been watchin lately

Lately... I have been a movie renter from the library like crazy! 

Here are some of my latest rents and what I thought.

Fantastic movie!  Twists and turns that I was not expecting.  Well played!

I watched this movie three ties last weekend... maybe more.  I love Shirley Maclaine and Jessica Lange both and them together in a movie was fantastic.  Very cute movie.

Did you even know there was a remake of Steel Magnolias??  This is a very cute version but not as good as the original. 

Hunt for the Wilderpeople was pretty cute.  Comic Dynamite???  I didn't think so.  It did make me cry at one point.  Worth the watch.

Charles Dickens Bleak House was absolutely top drawer!  Three dvd's was like a good book I didn't want to put down. 

This movie was funny... even Shaun laughed at this one.  I watched it in the kitchen and decided to share with him.  There is nudity but this being set in the seventies make it really great.

Captain Fantastic I really liked.  I was on the wait list at the library for a few months for this one.  I once started to cancel the hold and am so glad that I didn't.  Really good.

I truly hope you weren't expecting me to tell you what these movies are about.  I don't roll like that although I wanted to.  I like to let you see for yourself.  Kid of like me... I hardly ever read what the movie is about.  I don't want to know what to expect at all.  I don't read the covers of books either.  If I begin reading and don't like it or can't follow it then I put it down.  But I don't like to know anything about  it or I will form my own assumptions ahead of time. 

Here's what I am currently on the wait list for.

Birds at the DC

We like us some birds at the DC y'all.  We watch them out the front window as they frequent our feeder, we collect feathers when we play outside, we even had a Robin's nest in our tree we planted this past Summer!

This past Saturday I picked up a book at the library by Kevin Henkes called Birds that had requested.  So that is the book we read at story time.... four times.  Then during nap time I cut out bird silhouettes on card stock that I had printed.  After sleepy heads were up, we broke out colored tissue paper, circles and glue sticks. 

Sometimes I have to stop myself because of the ideas that are in my head of what I want the end result of a craft or plan to be and allow the kids to do whatever they want with the supplies they are given.  I get in there and create my own version and let them be the artist of their version.  It always works out beautifully and they are so proud of their work. 

This morning, on the drive to work (down the driveway), I stopped and picked up a couple of branches, which were a little icy.  They thawed quickly once inside and I strung thin embroidery thread from the branches to tacks and pushed the tacks into the ceiling.  The branches hung really nicely.  Then I tied the string from the birds to the branches.  I love it!  They are hanging in front of the window where our bird feeder is.

The kids were so excited when they got there this morning.  I love that feeling.  The little one always says "Oh thank you Waurie!" when I have done something new.  So very rewarding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birdwatching at the DC

A month or so ago, when my mom gave me a shepperd's hook that mounts to deck, I hung a bird feeder right in front of the front window of the playroom at the day care.  It seemed like it took forever for the birds to find my offerings.  I almost got discouraged thinking the feeder was too close to the house.  But finally I spied a few House Finches had begun to frequent and then a few Juncos, a few Chickadees and today we had a Red Bellied Woodpecker.  I was so very excited.  I called the kids over to watch as he took seeds from the feeder and flew to the Dogwood tree in the front yard to crack them open.  His red head really caught their eye.

To my delight the kids have begun to take an interest in our feathered visitors.  I even caught one of the boys at the front window with the play binoculars and I asked "what are you looking at" and he replied "I'm looking at the birds."  It just tickled me.  I wanted to make some sort of a log of the birds we've seen. I pulled out a felt board (that won't lay flat since the day I made it) and printed pictures of each of the birds we have seen so far.  I glued them to more felt along with the name of their breed, not specifics, and cut them out to go on the felt board.  It hangs next to the window where we bird watch.  It will help them recognize birds that frequent by picture.  I will add more birds as they come along and plan to offer a different selection of food for them this winter. 

I can't wait until tomorrow when I bust out the homemade suet I made yesterday. Boy is that woodpecker going to be jolly!

Bird Watching 1

Happy Thursday! I titled this "Bird Watching 1" because I am certain that I will have more bird watching stories as it is one of my favorite activities to do.

I set my hummingbird feeder out sometime in April. At first I only had a few, it seems that the first ones to find it were males. At this time the females may have been nesting already. I have gradually gained more and more customers to my feeder as the summer progresses. During the past two weeks the amount of birds to this one feeder I have has tripled! They are always hovering about, chasing and chirping. Most of these are probably the young ones. The one in this picture that I took last night is a juvenile male ruby-throated hummingbird. You can tell by the markings on his little neck. I have read that they don't get their red neck feathers until the following winter of their first year. I have thought that I had an over abundance of females but in fact the juvenile males look like females at first.

Shaun and I were watching out the kitchen window and we saw as many as five or six at a time playing and waiting their turn. Over the last week I have had to fill the feeder everyday which brings me to share my feeder mixture. I boil 1 cup of water in the microwave on about 2 minutes or at least until it starts to bubble then add 1/4 cup sugar and stir it up good. Let it come to room temperature before putting it outside to prevent teeny little tongue burns. I read just this season in a homemade bird food cookbook that once you have established customers at your feeder you should gradually back off on the sugar content in your mixture. Right now I am mixing 1 1/2 cups water to 1/4 cup sugar and they are still drinking it like it's the last batch. Reducing the sugar content will entise them to still seek out their natural source of nectar and do the jobs that they are here to do. Plus too much homemade nectar will harm their little bitty livers and can eventually lead to a very unhealthy hummingbird.


Also you should keep your feeder clean and free of mold which can form inside the feeder and is not healthy either. My cookbook said the best thing to use outside of just water is a water vinegar mix which I already use to clean windows and glass because it leaves them streak free. I clean my feeder about every three fill ups.

Taking pictures last night at our feeder was fun because the younger birds don't seem to be too scared of me yet. They would just hover close to me checking me out. I even felt the wind once from wings flapping close to my face. I was just as still as a statue and got a few good pics as my reward. I will enjoy these precious tiny gifts from God as long as they are here... and then again next year! Have a wonderful day!