Wacky Mother Nature

Well, it has been a crazy few days around here. I don't have a card to show you, but I do have a couple of pics & some stories. It's all about nature in this post!

First, yesterday around dinner time, Michael said "Look Mom....a dead bird on our deck". Ugh. I looked, & sure enough, there was a bird flat on its back, feet straight up in the air. I thought at first it was a sparrow, but upon further inspection I noticed it was black & white. Double ugh....a downy woodpecker. I was so sad.....& was prepared to move it away....but then my mom called & as I was talking to her, it started to move. Good thing she called or I would have been disposing of a not-so-dead bird! My poor mom...the whole conversation was about this bird, lol. It eventually got on its feet....& I noticed it didn't look like a downy....it had red on top of its head instead of in the back. I looked at my bird book, & came to the conclusion that it might be a hairy woodpecker. Which are usually quite large, which meant this was probably a baby :( It was only about 5 inches long, & the poor thing was wobbling on its feet like a Weeble.....blinking....almost falling asleep. My mom said I would need to wake it every 2 hours in case of a concussion...lol. Anyway, I didn't want to scare it, but decided it needed some food & water....so I took some out to it. I think it was petrified, poor thing. I had also grabbed my camera.....& got a fairly good picture (don't worry, I wouldn't post this picture if the outcome wasn't good)



How cute is it?!?!?!!! I was worried because it just sat there for what seemed like forever. I went upstairs to fold some laundry....& Michael yelled "Mom!! It's eating!". By the time I came back downstairs.....it had flown away. Whew!!!! I was really worried about it.....my mom said it shouldn't have taken so long to fly away....but I think because it was a baby it took a bit longer to get its bearings. Or....since it flew into our patio door.....it took that long for it to decide it would try flying again. Since the first time didn't go so well......he was probably waiting around for a taxi!


We've had some crazy storms here the last few days. Last night was awful. Michael came into my room around midnight....the thunder & lightning was soooooo loud. I turned on the tv.....to find there was a tornado warning in our area. So I woke up Matthew & we all went downstairs (hubby stayed in the living room watching tv......dork....). We sat & watched the weather radar....until our power went out. Sigh. We sat in the dark for about 1/2 hour, until the storms settled down.....then groped back upstairs in the dark. Yes, we have flashlights....they just weren't handy...lol. The boys went back to bed & I laid there until the power came back on.....4:17 am. I am a bit sleepy today....& as I write this.....it is once again thundering & raining out. Lots of flooding in the area....crazy crazy summer weather in the midwest!

And for my final nature story....not really a story....just an observation. Here is a picture of my peony plant....



What's wrong with this picture???? It's ONE plant. It used to be white. As you can see, 2 of the flowers ARE white, & the rest are pink. I'm not an expert on peonies.....um.....can they change color over the years?? We've been here 7 years, & they've ALWAYS been white. Really!! And we only have one plant.....so it didn't hug another, or anything like that. I'm not complaining....I like the pink....but really, how odd!!!!!

I am working on a card for Sunday's High Hopes challenge, but I will be gone most of the day tomorrow so I don't know if I'll get it done on time. Of course, if I had skipped posting just now, I'd be almost done with it, lol. I'm pathetic when I make a card. I'll color a bit.....blurf for a bit....color a bit more.....check out a few SCS threads.....cut some papers.....email some friends....lol. I'm pretty sure I have ADD!!!

Oh, I almost forgot....I got an award!!


This is from Karen.....who apparently just started reading my blog & had the sweetest things to say!! Thank you so much Karen....please go visit her blog Creations by KW!

As long as I'm rambling tonight, I wanted to ask you all to keep your fingers crossed for me as I search for a job. I know....me & everyone else....so many people have lost their jobs. I haven't lost one....but my husband's is not looking good....his hours have been cut & with school out I need to find something soon!! For some reason, the school district doesn't want to pay me over the summer, lol. I had decided last September that I would sub for a year, & if I was offered a job in the district, great, but if not I would need to look for something more permanent. If I don't find anything this summer, I will of course sub again.....but I have been sending out a lot of resumes & doing a lot of online searching.....so please keep me ......& everyone else who is looking.....in your thoughts!!

Sorry for the long & probably boring post.....lol...I promise next time I'll have a card to show you!!!! Have a great weekend, my friends!!!!!