a flock of visitors on a snowy day - common redpoll and a lone red-breasted nuthatch

It's Monday again, and snowing again. It's cold out too, about 10 degrees, and so the snow is soft and powdery. It's just been sifting down steadily all day with no signs of stopping any time soon. It's very beautiful, but not exactly my favorite type of spring weather. 

We're stuck at home today because of the snow, but we had some nice visitors stop by to say (a rather loud) hello this morning. A huge flock of Common Redpoll having been coming to our bird-feeder over the last couple of days, and this morning it seemed like there were twice as many as there were yesterday. I could just sit and watch them for hours. They are so very busy, and loud and constantly in motion.

one lone Red-Breasted Nuthatch was in the group

the rest of the flock,
waiting for their turn at the feeder

Riggs loved watching them, he laughed and pointed and then just silently stared while they hopped and swooped and flitted about. I loved seeing the wonder on his face, such a special moment. I think we'll put up another bird-feeder outside his winter at some point this summer so he can watch them when he wakes up in the morning.

These little birds are pretty feisty, and it was very interesting to see their little power struggles playing out over the food. There seemed to be a few in particular that were very bossy. This poor little guy was just sitting on the fence, minding his own business, and one of the bossier birds stopped eating suddenly, and flew over to chase him off.

I shot some video too, the first video I've shot with my new camera. I need to work on my videography skills, but I think the video's accurately demonstrate how loud and how busy these little birds are.





I hope you have a very happy Monday, and if you're in the Anchorage/Valley area, stay safe out there in the snow!

rainy morning visitors

As awareness started to creep into my mind, I wondered what exactly it was that woke me up.  I laid there listening, at first hearing only the sound of Riggs' stuffy breathing next to me (he has a bad cold), then I heard it, the sound that had probably woken me up, and my eyes popped open.  

Crunch, crunch.  Silence.  Crunch, crunch, crunch.  Someone was walking around behind our house, just outside of our open window!  I extracted myself from Riggy's grip and slipped on my sandals as I quietly left our room and headed for the kitchen window.  I hadn't wanted to look right out of our bedroom window, in case it was an intruder.  My heart was pounding a little as I crept up to the kitchen window to peek out.  What I saw surprised me...there wasn't just one intruder, there were three!

A mama moose and her two little ones were slowly wandering around the yard, sampling the trees and shrubs at their leisure.  I felt a smile grow on my face as I went to get my camera and the new to me 100-400mm lens my father-in-law had let me borrow when I was in Homer.  I slipped quietly outside to take some pictures, praying the dogs wouldn't notice the big, furry visitors.

I tried to be as quiet as possible, but they all noticed me right away.  I was happy that I was on the porch, close to the door and safety.  Mama moose are very, very protective of their little ones, and I didn't want her to feel threatened at all by my presence, so I kept my distance.  I was so glad to have the lens, so that I could finally get some closer pictures of them.

I was so thrilled to see them root around on their mama to nurse, I've never seen that in person and it was special for some reason to share that moment, since I had been nursing my little one just moments before.  The ears on those calves were huge, and they moved them this way and that way to listen to my every movement.

Mama listened closely too, and kept her eye on my nearly the entire time I was out taking pictures.  Smart mama if you ask me!  There are lots of dogs and bears around our neighborhood, and she has to be alert all the time to protect not just one baby but two.

I wished they would have stayed all day so that I could observe their little family group, but they slowly meandered out of sight.  As I was outside watching them, I noticed something else, some other movement up in the trees.

Chickadees were flitting all around a dead cottonwood tree, and I saw a hole near the top that they seemed to be gravitating towards.  I took plenty of pictures, but from where I was standing, I couldn't clearly see what was in that hole.

Then I came in the house and imported the pictures from my camera, and I saw a little face and a long beak peeking out of the hole.  Now I'm so glad that I found the little spot, as bird watching has become a favorite past time since we moved out here.  I think it might be a Northern Flicker Woodpecker, but I'm not sure.  Any ideas?

Bike-riding, Paragliders and Bird-feeding

I don't know if I mentioned it here, but about two weeks ago I ordered a bike trailer for Riggs.  I patiently waited for it as I tuned up my bike after a long, new-baby hiatus.  Then on Tuesday, I got the email - my trailer was here!  I was so excited and headed to Anchorage to pick it up at REI and hang out with my sister Beka.  When I got home I assembled it right away and after Beka left to head back to Anchorage, I hooked it to my bike, got my little cycling buddy all geared up, and took it out for the inaugural ride.  It was a beautiful day, about 70 degrees and only a few wispy clouds.

Riggs was a little trooper, and didn't complain once about being strapped into the little buggy.  He even liked his helmet, handed down from Corbin and Noah.  I think he's the cutest little biker on the block :)

He didn't like sitting back so he flipped over to his stomach, so clever!  I think it's hilarious that the helmet is nearly bigger than the rest of his entire body.

I love his little biking buggy, and I love my bike and have missed it.  We have spent many hours and miles together and it feels so good to be back in the saddle!

I purchased the baby snuggler from REI as well since I feel like it makes it a bit more comfortable and supportive for Riggs, especially when he falls asleep.  And by the way, Burley recommends that you wait to bike with you baby until they one year old.  Steve and I thought about it and decided for ourselves and our situation that it would be okay to bike with Riggs now.  This is an important safety decision that you need to make for yourself and I am not encouraging anyone else to take their 5 month old biking.  Each baby and family is different and it is a completely personal decision.  Whew, okay PSA over!

It was so, so fun to be on my bike.  Oh and PS don't worry, this is just in my driveway making sure everything is hooked up correctly, I ALWAYS wear a helmet when I ride my bike on or near any road and so should you!

Beautiful view of the Knik River from the Bodenburg Loop.  We biked from about 7pm to 8pm, and the sun was at such a beautiful spot in the sky.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love where I live?  It is truly the closest thing to paradise I can imagine.  Mountain, tall green trees, and rolling farmland...perfect!

This is a picture of the Bodenburg Butte, which I have yet to  climb.  I'm waiting for Steve to have a day off where we aren't working on home projects, I don't want to do it without him.  When I do I will post all about it I'm sure.

Paraglider who hiked up the Butte and then glided beautifully down to the waiting fields.  I watched him for quite a while and was so jealous of his (or her?) experience, way up in the sky.

All in all it was an amazing trip, and everyday I love Palmer more and more.  Today Riggs and I rode into town, despite the overcast weather and promise of rain.  It was a nice ride and the longest I have ridden in probably a year.  According to my bike computer, the trip was 17.1 miles roundtrip.  I went to the Post Office and Fred Meyer, which are right next door to each other, so I didn't do much riding around in Palmer.  8.55 miles isn't bad for a one way trip, in fact it's just about right to get a good workout in while also making a grocery run.  My average speed was 10 mph, so pretty slow, but I was towing and taking my sweet time.

The bike path is paved the entire way from the South Bodenburg Loop to Palmer, and there is a steady level of traffic on the multi-use path, from bikers, to walkers, to sitters (a dad and his toddler son eating lunch - so cute!), to rollerbladers.  The views are beautiful and I spent the entire ride into town observing all the sights that you can't see (or don't notice) from the road.  It took about an hour on the way there and 45 minutes on the way back.  Another person on a road bike (not towing a 18 lb baby and a bunch of books and groceries, I might add) pulled out in front of me from Martha Road and I tried my hardest to catch up with them and pass them.  I started to catch up with them and was getting so close when they turned on the North Bodenburg Loop and I was pretty mad that I didn't get to creep blow past them and with all that junk in my trunk too.  Oh well, maybe next time.

In other news, the birds are finally coming to the bird feeder!  I am so excited about this, you have no idea.  It has been about three weeks I think, but now they come all day.  I love to sit on the couch and watch them fluttering around and finding refuge from the rain.  They will even come to it when I sit out there quietly, and that is probably my favorite way to watch them.

I sincerely hope that you are having a good week.  If not, chin up, it is almost the weekend!

Painting and Carpet

I am linked up with Nicole's Keep Calm Craft On post at Frontier Dreams for this post :)

We moved into our new home on May 12, one week earlier than we had originally planned, yay!  It has been so nice living out here in our new little nest, and I have loved nearly everything about living here. The only extremely slightly frustrating thing has been the fact that we needed to replace the carpets in both bedrooms and paint Riggs' room before moving our things into those rooms.  So all of our boxes were in the living room for nearly two weeks, lovely.  

Luckily Steve got the carpet installed in our bedroom last weekend, and we were able to move out of the living room/den nook.  Then another week went by (a stressful week in which Steve started working more hours and was like a zombie when he got home each day and I grew more and more irritated that I couldn't find anything because of all the boxes).  This weekend things greatly improved, and we finished all the painting in Riggs' room and Steve got the carpet into Riggs' room.  I am so excited to spend the next few weeks moving Riggs' stuff into his room and getting it all set up just so.  There is a little road bump due to the fact that I can't find the crib hardware (I put the bag of screws in a "safe" spot so it wouldn't get lost - ha).

So I know it's not technically crafting, but it has involved some creative juices so I think it counts.  Here is a little photo journal of our progress:

BEFORE: this is the best photo I have of his room before. Worn, stained blue carpet and purplish gray walls

Carpet ripped out, trim taped and first coat of paint on the walls, yay!

Old color on the left and new color on the right. What do you think?

Walls done and carpet pad stapled down (by me yay!).

Another view...

Bad iPhone picture of new carpet and some things getting put away.  I'm thinking of
using some scrapbook paper to attach to the back of the bookcase to add some visual interest
to the ugly backboard.  I can't stand seeing the fold lines in the particle board :)

His little bee hook hung up (at child level!) and a good demonstration of the wall color.
Warm, creamy nearly white.

And a bonus picture of my sweet little babe, tuckered out from helping mama set up his room :)

Backyard birdwatch update:  a few little Chickadees have been seen visiting the suet feeder on the edge of the yard, hurrah!  Now we just need to get some visitors to the black oiled sunflower seed feeder on the front porch...