Bluebird Real Estate -

 

 This was a surprise yesterday!  

A male Eastern bluebird visiting a decorative bird box hanging on the front porch.

Our large family of bluebirds have been nesting in the larger bird house

 on a post in the garden for the past three years, and hopefully they'll

 continue to use it this spring. We truly enjoy the bluebirds year round here.

It's a very cold morning here with a little icy rain falling. 

34F now and high today only reaching 36F, brrrrr!

Many bluebirds seem to enjoy the porch on these chilly, wet days.

These damp bluebirds are sheltering on the hanging lanterns which

 have become a favorite spot . . . . . . and I do admit to scattering seed 

on the porch railing on the really cold or wet days!

Some interesting bluebird info I found online today:

It is quite common to see Bluebirds visit nest boxes during the winter. 

You may even see them carry some nest material into the box. 

This is not actual nesting behavior but more than likely a male showing

 off a good place to raise young to a female. It never hurts to get a head start.

Bluebirds will typically raise between 2 and 3 broods each year, and they

 will often re-use old nests. It could take a couple of seasons for them

 to start using your nestbox, but after that, bluebirds generally return

 to the same area each year.Bluebirds prefer their nests facing – in

 order of preference – east, north, south and west.

Enjoy the weekend.

Hope you see "bluebirds of happiness" in your garden.

Living Room Blues -

I'm not keen on the idea of purchasing home accessories online - I really

prefer to see what I'm buying upfront and close up.

These days, real shopping, where you call a friend, make a date for

 lunch, and look forward to "let's take whirl around Home Goods, 

TJMaxx, Target etc. for a couple of hours" is out of the question.

I'm missing those special days and spending time with my friends.

Following the annual packing away of colorful holiday decorations -

other than leaving out some candles to brighten the long evenings - the

 living room has taken on a bit of a tired look. . . . . perhaps because we

 now spend so much time there and have to look at it so much!

So today you get what has to be the first 'cottage interiors' post

 in a long time, and I require a little help with this one.

I purchased the pair of blue and white 'ginger jar' style lamps online, 

throwing caution to the wind in hopes they would work in the room.

Despite a initial scare when I noticed some serious damage to both

 boxes they arrived in, thankfully the lamps and shades were intact and

 not damaged at all! 

Removing them from said boxes is another story - let's just

 say styrofoam made from millions of miniscule balls should be

 banned now!

My old table lamps were just that, old and dull. 

This small room has a wall of windows facing north, no direct sun floods in,

just enough natural light in the daytime, and for evenings ambient lighting

 from table and floor lamps, and two ceiling spots over the fireplace.

Notice that the lamp on the left of the sofa is currently standing on

 three books! This is because that end table is lower that the one on

 the right - something I never thought about before because the former

 lamps were not a matching pair and apparently their different

 heights worked. 

So, and this is where your help would be appreciated, should I raise the

 lower table by adding something (pieces of wood perhaps) underneath it; 

look for something else to stand the lamp on, such as a wood or ceramic 

plinth/pedestal; or just continue using books which can be changed out 

now and then regarding colors and sizes?  

Needless to say, the right hand table cannot be lowered and I have no

 plans to buy new tables anytime soon, if ever, because I like these!

I enjoy the shades of blues and grays in this room. It was a big change

 after saying goodbye to the old sofa and white slip covers on all the

 upholstered pieces for many years - such a lot of extra work! 

Now however I realize I need a few pops of another color, again to

 brighten up the room - so today I added the velvet mustard patterned 

pillow and citron candle for the time being.

Curiosity makes me want to ask how you feel regarding online shopping.

Have you purchased home decor items this way, and if so were they 

delivered safely, undamaged, and did you keep them?

I was really nervous seeing the state the boxes arrived in. I thought

how awful if I unpacked them but needed to repack and ship them 

back to the seller. 

Life is different these days in so many ways.

Weekend at home -

 

Despite the wet weather much of the weekend, we still enjoyed being

 here at home. Both of us addressed 'paperwork' in its many shapes

and forms. Bob worked on his, sorting and shredding, at the kitchen

 table, while I spent several hours at the dining room table working 

on a new pocket sized 'password' book. 

Life's very important small books. Yes, I do have two Passports

being a duel citizen of the United States of America and the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

My Moleskine book is something I can't live without, especially when

 traveling which I plan to do again some day! The former version had

 become a disaster, just a muddle of usernames, passwords, 'secret 

questions', phone numbers for everything and everyone.

Health, travel, computer, iPhone, family, online shopping. . . . . 

pages and pages where it took ages to locate what I was searching

for at any given time.

My new book has a bright red cover - not only makes it easier to

 find but more cheerful to look at!

The Mourning dove visited alone - I'm hoping so much that its mate is still around.

Same squirrel came daily to the porch all weekend - acting like a fluffy

 vacuum cleaner as it gathered and gobbled more bird seed than the birds!

Mrs. Northern flicker is such a beauty!  She and her mister appear to be

 best friends with the bluebird family as they all wait their turn at the

 suet feeders.

Our bluebird family continued to be extremely active in the inclement 

weather, especially Sunday morning when as many as four perched

 together along the flag pole getting soaked but not at all concerned by

 the often heavy rain.

Here it is, Monday again and we have sunshine.

Off to walk soon before the sun goes down and the air turns cool.  

The remainder of the week looks quiet and will be getting colder

toward next weekend. We are scheduled to receive vaccine #2 on

Sunday when there's a possibility of snow - fingers crossed it will

not impact our second visit to the hospital parking lot quite early on

Valentine's Day!

Enjoy your week dear friends.