Focus

I was reading Angie's blog tonight http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/ and decided I needed to be at least 1/4 as open and honest about my thoughts, as she has been about hers . . . only, I'm not sure were to start . . . how about this . . . started my Masters program on Monday . . . still working on my professional certification class . . . currently teaching school 5 days a week . . . raising 10+ tadpoles . . . and 7 chickadees. . . a sister living in an apparent earthquake hotspot . . . and what seems to be a sudden multitude of new born babies, when I would like just one!

I know that God knows the desires of my heart, after all, He placed them there, right? So, how do I get the desires of what I think I want and or separate the desires of what I think the world thinks I should want.

Do I really want to be married? Yes, but how do people go about finding the right person? Prayer would be a good place to start, after all eharmony is just not working out . . . do I really want a baby, you bet. However I need the husband for that and well we just covered the problem there. So, I have to take what I am given and make sure it fits to my life or fit my life to what I want or fit what I have to include what I want or refocus what I want until I finish what I have been given?

I walked or ran into teaching first because I was tired of being a professional nanny, secondly because I knew it was what God wanted me to do. I was hired at a wonderful school and I still love getting up in the morning. So, I found my profession later in life than most people, perhaps I am just 10 years behind on the marriage and baby end as well. Only problem, my brain does not stop being fertile with age, were as the female body does eventually quit being fertile with age.

So, if I am going to start with prayer then I should pray for . . . belief that God will see and bring to pass the desires of my heart . . . my desires to match with Gods desires . . . body fertility that matches mental fertility. . . my husband, or rather the hope that God has one in mind . . .

Seven Baby Chickadee Eggs

The chickadees have finally laid their eggs! There are seven eggs even though you can only see six of them in this picture. See the previous post to see the close up picture of the chickadee parent . . . who has only one leg.

A Good Birding Day

Saturday, great weather . . . Sunday, not great.

However, through the rain, the birds come to get their snacks.

A junco getting a drink.

"Say cheese!"

This is my good side . . .

No, this is my good side!

And the best for last . . . this is a chickadee I have seen for the last several weeks. It has only one leg and it is the female (I think) for the nesting pair of chickadees that is building the nest in the birdhouse on my deck. Chick on the picture for a close up. And, no, she is not just sitting on one leg.

It's official . . .

The builder of the new birdhouse nest is a . . . chickadee! (again)
I was looking forward to another specie of bird, but I am just happy I will get to watch the babies hatch and grow. Stay tuned for more pictures. No eggs yet.

Evolution of a bird nest

Last year I had a family of chickadees living in a bird house on my deck.
This was the inside of the nest after the babies had fledged. Note: one unhatched egg.


This spring I decided I should empty the nest material, there was at least 5 inches of old nesting material. I took the bird house down and opened it up and it was totally and completely empty!
Some very eager bird was already house keeping. All that nesting material was gone!

The next day I snapped this picture: a thin layer of fresh green moss.

day 2: poly-fill from someones lawn chair cushion.

day three: more poly-fill and some dryer lint

day four: more lint (note pink lint) and some larger pieces of poly-fill

day five: moss, poly-fill, dryer lint and animal hair

day six: outside view with some building insulation on the outside of the entrance hole.



day six: building insulation



day seven: a lot more animal hair, looks like raccoon

So, all in all these little birds have been busy. I don't know if they are chickadees again or if it is another variety of bird, time will tell: stay tuned . . .

Hatched Tadpoles

Tadpoles developing in their cases.

One free swimming tadpole and one ready to hatch!

Free swimming, two days after hatching. Note the external gills.

The kids are thrilled to see them swimming and growing. So far, I have counted (roughly) 13 swimming tadpoles. They are hard to see, and they like to hide, this is a very rough count.
Maybe we will end up with more than 2 fully developed frogs, which is what we had last year.

Day 5 still in eggs cases

I am amazed the eggs transformed so quickly (over the weekend).

Last year we are not able to see inside the cases because they were

covered with a fine layer of pond scum -

so watching the prehatching development was difficult.

For those of you who can't yet tell the difference

here is the retrevial photo: