i've been spying

26 days ago, Micah discovered this on my window sill:



The next day there was this:



And a lot of this:



After 12 days, this is what we found:



















And the next day:


Notice the egg shells are all cleaned out of the nest.




Mother bird was pretty on top of things. Daddy bird was quite involved as well, bringing worms for the babies and such.





I got a little carried away with taking pictures . . .


It's just that these guys seemed to double in size every day.

(Much like me lately.)










Practically spilling out of the nest:










Yesterday, the two big guys got out of the nest. Last night they flew away,





leaving this one all alone.






Getting ready to take flight this morning:

I thought that they might take a few practice runs and come back to the nest, but once they were gone, they were gone. We actually saw the second one take his flight. He just got brave on the window sill, flapped his wings as hard as he could, and successfully landed in a tree halfway down the yard. Pretty impressive considering that just 13 days ago he was the size of a whopper and could barely hold up his head long enough to get a bug.







Seeing the empty nest, I wondered how the mother bird felt today. Was she relieved that all the intensive work was over, anxious to have her freedom back? Was she stricken with grief that her babies were gone? Would she see them again out in the tree?





It stirred up emotions in me,


considering that mine seem to be growing as fast as those birds,




and are flapping their wings,
getting ready to fly the coop.



I hope my nesting instinct kicks in soon.


There is much to do before this one hatches.

A Person Bright and Lovely is My Grandma Dear

Eli serenading his darling grandmas on their special day. Press play to enjoy!

Sorry about the garbage cans and nostril shot at the end. I don't know how to edit these.

We're Ticked

There are some perks of living on "the farm." Some special discoveries, in other words. One of my favorites is:

finding a tick on a squash. In the house.

Also, finding a tick burrowed in Micah's head,
finding 12+ ticks in the dogs and horses,
finding a live tick in the dryer lint,
finding one crawling on my pajamas (!),
one on the hall door,
the inside window,
the kitchen floor,
etc.

All within a week or two.

Another fun one is having "the farmer" covered in this--all over the body:


Thanks poison ivy.
There's nothing as romantic as rolling over to snuggle your "farmer" and finding him scratching multiple swollen, weeping pustules.

Here's one for the Princess Bride fans:

A mini ROUS.
Or opossum on deck,
eating dog food.