. I'm so glad to have had the experience!

Just Call Me "Mama Bird"

On my way to the mailbox something caught my eye. I looked down and I saw this little guy on the edge of my stone driveway. The nearest tree was about 70 feet away and I can't imagine how he ended up at the spot where I found him. As soon as I picked him up his mouth opened up wide because he was very hungry. So I took him back to the house and placed him in a box with some soft material, fed him, and placed the box under a warm light bulb. It's official - I have adopted him. Just call me Mama Bird!

Ankle Socks In Progress

For my second pair of socks, I decided to make ankle socks. I didn't follow any particular pattern. It's just a plain stockinette stitch with a short 2x2 rib at the top. I'm using Knit Picks Palette (100% Peruvian Wool). The color is "Petal".

Baby House Finches Are Here

We have five new baby House Finches! When I checked the nest on Saturday I discovered all five eggs had hatched. They are growing very quickly and will soon get too big for their small nest. Mama bird comes to feed them frequently throughout the day. I didn't realize until now that mama birds only stay in their nests until the baby birds have emerged from their eggs. After that, the mama birds only come to the nest to feed their always hungry babies. These once silent babies have found their voices, and their voices are getting stronger and more demanding each and every day. I have really been enjoying this event. It will be sad when they leave the nest.

Baby House Finches Are On The Way

Baby House Finches are on the way! As you can see, there isn't really that much room for a nest between the wall of the house and the porch light. I hope mamma bird is a good nest builder. I'll keep you posted.

Once the babies are born, I'm not sure that the nest will hold up. The reason I say this is - six years ago a House Finch built a nest in the exact same place. After the babies were born the nest started to fall apart, the babies fell to the deck, and the nest could not be placed back. And so, I became a mama bird. I took the babies in, fed them constantly, and after several weeks they began to fly out of the box I was keeping them in. The very first one to fly out of the box surprised me big time. I had just removed the lid to feed them when the first one flew up and out of the box and landed on the plate rail in my kitchen. I don't know who was surprised more, the bird or me. I quickly scooped him up and took him outside because I instinctively knew it was his time. After that, within several days, one by one my bird babies flew the coop. The very last bird to leave was the runt. Initially, he was the one that was kicked out of the nest (before it fell apart) three times by the bigger baby birds. I was concerned that he wouldn't survive at all (law of nature). That year I was the proud mama of five beautiful fledglings.

A Secret Pal Package Arrived

My Secret Pal is the best! I found a package waiting for me when I came home today. Inside, I found cool goodies. I love the knitting notes (a great little journal that allows me to remove the pages and place them back in any order I want). There are some nice knitting note cards, a peach lip balm, a unique luggage tag, and a tin of chocolate truffles (the weather was warm and the chocolate truffles had melted into one large truffle, but it still tasted great - chocolate is chocolate regardless of shape!) Thank you Secret Pal!

Grotesque Knitting Accident

As a member of the TownsendSocksKnitALong at Yahoo Groups I receive the daily digest. Well, yesterday's digest included a post titled "The Most Horrific Picture in the Knitter World". I clicked on it, and sure enough, it's pretty gross. If you have the stomach for it, feel free to click here to see the picture. Once you get to the picture, there is a link to the right of the picture to read the story about how Anastacia's accident happened. Never, would I have thought knitting could be so dangerous!

Spring, Rain, And Socks

Okay, Spring is finally here. We're still waiting for spring-like temperatures (we are well below the average temperature for April), but at least the buds have bloomed.

April showers? Boy, did we get some April showers! We don't normally have a huge lake in our back yard, but we did the other day.

I made my very first pair of socks! I feel empowered! I made a basic sock pattern (stockinette stitch) and used Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn. The color is Purple Splendor. It wasn't until I washed and dried the socks that I saw how beautifully this yarn fluffs up. I even made a miniature sock out of the same yarn to go on a sock blocker key chain. Yes, I am addicted. I will make more socks!!!!!!

Look What Came In The Mail Today

When I arrived home from work today there was a package waiting for me at the door. I figured it was some yarn that I was waiting for, but it wasn't. I didn't recognize the store name of the sender, and I knew I hadn't ordered anything from this seller. So, what did I do? I opened the box! This rather large box was extremely light and didn't feel like it contained anything, BUT when I opened the box I discovered a pair of beautiful cobalt blue knitting needles! What a nice surprise to come home to. I HAVE THE BEST SECRET PAL!

I Have A Secret Pal Too!

Last night I received a much awaited email from my Secret Pal. I'm so glad to be a participant in Secret Pal 10. This is going to be so much fun! I think this is a great opportunity to get to know more about two other knitters out there (my Spoiler and my Spoilee) that I may not have otherwise crossed paths with. Secret Pal - What a concept!

Woohoo! I Am A Secret Pal.

Today I received the name of the person for whom I will be a Secret Pal for Secret Pal 10. This is the first secret pal exchange I have participated in and I am very excited! I've seen blogs from previous exchanges and everyone seems to have had a lot of fun. I can't wait to get to know my pal and send her surprise packages.