When I think about the birds I want to feed in my yard, these two come to mind immediately. On the left is a purple house finch and on the right a Sparrow; I realize that they too can become quite pesky but I think they are so cute compared to the red wing Black bird and Grackle. Yesterday, while running errands, I went to our local Wild Bird Center to get info on how to discourage the black birds from overtaking my yard. The expert working gave me quite a bit of information, including the fact that the Grackle is an opportunistic feeder and will devour eggs as well as baby birds from nests. The easiest way to get rid of these nasty birds is to stop feeding them. Alright so how in the world do I do that? I can either change the type of food I'm putting out or I can change the feeder which will make it impossible for them to get food out of. I looked at the tube feeders with the appropriate squirrel barriers on the outside and didn't buy one yet~had to check with hubby first. We did look at our local Lowe's hardware/home improvement center but they didn't have any of the right type. The thing with the seed it that we prefer the no-mess type for two reasons-one is that you aren't inundated with weeds below and the second is that often dogs can get the runs from eating the leftover seeds on the ground. There are also trays made of screens that can be put under a normal feeder to catch the seeds so that we could put out Safflower seeds or Niger seed for our Gold Finches as well. Still pondering what to do about it all but for now we haven't had any more dead birds in our yard; the nest must be empty.

I also got more plants for the back yard yesterday so spent several hours planting; we still don't have our shredded bark on top so I haven't taken photos but may just have to today, so you all can see how it is coming along.

Last night we watched a video that I had wanted to see but had been hesitant to watch. Hachi, A Dog Story is a wonderful video with Richard Gere and the only reason I hesitated at all to watch this movie was that I get very emotional at any story that revolves around the bond of a dog and its owner and doesn't end happily. This movie was a great one and is suitable for children-in fact some of my grands watched it a week ago. I will say that even though I knew the ending, I still cried. I've been like since I was little~I can remember watching Lassie and sobbing at the other dogs being lost while Lassie helped them. I think it is because I bond so heavily with my dogs.

So what are your plans for the weekend? There is a town festival tomorrow we will attend and we are having friends over for a bbq tomorrow eve. On Monday we will have all the family over for another bbq and maybe some time in the sprinklers. We are supposed to have very warm weather here over the weekend, hopefully without any thunder storms or hail or tornado sitings. No need to worry, I know the Maker of the heavens and earth.

Get out and enjoy the weekend and remember to worship Him who gives us all blessings!

Love, Noreen