Are you SURE you want to nest there?

A year and a half ago, Don did a tremendous amount of deck repair around the house, including removing a wide section that was literally rotting through.

As a result, we have some freestanding posts that, eventually, we'll get around to removing (they're in the middle-right of the photo below). But for the moment, they're doing no harm and aren't in the way.

One of these posts has a rotted top.

This has apparently caught the attention of a pair of black-capped chickadees. They've been diligently excavating it, presumably in anticipation of nesting in it.

One or the other bird will land on the edge of the post, then dive inside. It emerges a few seconds later with a beak full of rotten wood debris.

It then flies off to dump its load...

...while its mate swoops in right behind it to duplicate the process.

Back and forth, back and forth, busy as beavers.

Personally we think it's not the best spot for a nest since I would guess the pocket would fill with water, but I suppose the birds know what they're doing. 

I don't know if they'll complete the nest – I haven't seen them at all today, perhaps because it's been rainy – but it's been fun to watch how industrious they are.

The gardening itch

Despite persistently chilly temperatures, spring is upon us. No denying it. The trees are starting to bud, the grass is greening up, and the gardening itch is biting hard.

Here in our new (to us) home, we have the same issue of heavy clay soil we had in our old place. In fact, sad/funny true story: We have some lovely neighbors who moved in early last year. They're urban transplants and are eager to embrace a homesteading lifestyle. Last spring, they put up a four-foot fence (not understanding how high deer jump) around a garden area, tilled up the soil, and planted their garden. They were gratified by how many seedlings popped up (though less gratified when the deer started grazing them down; they've since doubled the height of their garden fence). However when we visited with them mid-summer and the subject of gardens came up, they were dismayed and discouraged that their vegetables had been baked into hard clay, and no amount of watering seemed to help. We sympathized and told them about the Wonders of Raised Bed Gardening.

Anyway, that's a long-winded way of explaining why we're never going to even bother planting any vegetables in the soil. It's raised beds all the way for us, baby.

For some time now, Don's been constructing beds. This year we anticipate we'll get 30 beds built, filled, and planted (we'll expand next year). Here are the first six:

In March, we marked off the dimensions of the garden. It will be long and fairly narrow. (That's Don down there at the far end.)

In the absence of billboard tarps (which we used for weed control in our last garden), we purchased some industrial-strength weed cloth. We're waiting for the pasture to dry enough that Don can plow the garden space under with the tractor. Then we'll lay down the weed cloth and anchor it with gravel before putting the beds in place.

However potatoes need to be planted right away. In the absence of beds, I'll use grow bags. This week I bought my seed potatoes.

Yes, that gardening itch is biting hard. It feels good to move, however modestly, toward our homesteading goals.

New face at the bird feeder

A flash of white caught my eye the other day, as a new bird showed up at the feeder.

I was puzzled because we don't have any white birds in the region. My first thought was it was an albino Cassin's finch, but it didn't have the characteristic albino features (pink eyes, legs, and beak). Nor was its plumage true white.

A few moments of research determined it's a leucistic Cassin's finch. According to this website, "A lesser-known genetic condition is called leucism. Unlike albinism, leucism doesn’t completely eliminate pigment. Leucistic birds have incredibly varied patterns. They may appear more muted than their counterparts or they can be dotted with white patches. These birds are occasionally mistaken for albinos, but leucistic birds always have some pigment in their feathers or other body parts, such as their feet, eyes or beak."

I mean, how cool is this?

Some sources I read indicated leucistic birds often get picked on by other birds, but I saw no indication of this. The white bird behaved just the same as the other Cassin's finches. However, that same online source added, "Birds with discoloration may struggle during courtship. Many birds use plumage color as a way to find and recognize potential mates."

Now that he (she?) has found his way to the feeder, I see him often. It's always a pleasure.

The only thing I noticed is this leucistic bird doesn't stand as high on its legs. Below is a regular Cassin's finch:

This leucistic finch, while appearing perfectly healthy, sits back more on its haunches. Perhaps it has weaker legs? No idea.

Regardless, it's a pretty bird, and very welcome at the feeder.

Wise words from a reader

In response to my last blog post, "The Only Way to Survive 2023," a reader named Leigh chimed in with her two cents' worth. I found her words so wise – far better than I could phrase things – that I wanted to highlight them here.

She writes: In reading these articles, I notice a common denominator, which is basically (over-simplified, I suspect) that the alarms and cautions are related to embracing the current economic system, which relies on debt and the hope of wealth accumulation through investments. The ideas that debt can make us affluent, or that everyone has to be a millionaire before they can retire is a new one, within my lifetime at least. Growing up, it was explained to me that one strives toward their highest earnings in one's younger years: to buy a home, raise a family, and secure tangible assets. Once the children are on their own and the house is paid for, there isn't need for so much, and a smaller retirement income will suffice to be happy and comfortable. Now, this is foreign thinking.

My husband and I have never had the income to get caught up in the economic investment lifestyle. So honestly, people getting panicky over the state of the economy is something that makes no sense. Instead, we have "invested" in the land, tools, equipment, and skills to live a simpler lifestyle and become more self-reliant. Of course, I don't like higher retail prices and disappearing products. But because of our lifestyle, we can pretty much say "oh well" and shrug it off.

The biggest challenge is that learning how to be frugal also requires learning how to be content. And that it isn't a stopgap measure, it's a lifestyle. Unfortunately, contentment pretty is pretty foreign to human nature, which I suspect contributes greatly to people getting stressed out.

Yes!! This woman gets it! She explains things so clearly. Listen to her wisdom.

The only way to survive 2023

Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper had an interesting post on New Year's Eve: "The only way to survive 2023."

While the article was generous in explaining her recommended technique, she was able to sum it up in one word: Frugality.

Frugality, though it 's gotten a bad rap, is actually a deeply enthralling subject (at least, I think so). I decided to dig a little deeper into the mentality of frugal people and came across an article from a few years ago entitled "5 Reasons the Frugal Fare Well in a Recession."

Here are the things the author lists:

1. The Frugal Know the Importance of Consciously Consuming Media

What they mean is, frugal people don't succumb to peer pressure. They don't try to keep up with the Joneses, or with fashion trends, or buying the latest consumer electronics, or anything else advertisers do to lure us into parting with cash.

2. The Frugal Know the Importance of Counting Nickels and Dimes

What's the old line? Watch the pennies, and the dollars will take of themselves. (Butchered grammar, but you get the idea.) Basically, examine every expenditure, with two goals: One, is it really necessary? And two, is there a cheaper alternative?

3. The Frugal Know the Importance of Calculating the Long-term Cost of Purchases 

Essentially, examine every purchase to see if it meets one's long-term goal. If you're saving for a rural homestead, for example, it's not cost effective to eat restaurant meals, because eating out doesn't advance the goal.

4. The Frugal Know the Importance of Pursuing Goals

Having a goal to start with – whether it's getting out of debt, buying that rural homestead, or anything else worth pursuing – defines why you're being thrifty. It's not just thrift for thrift's sake – it's thrift to achieve a goal. In short, eyes on the prize.

5. The Frugal Know the Importance of Continuing to Create Wealth

This advice included not putting all your financial eggs in one basket, developing several income streams, and other ways to safeguard your money.

I found this advice refreshingly honest.

The benefits of adopting frugality before an economic downturn is you're already paddling a light canoe. When things get tough, you already know what it takes to tighten your belt to withstand the buffeting winds.

I have a feeling Daisy Luther is correct. Frugality may be the key to surviving not just 2023, but beyond.

Health kick

The Lewis family has been on a health kick lately.

We all needed to lose weight anyway. That's the trouble with being hobbits – by our nature, we're inclined to stoutness. In late January during a checkup, Don's doctor suggested he start taking medicine to control his cholesterol. Instead, Don offered to lose weight: thirty pounds in three months.

And that's what started it. We had all been eating healthier anyway, thanks to Older Daughter's culinary expertise, but we took up intermittent fasting (eating one meal a day, usually around 1 pm) and ramped up our fitness routine.

Don and I keep weights in our bedroom, snugged against the wall. He does a workout five or six days a week, alternately between upper body and lower body. I do a workout every day, alternately between ballet stretches (I used to be a dancer) and weights (lighter than Don's, of course) on a three-day rotation of various exercises.

Here are some of the hand weights:

We also have a fold-up weight bench (with some more weights tucked beneath it).

And we've all been walking, weather permitting. Every morning we take Mr. Darcy on a half-mile walk (level ground) in the morning. In the afternoon, we've taken to "climbing the mountain," as we call it, a two-mile round trip up a steep road (Mr. Darcy loves this!). About forty percent of this walk is purely uphill with an average grade of nine percent, so we're puffing pretty hard by the time we get to the top. (The breakdown: 10% flat, 40% steep uphill, 40% steep downhill, 10% flat.)

Here's the uphill slope. A photo, of course, never seems to do justice to the steepness.

And the downhill:

And it's working. My goodness, it feels good to get more fit. I'll scratch a random itch and feel muscle. Don's lost 23.5 pounds (his three-month checkup is in a couple weeks, so while he may not make a full 30 lbs., he'll be close). Older Daughter has lost 25 pounds, and I've lost 20 pounds.

I have a longer weight-loss journey than the rest of the family, but that's okay. So far it's been a fairly painless process, and I'm satisfied to settle into this for the long run. Slow and steady – as they say – wins the race.

Happy Resurrection Day!

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.

A blessed Day of Resurrection to you all.

Weather whiplash

First we get snow.

Now we're getting a spike of heat.

I mean, look at this craziness. A high of 80F (!! – in April!) on Monday, then it crashes over 30 degrees overnight as rain moves in.

Looks like we'll be doing all outdoor work early in the day on Monday. None of us are used to the heat yet. But hey, at least I'll be able to dry laundry outside.

More signs of spring

We're all getting antsy to get some outdoor spring work done, but have been hampered by inclement weather, including a couple of late snowstorms.

But Don's been working on building some garden beds. They're in pieces now, but they're starting to take shape.

And yesterday, I noticed something exciting – garlic poking up above the snow!

This is the garlic I planted in the strawberry beds last October (since I had nowhere else to plant it).

It made my little ol' gardening heart go pitter-pat when I saw all these brave plants poking above the snow.

Yep, spring is coming. Don is itching to rip up the ground where the garden will be (we've already staked it out), but things are still too soggy to do that. Patience patience.

Bonus pic: Mr. Darcy dozing in a shaft of sunlight.

Last bit of winter

I woke up at about 4:45 am yesterday morning to a distant beeping. "Power's out," I mumbled to Don. The beeping was the sound of the backup battery on his computer. He stumbled out of bed, turned off his computer (which stays in a state of hibernation overnight), and came back to bed.

But I was covering for a coworker yesterday, so I had to get ready to do my job without electricity. I can start working whenever I get up, so I got up at 5 am. (That's what comes from being an early bird.)

Why did the power to go? No idea, but we're getting a last blast of winter and received about five inches of wet heavy snow overnight. Doubtless a branch came down on a power line somewhere. If there's one thing we've learned since moving to our new (to us) home, it's that every snowfall is an excuse for the power the go out. Accordingly, we've put all sorts of backups in place.

Take this LED camping lantern, for example. We got some of these last year and they've proved to be excellent: very bright, and chargeable by a number of methods (electricity, solar, hand-cranked, etc.).

I also lit an oil lamp. This provided light at both ends of the house.

I used a barbecue lighter to light the propane stove and get the kettle started for tea.

Once the water was hot, I poured my tea, refilled the kettle, and set it on the woodstove. Unless it's cold enough to keep the fire going all night (and it wasn't), I always prepare the wood cookstove the night before for a fast light in the morning. I lit the fire to warm the house, and put the tea kettle on to heat water for when Don got up.

I plugged my laptop into the battery backup we keep on hand for just such an occasion. Used solely for my laptop, there's enough juice in this backup battery to let me work for several days.

Then I plugged the wireless hotspot into my USB port to provide internet, and got to work.

But the outside was too pretty to ignore. I know it's April and we should be looking for spring flowers, but winter wasn't ready to let go.

A neighbor's horse was in high spirits. 

The goldfinches seemed grateful for the easy breakfast.

You can see the buildup of snow on the pines.

Then I saw something amusing. Way down in the valley, a tom turkey, puffed up like a Spanish grandee, was strutting his stuff for the ladies.

Can't stop those hormones, no matter what the weather.