Babies!!

My sister took this photo yesterday, after she saw Mama Robin shoot out for some food.  It's hard to tell from this photo, but there are at least two babies here.  There may be one more baby, or that egg that fell out of the nest may have been a dud and removed by Mama.  The last egg will likely hatch today, or not at all.  We're doing our best not to disturb Mama, so who knows when we'll find out.  I know when the babies get just a bit bigger, they'll all spend the days stretch up with hungry, open mouths, just like Big Brother here. Mama will spend a lot more time tracking down food for them, and we should be able to get a better look at the babies. Stay tuned......

Another Sign of Spring

Look what I found in my sister's tree:

The best part is, from the front window of my sister's house, you get a great view of the nest.  It's through a screen, of course, so not great for photos but we'll be able to watch the babies grow.  We're hoping all the eggs hatch, but we had some severe weather last week and the nest was knocked sideways.  One of the eggs fell out, and my sister had to put it back in.  She knew it wasn't out for long, but.....guess we'll see in a couple more days.

Welcome Spring

The first flash of color in my garden this year ~ 

Welcome, Spring!

Blah, Blah, Blah.....

So who here is sick of winter?  ME, TOO!!  I've lived in the Midwest most of my life, and typically, I don't mind winter.  There's a peacefulness that comes with a heavy snowfall, a comfort that comes from being snug indoors under my favorite blanket with a good book.  This year, things were different.  High winds, extreme cold, not much snow.  When temps get too low, the only way to ensure your car will start when you need it is to run it for twenty or thirty minutes every few hours.  All night long, all day long.  Dog sitting was another adventure.  It has been so cold, the dogs don't even want to go out to potty, and it's just plain dangerous to walk them.  So my little puppy niece, Lily, has been getting into the kind of mischief dogs get into when they get bored:  shredding socks, tearing around the house, pestering her big sister.....

Pouty Miss Lily ~  she hates being cooped up

We didn't get a lot of snow this year, but we did have a couple small storms that dropped a couple inches at a time last week.  Unfortunately, we also had an ice storm, and that one was first.  So our streets are a mess of thick ice, rutted and covered with snow.  Over the weekend, the sun stayed hidden but the temps rose enough that the mess finally started melting.  That's the good news.  The bad news is, with all the ruts in the ice, the melt wasn't moving.  So we got out shovels and choppers and started chipping out ditches to the storm sewers, trying to drain flooded streets.  We're expecting one more warm day, and I'm hoping most of this water will be gone, or it will refreeze into another patch of ice come Tuesday.

Walker and my sister, hard at work ~

'Bout Sums It Up ~

I'm Sorry, Yoga Girl ~

With the arrival of the new year, it's time to have a conversation with the little yoga girl at the top of my blog.  I let her down this year.  My original goal was to lose just about 40 pounds.  I crossed the halfway point months ago, though those last couple pounds were pretty stubborn.  Then I held steady through the summer and into fall.  I was okay with that.  Yeah, I would have liked to have done better but I was dealing with some other issues at the time, and I was glad to just maintain.

Then along came the kitchen remodel, with lots of stops and starts.  I had to pack up a lot of what was in the cupboards in August, but we still had use of the fridge and stove.  In October, when the workers could focus on my kitchen full time, we lost the stove.  I stocked up on Cheerios and fruit and frozen dinners (I moved the microwave into the dining room) but we also ended up going through a drive thru just about every day.  Sometimes, more than once. The treadmill and the Pilates machine are in the basement, and getting to them during the remodel meant maneuvering through workers, and materials, and tools, trying not to get in the way.  So I just didn't.  By the time the kitchen was finished it was the holidays and I had gained back nine pounds.  I didn't bake any Christmas cookies, but I did make some cashew brittle for Walker's mom, and some English toffee for Walker.  And of course, friends and neighbors dropped off lots of cookies and treats.

So here we are, on the first day of 2014, and my net for 2013 was a loss of about seven and a half pounds.  Sigh.  I tell myself that at least it's a loss, it could be a lot worse, but....damn.  I worked so hard, with so little to show for it.  But: the fight isn't over.  I have reset the little yoga girl, and this time, she's gonna slide across the finish line.